Creative Influences » Uncategorized

Excuses, Excuses

Kim — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:47:03 +0000

I must have been more tired than I thought last night when I wrote the previous post, but I failed to include the links to Andrea’s blog and web site. She so graciously agreed to allowing me the use of her photograph, then I messed it up. My apologies, Andrea. Please visit her and see the Shangri-La piece even larger on her blog. I have also repaired the previous post.

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What in the world?

Kim — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 18:44:49 +0000

Do you ever wonder what happened when you look at something you have created? I still have not figured this one out, but there it is – strange, but in some way haunting to me. It almost looks like this orb is breaking through some rust. Believe it or not, I spent days on this one…eeek. It is acrylic on 12″x6″ hardboard. At least it is acrylic, so I can paint over it when I am finished contemplating.

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Guest Blogging

Kim — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:41:10 +0000

I am a guest blogger on Artybuzz and would love to have you all visit there to read what I have to say. Please leave a comment and have a look around. The site is different from what you might expect: while it might at first appear similar to other sites, I think you will find the products are different. However, read my post and let me know what you think.

I also want to thank Richard Wilde for all of his help and insights. We can look forward to a blog post by him in the future on this blog.

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Words from the Tea Bag Tag

Kim — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:19:00 +0000

I shut my eyes in order to see.

Paul Gauguin

1848 – 1903

Please bear with me here, as life is a bit crazy at the moment – good, but crazy!

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A Few (More) Words About Slow Art

Kim — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:40:43 +0000

a study piece

It has been a while since I wrote about Slow Art. You can read that posting here. This subject is never far from my mind and you can find some slow blogs and web sites in the list on the right column of this page. Recently, I have been thinking about the relationship of taking time to make art and taking time to view art. Does it make a difference in one’s life? One thing viewing art slowly does is give you time to fine the subtleties of the work, the depth of the layers and the richness created over time. These are things that a quick glance cannot accomplish.

What does it take to create art slowly? Slow is different if you are working with watercolors than it is if you are working with oils, it is different if you are working with clay than it is if you are working with bronze. The materials obviously make a difference, but I am talking about something more. Mark Rothko apparently was once asked how long it took him to create one of his color field paintings. His quick response was, “57 years!” which was his age at the time! He used work and life experiences to reach his goals of a single painting. I think this was the right response. I know I pull from a lot of experiences to create and to live. It takes a great deal of work to “unearth” these lessons and experiences, too. I find, reflecting is often the best way, although it takes a lot of tools to bring those reflections to the surface.

In my last post, Suki reminded me of the importance of contemplation and not to worry about if anyone else thought you were working or not, because you know the truth. I knew she was right and was grateful for her wise words. It takes a great deal to get to our personal truths, create a piece of art and then to expose those truths to a public who may or may not understand the meaning or take the time to slowly view what you have so laboriously created over the expanse of your life. It seems to me, though, that with the slowness of creation the artist probably also recognizes many people cannot or are unwilling to really see.

In the presentation about Mark Rothko done by Simon Schama, I learned Rothko was also asked how far away someone should stand from one of his color field paintings and in a single breath, Rothko said, “18 inches”! If you have ever experienced one of these paintings and stood in front of them at that distance, you will understand why he did not hesitate! Last weekend I had the opportunity to do just that and was completely overwhelmed by the experience. Truly, it makes all the difference and drives home the truth that it took him 57 years to paint it!

Creating Slow Art and Viewing Art Slowly seem to go hand in hand to me. As many of you know, it takes me a long time to bring a canvas into its fullness as it has an incredible number of layers. Some of the reason for this is because I think I gain so much in this act! I wonder if these paintings cause people to slow down and really see any better? Do you life your life slowly when you can?

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Just An Odd Day

Kim — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:13:49 +0000

acrylic ink in watercolor paper sketchbook – wip

Here is the thing, today is just not a day to accomplish a lot of work. It is one of those days when I feel like all I am doing is chasing my tail. The last few days have kind of been like that, I work in the studio only to emerge and find there is a great deal of other work which needs to be done. So I spend the time trying to get that all cleared up and there is work in the studio which keeps calling me! In some cases, all I want to do is paint and create, however there is this thing called life which keeps stopping me. I know to those who observe it must seem as though I have all the time in the world – at least they approach me in that way – yet, I am never fully realizing anything in their views. How does one express to those who do not live this life how consuming it can be? Maybe this cannot be expressed in a way they can hear it, so it is best not to go down that path. How do I stop going in circles today and start making a web of this thing? Maybe I just have to get through this particular day. My experience tells me it doesn’t last long! Do you have these days?

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National Summit on Arts Journalism

Kim — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:26:28 +0000

For many years I have been reading a daily posting of blogs and articles compiled by Arts Journal. They review over 200 sources daily for articles pertaining to the arts and to culture. There are additionally quite a number of regular journalists who blog there. I receive a daily as well as a weekly summary of their findings and writings. This Friday, 2 October 2009, will be the first ever National Summit on Arts Journalism. This is being held in Los Angeles. The summit will be streaming live between 9 am (09:00) to 1 pm (13:00) Pacific Time (-8 GMT, I think) and they hope to have online conversations going throughout. I have agreed to host the stream and hopefully a conversation here on Creative Influences. So return on Friday to see what is going on in Los Angeles and participate in the conversation.

Live video by Ustream

Let me see if I can get the chat to happen, here:

Now for the Twitter feed:

I sure hope I have this right. You know how I struggle with these things.

If you want to also host this summit on your blog, please visit Doug’s posting to learn more about it. As artists we all depend on each other and the journalists can be ever so helpful.

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Welcome to My New Blog Home!

Kim — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:37:54 +0000

: 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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Bear With Me

Kim — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:58:00 +0000

Since I have not posted for nearly a month you are probably wondering what in the world is happening here. I am taking a bit of a blogging break for now. A lot of personal things are going on…which are good…and I am making some changes with the presentation of my art. I promise you I will return to this blog with a lot to share in the future. Bear with me because I will also get around to visiting you as soon as I can.

I hope all is well and you are enjoying this lovely season!

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Going to New York City – Meeting Andrea

Kim — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:38:00 +0000

What an exciting day. I hardly slept a wink in anticipation of this trip to New York City. I was not only going to meet Andrea who had become a wonderful cyber friend, but I was going to get to see my daughter who was coming from LA.

I am taking Amtrak’s Acela train at 7 am from Washington, DC’s Union Station. Oh my, that means I have to be on the Metro early, early, early!
If you have the chance, I highly recommend you visit Union Station in Washington, DC. It has been refurbished and is as grand as it was when it was first built. Do you see those double doors over there? Remember them, we will see those again.

Okay, so let me see…yes, my train is till on time (nothing to worry about with Acela). So from this vantage point, if I turn around…
…I find those double doors, I told you to remember. These are the front doors to the station and if you look hard…okay let’s step through them.
Okay, so just beyond the flag pole and the monument…see it there just above the trees? Yes, that is the United States Capital. We are that close.

I am going to New York City, though…gotta run to catch my train!
I have taken many trips on Amtrak, but I have to say this is the first time I have ever taken the Acela, and I am glad I did. It is fast, it is comfortable and it is clean! What is this? An electronic message saying, ‘Mind the Gap’! What? Am I in England? Oh, I wish… I spend time reading, writing.

I get to Penn Station in a very short time. Ohh, New York City! I have not been here for so long. The day is beautiful, so I decide to walk to my hotel since my luggage is minimal. Before I get to the corner at Madison Square Garden, my phone rings. “Hi Mom, I am just about ready to board at LAX. I will call you when I get there. I love you!”

“I love you, too, Honey! Have a safe flight.”

I make my way up The Avenue of The Americas (6th avenue) to my hotel at 54th Street! I am early, but they have my room ready. I decide to give Andrea a call once I throw my things down. I take a deep breath and make the call feeling kind of nervous. What if we do not get along as well in person? Her beautiful voice soothed my worries right away. (If you are wondering, her English with slight German and French accents is more American than British. I know I wondered.) Andrea tells me she and her husband are walking toward a place where they can take a helicopter ride and she will phone me when they get back to their room. That works out great for me, too. I can relax a bit and get my bearings here. I decide I should be okay, since I am only a block off of 5th Ave.

While I am at it, I peer out the window…here is the view:

Did I say I wanted to relax? That did not last long. I realized I was only one block away from one of my favorite stores! I have to go all the way to Georgetown in DC to get to a Zara! So I am off…

I talk to my son and my husband. I touch almost everything in Zara , then I get a text. Andrea and her husband are back in their room. I can’t call her from my cell as I do not have international service. So I head back to my room and call her at her hotel. We agree I will walk to meet her at the Edison. As I walk, I am so nervous, again! Whew, the butterflies are amazing. I walk into the hotel and pick up a phone.

“Hello, I am here. Yes! I am by the phone bank in the lobby. Mmm, I am round and not too tall. I am wearing a black skirt, a teal shirt, red sandals and have sunglasses on the top of my head. Yes, dark brown hair! See you in a few.”

I recognize their loveliness as they step out of the elevator! Oh, how great it is to finally meet Sweet Andrea! Now for those of you who are wondering – she is even more delightful in person than on the blog. She has a beautiful smile, a friendly face so full of wonder and delight. She is truly a beautiful person in every way. With Andrea is her kind, handsome and very French husband! Within moments, I feel as though I have known them for years. Bye-bye butterflies!

We decide to find somewhere to go. Andrea decides the German girl is ready for a beer. I think a glass of wine sounds good. Our lovely French escort says he has to keep us both straight and has a Diet Coke…most likely he knows it isn’t the beer or the wine which means he might need to keep us straight, but probably the fact we are not paying any attention to anything else at the moment. At Jake’s we find a nice quiet table to talk and talk and talk and talk. I tell Andrea’s husband she is a blog celebrity. He thinks she should be as she works all the time with some part of her art or the other. We talk away a few hours before my phone vibrates – a text!

My daughter has landed at JFK and will be making her way on the subway to our hotel. “I’ll meet you at the hotel, Mom.”

Andrea, her husband and I talk more on the walk towards our hotels. We go our separate ways on the street with kisses on each cheek saying we will connect tomorrow.

I arrive back in my room and five minutes later, my daughter knocks at the door. The sight of her brings tears to my eyes – five months is just too long and Los Angeles is so far! She used to live in the city, so her knowledge base is going to get me to places I have never been before.

First of all, we need to find dinner since neither of us have had a meal and only a small snack all day. Ohh, there are people waiting here…darn, it looks good, too. What? You can seat two? Great! We are so hungry, but take our time and enjoy a long meal together while we catch up on all things girly!

After dinner, we decide to walk. We are near Columbus Circle, so we head up there. We find an underground Whole Foods and think we might get a few snacks for the room. We change our mind, but before we left, we found this and I had to share it with you:
No, I don’t like eggs at all, so we will not get these. Those are chicken eggs there beside them! Cool, uh? I guess they would make an omelet to feed a few!

The night is lovely, so we decide to walk down 5th Avenue to near where my daughter worked at Norton Publishing (beside the New York City Library). It is nice to walk.

On our way back towards the hotel, we decide to stop at Rockefeller Center. These tulips were beautiful:
Here is my lovely daughter who is so knowledgeable about the city.
Oh, I couldn’t resist sharing this beauty, too.
Of course, I couldn’t go to New York without grabbing a shot of a shop window, right? Who could resist Teuscher Chocolate…just for you. It seemed to be the perfect spring window.
This is the end of my first day in New York City. We were very tired so headed back to our hotel for a good night’s rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy and exciting day!

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