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| "Lady In White" Oil on copper 22 x 22" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com
After some thought and consideration...an oil painting that I painted a while ago has been bothering me. Looking at it everyday, as it hung on my studio wall, I began to question some of it...I just wanted to change it out a bit, And as I am 'the artist' I can do that! There was much that I liked about the painting, but there was something that I wanted to say with this subject. I ahve gone back into it.... I think I have said it now. I am happy with it. It is done. I have re-titled it "Lady in White" and it is back on my website. Now I can forge ahead with a new oil I have been planning for a long while. I can't wait to show it to you!!
This past weekend the annual Art Festival exhibit took place in Belfast,ME. at the Hutchinson Center.I again had work exhibited in it. It is always a fun show and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of artistic talent that abides on the coast, in the villages and in the woods of Mid-Coast Maine. I feel surrounded by great minds!! Love it!!
Spring is bursting at Cob Cottage. My flower gardens are starting to display color and excitement. It makes me laugh to compare my small gardens and garden pond with the wonderful gardens of Monet's Giverny ......but I can dream.of grander floral displays as I enjoy working in my more manageable gardens. I hope I get some time to get out and paint my flowers... time to smell the roses!! They will be blooming before long.
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Monday, May 14, 2012
If At First You Don't Suceed Or I Reworked An Oil Painting
Thursday, May 10, 2012
May Always Has Much Meaning
May has a new meaning to me....at least it has since July of 2006.....I am again prompted to tell my story, abridged.This following blog post was first 'aired' May 6th in 2008. I am re posting it today to explain .....and maybe help someone else deal with whatever life throws at them. Read on.........
May has always been a special month for my family…spring is in full swing, my husband’s birthday falls in May and of course so does Mother’s Day. But this year [and last year] May has taking on new meaning for us, as it is designated as Stroke Awareness Month.
And we are very aware about stroke. Now.
On July 29th of 2006, my husband and I, along with my sister who was visiting from California, were all headed from our farm in Morrill, Maine to my eldest brother’s home in New Hampshire to celebrate his 70th birthday. It was a surprise party for him and for the first time in a long time, my siblings and I were going to be together to party and have a good time. We arrived on time and I got out of our car to greet everyone, feeling so happy to see us all together. My sister-in-law, Bev walked up to me and started talking …I could hear her, but I couldn't make out a word that she was saying. I didn’t feel right, but was busy looking around at everybody when I realized I couldn't see my right hand or arm and I couldn’t figure out where they were…and I was still trying to understand Bev. She sounded like a slow broken record and her words were all jumbled to me. I looked around for my husband, Les and when I saw him I asked, “Where’s my arm? And he said “By your side? What’s the matter?” Then I guess everyone saw something was wrong with me. I remember them helping me into the shade of a huge tree on the grounds and helping to lay me down on the ground. I looked up at everyone…I didn’t know what was happening. I couldn’t really talk and tell them what I felt and a sea of faces looked down on me. But through it all a strange feeling of calm and peacefulness filled my being and I knew it would be all right. I was suffering a stroke. I missed my brother’s 70th.
To make a long story short…I was rushed to a hospital in N.H. and then was transported by ambulance to Portland, Maine, and admitted into Maine Medical Center. This was done in order that I should be closer to my family and doctors.
Tests were started.. The left side of my brain had been ‘attacked’ when the blood flow was interrupted or stopped due to a blood clot. A significant part of my left temporal lobe was affected and this left me with right-sided paralysis and Aphasia. Aphasia is a condition where language problems make it difficult to talk the way I used to and makes writing very difficult for me. Something that was so important to me in my life [I have worked as a newspaper reporter and fashion editor in the past…and wrote poetry] ....was now something that was so difficult. My understanding and comprehension of speech were unimpaired, but speech itself became hard as my speech related muscles wouldn’t cooperate and my brain could not find the words to say what I wanted to.
But what was more important to me, as I lay on the hospital bed with my family around me…could I draw??? I managed to get the nurse to understand what I wanted…. a pencil and paper. She brought them and everyone looked on as I sketched an eye, a horse head……….okay… I could live with the limitations I had a this point. I could draw, and this would mean I could paint. Life was good!!!
In the week that passed in between hospital tests, MRI’s and blood work, I sketched some, slept a lot, but I knew I needed to get home, to our quiet farm where I would be alone with my husband, see my Corgi and our horses, see and smell our gardens and get down to the business of getting better…. to getting ‘Kathi’ back!
This year and half that has passed has been difficult. Our horses became my therapy, as I brushed them while walking with a cane my hand and arm gained strength. I cleaned stalls needing the muck fork to help stand up with. Throwing hay and lifting shaving bags became my upper body strengthen exercises. I had a speech therapist come and work with me in our home, who helped me start to get over some the Aphasia problems…and an occupational therapist to help me get my hand coordination back.
And I painted…and drew and I slept. I slept a lot. I still sleep during the day needing naps to replenish my energy.
I started a blog after my therapist suggested that I do it as an exercise to recapture my language skills. Each and every blog entry has my recovery in it. Metaphorically each of my paintings tells of my struggles and my victories...most in the form of equine art.
But through it all I knew that my attitude about what I was going through was more important to me that what had happened to me. My recovery depended on my attitude. I cannot control what happens to me in life..but I can control my attitude. And that is my life mantra now……….’if it’s gonna be..it’s up to me.’
And I have also been blessed with a wonderful husband who has been beside me through it all. Les has been the wind beneath my wings.
So in a nutshell….that is my story. Why I blog.. and the road leading up to the beginning of my blog. That is my story and I am sticking with it.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
STROKE FACTS*
About 700,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. That means, on average, a stroke occurs every 45 seconds.
Stroke kills more than 150,000 people a year. That's about 1 of every 16 deaths. It's the No. 3 cause of death behind diseases of the heart and cancer.
On average, every 3 to 4 minutes someone dies of stroke.
Of every 5 deaths from stroke, 2 occur in men and 3 in women.
The 2004 stroke death rates per 100,000 population for specific groups were 48.1 for white males, 47.4 for white females 73.9 for black males and 64.9 for black females.
Americans will pay about $62.7 billion in 2007 for stroke-related medical costs and disability.
*Source: ASA
STROKE SYMPTOMS*
Any or all of the following:
Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden, severe headaches with no known cause
*Source: AHA statistics 2004
May has always been a special month for my family…spring is in full swing, my husband’s birthday falls in May and of course so does Mother’s Day. But this year [and last year] May has taking on new meaning for us, as it is designated as Stroke Awareness Month.
And we are very aware about stroke. Now.
On July 29th of 2006, my husband and I, along with my sister who was visiting from California, were all headed from our farm in Morrill, Maine to my eldest brother’s home in New Hampshire to celebrate his 70th birthday. It was a surprise party for him and for the first time in a long time, my siblings and I were going to be together to party and have a good time. We arrived on time and I got out of our car to greet everyone, feeling so happy to see us all together. My sister-in-law, Bev walked up to me and started talking …I could hear her, but I couldn't make out a word that she was saying. I didn’t feel right, but was busy looking around at everybody when I realized I couldn't see my right hand or arm and I couldn’t figure out where they were…and I was still trying to understand Bev. She sounded like a slow broken record and her words were all jumbled to me. I looked around for my husband, Les and when I saw him I asked, “Where’s my arm? And he said “By your side? What’s the matter?” Then I guess everyone saw something was wrong with me. I remember them helping me into the shade of a huge tree on the grounds and helping to lay me down on the ground. I looked up at everyone…I didn’t know what was happening. I couldn’t really talk and tell them what I felt and a sea of faces looked down on me. But through it all a strange feeling of calm and peacefulness filled my being and I knew it would be all right. I was suffering a stroke. I missed my brother’s 70th.
To make a long story short…I was rushed to a hospital in N.H. and then was transported by ambulance to Portland, Maine, and admitted into Maine Medical Center. This was done in order that I should be closer to my family and doctors.
Tests were started.. The left side of my brain had been ‘attacked’ when the blood flow was interrupted or stopped due to a blood clot. A significant part of my left temporal lobe was affected and this left me with right-sided paralysis and Aphasia. Aphasia is a condition where language problems make it difficult to talk the way I used to and makes writing very difficult for me. Something that was so important to me in my life [I have worked as a newspaper reporter and fashion editor in the past…and wrote poetry] ....was now something that was so difficult. My understanding and comprehension of speech were unimpaired, but speech itself became hard as my speech related muscles wouldn’t cooperate and my brain could not find the words to say what I wanted to.
But what was more important to me, as I lay on the hospital bed with my family around me…could I draw??? I managed to get the nurse to understand what I wanted…. a pencil and paper. She brought them and everyone looked on as I sketched an eye, a horse head……….okay… I could live with the limitations I had a this point. I could draw, and this would mean I could paint. Life was good!!!
In the week that passed in between hospital tests, MRI’s and blood work, I sketched some, slept a lot, but I knew I needed to get home, to our quiet farm where I would be alone with my husband, see my Corgi and our horses, see and smell our gardens and get down to the business of getting better…. to getting ‘Kathi’ back!
This year and half that has passed has been difficult. Our horses became my therapy, as I brushed them while walking with a cane my hand and arm gained strength. I cleaned stalls needing the muck fork to help stand up with. Throwing hay and lifting shaving bags became my upper body strengthen exercises. I had a speech therapist come and work with me in our home, who helped me start to get over some the Aphasia problems…and an occupational therapist to help me get my hand coordination back.
And I painted…and drew and I slept. I slept a lot. I still sleep during the day needing naps to replenish my energy.
I started a blog after my therapist suggested that I do it as an exercise to recapture my language skills. Each and every blog entry has my recovery in it. Metaphorically each of my paintings tells of my struggles and my victories...most in the form of equine art.
But through it all I knew that my attitude about what I was going through was more important to me that what had happened to me. My recovery depended on my attitude. I cannot control what happens to me in life..but I can control my attitude. And that is my life mantra now……….’if it’s gonna be..it’s up to me.’
And I have also been blessed with a wonderful husband who has been beside me through it all. Les has been the wind beneath my wings.
So in a nutshell….that is my story. Why I blog.. and the road leading up to the beginning of my blog. That is my story and I am sticking with it.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
STROKE FACTS*
About 700,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. That means, on average, a stroke occurs every 45 seconds.
Stroke kills more than 150,000 people a year. That's about 1 of every 16 deaths. It's the No. 3 cause of death behind diseases of the heart and cancer.
On average, every 3 to 4 minutes someone dies of stroke.
Of every 5 deaths from stroke, 2 occur in men and 3 in women.
The 2004 stroke death rates per 100,000 population for specific groups were 48.1 for white males, 47.4 for white females 73.9 for black males and 64.9 for black females.
Americans will pay about $62.7 billion in 2007 for stroke-related medical costs and disability.
*Source: ASA
STROKE SYMPTOMS*
Any or all of the following:
Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden, severe headaches with no known cause
*Source: AHA statistics 2004
Monday, May 7, 2012
One More Job Done
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| "Heading To The Ring" Oil on copper 12 x 12" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com |
I started the day with full intentions of starting a new painting....but was waylaid by the brilliant sunshine and the flowers languishing in their flats in the sun-warmed greenhouse. They begged to be moved into the window-boxes that adorn our cottage. So I carried the flats up to deck, where Nell and I enjoyed the beautiful weather, and I succeeding in crossing one job off my long list of To-Do's that dictates my days each spring at Cob Cottage.
The gardens are starting to bloom with new splashes of color each day. I can loose so much time just walking around looking for new bursts of bloom that herald each season....and this is the season of new growth and promise.
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The front raised garden.....bursting with spring promise.
Even the invasive dandelion sings happy yellow beside some pink and yellow tulips and blue scilla in the front garden.
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One painting is done too....a new oil on copper panel of a young rider on her way to the show ring. "Heading To The Ring" is 12 x 12" and ready to frame.
I am working on more oils on copper and getting work together for Equidae Gallery for this summer's Saratoga season. I am so looking forward to Saratoga .....so I need to paint and fit the gardening jobs around my studio work. I love it!!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Working In And Playing Out - New Equine OIl Painting
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| A wind blown flower now perfumes the studio. |
Our Hawthorne tree is showy this year.
The plum trees stand decorated with white and yellow blossoms, and the honey bees' hum-song can be heard filling the air. I hope the bounty of blossoms means a bountiful plum harvest. Last year's was small compared to other years. We need plum jam this year!
I have another small oil on copper done....another foal...this one titled "High Heels". I also did a small oil painting of a young deer.The fawn was one of several that I was able to get great photos of on a walk in our back woods. For this painting I worked on board,not copper......but over the weekend I was cleaning the studio up a bit....moving piles around and managed to drop the small still wet deer painting onto the floor. Needless to say I will have to rework that painting a bit more. But the playful foal painting is drying and can been seen on my website already.
"High Heels" oil on copper 6 x 8" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters,com
And speaking about social networking....[We weren't.]..... Did you know I have a Facebook presence? ..... [Who doesn't?] .......and I would love to have you come and follow me there on what they call a "fan" page.Go to https://www.facebook.com/kathipetersart
In the mean time....I have new paintings to do.......
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Three New Spring Paintings
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| "Bright And Beautiful" Oil on board 8 x 10" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com |
I finished an oil painting of a mare and foal...beautiful Hanoverians with coats of many colors. When I saw the photo of these two,a photo shot by friend photographer Vicki Wright of New Jersey...I had to paint it. Vicki has some wonderful photos of mares and foals, and I seem to be on a foal kick....must be a spring thing too!! I took artistic license with the reference photo and gave birth to "Bright and Beautiful". Thank you Vicki!!!
So after working in the studio, I was looking for a change of pace and to take advantage of the beautiful weather, headed out for some plein air painting. I packed up my trusty little thumbox pochade and headed to the orchard with Nell, where I enjoyed painting in sunshine and fresh air. Our plum trees are resplendent this spring, promising plums and jellies this summer. I can't wait!! So in honour of their beauty, I portrayed their blossoms against the blue April skies. I painted in oil, on a copper panel. "Plum Blossoms" is a 6 x 8" oil and will be up on my website in the Small Works Collection.
"Plum Blossoms" Oil on copper 6 x 8" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com
And then I started another oil on copper with my bright yellow daffodils as subjects....Their color just sings against all the green that abounds this time of year. Here they are....also displayed in the Small Works Collection of my website.
"Spring Yellow" Oil on copper 8 x 6" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com
Now we are supposed to have a few days of rain and gray weather,they say. ..I shall not complain.We need the rain. April showers bring May flowers. I can't wait!!!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Springing Along With Small Oil Paintings
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| "Spring Fling" Oil 8 x 6" copyright 2012 http://www.kathipeters.com/ |
So actually since the last time I blogged....I have painted three foal paintings....two small oils on canvas on board and one casein on Ampersand claybord. All three are available for purchase on my website.
"Spring Bounce" oil 8 x 6" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com
I have been spending as much time as I can in the studio. I know I have commitments, but really, spring is in the air and I need a spring fix!! If I am not in the studio, you can find me in the garden!! [or at the barn shedding out two horses!!]
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"New Friends" Casein on Claybord 12 x 12" copyright 2012 www.kathipeters.com
Friday, April 6, 2012
Tell Me A Story
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| "Tell Me A Story" Oil on copper 12 x 12" ©2012 www.kathipeters.com |
The weather has been gray. My computers ....BOTH computers....were on the fritz and I have been feeling alone, isolated and out of touch from the world!!! But good things do happen and my desktop PC is back ....and I am painting and the weather seems to be warming up a bit. So all is not lost!!!
I have two shows opening [and opened] in Lexington,KY. where my work is hanging. The American Academy of Equine Art has their Spring Invitational show "The Horse In Fine Art" exhibited in the wonderful old Spindletop Hall. The show will be hanging until May 26th ...if you are in the Lexington area check it out. You will not be disappointed...this years show is stellar and I am very happy to have my oil painting "Angels and Horses" hanging in the show.Work is for sale in this exhibit...and it is a great chance to add you art collection!!
"Angels and Horses" Oil on copper 8 x 10" ©2011 www.kathipeters.com
Now I am working on a casein on Ampersand Claybord...a neat substrate to work on. Almost as slick as oil on copper , but the clay gesso sucks up the paint and it all dries to a lovely matte finish. So back to the drawing board for this...I am working on my drawing table because the paint would dribble if I worked on my easel. ... I work as if I am working in watercolor on this claybord. So back to the proverbial drawing-board!!!!
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