Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Don't forget about "The Business of Art" Talk on Sept 27

This is a reminder to register for Kathy Collins' talk on the business of art. See full details at http://meganseagren.blogspot.com/2011/08/announcing-kathy-collins-talk-on.html.


Topics covered will be:
  • How Kathy got into the art world from the world of science and medicine
  • Improving your art, getting a style
  • Organizing your art
  • Getting into juried shows
  • Getting into a gallery
  • Getting your art published in a magazine
  • Steps to begin teaching
IMPORTANT: To guarantee a seat for the talk, please preregister by emailing kathy.collins2 @comcas​t.net (remove the spaces in the email address).

This event is sponsored by the Seattle Watercolor Meetup Group.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Sharp Metal Objects

How I Became a Favorite Great Auntie

I'm great auntie to a passel of little boys belonging to various nieces and nephews. There are seven in all. I love each of them, but one in particular tugs at my heart strings -- a middle child like me. His Dutch name sounds like Out -- at least that's the way it often sounds when his mother says it.

One day Out came to visit with his mother and baby brother. The circular layout of our home is perfect for running, it turns out, and by lunchtime, Out's whirling socks had given our floors a high polish. I was glad when it was time for him to sit at the table to eat. While Out listlessly toyed with his food, I began returning freshly washed knives to their magnetic holder on the wall. I'd raise one up, and when it got close enough, the knife would snap onto the holder.

SNAP went the first knife.

Out perked up.

SNAP went second knife.

Leaping from his chair to my side faster than you could say "Don't jostle me when I'm handling knives," he began peppering me with questions about just how that knife holder worked. Could he try it?

"Umm, no. Maybe in 10 or 15 years."

His eyes remained glued to the knife holder.

This seemed like a good time to go downstairs to the family room, where some art projects were set up. Although the art stuff was a bit dull, the hand cords of my Nordic Track Classic Ski Machine were not. Seems they're good to dangle from.

After a few minutes of dangling, while his mother was occupied with changing baby brother, heading for the stairs, Out declared, "I'll be right back.". After a brief exchange of raised eyebrows with his mother, I followed. In the kitchen, I found Out staring up at the knife holder. Appeased with nothing less than a full description of how it worked, Out learned that metal things such as knives stick to the holder because it's a magnet.

Out began muttering to himself.

"What are you thinking about, Out?" I asked. This might be important information.

"My trucks!" he said. "My red truck is metal. My green truck is metal. My orange car is metal. They'd stick to the mang-ga-net!"

"Why yes!" I agreed, relieved that the subject had turned from knives to trucks. "Metal cars and trucks would stick to the knife holder, if they're made of the right kind of metal."

His curiosity finally satisfied, Out allow me to coax him away from the kitchen and back down to the family room.

Later that afternoon while Out was on his way home with intact fingers and eyeballs, I sat down at the computer and ordered a magnetic knife holder for him. It would be shipped directly to his home, so I emailed his parents to let them know, adding that they might want to mount it on Out's wall to hold some of his trucks and cars.

It's a very fortunate thing that Out's parents have a sense of humor, for when the knife holder arrived, Out opened the package, and -- to his vast and astonished delight -- it contained not only a magnetic knife holder, but real knife as well!

And that's how I became one of Out's very, very favorite great aunties.

Out's passion for sharp metal objects, which I had unwittingly loosed, led his parents to give him an impressively large  plastic sword. It flashes and makes a lot of noise to compensate for the fact that it doesn't cut things. I feel a teensy bit guilty about this. 

Postscript: Since this story was written, two great-nephews and two great nieces have been added to our crowd. AND a girl grandbaby. Now that she's two, she displays a similar attraction to sharp metal objects--in her case cooking knives like her mum uses. Glad I didn't start this one!

You might also enjoy:

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Leo and the Drive-by

Here's another animation about Leo, the Occasionally Good Dog. There are so many different ways to say his name!




You might also enjoy:



Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Announcing the 49th Street Studio Blog!

Yeah! I've joined a studio here in Ballard, and volunteered to create a blog for it. Please take a moment to check it out.

49th Street Studio Blog


You'll notice that the very first post is about our annual art party. I hope you'll be able to join us!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Announcing Kathy Collins' Talk on the Business Side of Art

Updates: I corrected Kathy's email address below.


Please note the change from September 20 to September 27.

At some point after you begin taking casual art classes for recreation and before you decide to pawn your children and go to Tahiti to live on the beach and paint, some inevitable questions arise, such as,

"I have this growing stack of paintings. What should I do with them?"
"How can I buy art supplies without plundering our retirement accounts to pay for them?"
"How can I share my creations with others who will appreciate them?"
If any of these questions, or similar ones, have occurred to you, then you might want to attend Kathy Collins' talk, The Business of Art. Most people who find themselves drawn to art are not simultaneously drawn to business, but the truth is that the artist needs to know something about business to make the most of their work and their talent. Kathy's been there and has a lot of it figured out. She understands the business end of art from an artist's perspective because she's got her own successful art career.

Please join us for Kathy's talk on Tuesday, September 27th at 1:30 PM at the Kaewyn Art Gallery in downtown Bothell. The cost is $20 per person. The talk will take about an hour and will be followed by a question and answer session, so write down all those things you've been wondering and Kathy will do her best to help you with an answer or approach that works for you.

IMPORTANT: To guarantee a seat for the talk, please preregister by emailing kathy.collins2 @comcas​t.net (remove the spaces in the email address).



Topics covered will be:
  • How Kathy got into the art world from the world of science and medicine
  • Improving your art, getting a style
  • Organizing your art
  • Getting into juried shows
  • Getting into a gallery
  • Getting your art published in a magazine
  • Steps to begin teaching
This event is sponsored by the Seattle Watercolor Meetup Group.

Kathy Collins, "Riverbend," featured in Splash 12.

Monday, August 1, 2011

More Fear of Paint

Week Two of Kathy Collins' summer session, we did city scenes. I painted this from a B&W photo of Kathy's. The street looks European, so she probably took the picture on her last trip there, earlier this summer.

I started on the left-hand buildings, nearly frozen in fear, repeating, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" under my breath like a mantra, while applying lots of paint thinned by the teensy bit of water clinging to my brush. By the last stroke on that side of the painting, I was feeling a bit more confident. Turning to the other side, I used some warmer color combinations, painting more freely as I started to get the hang of it.

Street Somewhere in Europe Probably

Just as I once said to my daughter, Liz, after screaming all the way down a particularly difficult Blue ski run, and then realizing at the bottom that I was still alive, I thought "I'd like to try this again sometime."

You might also enjoy: