Sunday, September 6, 2015

Discovering Yosemite

Although Howard and I lived in San Francisco for three years when we were in our late 20's, we were way too poor to go to Yosemite then.  Needless to say, I've regretted that we didn't somehow make the journey. Finally this summer we had the opportunity to go with my cousin, a geologist for the National Geological Survey, as our guide.  As he studied this cliff, he noticed a tiny blue speck and concluded there were climbers waaaay up there, about half way to the top.  With my 60X zoom camera, I got this shot of one of the pair.  Just being on a tall ladder makes me nervous....


We stayed at Curry Village,  a grouping of about two hundred canvas tents on wooden bases, which gave us the true camping experience, complete with a bear box to keep anything a bear might like tucked away in a steel container by the door of the tent.  All the sounds of nature at night were magical.  I do want to paint a nocturne of the tents soon.

I have yet to paint the exciting scenes in Yosemite itself, but I did complete three paintings of the days before going to Yosemite.  One day we drove down the coast from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay, and I took a photo reference of the soft mist pouring in between the coastal ridges.  The next day we made our way toward Yosemite seeing gorgeous rock outcroppings. We were getting close!

"San Mateo Mountain Mist"  oil, 16" x 20"  $1450

"The Climb toward Yosemite", oil,  14" x 11",  $950

"Anticipating Yosemite"  oil,  16" x 12",  $1150

Before long, I'm to give the Goudy Lecture at Scripps College in Claremont, CA, and, upon returning, I'm looking forward to painting those amazing cliffs and waterfalls of Yosemite!  Stay tuned!

Thank you for coming along with me on this journey.  If you'd like to see more of my paintings, just go to my web site at KathrynClarkFineArt.com


Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Jurying the ALL MICHIGAN 87th Regional June 4 -- August 5th

Howard Clark and I were honored to jury the 87th Regional Exhibition at the Muskegon Museum of Art in June.   It will be hanging until August 5th, so go to Muskegon for the Lake Michigan beach and the amazing Art Works!  www.muskegonartmuseum.org

"Best of Show"  by David Huang
(raised copper bowl from one sheet of copper with gold leaf interior and silver rim, and amazing surface relief)

It was the largest exhibition that I have ever juried.  Here is a photo of a few of the entries hanging back to back and belly to belly, floor to ceiling.  409 artists submitted 725 entries (a record number!)  However, it was an ideal situation for jurying because we could see all the actual art works with none hiding in stacks as is often the case.  As pieces were eliminated, the museum staff moved the ones near the ceiling down to our eye level so we could see them in an ideal setting.  It was a thrill to see so many beautiful works of art in all media including painting in oil, watercolor, and acrylic, pastel, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, fiber, photography, sculpture, encaustic, metal, and jewelry, basically any media, so pardon the odd angles and glare from the lights on the glass.  You can see the raised copper bowl in the lower left corner of the photo.

Having experience with almost every media helped me judge the craftsmanship of the works.  My undergrad major was in ceramics, graduate major in printmaking, then I exhibited art works in paper pulp, drawing, photography, watercolor and oil. We spent two full days choosing the exhibition.  The staff said that we had probably eliminated enough by the end of the first day, and we were very happy with the exhibition as it stood.  Then the next morning the Museum Curator told us that we would have to eliminate at least 50 more.  Yeow!! What a shock that was!  So now, when painting friends, or I, get "rejected" from an exhibition, I can certainly understand that it often comes down to the space available in the gallery.  Finally, we had them set aside our favorite art works in order to choose the Awards, not thinking about the media.  But we were happily surprised that those art works included almost every media.  Here are some of them which I photographed with my Ipad as we looked at them.
Large Acrylic painting about 5 ft long  by Nathan Margoni, Gordon Hall Memorial Award

2nd Place large photograph by Sean Lancaster

Honorable Mention watercolor about 15" x 11" by Michelle Brown

Large charcoal drawing about 30" x 40" by Jason McChristian, Curator's Choice Award

Honorable Mention Sculpture assembled from found objects by Nat Rosales

Now you can see what a thrill it was for us to see these beautiful art works "in the flesh!"  I was also asked to jury the Illinois State Fair's Professional Division for this years exhibition and awards, but the submissions were entered over the internet on digital files via a Juried Exhibitions Company.  It was so difficult to see the art works on a computer, even on a large screen which I have.  It is soooo much better to drive the actual art work to the exhibition site so the juror can see the real thing!  I know how much extra work it is for both the artists and the venue, but it is completely worth it in order to choose the best pieces.  After selecting that exhibition digitally, I will go to Springfield to see the actual art works in order to give the awards. 

As you can see, June was a very interesting month!  If you can get to Muskegon to see this exhibition before August 6th, , I think you'll find the trip well worth it.  Thank you for our interest in these musings, and please forward this to all your friends who might be interested. And you know that I always enjoy hearing from you.  www.kathrynclarkfineart.com 


Monday, June 8, 2015

Featured Artist at the Brown County Art Guild in June

"Garden Roses", oil, 11" x 14", $850

During the month of June, from June 2 -- June 30, about twenty-five of my oil paintings will be featured at the Brown County Art Guild in Nashville, IN.  Nashville is a quaint, tourist destination in the southern Indiana hills, and with The Guild,  it was the hub of the famous Indiana Hoosier Group of painters at the turn of the nineteenth century.  The Guild is dedicated to preserving the paintings of Marie Goth and others from that group.  Membership in the Guild is determined by the members themselves.  I'm proud to be a member and support this mission.

The Opening for this exhibition will be this coming Saturday, June 13th, from 5-8 pm.  The Guild is located at 48 South Van Buren, Nashville, IN 47488.  Other contact information:  phone 812-988-6185, www.browncountyartguild.org.  I hope you can come to see my paintings this month and enjoy all the other shops and galleries in Nashville while you're there. 

"October on Moot's Creek" oil, 16" x 20",  $1250

"Disembarking the Tiburon Ferry"  oil, 16" x 20", Sold

"Delayed by Rain"  oil, 18" x 24", $1500

If you would like to see more of my paintings, here is the link to my web site:  www.kathrynclarkfineart.com.  Thank you for your comments and support. 

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

PGA Senior Championships at Pete Dye Course, French Lick, IN

PGA Senior Championships at Pete Dye Course, French Lick, IN  May 19-24, 2015


In anticipation of the PGA Senior Championships at the new Pete Dye designed golf course at the French Lick Resort, a friend and I spent two days painting there.  We soaked up the gorgeous, wooded vistas of Southern Indiana from the spectacular layout.   Pete Dye created the jaw dropping views by removing hundreds of trees from the second highest spot in Indiana and carving out, he says, "his best inland course".   https://www.frenchlick.com/golf/petedye   For all you golfers, don't miss the Senior Championship tournament.  The tickets range from $15-$35.  Here's the scoop:  http://www.pga.com/seniorpga/

The Indiana Plein Air Painters were invited to create paintings of the course with vistas. We'll have our paintings on display and for sale during the Championships and thru the summer at the Historic West Baden Springs Hotel with it's huge, interior dome.  This not-to-be-missed hotel is part of the French Lick Resort and is connected to the French Lick Casino by an antique trolley. 




The weather was perfect, so, needless to say, we had a great time painting in the late afternoon on the day we arrived. My first view was painted from the back veranda of the old Taggart mansion, now the club house, looking west at the 2nd Hole, 369 yds, Par 4. 
"Hole 2, Pete Dye Course, French Lick, IN."  Oil, 11" x 14", Gold frame, $950

The next morning, we woke very early to catch the morning mist and the raking light of the sunrise.  My second painting was of Hole 9, 410 yards, Par 4.
"Hole 9, Pete Dye Course, French Lick, IN"  Oil, 11" x 14", Gold frame, $950

These two views and all my paintings can be seen on my web site at http://kathrynclarkfineart.com/   Please feel free to email me at  kclarkfineart@gmail.com with comments and inquiries, and forward this to your golfing friends.  Remember, I always enjoy hearing from you. If you haven't had the great pleasure of visiting French Lick, IN and staying in the West Baden Springs Hotel, I hope you will soon.  This summer has gotten off to a great start!
--Kathryn 

Monday, April 13, 2015

New Abstract Watercolors and Apologies for My Long Silence

I apologize for not posting a blog since last summer.  I've been posting most of my new paintings in the E-Mail Newsletter on my web site and got tired of writing much the same thing on my blog.  So, I encourage you to go to my web site and sign up to receive my E-mail Newsletter. The web site is www.kathrynclarkfineart.com  On the Home Page, just put your email in the box (Join my e-mail list).   I'll try to post new paintings, exhibitions, etc in my web site Newsletter, and more informal, chatty conversation and things in my blog, probably not as often.  If you click on "E-mail Newsletter on the Home page, you can sign up there too and also see Past Newsletters.

I've been painting representational images in oil since 2008 when I retired from making handmade artist papers at Twinrocker.  Before then, I was creating abstract images using paper pulp with hand papermaking techniques that I developed and then drawing on the dry handmade paper.  During the past six years, I've enjoyed using my eyes to interpret the beautiful landscape around me and learning the craft of painting in oil.  However, I've slowly missed using my imagination and finding out what images are in there. So I've decided to begin creating abstract images from my imagination in watercolor.  I know this will be a big shock to all the people who think of me as a representational painter, but, going forward, I want to paint BOTH representational and imaginative imagery.  Please let me know how you like them.  For many years, in my past "abstract" life,  I was interested in exploring the illusion of space, deep space, distorted architectural space, and movement through space.  Now I'm trying to see how these visual interests can be expressed in watercolor rather than paper pulp.  Here are two of the first three:

   "Center Refuge"  22" x 30" watercolor on Twinrocker Coldpressed Watercolor paper


"Riding the Wave"  22" x 30" watercolor on Twinrocker Coldpressed Watercolor paper

I may only post the new abstract watercolors on this Blog and not in my website E-Mail Newsletter because it might be too confusing for my collectors.  What do you think?  Should I keep the two different types of imagery separate?  I'd appreciate your advice. 

Thank you for viewing this blog and for your past comments and support.  Remember to sign up for my E-Mail Newsletter on my web site, and I'll try to post on this blog a little more frequently than once every six months.  ----  All the best, Kathryn