Sunshine Award

The Sunshine Award has cast light into my studio and my blog. Mary Anne Cary sent the award, and I want to thank her again.

Alyson Stanfield, my favorite Art Biz Coach, posted about the Geography of being a local artist, and at the same time I had the urge to illuminate my local blog dogs in a new post. I have decided to give the Sunshine away to the bloggers from Washington State. Some I know in real life, and others just online. I am supposed to recognize twelve, but I couldn't stop there.

If you want to participate, see the outline at Mary Anne's blog.

1. Sheila M. Evans
2. David Patterson
3. Angela Wales Rockett
4. Katherine van Schoonhoven
5. Rachel Maxi
6. Jennifer Phillips
7. Miki Willa
8. John W. Stinson
   
9. Garth Perfidian
   
10. Gabriel Campanario (Seattle Sketcher)
11. Donna Watson
    
12. Susan Ogilvie
    
13. Jennifer Evenhus
14. Kathleen Cavender
15. Lisa McShane
16. Barbara Benedetti Newton
17. Jason Waskey
    

More here.

Sorry if I forgot someone. Feel free to send me a comment and I will try to make amends as I do like to link to Washington artists.

Wrap Up

Here is a wrap up of my past week. You may be here for a while, if you have a need to surf some interesting blogs and sites. Put up your feet and grab a cup of Joe!

My Posts. I have been posting a lot of my art, lately. I am thinking about offering prints through imagekind, and to that end I ordered a framed photo just to test them out. The return time was lightning fast!

My usual resistance to print media (photo reproduction, gicle, etc.) is breaking down. Some of that resistance has been due to the nature of my color palette, which is not reproducible by print means. But, there are also a number of my images that are reasonable to print. What do you readers think about this? Should I offer a few images in print?

My Artworks. The studio has been abuzz with activity, after my trip to the coast last month. I have begun a new series featuring riverine subjects, but the direction is more about dark things. I'll be posting these, soon.

Download Department. I printed out this article on genius, which came to me via Sue Smith. Also, there is a video which is going viral about genius. I am not sure that I endorse either one, but it's all food for thought, huh?

Man, I'm drinkin' a lot of coffee, here. It is still snowy white outside, with fresh stuff on the ground and 18 degrees. 'Nother cup, please.

My favorite subject - World War Two History. Found this post: My Father Asks For Nothing, at Sippican Cottage (Gregory Sullivan). One box of tissues, please.

Local Artist Blogs. I found out about this Washington artist blogger, Neece Clark. That's a nudge for me to update my Washington State Artist Bloggers utility. Any more out there?

When I Run Out Of Red, I Use Blue
Picasso

Publications. I always enjoy getting the catalog from Judson's Art Outfitters. Even if you prefer some other box than the cool ones they offer, you can't help but find some necessity for your plein air activities. I use the ThumBox with tripod, and it is awesome. Here's a picture of my last trip with it. They offered this quote that is a jewel: "When I run out of red, I use blue," Picasso.

They have a blog: Judson's Plein Air Journal .

The latest Pastelagram also came in the mail, which keeps me up on the activities of the Pastel Society of America. The art can sometimes look really different in print versus on the CRT, so I always love seeing what they offer.

In my e-mail came a PDF from David Jon Kassan, whose studies of the human skull inform his portraits. I love his handling of the pencil, which is evident in the following video. Warning: extreme art fun and good rock&roll, too.



Kassan's blog.

Pastel. I'm cooking up more guest posts at the pastelsblog. Stay tuned. Also, more tree school entries are forthcoming - you won't want to miss those!

The Latest FAD

News Flash!

THE FINE ART DEPARTMENT

FOR ALL YOUR AFFORDABLE ART NEEDS

The latest "FAD" is the new blog idea:
The Fine Art Department, created by the wonderful Tracy Helgeson.

Her cunning idea is to create a small and intimate space to show some fantastic artists who sell art on their blogs. With only about thirty or so artists at The Fine Art Department, it isn't difficult to find your Christmas gift of fine art or craft. My own art is presented there, and if you wish to buy, just find my sale blog at caseyklahn.blogspot.com.

Many of my readers over time have wondered if I even sell my art via the blogs. The answer is yes, but until now I have been very subtle about it. Call it a "fine art thing". I am very much "for" capitalism, and every artist has to earn a living somehow, but we tend to place our life's work on a pedestal. If you are someone who has never bought an original painting, do not be afraid of artists! We think of ourselves as regular people, and to tell the truth, my collectors over the years have either been friends, or else they become such after we get acquainted.

Washington State Art Blogs

I am trying to keep track of the art bloggers (and Wordpressers, etc.) who blog from Washington State. Today, I add two new links, and I have to say that I am surprised that I didn't know Rachel's blog existed! Rachel is (IMHO) a rock star whose work is highly prized in the Northwest and beyond. Why didn't I know about her having a blog? How many other Washingtonians are out there blogging away in hiding?

Local Bloggers:

Robert Chunn, of Alla Prima, in Seattle. I linked him once before, but forgot to highlight him as a WA blogger. See his great link list, even though I'm not on it (hint), it is a work of art in itself.
Rachel Maxi
Seattle Sketcher, who is part of the Urban Sketchers.

New Washington State Art Blogger

Miki Willa has moved from Hawaii to Washington State, and now qualifies as a Washington State Art Blogger. I am collecting those under a tag of Washington State, and it is no easy task. Yesterday at Pastel I posted about Miki's current great adventures - including a dream vacation that she is live blogging.

Also on the Washington State art front, be sure to hook into the Artist Trust for artist's calls and grant opportunities. Another Washington resource is the Washington State Arts Commission.

Bits

Jennifer Phillips - Daily Encounters With My Paint Brush

Here is a post with little bits of new things that I encountered at the Bellevue Fair last weekend. Since it is paramount that I catch up on sleep, and get reorganized here at the studio, I'll give you the random thoughts now, and coherent "lessons" later.

In the category of Art Blogs in Washington State, at the fair I was happy to meet Jennifer Phillips of Seattle who blogs here. Her tonal landscapes are a breath of fresh air. They present a living scape of trees and field's edges where you'd like to be. Beautiful works.

Also met was Deborah Burns, who blogs for art retailer Daniel Smith, of Seattle. Nothing beats a visit to this large box retailer, especially for a huge selection of paper and a fine selection of pastels. I give them kudos for their drawing department and their workshop program. Their popular catalog is a resource of art materials instruction that I have benefited from many times, and their website has much of this instructional content as well. See the new blog here, although Deborah informs me that it is in beta stage, and that she will be transferring the blog to a private server that is not blogspot. Deborah is a former store manager at DS, and an arts promoter extraordinaire in the Seattle area.

Next: Lessons learned from Michael Monroe at the ArtsFair. And, I plan to give some linkage to the pastelists who show at the fair.

Round Up

TBR, May 2007

This may be an "open head - disgorge thoughts" post. The reason I put it that way is I'll be darned if I can find a common thread for all of them.

First, this Wolf Kahn interview is from The Brooklyn Rail, and WK has some new things to say. He gets into process versus results. I like what he says about his disagreement with Clement Greenberg on the subject of "flatness". And he pays homage to Hans Hofmann, his Modernist teacher. Do follow the link on Hofmann, which leads to a stunning new website ( I think it's new, anyway).

Read the interview even if you're not that "into" Kahn, because he has a great lot to say about artist's self doubt and discipline. You can't help but feel good about your own work, even if you feel like a failure sometimes, if you adopt his attitudes.

And, the keeper quote from WK is this:

I’m not so involved in description because I think that the greatest sin an artist can be accused of is telling people things that they already know. And you can write that down and put it in italics. Our aim as artists is to use ourselves as agents for expanding possibilities; and if you’re just doing something that’s conventional and everyday, you’re not doing it right. Of course, we constantly struggle against our own conventions because that’s one of our worst difficulties—trying to avoid doing something that we already know how to do.

Wolf Kahn with David Kapp and Robert Berlind

On the subject of Washington State Art Bloggers, I missed a local artist in my last post who is blogging and has a fascinating life story as a fourth generation artist. Kathleen Cavender.

Over at my blog Pastel, I have been doing a Plein Air Project. I have an interesting plein airist to show you who works in oils, however. Jason Waskey, from Seattle. His usual fare is daily still life paintings, but he is on a road trip and posting his small daily works and a photo of his easel set-up in front of his landscape subject. And, as if that's not enough, he adds a map reference, too. Great fun.

Lastly, I have been keeping this blog I found a secret for long enough. Enjoy looking at Old Paint, which posts a dated artwork or illustration and labels it by artist and year.