This is the latest painting to come out of my studio.  It is 36″ x 24″ in acrylic.  It shows a change from what I have done most recently, don’t you think?  Do you see any human shapes in this piece?  There is an ongoing debate about that around here.  Some say “yes, there are one, two or three people there”, while others say “absolutely no people appear!”

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Monet House and Gardens, Giverny, Normandy, France

Just a short train ride from the center of Paris is the home of artist, Claude Monet.  On a beautiful day, Elizabeth and I went to Giverny in Normandy France to visit these gardens which inspired Monet.  Indeed they are inspirational and every way you turn, there is an exceptional photograph to be taken.

boats surrounded by bamboo and water

You may recognize these little boats from some of Monet’s paintings.  I am sure they are not the same ones, however the idea is there.  This setting is incredibly inspirational and if I were an impressionistic painter, I would be spending my time in this spot painting all day long.

I was inspired in a different way with this trip, however.  I was looking for something when I was in Paris.  When I went, I wasn’t sure what it was, but I intended to find out.  The colors are interesting as it is a rather gray city where other colors truly “pop”, and the buildings are  not too tall (there are a lot of tunnels under Paris).  The people are wonderful and friendly and that is always nice to find when you travel.  There was something else, though.  I knew my art was turning a corner  (I learned that when I was traveling back and forth between the US southwest and the US east coast over the last year), and I intended to find out in Paris!

One day when I was walking around the city with Elizabeth, Andrea and a new friend Sabrina, it hit me!  I am looking for doors!  Yes, you heard me, I am looking for doors – as in architectural features.  Paris has some amazing doors and amazing doors open to reveal new things.  I am looking for new horizons behind doors and a new way to merge all of these delightful expressions I have hiding inside of me.  Wow!  Who would have known?  So I sat down and had myself a good long talk with Andrea about this realization.  She talked me through some things, pointed out some things she thought warranted consideration and viola, I here by dub Kim and Andrea The Door Queens!  I will be exploring the metaphors for the door and how that all plays into the work I hope to move forward with now.  This feels so right, do you know that feeling when it is so right to proceed?

One of the things I realized is that architectural features are comfortable for me, so the door makes sense (I also love windows, but hey, you can’t do everything all the time)!  With Andrea’s encouragement I have also began allowing myself some sketching time without drafting tools!  This is the hardest part for me to allow myself to quickly, freely sketch something which resembles something else and not draft it!  So here you go…

Along the Rue Royale

These doors are really a beautiful red, however this sketch is done on paper board which does not take wet media very well.  I haven’t taken the time to use colored pencil or marker on it, so here you have it as an ink sketch done with a nib pen.  You just might see these doors again, as I seem to be making other sketches of them!

Now you know doors are my current obsession.  I am still highly drawn to my abstract work, but realized how important it is for me to explore these things in every detail.  I also need art I can practice when I am not able to get into my studio.  This gives me greater opportunity to explore a lot of ideas and still do the abstract work I so adore!

Tell me about the times when something hit you over the head as you were just going along minding your own business.

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Were you right, did you guess the bridge was the Pont Neuf in Paris?  This bridge was build between 1577 and inaugurated by Henry IV in 1607 and is one of the most famous bridges in Paris.  Of course, even if you did not know the Pont Neuf, you knew right away when you saw the photo of the Eiffel Tower!

You are right, I did not go to Paris for the bridges or the monuments.  I went to become inspired and that happened, too.  I have made some decisions about my art which I will be sharing with you, and which I am very excited about.

I know many of you want to know if I caught up with Andrea of Parisdreamtime while I was in her city.  The answer is YES!  Andrea has known about this trip since I made the decision to go.  She, her wonderful family and friends shared their city with my daughter and me and introduced us to many wonderful experiences which influenced my research so much.  This was my fourth trip to Paris, and I still find the wonder of this city amazing.  I traveled to places there I had not been before and explored some outlying areas, too.

I look forward to sharing this trip with you as the weeks and months progress.  For now, I am back to my research and settling everyone back into our home.  It is wonderful to have us all under one roof again!

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Thank you Elizabeth for all of your work!

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Fig asks 24 artists a series of questions while visiting them in their New York City area studios.  There are photographs of the studios as well as Joe Fig’s own sculptures of each artist working in the studio.  One of the questions Joe asks is if the artist has a motto or creed they live by?  Many say they do not, but some have responses which have interested me.  I thought this was a great question to pose here at the beginning of 2010, however.  Do you have a personal motto or creed which you follow? For me, it is to be myself.  Being true to the person I am is very important to me.  I have always been this way, and I have found it is appealing to some people and challenging to others.  The thing is, I can’t help it.

I hope you are willing to share your motto, creed or resolution here.  Do you think they are important guides?

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more than meets the eye?

As I look at this work in progress, I wonder what I am leaving behind I do not know about.  What am I sharing with the future?  Am I giving unintentional information?  I am thinking about this because of the recent uncovering of what appears to be a previously unacknowledged Leonardo da Vinci drawing, La Bella Principessa.  It was sold in 1998 as an “early 19th century German” piece.  However after it was sold again in 2007 for nearly the same price as in 1998 ($19,000.00), the buyer decided to have it checked out.  After connecting with a da Vinci expert, he learned he may have made the purchase of a lifetime!  You can read all about the discovery at many main news outlets, however here is a US article and here it is via a London newspaper.  You can also read how it got it’s name.

At any rate, all of this makes me think about what we might be saying in our art.  Am I leaving evidence of something I do not know about or is my work really just subject to each viewer’s place and time?  At any rate, it is interesting to know you just never know what you might be leaving in each painting.  Read this article, it is so interesting!

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textures and reflections

As I looked at this photo, I thought about the textures and the reflections.  The strands of dry grasses and the forest reflections in the lake became the important part of this photo as I looked at it.  I am sure on another day I would find something else important in this particular image.  While I contemplated these details, something was also happening of which I was not aware.  I thought about this incredible environment these grizzlies and other wonderful creatures call home.  I made a decision to make conscious, careful decisions about the way I live day to day and about the decisions I make in my studio.  From this was born my Reflection Series (which will be posted to my web site soon) to be seen in another section of this blog in the near future.

reflection painting details

I try to reuse as much as possible in my studio.  I am gathering bits and pieces of dried paint and applying them to my work.  By utilizing items I already have, I am creating some interesting work in the Reflection Series.  If you look closely at the above detail, you will see these bits and pieces.  This particular canvas was also reused, so everything you see here is literally bits and pieces gathered up and attached.

looking beyond the obvious

So I encourage you all to contemplate and look beyond what appears to be in front of you.  As artists, we never know what might inspire us or how that inspiration might manifest itself.  I also encourage you to take a look at your studio practice and think about how you might take environmental responsibility there.  Clearly, you cannot address everything and particular choices must be made in order to keep your art going, but think of what might be possible and how it might make a difference in your work and for the world.

I am fully aware my studio practice is not fully sustainable, however I am trying to make positive choices with the environment in mind.

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I spent an entire afternoon here!

Come into my back yard today.  I bet you didn’t think a new blog format would be a part of my changes, but I wanted to provide a place where I could share information and you could find it easier.  With this blog, I can create other pages where like profiles are pulled together.  So grab a cup of tea and let’s talk about this a little.  Don’t worry, the little fawn is nestled there for a while, her mother knew we would keep a watchful eye on her, and she is really too frightened to move.  She has not learned the ways of the world yet, since she is only a day old.  On the other hand, most of us have been around the block a few times.

So things are not completely pulled together here, but I want to share with you some of my ideas.  I will be posting like this once or twice a week, but in the meantime, I will be adding content to additional pages.  If you look at the column on the left you will see a Pages listing.  Here I will be creating some, hopefully, informative pages about other artists, art materials, books I am reading or maybe even want to read, travel, photography, writing/journaling, doodling/sketching, etc.  These will be areas which inspire me and encourage my creativity.  I hope you will find them helpful and interesting.

Since this blog is connected directly to my web site, I will not be posting any of my completed paintings here.  You are always welcome to bring up the subject of any particular painting or series for discussion.  I am also very open to talking about particular topics here, so feel free to email me or send me an email.  I am always eager to hear from you.

As I get used to this new format and learn how to better manipulate it, I will be adding information and letting you know via these weekly or bi-weekly posts.  In the meantime, I hope you have a very large mug of tea so you can enjoy it while you see what I have already put in place here.  Of course, for you long time readers of my Creating Space blog, you can find all of the posts with comments here and you can also return to that blog to read them.

Welcome to my new blog home!  I am grateful for your company.

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