A new blog home!

It's up and running! A totally new blog for a new beginning! From now on ALL posting will be done at the
Wild Raven Arts blog. I'll be deleting this blog once I finish transferring the posts I wish to keep. If you want to keep following me, and I hope you do, please join me over on Wild Raven Arts!

I've already set up a place to sign up for the weekly newsletter, set my posting schedule (Mondays and Thursdays), and done two new blog posts.

Hope to see you there!

Kristin

Big Changes...

  Big changes being made to what I am doing and the way I am doing it.  I've done a lot of thinking about my terrible blogging and the why's behind my reluctance. It boils down to impersonal. I've kept my personality, my personal life, my personal goals, etc out of the blog and that just doesn't work for me. 

 As an artist I know EVERYTHING is personal. From the materials I work with, the colors I use, the music that plays and the art that gets created. I've a huge amount of work I create, but very little of it gets shared. I have a whole lot to say, but so many blog artists say to keep things from being to chatty and not personal, that I don't say it. But for me, that's just doesn't cut it.

Now I am saying: Screw that. From today on I am doing my blog my way. It's going to be personal, have my authentic voice and a whole lot more to offer. I'm not saying it's going to be this terribly long, boring, super personal blog. no. it's going to be an artsy, vocal, authentic ME place. And it's going to be regular  Twice a week you can expect to see me posting, read my personal thoughts and find out what I am up to.

Also, it isn't going to be here. I want to start from scratch. Within the next day or so I will be launching a new blog, totally revamped and totally me. I'll post the link here once I do.

Until then, wish me luck on my new, improved adventures. Love having encouragement when I decide to climb mountains and make great things happen in my life....

Tea anyone?

i've just finished this tea pot and cups quilted wall hanging. I've been determined to use the many UFO's (UnFinished Objects) stashed on shelves, in drawers and baskets around the house as holiday gifts by dragging them out and finishing them. These pot and cups blocks have been abandoned for too long to remember, so it was high time they made their way into a finished project! I made a few 4 patch blocks, added some borders and played endlessly with arrangement until it felt right.
This was going to be a reversable table runner, but ended up as a wall hanging after The Man suggested I add a way to hang it. In the spirit of keeping our holiday gifts handmade, I cut and stripped a maple branch for attaching the quilt to. Who needs dowels when branches will do? Plus, no dowel can compare to the uniqueness of a crooked branch!

The Holly Queen

Many years ago I made this ceramic mask to hang during the Yuletide Season. Being pagan I celebrate Yule, or the winter solstice, more so than Christmas. To me, this mask represents The Goddess in Her Holly Queen incarnation. I love the layering of colors, the greens over gold, reds over silver and the various flesh tones. The subtle layers don't transfer well to a photo, but I wanted to share my artful interpretation of a holiday symbol. Whichever winter holiday you celebrate I hope you receive many blessings and an abundance of joy!

Bird in Paradise

I think this one's done! Spent a bit more time on it, with music cranked as usual, and now it feels done. You never know though. I've been known to revisit a painting years later and take my brushes to it. Some people can't do that because they're afraid of ruining what they've previously created. I don't have that issue! What's the worst that can happen, afterall? You need to be able to take risks. In painting and in life...

New Painting

This acrylic painting in a large format was begun tonight. It had been a super high pain day for me so I needed to get out of my body for a while. Best way to do that is crank up the music, grab the brushes, paints and get to it!
The wonderful thing about having a creative soul is that, no matter how difficult things are to deal with, you can forget about it completely once you let loose and create. That's what I mean about "get out of my body". My pain levels are left behind, for a brief time, once I paint. Definitely a blessing.

Sketchbook Project 2013

 

  I finally decided to sign up for The Sketchbook Project, sponsored by the Art House Co-op. I'd read about it last year, but didn't end up signing up for whatever reason. Honestly, I don't remember why I never joined, lack of money perhaps, because this traveling sketchbook project idea really intrigued me! As things go, I totally forgot about the project until the other day when I happened to come across their web site again. This time there was no hesitation! I signed up immediately and am now awaiting delivery of my blank sketchbook.

  For days now I've been thinking of a theme for my book. I still haven't come up with one and have decided the theme will present itself once I have the book in hand.

  If you aren't familiar with the project, do check it out! You can look through the books that have been digitized, not all of them are, in the Digital Library area. You can also read all about the project, watch some videos or sign up to participate.

 I'll be posting updates, with photos of my book's pages, as often as possible. I can't wait to dig in and get creating. It's been ages since I joined anything of this magnitude!

Face Painting

The latest incarnation of this painting I've been working on for a while now. I've added more shading to the face, layered glazes, papers and transfers to the background and redone the nose, mouth and eyes. Every time I add or subtract something the work becomes less flat and more expressive. Like a good stew, the more you blend the ingredients, the richer the whole becomes!

Blech!

This is how I feel about getting up at 630 am on a freezing Saturday morning. Blech! But, my son has Boy Scout can duty this morn, where they sort all the returnables that've been donated to the Troop to help fund camping trips. So, awake I am. The mask is a hand carved and painted one from a tribe in Peru. Even at this icky hour I can still focus on cool art!

Cooking As Art

   Art comes in many forms and I for one believe cooking is an art! Especially when it's done with love and enthusiasm, the way all things in life should be done.   My son loves to cook and is becoming quite accomplished in the kitchen.

    This Monkey Bread, which isn't your run of the mill, easy to make type of Monkey Bread, we made together. It was a great way to keep our minds off of Jimmy, the love of my life, being in the ER while we waited to find out what was wrong. Waiting's never easy, but that type of waiting's torture!

   Anyhow, always remember to make life's moments count. Something as simple as making Monkey Bread can be a "moment" when it's done with love and enthusiasm.