Violet the Cat



Just another day in the studio. I bet you all think that

I get to determine how my day and my painting goes.
Ya know, since it's just me down there. The person who

bought all that paint, that easel, those canvases. You'd

think that person would get to be the boss of that space.

And you would be wrong

. Because Violet is the CEO  of Kathleen Taylor Studio. 

She lives there and I just visit - for 8 to 10 hours at a clip - 

 but still not a full time resident.

 Apparently that makes Vi the Tony Soprano of

my little work space.

This is a picture of us today. The background is the

painting I'm trying to finish. The red is my sweatshirt/stomach

 which Violet has decided is the perfect spot

for some bonding time. Her tail swishes and flicks over the palette,

picking up blobs of paint that she deposits on the

painting.  Have you ever tried to tell a cat

what to do? Cats wouldn't listen to the

voice of God if it was accompanied by thunder and lightening.

I never thought I'd say this, but dogs are easier.

Occasionally they listen to me.

Good Music

My little Italian mother played the mandolin.
Beautifully.
My little Italian grandmother had all her daughters play instruments.
Together they formed "The Arcidiacono Sisters", a trio with a 15 minute
radio show in White Plains, NY in the 1930's.

Mom could play all the traditional Italian songs on her mandolin. My
brother and I grew up thinking that " The Tarantella" was a nursery
rhyme.

She tried to teach us both to play. My brother (overachiever that he
is) learned quickly. I had absolutely no ear or interest. But I still
love the sound of a mandolin. Oh, the memories.

After my Mom passed I inherited the instrument we grew up with.
It hangs on my dining room wall. My granddaughters think it is a
cool guitar.

In reality, the world's coolest guitar shares space with the vintage mandolin.

In 1969 I began a life long love affair with James Taylor.
I walked into the bookstore at SUNY Oneonta and saw his album.
( Vinyl and record player ready..)
How could I not fall? He had the same name as my charming
Irish father and he was CUTE. Once I heard his music, I was done for.
I went to as many concerts as possible over the years.
He became the soundtrack of my life.

For my birthday The Overachiever gave me the most amazing present ever.

He was at a fundraiser with an autographed James Taylor guitar up for bid.
He was determined to get it for me and he did.
It took me weeks to actually take it out of the box. I felt like Julia Roberts in
"Pretty Woman" when Richard Gere gives her the jewelry.

I still can't believe I have a fancy guitar that James signed.

I love that he and my Mom are sharing
the same space. Good music is universal.

They both played the soundtracks of my life.

Thanks, Brian. I got the best brother. Ever.

Working B-I-G !

I feel like I've got it now! Painting on bigger surfaces is

not an insurmountable challenge.

The first big painting was a real struggle. Hated it -

 maybe not hate, but definitely not loving the finished work.

 I carted it to my local gallery. It was in the

gallery for less than a week when a couple came in and fell in love.

 I'd like to say they bought it and happily took it home.

 But really, they loved it, went home, measured for it and then

called the gallery and made a very lowball offer. It's not a garage

sale, folks..... So it's still in it's gallery home.

Determined to try it again, I got another panel out and

started a new one. This went so quickly and easily that

I am now a B-I-G painting convert. This is my latest -

titled "The Rescuer" in homage to all the good people

who take time to find homes for homeless animals.

She is 30 x 40 on a wrapped gallery canvas.

Here she is. I am happy with the finished work.

Whoa... something must be wrong. I'm never satisfied.
I'll wait and see if I'm still in love with her in the morning.



Back at the Ranch

My first passion will always be painting. ( Of course, that passion is always in competition with the grandkids. They are just so amazing to be with.)  But I digress. Running a very close second to being in the studio is being in the house. The living part of it. We bought a non-descript '80's ranch last year. It needed some cosmetic work but was in general good health. The sunshiney basement is bigger than the upstairs living space and that was my first project. Clean and open white space to work in. The space to live in is more of a challenge. I like to take my time and let the space tell us what it needs. It also takes time to figure out how we're going to live in the space. You know, where we'll relax, toss the mail and the keys, etc. One year down and I have some ideas. They keep morphing into different ideas. I like to wait until one visual stays in my mind for a while before I execute it. The pic on the right  is the temporary foyer look. It has a great slate floor, not so great scuffed beige walls and a 12 foot ceiling. I'm thinking stenciled walls or maybe fabric as wallpaper. The bottom vignette is the top corner of the dining room cupboard. The dining room is the first really finished room. I love it. Love the color on the walls and my old beloved furniture in there. That'll be my next post. As soon as I get some pictures I'm happy with I'll be back.

Faces

Faces

I haven't painted a person or a face in so long that
my skin toned paints are drying up. Dogs have been
filling my canvases. My good friend, Bailey Jack/painter
extraordinaire urged me to paint a woman holding a dog or a
chicken or a pig.....

This lady is holding a puppy. I love her face and I hope
the rest of the painting gives me the same pleased
feeling. I'll post the other two thirds when it's finished.

I started my painting career with people images. It
might be time to look at faces again.

WORKING B-I-G

WORKING B-I-G

This is my biggest painting ever. At 30" x 48", it's not even that big.
All my painting friends tell me that big is the way to go these days.
Big sells and we want to sell.

Jeez, did I struggle with this one. The composition confounded me.
I walked away from it many times. I'm so comfortable working on
table sized canvases that I can  hold in my lap. This was easel only
work. Getting the color and design right was a real challenge.
And frustrating.

I can tell when I'm finished with a painting. I set it on an eye level
surface and walk away. Then I turn around and look at it. If it
makes me happy and I can't find anything huge to critique, then
I'm done. Real scientific. I tried this method at least 6 times before
I got the happy feeling with this painting.

"Daisy Dog" is now in residence at Matilda's Gallerie in Roswell.
www.galleriematilda.com

So glad this one is finished. Now that I've done it once, I know I can
do it again. On to a 3' x 3' or a 4' x 4'!

Bandit

2012.

Another new year.

 More new painting.

Every time I stop painting and  start again,
new stuff appears. It might be a painting tool
or a shape I haven't used before.
I want my art to be loose and free feeling.
My background is in perfect lines and
shapes. I stuggle all the time to find the
imperfection in the lines I draw.
The art I love is wild, imaginative
and very free. With lots of great color.

This is  "Bandit" - a chicken or a rooster -
 honestly, I don't know the physical differences.
They all look like chickens to me.
This is as loose as I can get.

The new stuff is using lots of oil pastels on the
 painted surface. Am also carving rubber stamps
to incorporate in my paintings.
The star in the sky is a new stamp.

 I wish I could find giant white erasers.
They make the best stamps.