switzer falls and a new drawing!

i found a new highly enthusiastic hiking partner lately...my daughter Emily. the last time we went hiking (many, many years ago) her attitude was quite the opposite, using such phrases as "doesn't this place have any escalators?" no honey, there are only escalators in buildings! and over and over, "when will we be there?"

most of my hikes have no destination point...except this hike rewarded us with an intensely beautiful waterfall at the end! and maybe that made all the difference...or maybe it's the 4 years since!!

i just know that this was one of the most stunningly spectacular places i've ever hiked!! and i'm totally blessed that it's so close to home!!

 this is the start of a new drawing, inspired by the theme of "memories" for the brand 41 works on paper competition. when i was thinking of ideas for this theme, my mind flashed back to growing up in rural wisconsin...climbing trees, catching tadpoles, skates that had keys to adjust them, sailing homemade boats down a small creek that formed at spring time in our backyard! even tho we had a swing set and not a tire swing hanging from our old willow tree, this represents all those combined memories. so i am highly enjoying drawing this piece...it makes me feel very nostalgic!

Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.

  Edgar Degas

 well, i finally put to rest "out of the burrow" (see previous post). i fixed the areas on the bottom of the piece that i wasn't feeling the love for and at least to me it's much better. now for this piece (above), "along for the ride"...ugh...i have reworked the background more times than i can remember and still am not happy with it! i have a few ideas but need to sit with it for awhile. i won't be entering it in the birds in art show as i feel it's just not up to my standards for entering such a prestigious show.

i don't know why i am in such an elephant mood this year...i must be dreaming of kenya!! but here is the start of a new piece. i started with the most challenging part first...the background and making these egrets look like they are in motion and not just hanging in mid air. so far i am not liking the background but am going to keep at it until satisfied!! 

this seems to be a recurring theme lately...highly dissatisfied with certain areas in my drawings!!

oddly enough my whole interest in a painting is when i'm painting it. sure i care about it for a while-try to decide if i succeeded in what i was after. but strangely it doesn't make any difference to me whether the pictures are sold or not. really, my purpose in painting is creating a thing.

~andrew wyeth from the book, art of andrew wyeth~

Kathryn Hansen (c) 2012 Out of the Burrow

funny...i felt this drawing was complete on wednesday evening, but something with taking a photo of it and looking at it a few days later, my eye is drawn to various spots i want to go in and fix. is any piece of art ever finished? or will i forever be noodling away at it until i feel fully satisfied?!hmmmm!!! good question!! i'll let you know after i work on it a bit more tonight! ugh!!

almost there...yahoooo!

 as you may remember, this is where i last left this drawing in this post

this was last weeks progress

closing in now...and it feels soooo good! just have to finish the roof and readdress the weeds at the bottom and then i can call this drawing done! this has been a challenging piece, so i can't even begin to tell you what a relief i am feeling to be almost finished with it!! so now i am jumping for joy to have at least one drawing to enter into the north light book competition, who's deadline is rapidly approaching!

forging ahead and "just california"

 i am sooo hoping to be able to finish up with this elephant drawing in the next week! then i know that i will have the birds in art show covered...well...with at least one drawing! i'm a bit nervous about starting the bird as that's the focal point of this piece and has to be super accurate! the bird will end up being pretty small so i will have to dig out my reading glasses to magnify all the details. what can i say...these eyes are getting old!!

and cool news...5 drawings were chosen for the "just california" gallery show at the mcgroarty arts center in march. the reception is march 9th from 6-9 , just right around the corner! and like, i just realized today that i have a lot of framing to do...and fast!

progressing and tragedy

 when i looked back on my last post i realized that i am actually making a lot of progress!! and relatively fast as i found numerous pockets of time this past weekend to draw!

 i wanted to stay close to home this weekend as my youngest daughter witnessed a very tragic incident at school on friday afternoon and i wanted to keep her talking and feeling her feelings as much as possible.

a boy she knew took a running leap off of the 3rd story roof of the science building at the beginning of lunch period. unfortunately many other students witnessed this horrific scene as well. something you never want your child to have to deal with. something you, yourself never want to have to deal with. my heart is very, very heavy with sadness for the family, wondering how they can possibly cope with such a loss.

we are profoundly changed by this experience and hope that for whatever reason or higher purpose of this tragic incident that some good will come out of it...more kindness, understanding and thoughtfulness on the part of all the students there at the high school. maybe that's what Drew was looking for in his fellow classmates to make such a dramatic exit.

"Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more."  

~Vincent Van Gogh~

 

this is the start of my Clouds Over Kenya drawing. it's coming along pretty fast considering i barely squeezed any drawing time in last week. 

 

Sammy...he never fails to jump up on my drawing board and sit for awhile. i just consider it my "coffee break!" and by coffee break i really mean red wine and dark chocolate with sea salt break!

 and this silly thing is our foster kitty Diamond, who likes to lay underneath my drawing  board, partially on my lap. 

this sunday i'm hoping to get out to the LA arboretum to get some great photos for a fourth drawing!  hope you have a wonderfully creative weekend too!!