Flying by the seat of my pants

"Helga, the Housekeeper"

Sometimes, you just need to fly by the seat of your pants!  Upon arriving at my Buffalo destination last night, I discovered that there was no mirror for the audience to see my demo.  So, I held the painting up with my left hand, while painting vertically with my right hand.  Then the audience could see what I was painting.  It actually went pretty well.  I finished the details on the hair this morning, using Tombow markers and permanent black markers.  But otherwise, this was my demo for the Buffalo group.  I was asked when I started painting funky ladies.  I think it was after watching a video by Anne Bagby, one of my favorite artists.  She has been a great influence on my work.
 And I finally discovered what my imaginary housekeeper looks like.  "Helga, the Housekeeper" has been my nickname for myself whenever I do my monthly deep cleaning.  I just know that this is her!  Got her hair all tied up in rags, but she's a bit of a diva, having to wear jewelry while she cleans.  And let me tell you, she is a minimum cleaner! I have no idea why I keep her around.  :)  When I arrived in Buffalo at the airport building, there was a blackboard, so I again flew by the seat of my pants and did the drawing on the blackboard so that all could see, as we did a funky lady drawing together.  They all loved learning the tricks!  It was a fun evening.  Below is my blackboard drawing. 

Another Funky Lady!

"Something Fishy about Karen!"

I'm preparing for another charcoal pour workshop and funky lady workshop that I will be teaching in Two Harbors, MN in 2 days.  I've done 3 of these "Something Fishy" paintings.  I really enjoy the play on words and creating the unexpected.  This particular workshop is my favorite workshop to teach.  We pour the charcoal on the first day, in prep for the bird painting, but since it has to dry, etc., we work on our funky ladies paintings the rest of that first day.  There's always lots of laughter and everyone succeeds!  In fact, the ones who aren't very good drawers actually produce the best ones, in my opinion.  I will be giving a demonstration on Drawing Funky Ladies, for the Buffalo, MN art group on November 17th at 7:00 p.m. It is held at the airport there.  Join me if you're in the area. 

Crazy Lady Paintings

"Sending you a Big Hug"

This is one of my latest crazy lady paintings. If you look closely, along her neck there's a message. It probably looks like hair at first, right?  :)   I just finished teaching a 2 day workshop in Watertown, SD at Jennifer Stone's beautiful new studio.  What a great time we had!  So many laughs and new friendships were made!  I had 19 students, and they all did a fabulous job at creating very imaginative crazy ladies of their own!  Below is a collage of their paintings.  (Remember, I made this on www.PicMonkey.com)  It's a great site to make collection photos. 

How many tomorrows will I waste?

"Fancy Pants", Acrylic and Collage, $295, image: 15" x 15"

This painting was so much fun to paint.  I painted with 2 friends and we tried to channel a new artist friend, Tonja Sell.  We met her at Karlyn Holman's Paint-in, and have so much respect for her talents, plus she's a really nice person to boot!  I tried to make this painting funky, but this girl just insisted on being pretty, so I decided to title it, "Fancy Pants".  The thing that was most fun was using colored pastel pencils on the face. Below you can see the close up view of the pencil marks. That's one thing that Tonja Sell does so well.  She scribbles lots and it sounds like a little chicken scratching in the dirt.  I grew to love that sound while I painted across the table from her at Karlyn's Paint-in.

So now you're wondering about the title of this post, right?  That is for my Healthy Eating Challenge Group.  I basically wasted this past week, doing little exercise, and going out to eat lots.  I made up this saying, "How many tomorrows will I waste, till I FINALLY REALIZE that TODAY is the DAY?!!"  Today, I feel focused and ready to take on the week.  One thing that I will do is to prepare meals ahead of time.  I tend to make bad choices when I just have to grab something on the run.  BTW, I haven't heard from any of you who are joining me in this challenge.  Am I all alone in this challenge?  Reporting in, I lost 1/2 pound last week, bringing me to a total of 2 pounds since I started on March 19th.  Please email me and tell me how you are doing, and whatever challenges you've had these past weeks.  We can share recipes too!  I've been watching Jaimie's 15 minute meals, and there's some really great healthy meals, and easy like I like them too!   We can cheer each other on! Have a great week, and we'll report back next Wednesday! Here's a writing that is so profound.  :) 

Make Small Commitments. Get Big Changes.

Excerpted from Rules of the Hunt

Taking Care of You

Drink plenty of water.
Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.
Eat more fruits and vegetables and eat less that is manufactured in processing plants.
Avoid eating food that is handed to you through a window.
Live the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
Play more games.
Read more books than you did last year.
Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
Sleep for 7 hours.
Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Your Outlook

Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
Dream more while you are awake.

Favorite Fun Sketches of 2013

Favorite sketches of Crazy Ladies (and men) for 2013

As I reminisce about my artwork of 2013, I think about the fun I had doing sketches of what I call, "Crazy Ladies" and all the fun I had teaching workshops of this subject.  The students had a ball creating odd faces and their imaginations soared.  These were done using Tombow markers, and after completion, many times, I created paintings using the sketches as my guide.  Usually, I write goals on December 31st, but this year, I'm going to try to keep it short.  I'd really like to complete my book that I've been writing for the past 5 years, and make it my top priority.  Otherwise, I'd like to write goals every night before I go to bed about the next day's expectations.  Not only artwork, but eating and exercise goals as well.  So, there you have it.  It's in print, so there's no going back from here!  Have a great New Year everyone!  I hope to see many of you in my future workshops.http://www.karenknutson.com/workshops.htm  I'm teaching in Arizona in February and in Florida in March. So, if you live in Minnesota, it's a great chance to get some sunshine! Check out my website for my teaching schedule.  www.karenknutson.com

Crazy Lady Series

"The Morning After"

The painting, "The Morning After" just sold.  I'm sad to see it go, to tell you the truth.  I'm really enjoying sketching and painting crazy ladies, and have taught several workshops that were very successful about this type of painting.  They make great cards, and add a smile to your day, when they are hung in bathrooms or kitchens.  So, I bid you farewell, funky girl.  But you are going to a good home, and for that, I'm very thankful.

Day 30- 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Party Time!"

Can you believe it???!!!  I'm done with the 30 paintings in 30 Day Challenge!  This portrays my excitement for reaching that goal, I think.  I did a contour drawing of some friends,, and then basically doodled with the Elegant Writer pen.  I think this would make a great card!  Now, all my friends are going to be wondering, "Is that me?"  I'll never tell!  What I learned from doing this 30 in 30 challenge:

1. Perserverance pays off!'

2.  It is madatory that you have a very understanding family before attempting this.

3.  Practice makes perfect!  I am a better artist than I was 30 days ago!

4.  Doing a series actually increases my imagination and creativity.  I have so many more ideas of people to paint!

5.  I lost weight during this challenge.  Perhaps staying busy keeps me from snacking????

6. Balance is a must in my life from now on.  Everything else fell by the way side this past month.

7.  It really helps to have friends cheering you on during this huge undertaking.  Thank you dear friends!

Now, what am I going to do with my time?  Organize..... for one thing!  Clean my studio, and I've made a new goal to create a 30 minute daily sketches every single day in the next year, starting now.   I love doing those, and we all have 30 minutes every day!  Hope you'll all keep checking in to see my blog.  I enjoy staying in touch!

Day 25- 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Frazzled"

     Need I say anything more?  At Day 25, I'm running out of energy and feeling totally worn out, totally FRAZZLED!!  This is a self portrait, part of my Crazy Lady series.  I did the 30 minute study of this some time ago, (See below) when I taught back to back workshops.  I like to teach 4 day workshops and then have at least one week to refuel, but this time, I had scheduled these workshops in order to pay for some remodeling that we had done.  Never again!  Although I'm glad that I'm almost done with the challenge, I'll never be sorry that I did it.  Thank you, Leslie Saeta for setting this up. 

     I've got a friend, Karlyn Holman, who teaches many workshops within a year, and I don't know how she does it!  I call her the Energizer Bunny.  You definitely should look into taking a workshop from her.  She's the best!  My paintings are in several of her books.  Click on this link to get to her website.  

     This painting took several hours to complete, but was very fun to paint.  It always works better when I work from a color design sketch.  I use Tombow markers to do these.  That's what I will be doing daily after this challenge is over.  I miss doing them, and I'll pledge to do another year of 30 minute studies.  Did I just say that???!!!!  Below is my study for today. 

Day 19- 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Girl with a Secret"

Nearly 2 years ago, I visited a coffee house in Texas, and saw this girl wearing a fun scarf, and I asked her if I could take her photo so that I could paint her.  Wonder what she would think of the way that I abstracted her image?  Again, being influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, this painting was a pleasure to paint from start to finish.  However, it took 8 hours to paint!  For my reference, I used a color sketch that I had done while I was in Texas.  I'm finding that my 30 minute sketches are so valuable as I do this 30 day challenge.  This painting is 10" x 10" image.

Day 6- 30 paintings in 30 Days!

"Hot to Trot"

This was fun to paint from start to finish.  Some days are just like that!  I had a design sketch to work from that I had done in October of 2011.  I've actually got 3 huge sketch books full of design sketches.  My husband asked me last night if I was concerned about running out of ideas for the 30 in 30 challenge, since I committed to having them be people paintings.  OMG, I said, I could paint from now till the end of the year, and still have more ideas!  I think that is because the design sketches stretched my imagination so much.  I can't recommend that any higher!  This painting is image 14" x 14", and will be matted to be size 20" x 20" and is available for $600.  I plan to enter it in the Transparent Watercolor Society Show this year.  Wonder if the judges will like my Crazy Lady?

Day 5- 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Pretty as a Peacock"

It's been awhile since I've done one of my Crazy Ladies.  These are totally out of my imagination, and they are so fun to do.  I saw a peacock feather recently, and thought, wouldn't it be fun to have the feather as a lady's hair?  So, here it is.  I enjoyed the concept so much, that I plan to do more peacock themed paintings.  I knew what colors that I wanted to use, because I had done a design sketch last night, using my Tombow markers.  So, I got out my Stephen Quiller pallette, knowing that I would be able to get the perfect color of aqua for the background.  That was so fun to use those colors again, I may convert back to them again.  They create such glowing colors.  By the way, Stephen Quiller is a great instructor and one of the nicest artists out there!  I took a workshop from him near his home in Creede, CO, and learned so much, plus he invited the whole class out to his studio at his home.  There are so many good teachers out there! Even though I teach workshops all over the country, I still love to take workshops once in awhile too.  I'm teaching how to do people paintings in Rapid City, SD from August 17 - 19th.  Watch for all my workshops on my website.  www.karenknutson.com 

  "Pretty as a Peacock"  is size 10 x 10" (matted to size 17" x 17") and is available for $125 plus shipping.