Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Fire and Ice, 19"x 11",pastel

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family out there in cyberspace :)  Hope we all remember to take a moment and celebrate this beautiful holiday...and remember that the greatest gift we have is the love and friendship we extend to each other.  As the days now slowly grow brighter from the winter solstice, may we too grow brighter, more loving and warmer toward each other and hold precious the gift of life we have and share with one another.

God bless you all, stay close and warm this winter and celebrate your life!

May 2012 bring a happy, beautiful, wonderful new year....better than you can imagine!

Warm hugs,

Kim



McSweeney

"McSweeney", pastel, 12"x18"

This black cat has the most luminous, spooky, possessed black-cat eyes!  This was the challenge of this portrait.  He also has two very small white spots - one on his belly and one on his chest.  Velvety thick black as night fur throughout the rest of him.

I went over to the apartment where he "reigns" over his kingdom.  Unlike most cats who like to hide from strangers, he came right up to me to check me out....almost like a dog.  Quite cooperative during his photo shoot, he struck this pose and gazed at me with those x-ray eyes.

His Mom wanted me to paint them green....as his name is Irish :)  They are really a yellow-green glow...so I surrounded him in green for effect.  I shall call them and tell him his royal highness is ready for Christmas...a present for his Dad.

Hope he's well received!

Thanks for reading my blog :)

Kim

Last Day of the Studio Tour

Well the last day of the Studio Tour was wonderful!  Met so many lovely people interested in what I do and fascinated with the pastel painting process!  Met new neighbors and many interested in lessons that I plan to organize next year. 

One of my very first pastel teachers surprised me with a visit - hadn't seen her in years - was soo very happy to see her - Mrs. Linda Passman.  She started me out with my portrait of my cat "Mowie", who was a homework assignment that wound up winning me a 1st place at the NC State Fair.  That piece kick-started my career.  She is my role model for great teaching :)

Here a customer is checking out my giclee prints along my "Wall of Deer" paintings.  "The Lookout", my latest, was by far the favorite.

Cards were a popular item...sold out on some last weekend and had to order more just in time for this weekend.

 Here are a few cows, donkeys and a black lab print on my propanels set up on another side of the living room.....

 My husband Eric was following me and my visitors around like the paparozzi!!  Glad he did cause I got so involved with people I forgot to take photos .

 The "Twins" portrait was graciously loaned to me for the Studio Tour...."Keepsakes" Framing in Pittsboro framed them beautifully... They were a hit!

My little bichon princess "Summer" enjoyed greeting everyone at the front door.....of course she thought everyone was there to see her!

Sooo many visitors - what a great Studio Tour!  I'll sleep well tonight and try to get back into "normal living" again tomorrow...whatever that is!

Thanks for following me on my blog :) Kim

Won an Honorable Mention!

Me & "The Lookout" at the Chatham Arts Studio Tour Show

Here I am at the Chatham Arts Studio Tour Gallery Show at Central Carolina Community College.  My piece "The Lookout" won an Honorable Mention!  More giclee prints had to be ordered for next weekend (Dec 10-11).  Yay!

This is just my second year belonging to Chatham Arts and being on the tour.  I am honored and happy to have won something.  I want to mention Roger Dinger's name here as he custom-made the frame from reclaimed oak barn wood.  See him at #42 on the tour and his website at http://www.reinbarnation.com.

Hope to see you next weekend! Who knows....with a full moon lunar eclipse anything can happen :)!

Thanks for following my blog.

Kim



Getting Ready for the Studio Tour this weekend

"The Lookout", pastel, 19x25, $1500

Getting ready for the Studio Tour this weekend......hang art, make & hang labels, clean house, hang Christmas decorations, send postcards & e-mails,clean the dog, get snacks, ....each year I forget something but it all works out ....and I haven't done Christmas shopping yet!

If you have a moment during the next two weekends c'mon by and check out my new work, new prints, new cards....have some yummy hot apple cider, enjoy the fire & music and chat. 

Happy Holidays everyone :)

Kim

Twins on the Tour!

"Twins" 24"x30", pastel

I painted this commisssion in July 2010 and just retrieved it to display during the Chatham Artist Studio Tour I'm in the next two weekends in December (3&4 - 10&11) from 10am-5pm. 

Usually I'm critical of work that I haven't seen in a while, but I am so proud of this piece and the boys in it!

Adopted from Vietnam by two wonderful parents, they wanted to capture them at this precious 3 year old stage.  What an honor! So I went to meet them and took hundreds of photos....settling on a photo of them interacting and ignoring me with the camera.  Much thought went into the composition, light/dark and warm/cool balance as well as color intensity and soft edges.  But especially the mood and energy of them.

I'd love you to come to my house and see me and my work on the tour :) see the map at this link http://www.chathamartistsguild.org/map/map.html or just mapquest me at 120 Creekwood, Pittsboro, NC  27312.  Open from 10-5.

Hope you can make it, I'd love to see you.

Thank you for viewing my art.

Kim



"Annie"

"Annie", pastel, 12 x18"

As Christmas is coming more orders for last minute commissions come in too.  This intelligent young black labrador retriever was quite playful as I tried to take her picture...stealing my hat and running all over the yard with it.  I enjoyed the chase...we became quick friends :)  The owner thought she'd be hard to photograph, but with a treat in one hand and the camera on the other I caught her with her eyes bright and her ears up, the light coming from one side. 

Yes, Rembrandt lighting works for doggie portraits too!  I always like to paint black animals with blue...the black tends to fill in and look flat...can't really depict warm or cool, just values...and it turns out more like a charcoal drawing instead of a pastel painting.

Hope this portrait makes a great Christmas surprise....

Thank you for viewing my art.

Kim