Alone In Arctic Waters

48x60"
Oil on Canvas

The Last Painting Of 2009

It's been exactly two months since my last post. How did that time go by so quickly?! What have I been doing with myself? Well, I spent an inordinately long time recovering from my show and the time leading up to it. I've never been so alone in an empty studio as that first week back in Los Angeles after my opening in Santa Fe. None of the paintings I had surrounded myself with were in my studio and I felt an immense loss. It was as if I had birthed these children and then had them taken from me. Unprepared for that sense of grief, I didn't know how to create again for some time.

Then at some point in November I got going again. I attempted some small works, I experimented, I made failures, I left things half finished, but at least I was working. In December I moved to a fresh canvas in the 48x60 size that I had been working in. I know it's not good for an artist to be 'comfortable,' but I needed to revisit it. And that brings me to now. I've just completed that painting and will post it.

The year as a whole has been a great year for me and for my painting career. I worked really hard, I had my first real solo show in a great gallery, my first article in an art magazine, even unexpectedly making the cover of a different art magazine- and I sold paintings. Overall I'd say it was an amazing year for me. And when I consider the difficult economy, the state of the art world in general, and my numerous moments of panick when I was sure I'd never get the work done on time and disaster was surely imminent---I can sigh a huge breath of relief that 2009 is over.

Now I can turn to a new year and make new goals for myself that I can mock and laugh at - my audacity! I can look at where I'd like my life to be and make changes. This will be a year of new places and many changes. And with change comes a renewed sense of life and adventure!

Happy 2010 to all who may stop in and read this.

Peace and love,

Katelyn

On Figure Painting

Today I picked up one of my favorite studio books as I sat pondering my next painting. These words could not more clearly articulate my thinking and position on painting as of late, and its utter importance in light of our newly abbreviated attention spans via the 24 hour news cycle, the pure overload of twitter one-liners, and the facebook status update.

It reminded me of how easy it is to connect with history and humanity just by standing in front of one great painting in a museum and reacting to it. These thoughts make me wonder what the constant onslaught of mostly mundane online sharing really has to offer, and how it will change the information we compile to understand the world.

Anyway, this is just a small snippet, but I felt as though these words were my own:

Most artists who have chosen to concentrate on painting seem in agreement that painting offers an antidote to the rat-tat-tat of images that are shot at us from every corner of our daily lives.  Paintings create pauses in life, and offer distillations of subjects rather than unconnected snapshots.  We experience the world as if it were a painting being completed -- multiple views are built up over time to become fused in our memory.  We don't see in the present, but through knowledge compiled in both the recent and the distant past.  We don't understand the world through a series of frozen moments seen out of context and subjectively cropped, divested of meaning. 

-Charlotte Mullins, from her book Painting People, Figure Painting Today. Buy it.

The Age of Illuminated Phenomena Installation Shots

The opening of my show at Skotia Gallery was a dream come true! And it was a gorgeous autumn weekend in Santa Fe...the aspens up in the mountains were turning a magnificent shade of yellow.

Visit the gallery and see the individual paintings online here: Skotia Gallery

Featured in American Art Collector Magazine

Visit Skotia Gallery online to view the paintings in my solo exhibition. And please visit the gallery in person to view the show through October 16, 2009!

Pick up your copy of American Art Collector today!

(Click text to enlarge.)

Featured Artist on Brooklyn Art Project October 2009

Find more images like this on Brooklyn Art Project

Solo Exhibition OCT 2 - 16, 2009

As many of you know, I've been painting non-stop for my first solo show, The Age Of Illuminated Phenomena, coming up at Skotia Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. The opening night will be from 5:30-7:30 on Friday October 2 and the show runs through October 16. Visit the gallery online: http://www.skotiagallery.com/

And!

The October 2009 issue of American Art Collector magazine includes a fabulous article on my work (p.156-57).

Art Ltd. Magazine included my painting, Fluid Motion, on it's cover in the Sept/Oct issue! (Bottom row, center.)

Progress Of A Painting

Underpainting. Something I don't often do.

New Painting June 2009

48x60"
Oil on Canvas
Self-Portrait

American Art Collector Magazine

The May issue of American Art Collector magazine features Skotia Gallery as one of the top galleries to see in Sante Fe. Included is a half page image of my painting!

Stop by Borders or Barnes & Noble and check it out.

links:
American Art Collector Mag
Skotia Gallery, Santa Fe

Grand Opening of Skotia Gallery in Santa Fe

And you are invited! I hear there will be champagne, music, and good times.

Friday May 1st 2009

5-8 pm

Skotia Gallery
150 W. Marcy Street Ste 103
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
www.skotiagallery.com

April Work in Progress

48x60"
oil on canvas

New Painting 3.31

48x60"
Oil on Canvas







(click to enlarge crop)

New Work in Progress

Detail of 48x60"
not yet titled

Untitled

12x12"
oil on panel

'My New Country' Opening Saturday

I have work in a show juried by Rita Gonzales, curator Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

'My New Country' opens this Saturday
Jan. 31, 2009 from 6-9PM (show runs until Feb. 27, 2009)

Gallery 825
825 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

View Google Map

News!

Wow. I have had so much going on since I moved to LA that I haven't posted much on my blog. Sorry about that! The update:

I am pleased to announce that in addition to working with Stricoff Fine Art in New York, I have signed on with a new gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Skotia Gallery is opening in May 2009 with an amazing roster of established and emerging artists including Daniel Sprick, Steve Huston, and Ray Turner among others.

Skotia Gallery has a two page spread in the February edition of Southwest Art Magazine with one full page given to my recent painting 'Girl Running.' My work will also be included in the Santa Fe Collectors Guide coming out this spring as well as in The Santa Fean Magazine.

I will be having my first solo show with the gallery in October of 2009 (opening Friday October 2 - so plan ahead.) I'd love to see you there!

Skotia Gallery
150 W. Marcy Street ste 103
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501