i equate what happened last friday in connecticut to 9/11...emotionally that is. it's been hard not to get caught up in all the different aspects of this inconceivable situation...it really is just heartbreaking. my girls have been getting lots of hugs from me lately as i am sooo grateful i've never had to personally deal with losing a child.

that's why i have been pretty quiet here, but mostly quiet on facebook. sometimes it's just hard to get back into the swing of daily life after such a tragedy.

i am just going to share two completed drawings here that i finished a few weeks ago and then i am going to remain silent until after christmas...maybe by then i will feel ready to jump back into things. right now it's just time for me to be with my girls and family, to quietly grieve, meditate, send energy and pray for peace in our world.

total bust!

 well...the art show yesterday was a total bust! i think i could have counted the amount of people that came on my hands and feet! but i learned SO much, so...i guess, it wasn't a complete waste of time and money. what i learned is to always know exactly what the venue is...i thought it was a fine art event...it wasn't! had i known there was jewelry involved i would never had applied. cuz lets face it, unless your art totally rocks this world nothing can compete with jewelry...especially some of the pieces i saw yesterday. heck if i had made some money i probably would have bought a few exquisite items myself!

the contrast between last weeks show at Segil Art Gallery and this gallery show was huge...i've been pretty dense about catching onto that. but i get it now...my clientele is definitely people looking and buying fine art and a good gallery is where i need to be. (on-line sales are really good too!)

but as always, the vendors were pretty darn cool and fun to talk to...and a few people took my card and were interested in custom portraits. you just never know...sometimes people do come back and buy later...not holding my breath...but sometimes miracles do happen!! and this is the season for them...right?!!

one more show!

 one more show for me this coming sunday at the Modest Fly Art Gallery. it's a one day event from 12-5pm. i'm not quite sure what to expect, but i'm SO happy to be juried into it!

photo courtesy of modest fly

i am super hard at work framing up 7 pieces for the show...let me tell you, framing is a long process, especially when two drawings aren't quite finished yet! but they are lookin' good, if i do say so myself!!

 saturday nights reception at Segil Art Gallery was an enormous success! not that any red dots were seen...(yet!!)...but there was a huge crowd, despite the rain, lovely music, carolers, i got wonderful comments on my drawings by so many, and i ended up talking non-stop to lots of very awesome people! that last part is big for me as i get a bit intimidated and shy when i'm at gallery receptions. i don't easily strike up conversations because i feel like i am pushing people to buy my work. but maybe because the gallery was more intimate and i actually saw people i knew, but hadn't seen in a very long time, that it was a really great experience and gives me a bit more confidence when mingling at art receptions!

upcoming show

the 10th annual holiday small works show is happening from december 1st through the 29th at the segil fine art gallery in monrovia, california. i SO hope you can join me at the reception this coming saturday from 5-7pm. see details here!

 

this is one of two graphite drawings juried into the show. the photos i shot for this drawing were taken at deukmejian park, a skip and a jump from my home. over the long holiday, my dog josie and i went back there for another challenging hike. we took the trail to the left that curves down into a beautiful ravine where josie loves to wade in the narrow winding stream. then climbs high into the sand colored mountain range overlooking the foothills, just north of los angeles.

i'm very blessed to be able to live in such a beautiful place with so many gorgeous areas to hike and a dog that even at 9 can out hike me!!

 i actually got the opportunity to draw sunday evening, altho i was soo exhausted from the weekend that i drew like a turtle. not that turtles actually draw...i was referring to the slowness aspect of them. i guess i am still exhausted...plus it's a monday morning!

a baby titan

 after a very early and lengthy morning of checking into our hotel in Nairobi, we jumped back into our white vans and headed off to the elephant orphanage. 

standing behind a roped off red clay area, mint green robed care takers placed baby bottles the size of which you've never seen before every few foot along the rope.

materializing from behind some vegetation to our left, approximately 20 baby elephants came charging down the path to get their bottles of delicious creamy milk. the crowd was entertained by these tiny pachyderms greedily feeding from the bottles held firmly by their care takers until the last drop was polished off! then the antics started...tug o' war with trunks, goosing, a few fights and a lively game of soccer ensued. i can't tell you how awestruck and overjoyed i was! never had i seen a sight like this before!

so this new drawing in progress is of one of these sweeter than honey baby elephants, who i came to love more than any other animal on our adventurous safari in kenya. funny, i really thought the cats would be my favorites!

They stand quiet in the breathless hush of beauty.

~Lazaris~ 

 Zarafa (c) 2012 Kathryn Hansen

progress shots of zarafa. 

clear a path by walking it, boldly

tara sophia mohr

 Watchful (c) 2012  Kathryn Hansen

boy...i am soo happy to be done with this piece...the ivy was really starting to drive me crazy! in the past i would have just abandoned it, yet always lingering in the back of my mind as yet another drawing that was never completed...i have quite a stack of those! so i guess i am proud that i didn't let this one slide...that i stuck it out even tho i really wanted to draw something else...like the giraffe below. which i am loving because i am really seeing how daffy looking giraffes are...not that i didn't notice before but when so intimately involved with drawing a subject it just really dawns on you!!

 

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms." 

~George Eliot~

 Romeo (c) 2012 Kathryn Hansen

romeo was the  rush portrait i had to draw and send out to australia in two weeks time! i put in long and sometimes late hours to complete it but he was fun to draw!! always a challenge to fit a fast portrait into my busy life (especially with kittens vying for a prime spot to lay down on my drawing board after a good tussle...see below!!)

coonie

coonie, one of our fosters, has a terrible case of ring worm...and he's given it to all of us...emily getting the worst of it. but that may be because they hang in her room during the day when we're not home. he had to go to santa clarita for a few days to see the vet and be quarantined. 

nyan

nyan, his foster buddy, has really missed him! 

so far none of the other animals have gotten it!!  knock on wood!!

a gift

Lucy (c)  2012  Kathryn Hansen

this past saturday night i stayed at home since my boyfriend was out of town at a funeral and my youngest daughter was at an overnight babysitting gig. i was all excited to finish "lucy" as i never stay home on a saturday night to draw! i poured myself a delicious glass of red wine, my oldest daughter was snuggled up tight next to me on the couch, we were watching iron man on tv when all of a sudden my daughter was shrieking at the top of her lungs. my head jerked up, i knocked my wine glass over with my drawing board...wine spilled everywhere...i looked over to see what the heck!! shortie had brought me a gift...a rat larger than our foster kitten coonie! He ran off to my bedroom and that's where i spent a good portion of my saturday night...chasing after a giant rat. after much imploring, i was able to talk my daughter into finally helping me. we exhaustively managed to capture him and get him safely outside. not exactly how i had envisioned my night going but i did complete lucy...my original goal...just had to stay up later than i was expecting!

 

coonie wiped out after all the activity!

shortie, the gift giver keeping a watchful eye on all the commotion

until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. 

~anatole france~

coonie

josie

nyan

diamond, upside down...as she likes to sleep!

 since i am working on a secret rush portrait that needs to be done by wednesday night and shipped overseas on thursday, i can't share any progress shots. but as i sat on the couch most of the weekend drawing, the animals loved snuggling up around me and walking all over my drawing board! had to nudge our foster kittens, nyan and coonie off more than a few times!! it's hard as they are so sweet...but i was on a mission!

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and fire.  

~Sharon Ralls Lemon~

Perfect Bliss  2012 (c) Kathryn Hansen 

lucy is up next in my 5x7 series...she is a bit complex in her details but i think she is going to look great when completed! and since i just finished "perfect bliss", i think i'm going to start work on another horse that emily took photos of in wisconsin this past summer. just in a horse mood i guess!

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

 

~Mahatma Gandhi~

 

Cloven Hoofs (c) Kathryn Hansen 2012

 

progress of the horse drawing:

with carmeggedon II here this weekend in los angeles i may just be able to finish up my horse drawing this weekend...crossing my fingers!

forward movement

josie sleeping to my left and diamond sleeping to my right

just have to complete his face, put the finishing touches on and it's a wrap!