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happy new year

wow. 2014 flew by. not sure where the days went. i did have some great things happen last year. i met a couple of my goals and surprised myself with some of my accomplishments. i moved into a new studio. i have more room which was very much needed. however, i have big, big plans for 2015. i have found a great work balance, so i am able to accomplish more than before. i'm starting to move out of my comfort zone too and explore making abstracts. something I've wanted to do for a long time.

i have started a few new painting series lately. i'm working really hard on painting things that are close to my heart and inspire me. taking my happy place and putting that on the canvas. i explored a lot in 2014 with my gelli plate. it can be really addicting. i have turned out some great paintings using my gelli prints as collage elements. soon, i'm going to begin taping for some online classes. stay tuned for info on that soon. i'm really excited and hope everyone will join me. i would love to hear what types of classes you guys are interested in seeing. i'm trying to do something different than what i see out there every day. so......give me your ideas, and i'll try to make it happen. hope everyone's year has started off great. i'm looking so forward to seeing what this year has in store for me.

So Many Directions

Liliya-8x10 Mixed Media Painting

I have so much going on lately.  It’s so hard to keep my head straight and keep up with what I need to do.  I need to get ready for a couple of shows, plus I have a couple of projects that I’m planning right now.  Sometimes I feel like there needs to be three of me.  Making a list really helps me, but sometimes making the list seems so time consuming.  Do I really have time for that too?  Do you ever feel that way?  I need to somehow get grounded and find my bearings.  Really, I need a vacation, but that’s not possible, so what’s my alternative?  I should probably just lock myself in a room and sit quietly for a few minutes, but at this moment, even that’s not an option.  Wow. 

So, I guess the best thing I can do is get to work and push through it.  My plan is to get everything organized for Saturday’s show tonight instead of waiting until the last minute like I normally do.  I think that’s why I always walk around with a feeling of panic.  Not sure why I do that to myself, but for some reason, I just can’t help it.  It’s like a sickness.  Procrastinate until you can’t any longer, then have a panic attack.  You would think I would learn my lesson.  We’ll see what happens tonight!

I’ve got lots of new work coming up to show you so stay tuned.  I’ve got lots of new stuff in the shop, so make sure you go check it out.  Great things are coming!  

A Giveaway and a Sale

I have a couple of things to celebrate.  I have been working very hard on both my Facebook page and my Etsy shop.  I decided to have a giveaway once I hit two hundred likes on Facebook.  I have, however, decided to give everyone until March 15^th to get in on it.  All you have to do is like my Facebook page.  For another chance to win, post about my giveaway on your page, and come back to my page and post in the comments under the giveaway and let me know that you have shared it.  And for a third chance to win, all you have to do is follow my blog.  I will pick three items from the shop and let the winner pick which one he/she likes out of those.

The other thing I’m celebrating is that I have been working very hard to get more things in my shop.  I now have 50 items in there.  So in honor of this milestone, I’m having a sale.  Until the end of the month, I am offering 25% off on anything in my shop.  Just use coupon code CELEBRATE. 

I have a few other things in the works, so keep checking in so you won’t miss anything.  I will be at Art ‘til Dark again this year.  I will make announcements on Facebook regarding dates.  Also, I’m going to be doing the River Market and Chattanooga Market this year as well.  I will make announcements on Facebook regarding dates. 

I have been working on a new direction with my art.   Don’t worry, I’m not giving up my girls, but there are some other things I want to explore.  I’ll be posting pics soon.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these pictures of some new things I’ve listed in the shop.

Inspiration Avenue-Meet Katie Berggren

Last year, just before Mother’s Day, I was looking around on Etsy (not sure what I was looking for, probably just poking around), and I ran across the most beautiful painting by Katie Berggren called Recharge.  It spoke to me.  It reminded me of me and my daughter trying to take a nap.  Physically, the little girl looks nothing like Victoria, but the personality is the same.  I sent the link to my husband, and he got me a print for Mother’s Day.  I have the print in my bedroom, and one day Victoria pointed to it, and said “that’s me and Mommy’.  So, I guess I was right about it. 

Katie’s work is so moving.  She expresses so much emotion.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

Recharge

                 1.             Can you please tell us a little about yourself?

I’m a mother of two little boys who has always had an urge to create. I began my art business by taking commissioned jobs penciling portraits from photos. I moved on to colored pencil and digital art, but one day while painting a mural on my new son’s wall, the memory of how much I loved to paint hit me. I put down the pencils, picked up the brush and NEVER looked back!

Simple Gifts

2.             Could you describe your work?

My paintings are created from my soul ~ as a way to capture the emotions that stir a mother, and to focus on, protect and memorialize those fleeting moments of bliss between mother and child. I like to think of my paintings, also, as a way to remind us of what is most important in our relationships with our families and children: being there.

  

3.             How did you get started painting?

I took two painting classes during my time at my community college, to learn light and shadow, form and such. I enjoyed them, but didn’t love them. It wasn’t until I felt the freedom and courage to create from my heart in colored pencil and digital software that I was able to put the two together ~ the emotion and movement of the colored pencil work, and the freedom of the paint on canvas. Together, they thrill me.

4.             What materials do you use in your paintings?

I prefer acrylic paintings, never had much luck with watercolor paints, and generally avoided oils because I was worried about toxins around my babies. I love acrylic paint on rich textural cotton canvases. I mostly use brushes, but have been known to use my hands, plastic wrap, palette knives, and a variety of other tools.  

  

5.       I’ve noticed that your paintings range in sizes from 4x4 to quite large.  Do you find it a challenge to paint in such a variety of sizes?

The first little 4x4” canvas was a surprise! But also a delight. I am happy on a canvas of any size, to be truthful. I generally keep the larger sizes to a maximum that will fit in my car! I do not find it challenging, jumping back and forth, I love creating paintings and all aspects thereof!

Home

6.           I love your painting style.  Did you start out painting this way, or did you develop it over time?

This painting style developed in a raw and naïve way from the moment I put brush to canvas (after those college days) when I realized I wanted to use paint to share my emotions instead of colored pencils and digital means. My very first painting attempted the current stylized and expressive, movement-y style ~ but in a very raw form. It took a few paintings before I began to understand the style, and years of painting to finesse it, and I still have work to do. I frequently find that the style wants to change a bit, too, in regard to adding some text, or using smaller brush strokes.

7.             What is your favorite work that you have painted?

I have many paintings that I consider my favorite that have blossomed from the studio. To be truthful, once the piece is done, and while it is in progress, I don’t focus on the fact that “I” painted it ~ sometimes I barely have memories or words to describe the process (which is why it is imperative to photograph and write DURING the process, versus later!). I know the pieces came from within, but with such assistance from the inspiration all around me. I would have to say Simple Gifts, Deep As A River, Home, Mid Day Rest (this one hangs in my bedroom), The Very Breath and Nature are some of my favorites right from the top of my head, today, anyway!

8.             Who or what inspires you?

I am inspired by life. Simple as that! I am inspired by the color, the movement, the skin. I become so inspired by watching (ok, staring at) the interactions between the mothers and children around me. Sometimes they inspire me to create a new piece, sometimes they inspire me in general because I feel I have a true duty and purpose to share the purpose of a mother for a child. I am always aware of the need for this work that I am a part of ~ I am always aware of the fact that so many mothers forget or were never notified of what their children need most: their mother’s attention and affection.

9.             What one piece of art has inspired you the most?

I was inspired very early on by the work of Kathe Kollwitz ~ her emotional and heart-wrenching pieces from the early 1900’s focused on showing humanity in its raw form. She created many pieces featuring mother and child. I first discovered her work in high school, but had no idea that I would still be inspired by it in my 30’s. Her intentions lie somewhere within me, not an obvious form of inspiration, or work that I have hanging in my studio ~ but a general longing to join her in representing the heart and soul of humans and their vulnerable relationships (in Kollwitz’s work it was often a relationship with war, hunger, death, and other humans) that reminds me that our emotions are sometimes too glossed over to recognize or read. We need artwork to remind us of our pain, joy, passion and intensity.

Nature

10.         Who are some of your favorite artists?

Kathe Kollwitz, Mary Cassatt, Susan Mrosek (http://www.ponderingpool.com/), Rie Munoz, Gustav Klimt.

11.         Do you currently teach workshops or are you planning to in the future?

I do not currently teach workshops, but have considered it. Right now, the only art I teach is to my sons and their classrooms!

12.         What one piece of advice would you give to someone starting out as an artist?

I would say to find their purpose, find the reason they are doing what they are doing. Then find the art that supports that purpose and share it with the world! There is so much to follow that, but when you know why you are doing what you are doing, everything else is far more doable!

          13.         What are your dreams for your creative business in the future?  What is the one big (or many) thing you aspire to?

I aspire for my artwork to open up possibilities for my family. I also greatly aspire to use my artwork to do good, to support mothers and their children in a very necessary and valuable way. I have yet to find my complete path for how I will contribute but am doing my best to give and support until the right path comes along.

Deep As A River

             14.         What techniques or styles would you like to try that you don’t currently use?

I’ve found a recent urge for collage ~ and started adding some text to my 4x4 Collection: Moments With Messages (http://kmberggren.com/paintings/4x4-moments-with-messages/), but will be doing more experimenting with collage in the future.

15.        Besides making art, what other things do you like to do?

I like to play games with my family, go on walks and hikes, watch movies, read, study health and natural remedies, organize, communicate, people watch, and connect.

To view Katie’s work and find out more about her, you can find her here:

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See new paintings at http://www.kmberggren.com
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My First Published Piece

Zoe

One of my goals for this year is to get published.  It’s a great way to get your name and your work out there for people to see.  I have set some pretty high goals this year.  You can see what they are here.  I finally feel like I have a style of my own, and I can start moving forward with these goals.  I have learned of lot of great things in the past few months, and I have built an awesome community of fellow artists.  I really feel like I’m on the right path.  So, as my first step toward these goals, I have a piece published in the Winter issue of AlteredArts Magazine.  The magazine is available digitally, so if you would like to order a copy, there is a button on the left side.  Click on there and look for the Winter 2011/12 copy.

Hopefully, this will be the first of many published pieces.  I will keep you guys posted on my progress.  I hope everyone is having a fabulous new year so far.

Moving Forward-2012

Well, the Holiday Market was a bust, but it’s time to move on and make plans for next year.  I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish in the next few months.  Back when I was stalking WendyBrightbill (she's an amazing person and artist, you should stalk her too), I ran across a post of hers where she had listed her 2011 I DidList.  She listed all of the goals she accomplished during the year.  Turns out, she did them all.  So, this made me think.  If I list all of my goals for 2012 on here, maybe it will keep me accountable and help me accomplish my goals as well.  Plus, it’s not a bad idea to let everyone know what I’m up to and what to look forward to in the future, right?

When I began Kelly Rae’s class, I listed my goals/dreams for my business.  I’m not sure I’ve actually gotten them all down yet, but I’m going to break it down into the ones I think are doable for the coming  year.  Actually, some things I have accomplished or started already, so that’s amazing.  I just need to keep ticking them off one by one.  It was so wonderful how Kelly Rae taught us to break down our goals and start getting them done.

These really aren’t in any sort of order.  It’s just a list of things I want to happen for me and my little business.  Some of them will also probably overlap anyway.  It would be great to see what you guys have in mind for the coming year as well.  Make yourself accountable too.

                Get a line of paper dolls together and in stores (I’m collaborating with a friend on this.  It’s going to be so much fun.  She is amazing, and I think we will work great together.)

                Get more Etsy sales. 

                Attend a few art festivals.  I plan on this being the last year I have to do shows.  I want to get enough exposure that I can rely on online sales and not traveling all the time.

                Join my local visual arts association.  This will give me some exposure in the community, and I will get to meet more local artists and network with them.

                Get published in at least three magazines this year.

                Continue my interview series-Inspiration Avenue

                Start steps toward teaching an online course.  Maybe make some tutorial videos and put them on youtube.

There are probably more than this, but I think it’s a good start.  Anything else is just icing on the cake.  My intention is to check in every quarter and see how the list is going.  I’ll try not to forget to do that.  I plan on 2012 being full of growth for my business.