Category: Katherine McDermott Artist

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Meandering into March

I can’t believe it’s March and I haven’t posted anything since the new year.  Good grief.  I’ll admit, the new year started off rough, but that is no excuse.  It’s likely more accurate to say I’m easily distracted. Well, maybe not since most people know me as tenacious as a bulldog chasing a rabbit.  Either way, here I am back at it.  Honestly, it’s more like I didn’t think I had anything to say and not being familiar with being at a loss for words, I left it alone.

At any rate, here I am at the gallery, watching the blue sky give way to gray and seeing tiny little flakes float gently to the ground.  I actually wish it would just let go and snow…really snow so all the lovers of Spring skiing will have more fun.  Spring break is not all that far away.  So, let it snow. 

It has been actually a very mild winter…albeit a couple weeks of outrageous cold wrecked the heating budget.  The coldest morning, I looked at the thermometer with shock.  It read “error”.  “Error?”  Turned the battery on the transmitter just couldn’t handle it.  I guess I don’t blame it…I didn’t want to crawl out of bed.  -47.  Good heavens.  It brought back memories of high school and Delta Junction, Alaska.  “No thanks”, I said.  “I’m not going anywhere”.

I have been in the studio in my silence.  A few nice pieces came out in the end.  Here’s a look:

Acrylic

Acrylic (Sold)

Scratch board
Pastel

At least I was productive!  The next studio time comes on Sunday.  The first thing I’ll do is finish the scratch board roses.  Facebook friends voted to leave them white, so I’ll just add a few blue hues in the shadows and green in the stems and buds. After that I have 4 paintings to do for customers.  So, I’ll be busy for a while! Nothing wrong with that picture!  And, I’ll do my best to get back here before another quarter passes!
Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Happy New Year…It’s been too long!

It’s not that I don’t think about it.  I do, and alot.  So many things have intervened since the last post, it’s hard to remember them all.  Part of the delay was surely the laptop, which I breezed by in the last post. Out with the old, in with the new.  It still amazes me how long it takes to make that transition, but it is done and I love my new HP, though I’m not wild about the touchpad.  That said, it’s pretty much the only thing I’d change on the machine, and it is so light I actually don’t mind carrying it around! 

Then, Wooosh, the holidays were upon us.  Time literally seemed to fly.  The 7th Anniversary of the Gallery, that was in the planning for 7 months (or more) came off quite well, even though there were far fewer in attendance that I expected, it worked out well given the small size of the current venue.  I posted video on facebook, but here it is again, just in case you don’t do the fb thing.

 Not sure we could have packed in any more folks as it was!  The musician is Tom Perry and he was great!  So, that was December 17th, and then the march was on to Christmas.  Then New Years.  Now it is the 3rd of January and tomorrow is my sister’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Beckles!  I won’t whisper her age, cuz I’m much older!  

Ok, so I’ll be 50 this year.  I can hardly wrap my brain around it.  Likely though, it won’t be much different than being 49. I spent most of this day painting, and that was wonderful.  Particularly since I’ve kind of been putting it off.  Dily Dallying around.  Doing the drawing, throughing it away and doing it again. It’s a commission, for a friend of mine.  Those are generally hard anyway, but this involves the human form and though I know “how” I’m reluctant to delve in.  It’s his dad.  The complication is that I don’t know his dad.  Painting from a photograph is ok if it’s a flower, but people, well, it’s more complicated…or at least it can be.  I procrastinated, and last night, when John said, “are you going to paint tomorrow?” I hedged.  I finally said, “I’m struggling with this one”.  He said, “I noticed”.  

Then, this afternoon, something happened.  The house was quiet.  The studio, recently cleaned, bekoned. And there, on my table was a blank canvas and a drawing on paper next to it.  When I do detail on canvas, I do the drawing on my computer (in Corel Painter) and then print it, and if happy, transfer to the canvas, so that I don’t damage the canvas with erasures and extra graphite.   I got out my transfer sheet, traced the image on to the canvas, opened my watercolor palette and wet the paint.  I sat down, and painted. Didn’t look up, didn’t hesitate for a moment.  Lost in the painting and time did not exist.  When I stood up and stretched, I glanced at the clock. Two hours had passed.  I’m not sure it’s done, but I think it’s close.  Very close.  


I love it when that happens.  Happy New Year!

 

 

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Sharing Gratitude on Thanksgiving Day

I can scarcely  believe it already Thanksgiving day.   The last post was on November 1….wow did time fly.  When I woke up this morning my first thought was gratitude and that kind of surprised me. Not that it should, but it did.  When I hit the “get mail” button on the new (more on that later) laptop I followed a link to the blog post of a friend of mine. Sort of.  I doubt he knows my name, but I have been following and learning from him for a few years now.   His name is Jeff Walker and he wrote a post called “The Discipline of Gratitude”.  Worth the few moments to read it.

So in response to that, here in black and white is my list, of what, really I am thankful for this morning.  Though they are numbered, there is no real order in them.  They are really, mostly, all #1.

1.  This comfortable chair in which I sit is in our amazing home in the beautiful Moreno Valley of Northern New Mexico.  My mortgage is current, the heat is on and the lights too.  The well gives water and the coffee I just brewed is ready.  I’ll pour a cup before I go on. 

hmmm. Is that one or three?  Anyway:

2. Though my sisters and Mom are far away, I can hear the happy sounds of their voices in my head and I know they are well and like most of us, busy.  I’m thankful for all of that.

3.  My husband of  21 years is still glad he’s married to me, and he tells me so.  It goes both ways. In this day that is something to be particularly grateful for.

4.  Seven years ago, on this very day, I sat across the table from Vicki and Larry and we toasted the decision to go forward with what seemed almost a ridiculously absurd idea to open an art gallery in Angel Fire.  Let me shout gratitude for that.  While the journey has been fraught with tears, I never would have done it without them.  Many know that I later bought them out, but there is not an inch of doubt in my mind that I would never have taken that leap on my own.  How far, how very far I have grown.  Grateful I am, for all of it, and for the venture began, 7 years ago today.

5.  On that topic, Angel Fire ArtSpace Gallery, what a ride, and wow am I grateful to all of the hundreds of people, friends old and new,who have wandered through my life.  Some have wandered through and on, while others have come again and again, honoring me with their support and encouraging me on.  Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

6.  Now some specifics, my gratitude to and for the following people is so deep in me it tingles my toes.  John, Diana, Melissa.  Thank you is not nearly adequate and I am blessed by your love, friendship and partnerships.  Janet & Dick, still…..and ongoing….thank you.  Anna, always there, unafraid to tell me the truth, even and especially when it hurts.  There are many more.  If I didn’t type your name it doesn’t mean you are not in my heart.

I think I’ll stop there, the writing part anyway.  Jeff, your post is well taken.  Thank you for prompting me to dig a bit deeper and put it out to share it.  You’re right, it is so good to take a look around and count the blessings.  I intend to look around more regularly.  It is so easy to get inundated and overwhelmed.  In looking around, I found my faith.  I didn’t realize I had lost it, and clearly I didn’t, but it was misplaced.  Should have been right there, and in fact, it was.  I just didn’t see it.

Thank you.  And Happy Thanksgiving all.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Kudos to American Airlines

The best laid plans…or so the saying begins, did not figure in to the equation the secret blessings or the grace and fortitude of some American Airlines employees. The day before the flight, I got an email that said, “Katherine, check in now!”. So I did. Then I went about my routine, getting the gallery ready for that night’s 4th Friday reception. When I got home later that night, I busied myself with finishing the packing and laying out instructions for the house sitter/dog sitter. At 4:45 am, the alarm buzzed. Up and out.

When I eventually got the airport I walked up to the self-serve machine and punched in my AAdvantage number. Up came my reservation and I clicked “check baggage only” since I had already checked in. After the spinning “working” came this message,”Katherine, we have a special offer for you today. Upgrade this flight!” What? Is this right? I’m not Gold, Platinum, or anything like that. Hmm. I did the math. Upgrade, plus get bag checked free. GREAT DEAL! so I clicked yes, slid my American Express card and whammo out came my first class boarding pass. Wahoo! Little did I know how thankful I would be for that, not foreseeing the odyssey that would follow.

As I snuggled in the nice seat in 1st Class I was greeted by a smiling face and the flight attendant said, “I’m Cari, what’s your first name?” “Katherine” I smiled back. I watched as she introduced herself to other passengers and hung coats, then brought us each water or juice. Moments later the Captain said, ” let’s get everyone on and seated, we need to get moving to beat a thunderstorm.” (or something to that effect) and we backed out from the gate a few minutes later at 10:40am. Up, up and up and the announcement came that the usual 1 hr 30 minute flight would take 2 hours or so as we were re-routed around the threatening cell. I settled back, glad for the “Special offer”.

Just so this post won’t go on as long as the rest of the story really took, I’ll summarize. Once we approached DFW we were told the airport was closed. We were told that many other flights were re-routed, but we, unlike them, had “plenty” of fuel so we would circle in a holding pattern for a half hour or so. Then an hour. Then more hours. The flight attendants were busy keeping us occupied, watered, and distracted. Pretty soon, we were all wondering just how many times we could go round that storm. Round and round we went. Still they remained focused, friendly and smiling. Stopping to chat and distract. Then, came the news we were heading to Abilene. No longer fuel full, but now the needle dropped to the point that it was time to fill ‘er up. We had barely come to a full stop when the boxes of granola bars came out and a cabin full of folks were still crunching when we were told that pizza was on the way. It was surely an economic boon for Abilene as plane after plane landed at the small airport. And sure enough, when the gate crew carried on boxes and boxes and boxes of Domino’s Pizza the ringing of the register could surely be heard for miles. And we were happy. Sadly for the few vegetarians and restricted diet folks, it was all pepperoni, but hurrah for the crew of flight 1820 for taking decisive action. Most of us had the first bite in our mouths before the piece was fully in our hands! It was, after all, by this time, about 3:00 in the afternoon. Cell traffic had the towers buzzing as we all tried to call reservations to re-secure our next leg reservations…not that any of us made it through the barrage of calls hitting that number. Might as well wait. And here, during all this time, sat I, in first class.

Gives me chills when I think about it now.

At 4:30, we got the word, and hi-tailed it out of there. As we took off, I could see the line of planes below, waiting their turn. We were first in, and first out.

Since the airport had been shut for hours during this mega nasty thunderstorm, everything was delayed or canceled. Having long ago given up on the 800 number, I walked up to a gate for a flight (not mine) that was headed to NY. The agent looked at my boarding pass and said, “you’re in luck. Your flight is still going. Head to gate C35. You’ve got an hour.” I thanked and noticed as I walked away, that the flight she was working had been canceled. I shook my head inside and smiled as I walked toward the skylink.

At about 7:15, the plane that was previously scheduled to depart at 2:55, turned onto the runway to take off. No longer in first class, but immensely thankful that for the entire lengthy experience in the sky, there I was. Thankful for the great crew of flight 1820, and particularly, Cari (don’t know her last name) and the rest of the crew (and the Captain/Co-Captain) who made the experience worth writing about. I thought I was tired. They were the ones doing all the work!

As we headed for the landing, sweeping across the bright lights of the big city, the gleaming lights of the empire state building, the immense area of the city all aglow, I was struck by how surreal it all was. New York City at midnight, viewed from a few thousand feet and closing, was as beautiful to me as the gazillion stars that twinkle in our own view, in the Moreno Valley of Northern New Mexico. Totally different, but totally beautiful. At 1 am, I rang the bell on the apartment, walked into my husbands arms. The perfect end.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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The Color is coming…and fast!

I know, it’s been a very long time since I posted. Life has been crazy! And though it’s likely to continue fr a while, I figured I better get back to it or it will pass me by altogether! Yesterday I had to fly to Taos and the changing color in the canyon slowed me down. The scrub oak is turning red, the chamisa is bright yellow, the cottonwoods are taking on their characteristic varied hues of gold and the dark blue-green of the evergreens make a vivid background for all the changes. And it’s only just begun. At the tippy top of the mountains that surround our valley, the aspen have gone from the deep green of summer, to the bright green that makes the mountain sprinkled with varied color. At the very peaks, there are peeks of bright yellow that will morph to gold and then red and gold. The morning air at a scant 27 degrees is the not so gentle warning that the season is changing, though the afternoon temp of 73 (which is what it is right now) is wonderful. I love this season. If I could choose it year round it would be the one I’d pick.

August whizzed by even faster than July. I didn’t think it was possible. One highlight was getting my new Miche bag. I’d been waiting for it for nearly a year, and birthday money from moms and husband brought it to me. Not that it is expensive…just me learning to live in my budget. If you don’t know about it, you really must check it out. There is a link at the top right of this page, and yes, it is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy, I’ll be able to get more skins! Wahoo! The Miche bag is a handbag with multiple varieties of outside “skins”. Change the outside without dumping out the contents and rearranging it into a new bag. It’s a new bag every month, every week or even every day! I got 5 “skins” and I’ve used three of them so far. I love it! 5 skins and two kinds of straps, with the main handbag set me back $112. Look at it this way..5 handbags for $112. That’s a deal I can live with!

What else. Hmm..oh I’m getting a new phone. My poor blackberry is giving up. The scroll bar only goes one direction. Try navigating with that! If the phone rings, I answer, then hear static, then the phone shuts off. Completely shuts off, and won’t turn on again unless I plug it in to power. Ugh. So, my AT&T account says I’m eligible for an upgrade. wahoo! I’m going Droid! I can hardly wait! I should have my new Samsung Captivate in a couple of days. Technowiz I’m not, but watch out, I may be shortly! Thumbs way up to the really helpful guy Julius at AT&T who worked it all out for me!

Let’s see, there’s a bunch of stuff going on, of course. Tonight is the grand opening of the new building at the High School. Awesome!

And real soon it’s the first Angel Fire Peak Challenge. Read more about that here. I know they’re looking for participants and volunteers to help out too. You can find all you need to know about that at that link.

For a full list of all that’s coming up be sure to check the Visitor Center out. Or head to the Resort page to check out the live cams and the daily leaf report! (yes, they change daily).

Fall is in the air and the world is turning at the speed of life here in Angel Fire. Come up, catch your breath and relax. Take a spin on a mountain bike, ride a horse, learn to paint…or all of it!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Streams

I woke up this morning, and realized (startled) that I had slept all night. It’s the first time in months and the number of times in the last 5 years I can count on one hand. Yay.

It’s amazing how much it impacts your outlook, energy and all that. After doing some things that had long been waiting for my attention (laundry, cleaning bathrooms, etc) I realized I didn’t really have time to paint before I had to head to the gallery. Hmm. what to do? I sat down and started sorting through “reference photos” stored on my hard drive. lots of them. I ran across some that made me smile, and some that made me teary. Some that I moved to the desktop to use for reference in the upcoming work I’m planning to start.

As I scrolled through the years I ran across this:

I heard a noise as I came out of the bedroom one morning to make the coffee. I looked out the back door (glass) and saw him. I thought he had a gorgeous tail, and if the door hadn’t been between us, I could have reached out and touched it. That’s the concrete of our back porch under his feet. That close. Stunning. Then Chloe (our dog back then) sauntered out of the bedroom and saw him. Need I say more? We decided to build a fence.

It reminded me of the first days we lived here, specifically building the house and moving in (it’ll take a book to tell that story).

The first morning we lived in our house, as I was sitting at the dining room table, I felt someone looking at me. Looked up and there, peering in that same back door was an elk. Female. Looking in longingly, like she wanted to come in, like we had taken her favorite grazing area. It was not lost on me. When we were building, every morning I’d come back to the construction site to find new prints in the soft dirt that would become our floor. Then I’d clean up the skat from various soon to be rooms. A tinge of guilt clouded my heart, that we were invading.

Now we’ve been here 16 years.

We don’t see the coyote, the bear, the mountain lion (it still prowls our yard, we find the prints in the damp mud beside the garage) or the elk as often as we used to. But we do hear them. We hear the owls hoot, the eagle screech, the coyote’s wail and the elk calling in the fall. It’s where we live, and hope we leave but a tiny footprint when we’re gone.

It’s raining now in Angel Fire while I type this as I wait in the gallery for the next car load of customers. The air smells fresh with wet pine. Remember it, I say to myself. Remember it.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Fall is in the Air

It’s fairly quiet this afternoon at the gallery, so I grabbed my bag of what I’m working on, slid the phone in my pocket and headed for the door. Crystal blue sky looked inviting as I stepped outside, but then, whoosh! the wind hit me. Quite a cool wind mind you. The smell of Fall distinctly in the air. At once refreshing, but still caused a deep sigh. Can it be already? Wow has this summer rocketed by.

I stood there for a few minutes, and then decided good music inside would be more conducive to finishing the scratchboard piece I had in my bag.

So that’s what I did. And it’s done now, at least for the scratching part. I’ll take it home now and paint it, perhaps in the morning (I don’t open the gallery till noon on Wednesdays). I’ll post a pic once it’s finished.

I do have to fiddle with the new Sony A/V receiver first, mind you, to try one last time to see if we can make it work. Not my idea of fun, mind you, but gotta try it before they’ll take it back. Got it from American Express Rewards, along with a new HD TV. Read, great reward, but nightmare. TV is great. Receiver constantly and immediately goes to “muting” once you’ve selected a source. HDMI flickers black on and off and on and off..though we’re not really sure if that is the receiver or the satellite receiver. I thought AMEX rewards would take it back and replace it, but I apparently called three days too late after trying over and over to find a solution. Sigh. Hopefully the “test” Sony asked me to do will go quickly and it will either solve the problem completely or completely not, so that I can head to the studio and paint for a while before I head in to Angel Fire.

I thought about hanging out here for a while this evening, to watch the celebrated burning down of the “Central Reservations” building across the street. Guess I won’t be using that as a landmark any more! If you’re in town, head to Centro Plaza and enjoy some bbq on the Fire Department while you watch the show. I wonder how long it will take? Likely not long as it is wood and wood and old, so old. I don’t think I’ll hang out though. Been here all day and am more than ready to head home.

Anyhoo…cheers to the Fire Department and may the wind die down!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Big News, ArtsFest and Feeling Like a Limp Rag

Did you see the whirlwind? Wow. It’s all a blur. It began a few weeks ago when in the midst of preparing for ArtsFest it became clear that I needed to move the gallery. Yes, move. Yes, again. And smack in the middle of July.

I had anticipated a move due to the ongoing saga of the building the gallery was in. (yes, was.) But I really figured it would be like October or November. Alas it was not to be and an immediate move loomed before me like Denali during a storm.

Good friends and (and all ladies) lugged, carried, cradled and transported the entire contents of the gallery to the new location yesterday. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Two weeks ago, or maybe three? I settled on a new spot. But there was tons to be done. Walls to be painted, lights to be installed, a hole through a wall to make two units into one. Tons (literally) of boxes to be removed from one unit that had previously been used for storage. Then there was the nasty carpet that had to be removed, the concrete beneath it cleaned and the tile laid. I only am bummed I didn’t take “before” photos!

So, paint walls I did (and thanks to new friend Jo Lynne for helping!). Thanks to BJ and his helper Kent (I think…my head is fuzzy) for knocking the hole through the wall, finding a great deal on a nice door, and putting it in!

Thanks Lin for help moving the boxes and stuff so that Ryan and friend could man-handle the carpet and pad and get it outa there! Thanks to Leslie (L&J Interiors) for finding me nice tile and getting it here FAST!

My knees are black and blue (the kneepads wouldn’t stay on) and my fingers very sore, but the tile is down. Then came ArtsFest!

From the view of the Arts Council, it was a great success. The premier saw literally 3 times as many purchased tickets (over last year). Saturday was virtually even, and Sunday was down a bit (but likely due to the world cup!) Many artists did very well, most did good and only a couple had little or no sales. Personally, I did okay. Not great, mind you, but it is the first time in years that I have actually done the show, and that does play into it. So does the fact that I have the gallery here. People say, “I’ll come see you at the gallery” instead of “I’ll take that one”. I’m not sure how to deal with that.

So, now back to the big move. Sunday we closed ArtsFest. Monday, we moved the gallery. It is now a disaster. The next task (after cleaning the spot I just left) is to sort it all out and make it beautiful. I hope to have that done by Friday, but we’ll see. Going from 4 units to 2 will make it challenging, but I think I’m up to it. I’ll keep you posted! Oh, and Where? did I move? Next door to the Chamber of Commerce. I think it will be good.

And, THANK YOU to Linda, Sylvia, Jacqui, Sandy and especially, Diana! You Ladies ROCK!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Fourth Fridays Return Tomorrow Night

Wow, I can’t believe how this month has FLOWN by! Here it is already the eve of the first Fourth Friday since last fall. The gallery looks great and all is at the ready. Even though my head is swimming with all that has to be finished for ArtsFest, both from the point of view of being the Executive of the Arts Council, and at the same time being an exhibiting artist. Ack! While I know on some level that it will all come together, it is always at the last minute that the final touches are made.

So, back to tomorrow night. It’s going to be fun and for the first time I’m holding a book signing at the same time. Local author phenom, Connie Shelton will be on hand to sign her new book “Gossip can be Murder”, the latest in her popular Charlie Parker Series. Her husband Dan will be here with guitar to add music to the night. A Feast of the Arts! Fine Art, Music and Author all in one!

If it’s not on your calendar, put it down and I’ll look forward to seeing you!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Getting Ready for ArtsFest

I’ve been working hard to replace some of the paintings that I sold (unexpectedly) on Facebook. Tough to decide whether to show them in advance or not, but here’s what I’ve decided to do (with help from hubby, John). I’ll put them up here and on Facebook, for you to see, but they will not be available for sale until 6pm on July 9th. So…To buy, you need to come to the ArtsFest Premier (hee hee.) I will also take calls on my cell so if there’s something you really love and really can’t get to the show, you can call with your order, but not until 6pm on July 9!

So here are a few, actually one “series” that I just finished. Painted all day at the Angel Fire Retail Association Sidewalk sale. Thank goodness I was inside, as the weather was cold and rainy. That said, I was pretty much alone all day, so managed to complete two more. So, here is the series:

“Sun’s Up” “Taking a Bow” “Lit Up” “Siblings” “The Welcoming Committee”

I also need to get new photos of them. My camera was acting up and it picked up alot of glare from the reflective paint. The first three are 6 x 6, acrylic on cradled panel. The next one is 8 x 8 and the final is 12 x 12. The biggest dilemma I have is just how to hang them on the propanel that I’ll use for the show. I only have the velcro hooks right now, and these don’t have or need wires, so won’t hang on those hooks. Jacqui and I have been chatting about that. Maybe Jen has an idea. I’ll ask.

I have more in process and 3 more 12 x 12 to do. Guess I better get busy. See you on July 9!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM