Mad-Cap Self Portrait

"Angry Gull"   Watercolor and Ink     5 x 5"

I have been working on commission work and when I hit a wall with where a painting was going [ That does happen sometimes with artists you know!!]  I was sort of mad at my silly old self....and did a quick fun self portrait where I ended up looking a lot like an Maine seagull........One of those 'AH HA' moments!!

Knowing that you want to know the big question......yes...it is so sale!! "Angry Gull" is NOW on my website!

Winter In Maine Is Cold

Graphite Self Portrait ....or having fun!      ©2012 kathi peters

It is cold. It is winter and we live in Maine. One would think that we would be used to this....but it always is a bitter reminder that Mother Nature is in charge... and we get what we get and HAVE to cope, as we bundle up in multiple layers, to go down and do barn chores, waddling like Michele men through new snow and ice. THIS is when I wax nostalgic for Italy......sun and warmth. I have been looking through old photographs of my life, ions ago,in another life.....growing up in Italy. A lot of sweet memories there.....and they help warm my winter days in Mid-coast Maine.

But I have also been painting.

I have done a new oil painting, again with a copper panel for the substrate.The subject of the painting is an old bicycle that stands leaning on an old tree....and has been standing there for several years now....summer, winter,spring and fall...in all weather....in snow or rain. I have been wanting to, planning on painting it, for a long time. Each time I drove by the yard where the bike sits, I would say to myself...."Paint that!"  It was time to do it last week....so here it is. I have added it to my website.

"Retired"    Oil      10 x 10"  ©2012 kathi peters

The sun is dipping lower in the sky now. The temperature only rose to a chilly 10º F. today, is starting to fall again. I guess it is time to bundle up, waddle to the barn and close the horses up in their cozy stalls for the night. They will appreciate it. Winter in Maine is cold.

 

Our stand of spruce.    ©2012 kathipeters

Comes Winter

Nell the snow bunny...       ©Kathi Peters  2011

Snow came last week and covered the farm with a soft white blanket ,brightening our days. Nell donned her new barn coat and burrowed in the white, gone to ground in pursuit of moles or other varmint.Thanksgiving day was shared with our children and family. Fall is slipping into winter as it often does.

Our outside greens are up.

And then on Saturday our mail brought a pleasant surprise......the Fall issue of StrokeSmart magazine arrived and it is sporting my face on the cover!! It actually is my self-portrait that I did...A study of my face in casein.StrokeSmart magazine is put out by the National Stroke Association  .In 2009 I donated a portion of all sales in my solo art show  "Finding My Voice", held at Gallery B in Lexington,KY. , to the National Stroke Association.had been contacted by a freelance written for StrokeSmart about doing an article about me, my art and my recovery after a ischemic stroke in 2006. I never thought it would be such a big article....and never thought I would make the cover!! Imagine my surprise to see my face
on the cover!!! I try to do a new self-portrait every year.....and they used my 2009 painting! Lisa Pogue,the writer, did a lovely job capusclating my stroke and personal approach to recovery.Thank you Lisa and StrokeSmart!!



My mug.....my self-portrait  ©kathi peters.2009

Article featured two paintings that are now with Gallery B.

Maybe next my painting will make the cover of The  Rolling Stone!!!!

Doing Those Self-portraits

I think that artists should do self-portraits every so often. I have blogged about that before. I don't have live models available to work from,  so if I do a self-portrait, I get a cheap model and can get a figurative work done.  I try to get one self-portrait and maybe a still-life into my portfolio on a regular basis.

Over the past two weeks I have done two small acrylics  and one graphite self-portraits. With the acrylics I approached them from a weird angle, and did the same view twice, but with difference crops. 

"Retrospective #1"    acrylic     4 x 4"

 

" Retrospective #2"       Acrylic        4 x 4"

The graphite is a straight on view, looking strait at the mirror.....but I cropped it so just one side of my face is portrayed. [The' alive' side?] 

So...what do you think? Did I succeed in capturing provocative pieces?

 "Self"    graphite      10 x 3"

It is a very rain day out...and I am only now getting to actually work in the studio...just one of those days!

Into My 'Self "

Our resident hunter was off for a few days of recreation with our sons, hunting the great white-tail. I had my days to myself, to pursue my own entertainment. Of course my day had to be scheduled around the walking of the dogs and caring for the horses...but other than that I was free!!

I have been working on a few paintings for shows that are coming up, but I felt like playing in my paints for a bit...doing something different... and decided to entertain the idea of doing a self-portrait. I hadn't done one in a while and I have always felt that one way to grow and explore as an artist, is to explore and paint one's self.

So I struck this pose in front of our bedroom mirror and Voila' ....a self-portrait arose! It is small, as I don't want to be taken for a self absorbed dilettante,...it is a 6 x 6" casein. Of course to be able to see what I was painting I had to have my posh glasses on! I feel they added to the 'feel' of the painting.

So here it is...'an artist as seen by an artist!' For what it is worth?!!

PC Problems Etc, Etc....

The month of August started with computer problems and went down hill from there.....but the "puter" is fixed and life goes on.

Yesterday, while waiting for my computer, I sketched a self-portrait in graphite. It is a fast study of myself. They say [and I don't know who "they" are.] that we should sketch ourselves often as a exercise in art. This was an exercise to say the least. But at least I can chock that exercise off as done for a while.

Over the last few weeks I have been finishing up some caseins and some graphite studies of works to be done. I have also been getting works ready for "A Dog and Pony Show " ,an Invitational Exhibit that opens on August 31st at Skyline Farm Carriage Museum in North Yarmouth, Maine. This is the second year that I am curating and exhibiting in this fun show.This year we have some great artists participating and I am sure there will be something for every one's artistic taste.