Art Reception at Kirkland Art Center, NY

Maine Coast Seaweed, a watercolor painting on paper by Katie Turner will be on display at the Kirkland Art Center, NY through October 30th.

Maine Coast Seaweed was accepted into the CNYWS (Central New York Watercolor Society) Annual Juried Exhibition.

The show runs from September 15 through October 30, 2016

Kirkland Art Center

9 1/2 East Park Row, PO Box 213, Clinton, NY 13323

For directions and hours go to kacny.org

For those who are local, please join me and all the CNYWS artists at the reception this Sunday afternoon.

RECEPTION held on Sunday, September 18, 4:00-6:00 p.m.

Signature Exhibition at the View

Two Vases 17″x13″ Watercolor by Katie Turner

Two Vases, a new watercolor painting, by Katie Turner will be on display at the View in Old Forge, New York.  The Central New York Watercolor Society will hold its 2016 Signature Exhibition at the View from July 23 through September 25, 2016.  The View is located at 3273 State Route 28, Old Forge, NY 13420 and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.  The show will be in the upstairs area.  Reception will be Friday, August 5th from 5 to 7 p.m. in conjunction with the ANEAW opening.  For more information on the View, go to their website: http://www.ViewArts.org or the CNYWS at http://www.centralnewyorkwatercolorsociety.org.  To view more of Katie’s paintings, go to http://www.KTArtStudio.com.

Finding My Own Voice

By The Coast #2, Watercolor on Terraskin by Katie Turner

Every once in a while I take a step back and pull out my old paintings.  I take a look through the old ones contemplating if I should discard or continue working on various ones and then ask myself, what can I do to rescue these paintings?  I am developing my own voice.  I think about the times I felt pressured to paint what others wanted and when I did, how forced the paintings now look.

Discovering my voice in my art is a process.  It’s exciting and a lot of fun.  I recognize all the practice art and the deep creative learning I’ve had and look forward to more.  It’s like walking down a path that curves beyond the trees.  I can only see so far and I don’t know where the future will take me.  I only know that continuing to create in my own voice will help me stay on the right path for me.

 

Inspiring Mothers

Watercolor Painting by Faith Fritz

Faith Fritz at an art show 1970s

Watercolor painting by Faith Fritz

 

Some mothers are creative.  My own passed away a few years ago and I feel like I’m quite lucky because she was very artistic.  Her favorite medium was watercolor although she did work in other mediums as well.  I’ve enjoyed looking through old slides of her work – long gone.  Only a few paintings are left and some old sketches and notebooks.  But it’s incredibly inspirational to me looking through her artwork.  I’m sure other artists are inspired by their mothers and other loved ones in their lives.  It gets me to thinking – will I be an inspiration to my children?  Maybe…  I hope so.  Meanwhile, I am all for creating as much as we can while we are here.  I encourage those around me to pursue their passions – art or science or whatever gets them excited.

 

Acropolis Inspiration

Acropolis Away, Watercolor on paper by Katie Turner. Inspiration from Turkey.

I was inspired a while ago after my daughter’s trip to Turkey.  From the pictures she sent back home I was intrigued by the ancient ruins of architecture and untouched beauty of the Turkish countryside.  In this quick painting I portray the emotions felt after looking through pictures of Acropolis of Athens.  There is so much history in this place.  I think about the different reasons ancient people traveled there.  Some may have traveled to the temples seeking to heal their mind and body.  I drew on background scenery and went more abstract with my watercolor.

 

Wolves Don’t Lose Sleep

“Angel #5″, Charcoal 20″x16”, Katie Turner

 

“Wolves Don’t Lose Sleep over the Opinions of Sheep” was a phrase Samuel Wolfe Connelly used in a video documentary by Kristin Taylor on YouTube from 2013.  In this video he explains this is a phrase he uses to encourage himself to keep on doing great art and not to be discouraged by opinions or comments of others. That’s something we all can keep in mind, particularly if we create art.

I had the chance to meet this artist on Friday at a Business Luncheon sponsored by the State University of New York at Fredonia. It was held at Fredonia’s Technology Incubator Office in Dunkirk where there is also a small gallery down the hall. Sam spoke about his art, how he handles galleries, commissions and problems. He encouraged students not to give up. After his talk I was able to visit the current Art Exhibit featuring some very talented Fredonia college students (Michael Fridmann & Heather Radford were the featured students). A new Art show of the Dunkirk High School students will begin May 31st.

Sam Wolfe Connelly is a New York City based artist and illustrator. Although he is fairly young, he has accomplished a lot in a short time since he finished his schooling at Savannah College of Art and Design. His illustrations have appeared on covers of books published by Penguin and the London Folio Society editions of “The Great Gatsby” and “Emma”. He also designed a movie poster for Natalie Portman drama “Black Swan” and SpectreVision’s “The Boy” as well as album cover for Howard Shore score for the David Cronenberg film “Scanners”. His list of publication credits includes Scientific American, the New York Times and Marvel Comics. He is represented by Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle, Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco and Arcadia Contemporary in New York City.

With all of these accomplishments as a fine artist and commercial artist, I actually was most impressed with how modest he came across and how candid he was with his presentation. I hold firm to the belief that I can learn something from each artist, no matter their background, medium, subject or age. He was very approachable and hung out for a while after to meet the students and answer more questions.

Sam Wolfe Connelly was an inspiration to me and I am so glad I took the time to attend this event and meet him.

If you’d like to check out the video from 2013: https://youtu.be/o57D3zSxZ94
His website: http://samwolfeconnelly.com/
And a YouTube video of him demonstrating his graphite technique at Syracuse University: https://youtu.be/yYkqbEkq-JY

 

 

ATC Inspiration

Creating a Nature Themed ATC – Artist Trading Card.

 

Nature and trees are my inspiration for this little ATC (Artist Trading Card) I created.  I have participated in a monthly ATC Themed Swap for several years and find this is a great way to challenge myself.  Often the themes are not something I would normally choose, so it challenges me to step out of my comfort zone.  The small size and small quantity I need to produce for the swap is non-threatening and fits into my schedule.  I also use ATCs to test out ideas, new mediums, or colors I’m thinking of using in my paintings.  ATCs have been around awhile and there are many online groups you can join and there are even books to teach you how to create ATCs if you need help.   The added bonus is the terrific ATC returns that come in the mail later in the month.  It’s a great way to jump-start your inspiration.