WHEW... It has been CRAZY around HERE!!!

Before I get started, check out the calendar tab and the workshop tabs... we are posting new events all the time there... GO... NOW... LOOK AT IT... you don't want to miss what we have going on in here because you will feel silly later when we are making fun of you and stuff like that.

Well, CLEARLY I am not cut out to be a  daily blogger.  So i have decided to own that... I am gonna paint nearly everyday.. but there is no way in hell that I am ever gonna be the artist that sits down and tells you everything on this bloggy blog every day of my life.  It is not gonna happen.  Not that I dont love all of you in bloggy blog land of rainbow farting unicorns, I just can not make myself do it.  There, I admitted it.  whew.. I feel better now.  lol

Now on to other things...SHOWS SHOWS SHOWS... OMG I LOVE doing shows.  I love the chaos that gets all tangled around it, I love the travel and I love meeting the people who collect my art.  It makes my soul sooooo happy. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!

Westport was AAAAAA MAZING!!!  I will keep that show on my calendar til I no longer live here.  Being around the patrons who have done the show for 25 years was a blessing beyond measure...the wisdom and the stories from breakfast alone was worth the trip down there and the booth fee.  It was also the most artist friendly show I have done.  We set up in the pouring rain, Melinda and I... and it was CRAZY.  we had only a corner of a tent...that I normally have the entire tent to myself..I shared a tent with 3 other artists...so a corner...smaller than a tiny bathroom.  There we were, like drown rats putting the tarp up and stuffing that tiny space with all my gear and ourselves and trying to stage it, without getting the boxes wet and the art wet, and our arses wet... but it was so much fun.  I truly believe that Melinda and I can work together under any circumstances now.

So Friday night of the show was the typical.  No sales, just  lookie loooos..folks out for the evening at Westport that just happened to have an art show going on in the middle of their eating and drinking.  Saturday, however, was a different story.  We got hammered.  I was all stressed out that I didn't have enough room for all of my art and as it turns out, it is much better to have less and then restock if needed.  I will stop filling my booth to the gills from now on and only have a limited amount to look at.

 

So two thumbs up for the Westport Art Show.  Moving on now

 

Cancer Kickers Fundraiser is October 5th,,, you don't want to miss that. 

Barbara Akers us having a wood burning workshop Oct 13th... YOU REALLY don't want to miss THAT!!!

Liberty Fall Festival is this weekend,. I will be there with bells on. Booth number 13 I think.

 

www.galleryoffbroadway.com will officially be open in 48 hours or less.  I think you will be surprised.

One more little thingy.... what was it... hmmmm... oh ya

CABO SAN LUCAS BABY!!!  I AM GOING TO CABO SAN LUCAS!!! OCTOBER 20... can you freakin believe it is time to go?!?!?!   I am so excited I can hardly stand myself... anyway.. I have to go paint.  You should get off the satan box (AKA computer)and go do something creative as well...

 

Love Kathleen

September Calendar

WHOOOHOOO.... here is the calendar.... we will be adding more to it shortly, but here it is anyway.

Also, we are super excited to announce that we have added a Restaurant Tour to the mix of our traveling circus.... starting with Ventana right here in Excelsior Springs....the second Wednesday  of each month.  You will be served appetizer, full course, one free adult beverage, and dessert as well as get to paint something amazing with yours truly!!!! 

 

We will have the Young Picasso's calendar done in a few days... Classes will start the second Monday in September...AND we have added Saturday mornings to their schedule as well!!!

 

PLUS... CHECK OUT THE WORKSHOP TAB!!!   We have  added some dates and some instructors... and have a few more up our sleeve so keep checking back!!!

 

I have three shows and too many blank canvases so it is off to paint for me.

 

Happy Creating!!

Love Kathleen

NOVEMBER 9th SAVE THE DATE!!!

ANYWAY....Soooooo as some of you may know I have created some characters for the Baltimore Bend Winery Christmas Wine Lables " Kris Kringle".  This will be my third year doing it with no end in sight.  To catch you up, year one Kris was calm and cute and full of his usual Christmas cheer and VERY politically correct....by my standards anyway....YES I KNOW I HAVE LOW STANDARDS.....but I try to use my "what would Keith Do" button in times of dire need.

  

Kris Kringle Year 2010

Kris Kringle 2011

ANYWAY, Kris was lonely and so year two I gave him a counterpart if you will.... and let me tell you... not only is his wardrobe quite stylish, but that reindeer LIKES HIS WINE!!! These guys are a perfect besties, like me and Kiko.  Kris is all calm and organized, and the Reindeer is well.... NOT...guess which character represents me the best..LOL

 

Well there is no peeking  this year but I will tell you that  the characters have been up to their usual carrying on and as a result, Kris MAYBE  has had a weeeeeee bit to much to drink during the "finally got all the presents delivered to all the little darlins party"   but  he is NOT driving.  I will also tell you that due to a sluggish economy and gas prices, the Kris Kringle LLC made an executive decision with regards to the mode of transportation in which said presents get delivered. 

 

The new label goes to print next week I believe and just for fun, this year we are NOT GIVING YOU A PREVIEW!!. BUUUUT.... to lesson the blow of that news...... we will let you  know that we are having a LAUNCH PARTY at the Gallery Off Broadway. .... ART CRAWL NIGHT ......SECOND FRIDAY..... NOVEMBER 9th....FROM 5:00 TIL WE ARE DONE!!!!!  Baltimore Bend Winery will be attending to SAMPLE AND SELL the first bottles of KRIS KRINGLE to the public. I will be signing bottles, AND AND AAAANNNNNDD.....this year we will also have limited edition prints of the past two years and cards and some other things like T SHIRTS!!!" I GOT MY HOLIDAY ON AT THE GALLERY OFF BROADWAY!!!"  and a "NAME THAT REINDEER CONTEST"  WHOOOHOO!!!

 

I have to go paint again...my usual right...teehee.

\

Happy Creating!!!

Love Kathleen 

Three Papers In Two Weeks In Colorado!!!

Ahhhh, yes.  I am attempting to  catch you up on the comings and going of the Frisco show.  As you may know I did Aspen two weeks prior and they put me in the paper....Well Low and behold... I woke up Friday...Show started on Saturday...and saw THIS in the Summit Daily....WHOOOHOOO!!!!   TWO PAPERS in TWO WEEKS in  COLORADO!!!!!

Then we spent the ENTIRE rest of the day exploring the countryside and running up mountains and puking from altitude sickness....... oh......., and trying to dislodging the van seat from MY ASS after the 14 mile, 14 thousand feet, one right after another  hairpin curves , no guardrail with 4000ft drop offs and the lane we were in crumbling and rolling down the cliff as we drove over it , oncoming traffic, and GOATS drive up and then down MT. EVANS.

So Saturday morning, I get up at 4 am to get semi ready and head over to set up... Kev in tow.  What an amazing sight to see the sun coming up over the mountains...pure bliss...and by this point I am confident it will prove to be a fantastic show day.

 The weather was beautiful, set up was a breeze and we had a packed house in the morning just as we had expected.   Sold a few things,

 and then everyone went to eat lunch which means they will think about what they saw while eating and  then come back around and make the purchase!!  I was all geared up and ready.. pens..check...invoices..Check....plenty of art...CHECK CHECK....BRING IT BABY BECAUSE I WAS READY.  

What happened next... well... was something I had not seen in months.  I heard a rumble, and stepped out of the tent to see what the noise was. BLACK CLOUDS....did I mention I am standing in a FREAKIN TENT with zippy down tarp  sides and only 200 lbs of sand to hold it all down?   ... NOW, I haven't seen rain in well....FOREVER... so I was not even sure it was rain or the zombie apocalypse...either way it threatened to disrupt my good mood  feeling about future afternoon art sales. 

RAINBOW AGAIN!!!!  Over the ENTIRE mountain!!

Then came the lightening, and the pouring down rain... The funny thing is that it worked out to my advantage, because when the people started running for cover, they were tent hopping. ....and each time they used our tent as a place to keep dry Kev would try to make them pay rent by buying a painting...LOL... it was so much fun!!  So the entire afternoon was shot sales wise, but playing in the rain is sometimes a "PERK" of an outside show. 

3 Panel Aspens A Glow

24" x 36"

395.00

SOLD

Then one of the gals in my tent says HEY, you were in todays paper....I thought she was talking about the Friday paper I had already seen.  She then whips out the Saturday Edition "magazine" and sure enough... THERE MY ART WAS AGAIN!!  THREE PAPERS IN TWO WEEKS IN COLORADO!!!!WHOOOHOOOOOO!!!!    

My opinion of the show... again technically, it all went off without a hitch.  Howard Alan Events proved to be worthy once again.  We can not blame slow sales on them and who knows how well we would have done had we not had a monsoon at the peak part of the day Saturday... JUST SAYIN!!

I now have Four shows in my sights.... three in September..all at home... should be crazy.  Westport, Zona Rosa , and Liberty Fall Festival... and October is the one I have been waiting for allllllllllll year.. CABO SAN LUCAS BABY!!!!   I almost hyperventilate when I say it out loud OMG OMG  OMG it is almost time to pack for that one!!!!  

Do It Til You Are Black & Blue

40"x 40"

$8,000.00

Anyway,,, I have to paint so I am outta here for now.

Happy creating!!

Love Kathleen

Oh Frisco, How much I love Thee.

Yes, it is true... I am officially a hooker.  I have had this on going love affair with my beloved beach for the last 20 years and have never cheated...until I saw the SIZE of the Rockie Mountains...seriously....what girl could say no to that.  Quite impressive really, and size Does matter.

So now I am torn between the two to the point that I thought about starting a support group for this exact situation, and then I learned that most of the folks visiting the Mountains shared my same affliction and inability to choose and have simply adapted this philosophy...mountains in the summer when it is cool and beautiful there..stick around juuuuuuuut long enough to see the leaves change... and then GET THE HELL OUT AND GO BACK TO THE BEACH BABY!!!!   OHHH how I long to go back for the entire summer next year and just stay and explore and breathe it all in....

So Daddy decided that the first full day in Frisco was dedicated to all things high altitude and mountainish.  We woke up bright and early and headed to Shrine Pass which has a mountain trail on it that reaches the summit at 12 thousand and some odd feet to the top and he figured...WHAT THE HELL...lets go climb it... so we did. 

 She made it to the top...she was just coming over the ridge here

Caitlin sitting on the top of the world!!

Chase was like a mountain goat... just ran up the rocks like he had sticky fingers that never lost grip..OMG he was crazy.   I tried to load the video of him running down the mountain  with his shirt off but it froze up...so no go on that one I guess. 

THEN we drove to Evan's Pass....HIGHEST PAVED ROAD IN THE US...we get up to where the road ends and you have to climb the rest of the way...Caitlin says there is NO way she is climbing ANYTHING ELSE...so Chase and Kev scale the last 200 ft to reach the 14 THOUSAND something something foot peak...Chase scales it like he is again...part mountain goat... and gets to the top of the world one more time in less than three hours...Takes this pic

Then gets dizzy.. runs down to the road and STARTS PUKING!!!  YUP Altitude sickness,...uggg... and it was 14 miles of hairpin curves to the bottom of the mountain...poor kid got to puke on the mountain in three or four different locations...teeehee... but hey I did get to see the sheep and the goats up close and personal due to that event...


ANYWAY...back to the show....Most of you know that this in my first year doing pro shows.... and with that comes weather...well Frisco brought my first taste of weather... DOWN POURING RAIN, lightening and rain to be frank... wave after wave after precious wave of what appeared to be nectar from God after the drought we have been experiencing here in Missouri... So the first day was a bust to say the least....

So we had to set up the day of.......at 5 am....before the sun was even awake for this show..

Then is was SHOW TIME!!!

I will add more to this later... have to go paint right now lovies!!  I have three show in September, plus a fuuuulll class schedule, and a few other things to catch up on!!! 

Happy Creating!!

Love Kathleen

Colorado.. DAY 1

So we took my kiddos to Colorado with us this trip.....lol...drug them along in the big ass van.  It is roughly a 12 hour trip and 9 hours of it are through the lovely state of Kansas. Now, after driving through that state the trip before I began to wonder who I could call to order an air taxi to save the the pain of 9 hours in "WHY THE HELL DOES ANYONE LIVE HERE LAND?  GET MY GUN I CANT TAKE THE PAIN OF IT ANYMORE LAND"  See, I think the army should supplement their income by offering a taxi service through Kansas.... you pull up, drive onto one of those big ass planes that hauls tanks...you pay a fee... and one hour later you land in Denver....See... FREAKIN BRILLIANT!!!!  It is worth paying 300.00 buck for a ticket to NOT have to drive through Kansas EVER again...
Sooo we drive and drive and then FINALLY  DENVER!!!! I am pretty sure Denver exists because some family was headed out west and the hubby had lied to the wife about how easy it was gonna be...she took one look at those HUGE mountains that they were gonna have to go over and said SCREW YOU, the kids and I are staying right HERE...boom....Denver.  




This sums up how I feel in the mountains.  A moment to think.





A brief, yet winded hike to the edge of the world
4000FT straight down over the edge

Family.

PLANK!!!

 The rest of the drive was picturesque as usual.  Climbing and ears popping, head pressure, excitement, lots of photos taken.
We got to Dillon Colorado and ate at the Dam Brewery... FANTASTIC FOOD!!  Then to fishing!!

It does not get much better than this. Chase Fly fishing in Dillon Lake
within the first few hours of making it to our destination

I took a pic of this three weeks ago while on the way to Aspen, over Kev's shoulder while were were driving because it struck me as an oxymoron...sailing ....IN THE MOUNTAINS....going round and round?
Then when we got to Dillon and let Chase go fishing in the lake there... I realized I HAD PAINTED the lake he was fishing in without even knowing it... LMAO!!

OMG!! did I mention how amazingly beautiful it is in Colorado? Did I mention that the mountains change color every minute with the movement of the sun and clouds. Did I mention the wildlife....and the fact that is feels JUST LIKE THE BEACH here in the mountains... same buildings, only brown....same fishing guides...only for trout...same beachy stores...only for hiking and rafting and stuff like that... same adorable quaint towns that cater to tourists year round ....but instead of wearing swim trunks and bikinis, they are wearing bike helmets and shoes that click and clank on the pavement......same hippies..YEP I said it... same hippies...JUST LIKE MY BEACH!!!!!! I am so happy here that my inner child does cart wheels all freakin day and then runs through the streets with giant lollipops in each hand...teeeheee.....Happy? People come into my tent and ask me how I am doing... I reply.. "I AM HAPPY" they look at me like no one has ever said that to them.

 Happiness is something we all want right...but so few times do me take the steps to get there. I am happy on the road, and happy in the mountains and happy in the beach. I spend as much time in the woods and near the water as I can each day that I am here to get as many pics as I can so that when I return to Missouri, I have something to paint that inspires me to be happy. I think I am finally beginning to understand how to feed my soul.

WHOOOO, that was waaaay tooo deep. Now time for the funny stuff.
I painted RIGHT UUUUP until the moment we had to load the van... here is a sneak peek of what was going on in the Gallery before Daddy got there to help us load up

Here is Melinda BLOW DRYING the last SEVEN PIECES I did on Wednesday because they had to get loaded in two hours to go to Colorado...

 Then ARMAGEDON HIT!!!

 And passed right over us after causing our power to go on and off for fifteen minutes and set fire to a building a block away...NO RAIN.. BOO!!

That is all for now lovlies,...that was the first fifteen hours of the trip to Colorado... I will tell you all about it day by day, but for now.. I need coffee and to paint.  I have three September to get ready for!!

Happy Creating!!!
Love Kathleen

Two Days To Paint... UGGG!!

Okay, so I have  two days left to paint.... ONLY TWO... No big deal right... WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO BIG DEAL .....this is what the two crazies in my head have been discussing all morning..teeehee.  I had to go to Oklahoma to get my kids yesterday so there was nooooo painting.  I painted until midnight the night prior and got three done I think.. which is two LESS than I needed... and I have to finish at least eleven by midnight tomorrow night...( My insides are in the fetal position rocking myself at this very moment...LOL) 

"Aspen Grove A Glow"
24" x 48"
$750.00


Soooo, I am now off to paint another 4'x 2'
 painting and hopefully four small ones as well.
CHAOS is the theme of the gallery today..teehee..
But I LOVE IT!!

Happy Creating!!
Love Kathleen

Here is the big one I finished at midnight.