The Pickle Painting.

This week Ryan and I were invited to an event dedicated to raising money for the Art Institute of Minnesota. Of course I couldn't say no- Support the ARTS!!! Well, this particular event was standing proudly on the foundation of Fine Arts and Antiques. There were two floors of framed artwork, woodwork, sculpture and cases of antique trinkets. It was actually pretty cool, there were original works by Gustav Klimt- and beautiful hand drawn maps from all over the world! The first piece that caught my eye however was an oil painted pickle from "A 19th century painter". Now, I heart pickles as much as the next guy, but why would you want a dramatically lit rendering of a pickle in your home? (With a horrid gold frame) Also, what was it that moved the artist to spend his time and energy on painting (with rather fine quality might I add) a pickle? I don't know but what surprised me even MORE was the price tag. This particular 8 x 10 pickle painted by a 19th century unnamed painter, was priced at $4,800. Let that sink in.

I bet that guy didn't make enough to buy bread when he was alive. But how great is it that he finally made it after all these years?

Curious little guy

I love it when people ask me about my paintings. I like to tell the stories behind each piece. I want people to understand why this image, this memory, this emotion was important enough for me to pour my time and energy into.

This image was captured by my husband. Wonderful things wander into his viewfinder when ever he holds his camera. I love it. This little boy was a curious little guy who wanted to know what we were all doing on his school grounds and in his church in Kibera. He spent his free time running back and forth past the windows and doors to the church. He wore the same tasseled fleece sweatshirt both days we were there in 78 degree weather. Too short to see, he pulled himself up and peeked into the cut out window of the church. When he saw Ryan with a camera his eyes started to beam. I wanted to relive that smile in his eyes, experience again the way it feels to have a child respond to you with both joy and laughter. That's why this painting is important. And I wanted to share it.

The Chase

"The Chase"
Oil on Canvas
11 x 14

Hello again. This morning I was looking though some of my older paintings to see if I had any used canvas that wanted a new face. I came across this one. This is a painting I titled 'The Chase' in 2006. I was revisiting an oil painting exercise from college. Painting with a pallet knife. (Thanks Larry) I can't say that I've every really enjoyed it. It is really hard to control and as someone who likes to mix paint on the canvas- it was really frustrating. It does however offer some interesting techniques. It's much easier to build layers and texture, it's easier to cut a straight line, and it's kind of nice to let up the need to control detail. So I said why not? Might as well challenge myself a bit and do some more pallet knife paintings. I found once again, I'm not a huge fan. This one painting out of the bunch though stuck out to me. I really liked this one but for the most part I've received negative feed back. That's okay, we artists can handle that- once in a while. My question now is, I haven't sold this painting in two years, should I just paint over it and maybe discover something someone will want? Or do I let it sit in my studio closet with many other undiscovered gems?

Doodles

I like to doodle. Here's what a lot of my spare paper looks like these days.

We got married

Ryan and I have been married for just over a year and this is what we've learned:

1. Neither of us are mind readers
2. Wii- Lego StarWars is a really good team work building experience
3. Bergmans travel. A Lot.
4. It's fun to wake up next to your best friend
5. Clothes don't wash themselves
6. Plants die if you don't water them.
7. Mac and cheese with hot dogs is for adults too!
8. The 'future' comes faster than you might think
9. Some of the best dates cost under $20
10. 'My side of the bed' is relative

Of course this is not a comprehensive list, but it gives you a taste. It's been a good year. We've been learning a lot about working together, learning about what makes each other tick, and figuring out how to make two lives one. I recommend it.

Pillars

Oil on wood.
$75.00

Sorry about the fuzzy picture.

(For purchase details, email me)

My Little Friend

I know it's been a while since the last post, but I've been thinking about which situations in my life really warrant a blog entry. This is what I came up with:

It was a Friday like any normal Friday. I was working at my assistant manager gig (try not to swoon) checking out all of our vacant apartments. I was on second floor looking out at our courtyard facing south. It was a pretty nice day, no clouds- pretty warm. (This is important because there was very little wind.) Anyhow, I was looking out at the courtyard and this blue, orange and white beach ball came rolling around the corner from no where. I didn't think much of it. Our courtyard is enclosed by 4 foot cement walls so it had to belong to one of the kids in our community. I went about my day. About 20 minutes later I was on the opposite side of the building, this apartment had all its windows facing north out onto the courtyard. As I was inspecting, out of the corner of my eye, I see the little beach ball making its way across the courtyard straight toward me! This time it was a bit deja vu-ish. It skirted around the pool to end up the in the corner of the building where I was standing! I kinda joked to myself ... that the beach ball was my little lost friend following me around to keep me company. Nice- laugh it up- Kim's crazy- working too many hours by herself... fair enough. (Actually- I was an only child with a wild imagination whose toys each had their own personality. Also crazy but much more endearing as a child) Moving on- that was my last check of the day so I laughed it off, and went back down to the rental office. After a few quite long hours, 5pm came and I shut down the office, turned the alarm on and locked the door. As I was about to head outside to walk back to our apartment, that same frickin' beach ball was sitting very calmly outside the door. Like it was waiting for me. Creepy. It was a bit- "the call is coming from inside the house..." Yeah, "My little friend" was actually an inanimate object stalking me. I'll admit, I have some irrational fears- but that little ball crossed the line... it came around a corner, then around the fenced pool, then over a 4 foot wall to rest under an overhang outside my office door. (With relatively no wind to speak of!) Needless to say, I went through the garage to avoid having to look over my shoulder to see if it was following me home. Next time you know it- it would be following me up the stairs or somehow freakishly figuring out how to press the 12 button in the elevator... I wasn't about to have that. It was a shockingly disturbing afternoon.


A close second to this unnerving event was the naming of our family car- "Thunderbelt!!!" She purrs like a kitten and squeaks like a mouse! Beep! Beep! (For those of you who don't know, Thunderbelt is Ryan's black vibe. If you've never seen a vibe, look it up. 4 cylinders of pure Thunder baby! (Disclaimer: Vibes are awesome and we love ours!)

Thanks for wasting your time on my non insightful post. PEACE!