Category: Katherine McDermott Artist

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Getting Ready for 4th Friday

Well, it’s here. After a 4 month hiatus, Fourth Fridays at Angel Fire ArtSpace are returning! Bigger and better, as Carol Rupp of the Rupp Gallery partners with me for a great evening! I’m taking a break from the current commissions I’m working on to get ready and the gallery is looking spic and span and lovely!

Got the new lights installed in the jewelry room (yay) and it’s all dazzling, even though I haven’t painted that room yet. I’m hoping to do that next week…we’ll see. See…at least one can do that now in there! Made a BIG difference. Bob walked in to make sure they had finished with the installation and as he was asking if they finished he stopped mid-sentence and said, “Wow…I see they did!”

So here’s a few shots of the gallery (as far as my web cam can see). This is the entrance. I guess I should really do a video tour…hmmm. I’ll do that. In the meantime, here’s what I see when I’m sitting at my desk:
Nice, huh?

Well, I think so, anyway. So, if you’re in town, or headed this way, stop in and say “hi”!

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

I’m breathing again, thanks to Norma and ibuprofen!

Anyway, I did finish the church I showed you a few posts back. Just so you don’t have to scroll, here’s how it looked in progress:

And, now, it’s done. Notice the deeper, bolder color, shadows and detail. The rock facade by far, took the most time, but the result is worth it. The video will be online soon at www.katherinesarttv.tv

The trick is many
glazes of transparent color, with increasing amounts of pigment as you go. I often alternate colors too, to get a rich appearance in the end.

In the mean time I’m working hard on the development of katherinesarttv.tv Watch soon for a link here to a survey that I’ll use to help me make the site and the videos what you want.

Painting is perhaps the most soothing activity I can engage in. My own version of meditation. When I’m painting, my brain feels dis-engaged. I’m not thinking about the outcome, the bills, the laundry or anything else temporal. I don’t suppose you can understand it, until you experience it. Part of the focus of the new site is just that. Learning how painting can ease your stress, all while creating something beautiful. It’s not about pure realism…that’s what camera’s are for, with no disrespect to the painters of photo realistic works. It’s about interpretation, the emotional connection to the work, whether you are the painter, the viewer or the collector. People buy art, because they make a connection to it. It’s completely subjective. Not everyone will like what I paint, and that’s ok. I mean, it would be great, but it’s completely unrealistic. I don’t like everything I see either!

I can look at piece, like this one that I just finished, and walk right back into the same state of mind, walking in through that opening in the gate to all the places I was when I painted it. That’s the best part for me…and why I paint. Yes, I love selling them. But sometimes I miss a piece after its gone. I’ll be looking for something in my Art Archives folder, and see an image…and say, “where is that? did I sell it? Who?….” then I’ll open the image, look at it, and walk right back into it. I dunno. Maybe it’s weird…but it’s true.

Learn to paint. And may you find that bliss too…….

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

Just what I didn’t need. I woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain in my right side. It radiated down my leg and I couldn’t take a deep breath. I got up and stumbled to the bathroom only to remember that I’d put all of the ibuprofen in John’s bag. I filled a glass of water, drank it and went back to bed.

My brain entered panic zone. Oh God, what if it is my appendix? My insurance has a $5000 deductible. I don’t have time for this. Please.

I tossed and turned and turned and tossed. The pain like a bullet lodged in my right side. I finally turned on my stomach and immediately discovered that the source of the pain was actually my back, or my side, or my ribcage. I made fist and applied deep pressure to the spot on my lower back that screamed the loudest…slowly, slowly the pain in my right side eased to dull throb. Whew. Relief. Not my appendix. What did I do!?!

My brained rolled past the events of the past few days. Oh yeah. I was clearing out the desk I sold. I crawled underneath to disconnect everything, unscrew it and get it ready to clear out. As I lay on the floor underneath it, twisting to find that screw, I was taken back to August, when I was lying on the floor of the garage, in a similar position, screwing in the flashing at the bottom of the wall. My back went in to spasm, then, and I couldn’t move. I was on the floor in the garage, twisted like a french creweler (no idea how to spell that) and unable to move. I couldn’t get up. I laid there till the spasm seemed to pause, rolled over, crawled closer to the rail that the door runs in, grabbed it and pulled myself up like it was rope I was climbing a mountain. Then I headed for the hot tub. I’d forgotten the weeks of slowly rehabilitating those muscles. The heating pads, the tiger balm, the ibuprofen.

It was all coming back to me, as lay there, suddenly recalling lying on the floor of the studio, twisted once again, once again holding the cordless drill, applying pressure and then the awful spasm that followed. OOOOOOOW.

So, I did it again. Thank God I had a massage scheduled for this morning. But, in fact, I barely got there. Once upright, I was dizzy. Couldn’t take a deep breath. And wow, some definite pain encompassing my middle and dominant on the right side. It feels like an overly tight girdle with pins sprinkled through out.

Poor Norma. She worked like a warm blanket for an hour and a half. Well, at least I can sit up, and walk. I hurt. Alot. I apparently made all those muscles that wrap around your ribcage and then run sort of sideways around you and connect to the ones that go up and down your spine…..Very Unhappy. I can almost turn my head side to side. I can’t slouch…my mom would say that’s a good thing, but it’s not very much fun. My arms are resting on the laptop, and every now and then my sleeve brushes the touch pad, which sends the scroll bar wild. Deep sigh. At least I can breathe again. I am, however, grateful. Norma confirmed it. Not the appendix. Whew. Thank God. Just my own stupidity at my own denial that I am not 25, and not, despite some popular opinion, superwoman. I’ll head home tonight and hope i can get that lid open on the hot tub. Norma said, “how old are you, my dear? 92? ” “No”, I said. “192”. Or so that’s how it feels. Sigh again. This too shall pass…but it will be a while.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Starting at ….hmmm, where?

I’m tired, but my brain is spinning so I guess I should post. Maybe it will give me some clarity.

J and I went to Albuquerque yesterday, so he could fly away this morning, and so he did. I then went about my list, and number one was a visit to his mom. She’s great by the way. She lured me to see her newly installed, less than new, computer, and sat down. Uh oh. I leaned over her till she was afraid that I would end up looking “like an apostrophe”, and then took her seat. For starters, starting is sooo slow, one could nap while waiting for it to load. (Wow, am I spoiled or what? with my (not new anymore) Core(TM)2 Duo processor and 2GB RAM..I’ve no patience anymore for a 1200Mhz Celeron with 256mgs RAM) Guess I better go digging in my closet…….

She’s learning to go online, and use email. The whole business of doing that is perplexing to her and I’d been home for an hour and half (it’s a three hour drive) when the phone rang. I took care to put everything she regularly needs, on her desktop, and showed her how to open, minimize and close them. Oh dear. I have a new empathy for those tech support dudes who have to try to diagnose what’s happening when we say things like, “well, when I click on the blue thingy with the rainbow colors, nothing happens!”

Oh no…don’t get me wrong, my mother-in-law, miss Jane, is a delight. The sheer fact that she’s really trying to give it a go with the computer, is almost miraculous, and I REALLY don’t want to discourage that!

I did notice that her arthritis twisted hand was really having a hard time with the mouse. hmm. is there a better tool? She does ok with the touch pad on a laptop, but right now, has a desktop and a typical ms mouse and keyboard. I have a spare track ball, but I’m not sure that would be any better for her. I’ll have to take it down there and see. Any ideas? Please comment and let me know. The answer to “nothing happens when I click here” is that the curser wasn’t really there when she clicked, and then when it was, she couldn’t really (double) click fast enough (my, the things we take for granted!)

I put solitaire on her desktop and told her to play, hoping that the practice would help her with the mouse. It was ok till she inadvertently closed it. oops. Can you hear the phone ringing?

Too bad mouse pads aren’t “touch pads”! hmmm…interesting idea…anybody make one?

I bet there are a whole lot of finger-mobility challenged people who could use something like that!

As for me, I need a massage and good night’s sleep. At the hotel last night I woke up every time the heater (two feet from my side of the bed) came on (at about every half hour). Then there was the smoke detector in some room other than ours that kept going off. Not the beep beep beep of a low battery. But the Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…….(ad inifinitum) of one that’s been triggered. I pulled a spare pillow from the floor and covered my head. ack. No wonder I left Jane with questions about how to open a new game of solitaire!

So, I’m hoping it will dump snow tonight so that i can’t get out. I know, I know. Not what I usually say. But I have long list of things that need to be done here at home…and J is gone…and it’s the perfect time to get busy. Maybe I’ll just play hooky anyway…..Wait…I’m the owner…if I’m not there, the gallery is not open. Sigh. Guess not. The list will have to wait a bit longer. I have paintings to paint and videos to record and edit. Oh, and grant proposals to finish and ………
good grief. I better stop now or I’ll overwhelm myself! Good night, friends. Let me know if you know of a way to help Ms. Jane. Thanks.

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

I have my bail out blinders on. Can’t stand to listen to the news anymore. Spend, spend, spend and benefit a few, but not any of us who do the right thing, fight like hell to pay the mortgage on time, borrow from peter to pay paul every day of the month, struggling to keep that credit score well above 7. There will be nothing for us. Once again penalized by the politicians for being a stand up person and doing the right thing. It makes me sick.

I called the mortgage company, to see if they’d work out a lower rate. Nothing doing. Know why? because I’m not behind. I can’t refinance because I’d never qualify in the current credit debacle, so, because I’ve done the right thing, I’m screwed. How upside down is that!?!

Deep sigh. Ok, I’m done with the rant. I’ll turn my thoughts back to the task at hand which is the development of www.katherinesarttv.tv and www.myarttv.tv (not up yet). I’m recording everything I do every time I pick up a pencil or a brush. My camera’s hard drive is almost full, so probably this week I’ll start editing video. While it is time consuming work, I’m excited when I’m at that because I’m excited about these sites and getting them fully operational. From the 10 or 12 hours I have recorded right now, I’ll probably get 3 or 4 videos, all on watercolor. In the next set I’ll focus on fun techniques but that’s probably at least a week off.

It’s way more soothing to ponder watercolor, and better yet to pick up that brush. Unfortunately my home studio is still a disaster zone and my brushes and paints are at the gallery. I guess that’s ok, because the dryer is beconning. Back to domestic duty. Important stuff, you know, laundry. So off I go.

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

A last minute once over clean up ensued first thing this morning, since we decided about 12 hours earlier to host a game party. We’ve never been big football fans, but as we were watching a recorded NCIS on the 80 inch projection screen, we said, “hmmm….”

So, phone calls made and friends coming over, thank goodness I have Robie. That’s how we affectionately refer to our Roomba (vacuuming robot). I refer to him as he, even though he has a she voice. No, it’s not a transvestite vacuum…It’s just silly. But he does do a good job, as long as I’ve remembered to empty and clean him after the last job. Even that’s not a big deal, because he reminds me, “beep beep, please remove and clean Roomba’s brushes” or “beep, beep, beep please inspect and clean Roomba’s cliff sensor (so he doesn’t fall down the stairs).

Anyway, I turn him to go on, and he runs around the house sucking up all the dog hair and debris which gives me time to clean the bathrooms (joy) and, oh…up…post on my blog. gotta love that!

So..I won’t pontificate about who will win. To be honest, I don’t even know who’s playing. There you go..my true Artist self showing through again. At any rate, we’ll have fun….and I hope you do too!

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

Ok, so I thought since I talked about the piece I’m working on, I would show you the current status. so, here’s a pic. The angle is a little wierd because I took it with my webcam, but you can get the idea. And they are, as a result of the webcam..reversed, so that’s kind of funny! oh well. I’ll show you the finished piece when its done, and you will be able to see the difference.

This has about 5 glazes on it..except for the steeple which only has one..so you can see the difference.
It’s fun, but time consuming. and if you’re not carefuly, the newest layer will lift the layer below it!

So, stay tuned and I’ll put it up when its done!

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

It’s Saturday and lovely, though cool outside. I guess everyone is out on the mountain enjoying the fresh powder, cuz they certainly aren’t here! The up side of that is that I’ve been working hard on my next commissioned piece..and recording it. It will be a long video, so I’ll likely release a small segment on youtube and then refine the rest for a full lesson on katherinesarttv.tv

I got the membership software installed and the initial free videos and posts up already, now comes the hard part of recording all the videos! It takes about 9 hours of video recording to get a full hour of indepth content and lesson. At least I can do what i love while I’m recording…..Paint!

So, despite the fact that it is still January, I’ve broken the block and have been painting most of the last two days. The piece I’m working on is an 18 x 18 watercolor on canvas of a Northern New Mexico church. Painting watercolor on canvas requires many many layers so I’ve been working on it for about 30 hours already, but not altogether of course, as the layers have to dry in between application.

Speaking of which..it’s time to get back to it.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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What is it about January?

Hmmm. I’m stuck. Advice please. Most of the time, I’m an endless stream of passion to paint, dreaming of the next painting, and the next and the next. Moved to moodiness and, my husband would say, grumpiness, if i can’t pick up the brush.

Then comes January. Stymied, but not sullen. Optimistic in the midst of debilitating economic forcasts. But finding a million things to do….BUT paint. Are there weird ions in the air in January? Is it the snow flying out my window? All this indoor time, shouldn’t I be running to the canvas/paper/scratchboard?

I’m supposed to be recording all those strokes I make. The camera is poised on the tripod. The light focused on the canvas on the table below, but off; the brushes at the ready, even the water containers are full. But the palette is closed. And I am typing on the laptop. Good grief, what is wrong with this picture?

I have a growing stack of commission to do. This is a good thing. So, what’s quashing my passion? Any ideas? I’d love to whack it out of the way…..

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

wow. January and the temp is 41. May be cold to you…but it’s regular heat wave! Hoping for more snow as the warm temps have been slowly eroding the pack we had…but the Resort is working hard to keep it great for the skiers! Not being a skier myself, I rely on what my friends say and they say it’s good.

When I drove home yesterday the dirt road that leads to my house was a veritable river. While we’re enjoying the moderate temps…we are a ski town. Need that snow. Hoping it comes soon as is forecast. It’s kind of unpredictable here in Northern New Mexico.

Not skiing…but painting. Have a line up of commissions to do (yay!) and figured I’d better get started. Not procrastinating, exactly…for some reason I find it hard to paint in January. No explanation. But I did get started anyway.

Had a rare visit with my dear friends Nancy and Art. Sweet.

Tonight I’ll go to the Jack Ingram Concert with the girls. It’s been decades since I was at a live concert. Got my boots on. Ok, so they not cowboy boots. I’m not exactly a country girl…

Painting is dry. Back to it…

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