Oh man I'm a horrible blogger,  it's been much too long since I've posted. So here's a little catch-up post.  Since April we've been settling into San Diego. Our beautiful little cottage in orange county didn't work out very well for us, but I think our path was eventually pointing us here anyway so it's all good and I don't regret the time we spent there.

We've been getting Jolie comfortable at her new school and scouting the area for a place to call home, which we found and are now counting the days until we can move in. A nice little spanish number with a pool and a poolhouse that I believe can be a good studio space for me once I figure out a few logistics, but more on that later! In the meantime, here are a few photos to fill in the gaps.

Jolie and I recently went up to Calistoga for a few blissful weeks to visit my sister Anne and her family. While there I tasted some killer wines from Dana Estates and Red Mare and once again became artistically inspired by the landscape.

I've been visiting the water gardens in Balboa Park often. Next time I go I'm going to bring my good camera so I can capture the American Lotus flowers, which are in full bloom right now and so beautiful.

I've become a pinterester, though this attempt at making a whimsical after school snack turned out much more gruesome than it was supposed to be ;)

 We've experienced and conquered head lice... just typing this makes me feel itchy though...

Seems like we spend almost every weekend at the beach...

 Totally met this crazy surfer....


Hmmm what else...

listening to Andrew Bird
Saw Ivan & Alyosha  holla!
got tickets for Florence and the Machine
Missed Gillian Welch like an idiot because I'm so unorganized right now
Enjoying my beautiful San Diego family-in-laws
Taking in all the art fairs we can muster
Digging the farm to table restaurant and slow food movement that's happening here
Soaking up the vitamin D
Enjoying and savoring all the time I get to spend with my husband and daughter

And lastly, getting mentally prepared to have a studio space and practice my art again. Giving up so many of our luxuries and comforts has been freeing and cathartic, but I'm a rootsy kind of person and I'm ready to start planting again so hopefully the next post will be soon, and I will be able to show you something new.

Happy Summer Days to you all,
Karen

Life is Now...

 Bayside Beaches...

 Freeways...

 Palm Trees...

Crudités...

 Inspiring Plants...

 New Heights...

 Cottage Living...

 A teensy (temporary??) studio...

 Beautiful buildings...

 Orchid Heaven...

 Succulent Heaven...

Prickles and color pops...

Recent Inspiration, Baja

How about a Christmas Sale?

Tomorrow, Thursday, get online and check out my Facebook page around 1:00 Rocky Mountain Time. You'll see I am doing a little bit of house cleaning. Actually it's house emptying, as Daniel and I have decided to make the big move from glorious Montana to sun-warmed California this January. There are fifty very practical reasons why this is a good move, but I don't think my heart will ever leave Montana, or even the Northwest really... this is a special place, filled to the brim with special people. It's scary and sad and exciting all at once.

So it's time to let go of some things... and paintings that I've had around, that don't quite fit into the larger bodies of work, but that I still love... well, let's just say the prices are going to come down, wayyyy down. Hopefully they'll never be this low ever again! But I wanted to give folks an opportunity to own a piece if they've never quite been able to before. So it's first come first serve. First person to message or state in the comments that they want to buy it gets dibs! So tomorrow, hop over to my facebook page look for the album titled Christmas Sale, it should come up around 1:00 but then again my connection is finicky at times so we'll see ;) Anyway,  take a look, you might see something you like :)

 and here's a super stealthy sneak peek at 5 of the 17 or so pieces that will be posted

Studio Visit, Kerry Nagel

Some people just get art on an entirely different level. My friend Kerry Nagel is one of those. Whenever we visit I always come away feeling inspired and determined to delve deeper into my own creative outlets.  Delightfully new thoughts crop up, artistic possibilities seem endless. She is a person who has her finger on the pulse, specifically, at the moment, in the three dimensional, sculptural world of fiber arts.  It's fascinating to hear her describe the processes she has developed and discuss the history and evolution of her pieces and the ideas that brought them into being. Observing how she surrounds herself and lives with art as a collector has inspired me as well. Her choices are fearless, eclectic, whimsical and serene. When one enters her home, one needs to just sit and absorb for a moment, look around and let the beauty permeate.

Last month my friend Kim Lindstrom and I drove down to visit Kerry at her beautiful home in Lake Mary Ronan.  Here are just a few pictures from the day. Kerry's home itself is a work of art (designed by Kerry and her equally talented ex-husband Scott in collaboration with Malmquist construction) you can see it in detail here as it is for sale. It is laid out in three pods;  a garage and woodworking shop, a living pod that also has a cleverly situated guest room, and a curving gallery hallway which leads to the sleeping pod, which includes two bedrooms, a master bath and Kerry's art studio. It's so thoughtfully and originally designed that one simply must visit.  If only I were a professional photographer... but here you are, a little peek.

One of the beautiful little farms alongside the road to Lake Mary Ronan.
Flathead Lake in the distance.

 In the living pod, Modigliani over the fireplace

 Close up of the pod shown in the first picture,  titled Chinese Lantern

Kerry and Kim discussing the construction of one of her pod pieces

 Kerry's beautifully designed, curving hallway gallery includes artists, Susie Brown, Scott Nagel,  Donna Gans, Kathy Bonema Leslie, Burt Brent, myself and Olivia Stark (with whom Kerry collaborated on a large body of figurative sculptural work, one of which is positioned in the hallway under the middle window).

 Golden Anniversary

 A ceramic column by Margret Gregg (my favorite!),

an early, colorful vessel For Pablo, and a bodaciously bosomed 

painting of my own which Kerry bought when I first met her in 1999

 One of Kerry's first paper sculptures, Emergence

 The sculpture in the middle is titled Whalebone

 Peeking into the art studio

Homage to Ace

Moroccan Pod

Close up of Scroll

 The artist in her studio with Wishbone and Why I Don't Eat Oranges


Thank you Kerry! We had a wonderful time :)

Persimmon Pics

 

 "In Livingston" getting framed up the day of the opening, there is always one last thing to do!

 

 Jeweler  Callie Cooper working at the Persimmon Gallery. My "Cut Flowers" series on the wall.

 Green Framed Landscapes and the Anthropologieland series

Kim and Corrie viewing the landscapes

  Wayne taking it in 

Four super talented artists; Persimmon members Jill Gotschalk, Callie Cooper Deliah Albee and Louise Lamontagne one of my favorite oil painters! It was such a treat to be in their company!

Also, the Persimmon Gallery Co-op members have asked me to stay on as a represented artist! So you can count on being able to see my work in person the next time you stop in. Thank you Persimmon artists!

Friday Opening, New Work at the Persimmon Gallery

I will be showing an entire body of new work, featuring mostly landscapes and a few still life, all done in the encaustic medium. If you are in the area please pop in! The pieces will be up for two weeks after the opening. I would love for people to see these encaustic works in person, as the depth and richness of the medium is difficult to observe with a computer screen. Also, because of issues I am having with my studio space, I may have to stop working in the encaustic medium for a while and focus on either oils or acrylics for the immediate future.  So this is it folks! It's gonna be a good one.

Flathead Valley

Flathead Valley 8 x 10 Encaustic on wood

Now this one is definitely the Flathead Valley. I worked from a photo I took on a recent drive down to visit my friend, artist Kerry Nagel (of which a post is in the works). It's somewhere between Somers and south Kalispell area.  I love the fields down there at the north end of Flathead Lake. It's gorgeous country.

Autumn

Autumn 8 x 10 Encaustic

Fall in the Flathead Valley is a beautiful time. The fields are dotted with huge round haybales.  The aspen and then the larch trees turn blazing yellows and oranges... and everywhere you go the crisp breeze seems to be whispering in your ear, "get ready, work work work, get'r done!" because winter is coming.

This particular painting isn't really of the Flathead Valley. It's more of a memory of Pullman and the Palouse hills, mixed with the tree-lined, hay fields right down the road from my home.

Heliopsis

Heliopsis  8 x 8 Encaustic on Wood
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