Window Gifts

     I took a break from my Spring.  I took a break from what I thought was going to be my Spring.  I was forced to take a break from what I thought my Spring was going to be.  We pretty much all did.  I didn't want to focus on promoting my work and sharing pieces that were for sale.  I felt kinda bad about it.  Like, I "should" be doing that, this is how I support myself,  but couldn't make myself.  So I allowed myself to not do that and let that part go until I was ready to take that up again.  It took about three weeks.  Then I got the opportunity to participate in a virtual art show Art Gone Viral and I replied Yes without thinking.  Afterward was when all the doubt three weeks of inactivity allowed to materialized.  But you know what?  By my saying Yes I sent a signal out there.  I was contacted by lovely folks that had purchased pieces from me in the past and were ready for more, generous friends determined they would spend some of their stimulus money on supporting artists they know, people found my work on my Etsy sites and started buying again.  And one lovely woman who had bought a large #WindowFramed piece from me a couple years ago thought of me when she was replacing the windows in her historic home (see the image above).  She contacted me to see if I would have a use for them.  She wanted me to have them and she wanted to commission a piece from one of them for their home, as a remembrance.  This generous gift touched me very deeply.  It affirmed that opening myself and my business back up, literally and figurately was the right thing to do and at the right time.  I WAS going to need more windows.  Everything is going to be ok.  Thank you Francesca for sharing the window gifts.  I promise to find them good homes with good people like you.  I'm ready to get back to work.

Be Well my friends,

     

2020 Art Show Schedule

Hello-

     It's been a few months since I made a blog post and a bit of a wait in the car service waiting room seemed like the perfect opportunity to catch up with you all.  So let's get started.

     I've passed out a few cards about commission work but no one has jumped at the offer yet.  I'm not discouraged.  It felt good to claim that as an option and I know the right people will find me when its a perfect option.  The Spring shows have been filled with weather challenges.  I never curse the rain around here because I realize that it is hard to come by most of the time and it is keeping the temperature down.  I will however grumble about the mud in the booth and the untidy results in Vincent, the new van.

     My narrow avoidance of an art scam did have a positive result.  I have all my current #WindowFramed pieces in one place for viewing.  I've created a Flickr page (click on the underlined word and a new window will open with the page for you)  that will take you right to where I've posted everything that is ready to go now.  I'll keep it current by either removing or posting SOLD on pieces no longer available.  Those of you who follow me on Instagram have been getting these updates regularly and getting a first look at new pieces and the process of their creation and even the finding of the windows.  You are following along on Instagram right? Prints are still available through my Etsy shops as well, links on the right.  You'll find my international work there as well.

I posted my upcoming dates there recently I'll post a short recap here.  Contact me if you need further location details.

May 26 and 27 Kerrville Arts Festival
June 7,8, and 9 at the Lavender Festival in Blanco
July 6 and 7 Rockport Art Festival
July 26.27 and 28 Ruidoso Art Festival NM

In between studio work in town and art shows on the road the cats and I are giving Mom a hand at the home place in the country.  As a result my life if full of all the things I love and that is a good thing.  So I think you know everything that is interesting.  You don't want to know about my creaky knee or continuously patched jeans, right?  So I will close with a photo of a cow with cartoonishly windblown horns.  I'm always willing to find the whimsy in something.  I hope you are too.  It makes the world a better place.

Thanks to you all for your continued support and for following along on this adventure.

Til next time,

Kim

Spring Check in and Musings

Hello Friend-

I wanted to touch base before the Spring excitement of practically weekly shows gets started for me.  I'm sharing some new images that you may not have seen if you aren't following along with me on Instagram where you'll find my "Window Frames" project that is new at the shows this season and my ongoing struggle with work gloves blow outs.  I'm using old/vintage/shabby/fabulous found window frames to bring my work to life.  It is bringing me much joy.



I'll be at the Starving Artist show in downtown San Antonio at La Villita Saturday and Sunday April 7,8th this week.  Next weekend at the Lubbock Arts Festival at the civic center April 12,13,14th, then as part of Fiesta at the King William Fair on April 28th.  Then in May at LagoFest at Lago Vista on May 5, Art on the Greene in Arlington the 11th,12th and 13th finishing the month at Kerrville Festival of the Arts May 26 and 27th. Dang gurl....I know!  Then the big Hot sets in and I'll share more later on future shows.

So, last month in Salado I had someone in the booth looking at my photographs and wondering "Why can't I take photographs like that?"  I hear something similar almost every show because everyone takes pictures now.  Everyone has a camera in their hand all the time with their phones.  I'd been thinking about what makes my work different for a while.  How would I describe my work, what am I trying to say ..etc etc and ended up landing on this idea.  I'll share it with you and you can test it and see if it doesn't make a difference in the way you see and photograph.

The disclaimer:  All types of photography are valid and worthy, one isn't better than another just like any other art form, love what you love.  This is what I've found true for me.


My photography truly changed when I embraced the notion that I could make my photographs look like what I see.  A lot of that is captured in camera and some of it is created in editing.  The idea is that when you look at something or something catches your eye, you focus on whatever that is and all else "falls away" or isn't noticed.  That isn't necessarily true when you are taking a picture.  The camera is going to pay attention to everything that is in front of it.  Yes, you can manipulate that but this isn't a technique talk but about generalizations. So for an amateur, the biggest impact they can make to upping their picture taking game is to make that realization.  Find what captured your attention in the first place and make that what the photograph is about.  Notice that trash can that is going to be in the shot if you don't take a step to the right because your camera sure will.  Once you realize that the camera sees all and doesn't discriminate like your eye and minds does instinctively then you can take steps to make your photograph look like what you saw, either by what you do in camera or afterward in processing. 

 

 

I still take "representational" photographs-ones that look exactly like real life but more and more I'm trusting that what caught my eye and attention and spoke to me will speak to others as well.  Having almost weekly feedback from folks coming through the booth looking and smiling and dreaming along with me has done wonders to validate the directions I take my work into as my confidence grows.  I say to you-Give it a try- see if you don't notice a difference in your photography when you treat camera or phone like a human eye and see if you can't recreate that feeling yourself.

That's it for now.  Please do following along with me through this season as it feels like a turning point in my photography career and I'll be out and on the show circuit more than ever and hope to meet you along the way.

See you down the road,