Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Call of the Selkie

"Call of the Selkie", 24"x24", Oil on masonite,  $900 I f you are interested in purchasing this painting please contact me at katherine@katherinetreffinger.com

Lately I have been trying to get back to more cheery colors and a more definitive attack. My recent paintings have been deeper than what I was up to previously but to me they feel a little somber which makes sense to me.  I am ready to return to my more cheerful roots. This period of painting, I believe, has taken some more sophisticated turns and for that I have been grateful. I think I made some progress on this one in my intention to get cheerier and more definitive.

Friday, November 21, 2014

HOMAGE

'Homage', Oil on Panel, 48"x60", $4500

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog. Not for lack of awareness of the blog. This blog and the Art and Meaning Project takes comittment, some thing I have not had the where with all to do.  I needed a break to process the immense changes losing my partner meant.

I watched a docudrama called The Impressionists in which Monet said he did not pick up a brush for 3 years after his wife died. His muse was gone and his art lost its' impetus. Hearing this was so validating to me. Aside from the monotypes I did at Don Grays' studio while Kirby was sick, I did not do any art for over 2 years. This painting 'Homage' was the first painting that emerged. Don, bless his heart built this panel for me. Since this painting I have continued to work on panel, with great help in building them from my friend Jaime Gustavson. Jaime has also been coming over to my studio to paint which has helped give me incentive to get in there myself.

I have learned a lot about the nature of loss and the fact that the mending process takes much longer than anyone can imagine. Living with another being becomes a weaving of two into a tapestry of its' own. When one of those people goes the cloth is rent and a new weaving must evolve as nothing is as it was. That takes time. It makes for a rich new tapestry in the end.

I am doing much better now and feel very much on the mend. I am close to finishing a body of work which is very exciting to me. Now I just need to find the way to reengage with the gallery world and show them. I have been very active refreshing my internet presence, letting go of some representation and starting new ones. I am trying out Saatchi, we'll see how this goes.

The new pieces with the exception of Homage are 24"x24" oil on masonite and are $900 each:

 'Changing Lines' SOLD


 'Clairvoyant' SOLD


'Guenevere' SOLD


'Fire and Rain'





'Seraphine'


'Alegria'


'Into the Mystic' SOLD


 'Summer Rain' SOLD


'Take Me to the River' SOLD


'Uriel' SOLD



This new body of work, of course, is dedicated to Kirby who was a true piece of art. 

Saturday, September 7, 2013

LIVE/ WORK LOFT STYLE SPACE FOR SALE IN THE COUNTRY

604 Main St, Cove, Eastern Oregon  For Sale by Owner $185,000
If you are interested please email me katherine@katherinetreffinger.com include a phone # if you want to talk.

It looks tiny in this photo but this building is 40x50 feet, with a shed on the back so it is a little over 2000 sq. ft. It was built in 1926. The cement blocks were made in forms on the spot. I believe at first it was a garage then it became the Gardner's Store and then the Cove General Store which it remained until 25 years ago. I can't tell you how many people have told me about going there for ice cream cones! It is zoned both Residential and Commercial.  It was bare bones cement when Kirby and I bought it in 2006. We spent 6 months living in it while we transformed it into a thing of beauty.

 As you walk into the place and face to the right this is what greets you.

Turn left and you see this window and the closet next to it.

Straight ahead is the outside wall of the bedroom we added 2 years ago.

Standing in the living room looking at the entry hall. These ceilings are just as high as they look, this end I believe is 12 foot high.

The living room, or part of it. The inside of this storefront is spacious!

The other side of the living room at Christmas. There are track lights everywhere as Kirby was set on showcasing my art. He also had fantasies about turning it into a gallery.

Facing the hall to the studio.

So you can see the beautiful walls, which by the way took 30 gallons of Navajo White paint!!!!!!

The entry into the kitchen from the living room.

A galley kitchen. Not pictured here is the office off the kitchen that I am sitting in right now, or the bathroom. Both which come off the kitchen


The laundry room is through a door at the end of the kitchen. A door in the laundry room leads into a shed and that leads into the back yard.

Now back to the living room. Here is the bedroom off the living room, on the other side of the wall I was talking about. That's a king size bed for reference. There are wood and glass french doors that can be curtained and closed with beautiful door knobs. We had to be creative so the window could provide light and fresh air for both the bedroom and the hall way to the studio so we left that part of the wall open. So there is a large shelf and under it is a storage area specifically designed for painting storage (but it could be used for any storage).


The other side of the bedroom wall is the glass entry to the studio.

The studio is 400 sq feet with tons of light. The bed was in here temporarily so it looks a little crowded as the Xmas tree was taking it's place.


The blank panel on the wall easel is 5'x4' that gives you some idea how large this room is.

The front of the building is a beautiful Perennial and rose garden.  It sits next to the Cove Library. There are also raised beds built by the ancient wood we took out of the building as we created the high ceiling.


In the back yard I have built raised beds and created a flower bed out of an old metal bed and stones.  This is an over sized lot. Mt Fanny is in the background. She is what first convinced us we wanted to live in this picturesque little town at the edge of the Eagle Cap Wilderness.



Now you might ask. This is an old building...What about the roof????? I know I would be asking that question.
Voila! A membrane roof with 44 years left on its' warranty.

The town of Cove and Mt. Fanny. Cove is definitely one of the most desirable places to live in the Grande Ronde Valley.


The house is ready to live in now. However there are creative finishing touches waiting for the new owner. The floors that we built are subfloor and the kitchen, office and bathroom floors are cement. I have rubber professional restaurant mats in the kitchen. The back yard could use a privacy fence. I have done my work on this place and it was HUGE!!! So I leave the next step to the next owner.

This is the old west. The first Christmas I was here I saw a herd of Antelope for the first time in my life, I didn't know what it was I was looking at! The skies are huge. You can look out at the Grande Ronde Valley and see different weather systems.  It's the land of hunting, skiing, both cross country and downhill, hiking, rafting and biking both motorcycle and bike.

http://www.coveoregon.org/
http://www.city-data.com/city/Cove-Oregon.html
http://www.anthonylakes.com/ (Nearby skiing)

And 13 miles away is La Grande the main place for shopping, movies, restaurants, music, Eastern Oregon University and home of the Eastern Oregon Film Festival.
http://www.lagrandelife.com/
http://eofilmfest.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Ronde_Valley

This area is chock full of history. The Oregon Trail went through here and many of the families of those who decided not to challenge the Blue Mountains still live here. You can still see some of the track marks.
http://www.offbeatoregon.com/H0912d_GrandRonde.htm

In fact the storefront has a part in that history:

Thanks for looking!!  Katherine







Saturday, February 9, 2013

Monotypes

'Perched', Monotype on Stonehedge paper, 24x17 $350

This monotype is probably my favorite of the series I did at Don's studio. It, however, has put me through the changes. First I dropped it and creased it. Then I tried to save it by moistening it, putting it under my glass palette with books on top. I didn't realize it was still damp when I took it out and it rippled. So I moistened it again and put it between wood with books on top and it was water stained around the edges! Holy cow! Well at least the part that is printed is unharmed. It will have to be matted rather than floated. It is still my fave. Funny!

 'Chinese New Year', Monotype on Stonehedge paper, $425

 'Healdsburg', Monotype on Stonehedge paper, $425

 'Taking Flight', Monotype on Stonehedge paper, $425
'Bojangle',  Monotype on Stonehedge paper, $300

'Angel', Monotype on Stonehedge paper, SOLD

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Beginning Again

Kirby Ferris June 18, 1949- June 13, 2012. My muse and partner.

I have been absent from this blog for quite a long time and I know some of this blog's followers have wondered what happened as I had been very regular. I especially want to apologize to those of you that had been following my 'Art and Meaning' project. With few exceptions, for the last 2 years I have not been doing art. Had my friend Don Gray not encouraged me to come over to his studio and create some monotypes I would have not created any art at all. Two years ago this month my partner, Kirby was diagnosed with lung cancer, given 4-6 weeks to live and that became the focus of my life. He decided to not deal with it through traditional means and treated it metaphysically. He lived for 16 months and passed away a few days before his birthday. For the last 7 months I have been integrating what has happened.

Now the blank canvas seems impossibly blank as I come to it a changed person. In many ways my life is a blank canvas as it has gone through a major transformation and what it all is going to look like is unknown to me. I cannot be old with it, the old is coming along and will inform the present but cannot be repeated. I am very curious what the painting of my life will look like but I have to let it unfold in a gentle way.

I am reentering my studio and sidling up to my art. I rephotographed the monotypes and am in the process of repairing a couple of pieces that need attention. The next step will be to gesso a beautiful large surface Don built for me. Then hopefully I will be able to begin...anew.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

'Unraveling'

'Unraveling', Monotype on Stonehenge paper,
22x30, $425
If you are interested in purchasing this print please
email me at katherine@katherinetreffinger.com

I am still doing monotypes at Don's studio. I finished
this one today. It was fun to do, I just played and it
worked. Of course it has no more story telling quality
than any other abstract I have done. Oh well.

I am having a heck of a time getting photos of these
prints. For one the whites of the paper are not coming
across white and for some reason I don't feel they are
as sharp as I'd like them to be. The other issue is the
color of ink is more subtle than it shows here.
I am not going to come unraveled about it though. I
won't be posting them on my website until I get decent
photos, but I want to get them on the blog.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Blue Hero Series

'Blue Hero I', Monotype on paper 30x22, $425

'Blue Hero II', Monotype on paper 30x22, $425

'Blue Hero III', Monotype on paper 30x22, $425
If you are interested in purchasing any of the monotypes
please email me at katherine@katherinetreffinger.com

After many months of not creating I was beginning to
wonder if I was an artist anymore. I have had many good
reasons for not being creative, building a bedroom one
of the biggest. My friend and fellow artist, Don Gray asked
me over to his beautiful studio to do monotypes. I believe
he was doing an art 'intervention'. Get this artist creating!

I have not worked with monotypes very much so I am
fumbling my way along. With each monotype I learn more
and get more comfortable with the medium. The approach
is completely different from working with any medium I am
familiar with. Also the creative process is one step removed.
Not only is the art created on a piece of glass and pressed
onto paper, the resulting image is a mirror image of what is
placed on the glass. And then I never know what the ink is
going to do. I like the process as it forces me into the space
of letting go of control, my favorite creative stance.

I am also fumbling along because there is a birth of abstracted
storytelling that I want to express in my my art and I have
no idea how to go about it. This series is helping me find that
expression.