my weekend

 Tanner (c) Kathryn Hansen 2011

pheeeewww...i just finished this drawing in the nick of time...worked 7 hours on it sunday afternoon and evening and sent it out yesterday in the mail. i don't recall ever drawing that long before! 

on saturday i just had to finish decorating as i was so tired of looking at all the cardboard boxes sitting in my family room for weeks on end. i emptied one box of stuffed animals onto the couch as josie slowly climbed up and snuggled in amongst them and fell fast asleep!!

holiday art fair

 what a fun day i had at the mcgroarty holiday art fair on saturday!! not only did i do really, really well, selling lots of small collages and photo blocks, but this gorgeous1924 home, named “rancho chupa rosa,” after the indigenous plant was just beautifully decorated by the staff. there was live music but since i was upstairs i unfortunately didn't hear it. but i was surrounded by lovely art vendors and there were lots and lots of interesting people, eager to spend money...all day long!! 

one of my favorite things was the chili bowl sale, where you choose your favorite ceramic bowl made there at the center and filled it with your choice of 5 different kinds of chili for $10! cool idea huh?!!

all in all it was a wonderful, happy, successful day!!

drawing is the honesty of the art. there is no possibility of cheating. it is either good or bad. ~salvador dali~  (c) kathryn hansen 2011  put the finishing touches on Bella last night!   i was able to squeeze in a little bit of work on my elephants.  and this is the start of tanner, the next commission up on the drawing board! i'm progressing quite well considering i sprained my index finger on my right hand about a month ago, and it's just not healing...maybe if i stopped drawing for awhile, but that's near to impossible to do as i'm pretty much obsessed with drawing every day!!

in the home stretch

almost done now with Bella...should be able to finish her tonight if i'm not interrupted!!

art show, play offs, cold and rain

burrrr...what a cold and wet weekend it was! and every last minute packed full!

  the art walk in montrose, california went very well! i sold a lot and got to chit chat with many people and my surrounding art neighbors!

 i left my youngest daughter, emily in charge late in the afternoon as i had to run over to the sports complex to see my oldest  daughter, allie play in her first play off game. unfortunately with the goalie not there and a key midfielder out as well, they ended up losing.  :-(   allie played very well tho at her very last ayso soccer game ever...she's too old now to play any more. she had a great run...playing since 3rd grade, mostly as a defender but a few times as goalie.

emily                                           allie

sunday it was emily's turn. her team made it to the second round of play offs but with it pouring the entire game and with the girls cold and shivering they lost their spirit to win and ended up losing as well. but they both ended up second in their divisions so, not too shabby!!!

 for the next two nights i've cancelled plans and will be working diligently on finishing up bella! stay tuned later in the week to see bellas progress.

autumn rains in southern cal and bella

portrait of josie and me on the way up to the hiking trail. poor baby hurt her front paw, so we didn't make it all the way to the top on saturday.

bella in progress

i've started blending the graphite now on bella using a small tortillon, along with getting richer darks down on the paper and figuring out all the textures in a shepherds coat. once i finish that, then it's just starting back at the top again and firming up all the details. i'll then work on creating a light toned background to pick up the white fur around her ears!

November skies

 wedged in between november storms all weekend long i was able to grab a photo of the beginnings of bella, my latest commission.

and 

 my drawing of samburu elephants is progressing!!

my 7 links

 Dora Ficher, a friend who i met through an e-course a few years ago and creates these very cool encaustic paintings invited me to be part of the ‘My 7 Links’ project.

the idea is to go back to your own posts and find one to fit each of the 7 proposed categories, then ‘choose’ 5 more bloggers to do the same, and so on, and so on and soooo on!! the project is described as a way of "uniting bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint venture."

here are the following 7 categories:

most beautiful post: Samburu ok...this was like the hardest category to choose from as i have been to africa and so many gorgeous places in southern california...how do i pick? but in the end africa just has to win out!!!

most popular post: photo blocks

most controversial post: i really don't write controversial posts...at all! so i don't have an entry for that one...so i think i can just skip it...can't i?!!!!

most helpful post: your help is needed okay...i know, i know...this is not what they meant...but i don't really have a post like that...but i do have A LOT of these kinds of post where i put out a call to help some organization i feel is worthy! so i am being helpful in trying to raise funds...mostly to help out animals but also for an organization in kenya that's close to my heart as well!!

a post whose success surprised you: untitled sometimes the more you think you're alone in things the more you find out you really aren't!!

a post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved: connecting i don't know about deserving attention...heck i'm always thrilled when someone comments on one of my posts! i am just soooo curious about what attracts people to certain artwork, i was just hoping to get more responses....that's all!!

the post that you are most proud of: weedend update hmmm...well, i guess i picked this one because it reveals a little more about me but mostly because i am always thrilled to tears sometimes when my art gets recognized...this time by myartspace...so that's why i picked this post!!

this has been a very intriguing exercise for me in finding appropriate posts for each entry...makes me pause...and probably create some new posts around some areas i was lacking!!

here are my five people who i invited to participate along with me: and even if some didn't go for the challenge, please check out their blogs any way because they are all fabulous artists who i greatly admire for being so talented and inspiring me!!

Amelie Gagne 
Katherine Kean

Karen Koch

Patty Waite 

Monica Moran

out with the old...

kathryn hansen 2011 (c)

 and in with the new....

 the beginning of a small elephant drawing inspired from my photos from africa

 and two new commissions this week...tanner from wisconsin and bella from illinois. both sweet pups that have sadly past on.

all things orange!

Orange is the happiest color

Frank Sinatra 

 

An artist never really finishes his work; he merely abandons it

Paul Valéry

 i love this quote as it is so very true for me! more so when it comes to creating collages than drawings. i always have to sit with my collages awhile, usually placed on my crowded bookshelf so i can look at them before i go to sleep at night and when i'm sitting petting my cats. after a few days of this i can determine if they are truly finished...or as the quote implies just abandoned!!

 only a few more hours tonight on this drawing and it's done! yay! and off in the mail tomorrow! and then onto some exciting new drawings!!  

~these small collages will be listed in my etsy shop next week if interested!~

feathers and petals

sandwiched in between victorious soccer games, my daughter emily and i grabbed our cameras and headed out to the LA county arboretum and botanical gardens on sunday. it was our first time there and we were well rewarded with loads of peacocks, ducks, and geese! there were also gorgeous colored flowers, oodles of ponds and a lake, beautiful wood chipped lined paths, and magnificent trees from all over the world! 

if you're ever in the area, i highly recommend it!! seriously beautiful!

connecting

i don't know what happened since last week but i certain didn't make much progress on this drawing...and it's due at the end of next week...yikes!! and the next time i'll be able to get to it is next tuesday...double yikes! wish me luck!

last night my friend cynthia and i hit the downtown la artwalk. we only perused a dozen or so galleries along spring and main, as we spent a lot of time chatting away at dinner...but...the art we did see, technically was great but nothing that either of us connected to...at all! i did like marlene capell's interesting abstracts with their layers of thick paint and anthony friedkin's ocean photographs, but beyond that nothing moved me. 

so, after we parted late that evening, my mind started racing about what connects me to a piece of artwork...is it the subject matter, style and execution, the color...or is it something deeper than that, that can't be explained? 

art definitely has to emotionally impact me at a deep visceral level. draw me in and move me...to touch something inside me that i might not always understand at the time. i love the pieces that stick with me in my mind for a long time! 

it's a fascinating subject to me from both ends of the spectrum...as a viewer and a creator. 

what connects you to a piece of artwork?

windows of the soul...

...the five senses

sight

touch

hearing

smell

taste

the only way to do great work is to love what you do. if you haven't found it yet, keep looking. don't settle. as with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.

~steve jobs~ 
 

 layering darks now...getting close to finishing! i have an elephant and tree drawing i'm just hankering to get to once this is done!

small collages i started creating this past week. just got an itch to do some collaging, which i haven't done since last january. when i get these urges i think that there must be things going on in my subconscious (probably cuz there's a lot of change going on in my life right now) that are really needing to get out...i try not to analyze it (too much!), i just jump in and follow my creative impulses until i feel satisfied! 


 i'm having a blast with writing my drawing book lately. i've taken all my thoughts and notes and sketches and am doing the actual writing of it now. i have to say it's going super well, and i'm very happy with how it is turning out so far!!

wishing you all an art-filled weekend!♥K

sunset at the observatory

 ~noticed an abundance of clouds in the sky in the late afternoon. 

~a burst of rain. 

~i just knew there would be a glorious sunset that evening. 

~raced up to the griffith observatory after work with my sleepy daughter by my side. 

~OMG.

 ~one of the most magnificent sunsets i've ever seen.

 ~a double rainbow to the east...my daughter reciting the words to the double rainbow guys youtube video.

 ~people with cameras of all sizes on tripods snapping away.

~hushed conversations.

~a feeling of appreciation and gratitude wash over me.

 ~empty bellies now need nourishment after such a spectacular sight!