Sunday, April 10, 2011

Poem

I am not a poet. This is just a little one I wrote this morning while drinking my coffee and trying to stretch my brain. A lot of my work is being creative and in my day job I sometimes get into an over-compartmentalized corner.When I start thinking too linearly and I have trouble spurring my imagination there are a few things I like to try...

1. Sudoku. Love this game. I have 2 puzzle books next to my bed as I write this.
2. Reading. Not just any reading...I like to mix it up with writers from many different genres. My favorite book at the moment is Stieg Larsson's Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. It's on my Kindle. Reading about Lisbeth got me very interested in math, and now I'm mulling on the possibilities.
3. Poetry. It can make little to no sense but I think sometimes it's just nice to try something out of your comfort zone in order to loosen up the brain muscles... here goes this morning's effort...



A cool breeze inward comes,
Fingers of Earth touching the soul.
A gift my muse has begotten for me;
A new morning to create from inspiration's pool.


Don't laugh...it's an early effort. :-)

Katie

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Lots of Stuff

Blog

Yesterday I added a new widget to the blog that pulls up the most popular posts and sticks them to the front page. Seeing my old thoughts has spurred some reflecting on how I've changed through the years. It's beautiful to see snapshots from prior years and see my family grow, as well as my craft.

Studio


Today I'm moving my studio from the room I had started to move into back into the original room I worked from. It's smaller and a little cramped but it has natural morning light (altho it's cloudy today) which I thought I could live without. I can't. I set up my easel and stuck Abby's easel right next to it. I'm not finished moving in but you can see the start. I'm ready to go back to things being simple.

Abby

I talk a lot about my daughter. Growing up my parents encouraged my creativity. Dad was an engineer and Mom worked with horses - we had a very small horse farm in Virginia. I remember being trucked back and forth to art classes but I learned a lot by myself, sitting in my bed with a sketchpad. Abby is a wellspring of inspiration to me; she reminds me to zen out when I get stressed and that there is real purpose in being able to raise her in a creative environment. She reminds me that elephants don't have to look like elephants if you are drawing them for fun - stick figures can be just as creative as portraits in realism - and that there is something really fun about paintbrushes, even if there isn't any paint on them at the time.


Abby & I yesterday waiting for a fish to bite.

-Katie

Friday, April 8, 2011

What is this? A new post?!

Abby saying, "What's Up?"

Abby's grown a lot since last winter when I took a hiatus to work on a project for the studio. I'm slowly starting to come back - there were bouts of exhaustion in between - and now I am taking a look around and seeing what has happened in the world since I quietly sat back.

I'm not going to write a lot today other than say I have a group show coming up at the end of the month. I am active again, though, so I will see you soon!

Katie