Luxury Visual Journaling Retreat Puerto Vallarta Mexico
October 13, 2021
See my work at Balboa Island Gallery
November 1, 2021
Development through the abstract process
I was thinking this morning about the work that I do and how it is changing. What that means to me and what it projects. I have always been an illustrative painter, but lately I have been exploring how to approach the canvas, spending the last year and a half stepping up to it, with no preconceived ideas about what I will do and just making marks and brush strokes. It has been exhilarating and frighting at the same time.
What will my collectors think? Will they see my work as “unacceptable”?! Will new viewers think I am a hack? So many crazy things go through my head when my heart starts asking for a change.
I have been moving back and forth from illustrative to abstract and have landed in between. I created a body of work for a gallery in Sante Fe that was much more illustrative and was a bit of a struggle to get through.
While working on that body of work, I would take a break ,and just play on a canvas and move to my own rhythms, which was exhilarating! I am finally understanding that this is a healthy journey for an artist to undertake. Stagnation is the death of creativity!
I woke up one morning and was meandering through my facebook feed, stopping to listen to a Bob Dylan Utube. It was mesmerizing. I began pondering and comparing painting to vocal artists.
There are those songbirds that are stunning vocals, perfect in pitch and the beauty flows from their breath. I sort of compared this to the illustrative work that I have perfected over the years and then pondered Dylan and the depth and beauty that are in his lyrics. There are layers of intense meanings and delicious reveling in his delivery. I am beginning to understand the difference and how each has such power and resonance within our culture.
The thing is, I can’t resonate anymore, within myself, if I am not singing a song that has me reveling as I work. The journey grows and changes with each and every stroke, if I allow myself to be frightened and fail at the “perfection”.
Little did I know that the perfection is in the failure!
Kathleen has her masters degree in fine art specializing in painting and printmaking, from the University of Oklahoma. She has been painting for over thirty years, and has national and international acclaim. Her works are found in public and private collections throughout the world and she has won awards too numerous to mention. Each of her purchases are accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a resume. Her original images are sought after and sold quite frequently before they are completed. She is often working on commissions, and preparing for gallery shows. You can be assured that your originals and giclee prints will have the expression that you would expect, and the highest quality works available on the market. Kathleen personally signs and numbers each hand embellished, limited edition giclee and guarantees your purchase with a certificate of authenticity.
