Ready to Paint

"The Witness" Oil on canvas, SOLD

I am back from Portland and am inspired now to get going. I wish I could
say I visited galleries and the museum and saw tons of art. I did not, as I
was way too busy. I did see the delightful art of my friend Cindy Bilotti.
The pieces I saw and loved are on Cindy's Flickr. I really enjoyed her faces.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26076381@N02/
Check out her website:
http://www.cindybilotti.com/

"Crossing the Blues", Oil on canvas, 24x18, SOLD

At one time I showed my work at Roche Bobois in Portland, a high end
furniture store and sold tons of art. I have been wishing for another,
similar, situation with great people like the ones managing my art at
RB. The ex-manager called me and she works at another high end
furniture store in the Portland area and she wanted to represent my
art again. So we met and she took a painting I happened to have in
the back of my car. I am thrilled to be working with Jill again and to
be showing in a nice furniture store. I think people can really respond
to art when they see it in the context of living spaces.

"Jubilee", Oil on Canvas, 24x18, SOLD

The reason I had the painting in the back of the car in the first place
was to meet with Donna Guardino of Guardino Gallery to submit my
work for her 2011 calendar. Submissions are still open and I won't
know until the fall, but I am under consideration. I did an exhibit of
my drawings several years back at this gallery and would love to
show again. She was complementary of the work, which is always a
great thing to hear.

The other cool thing that went on while I was there was the phone
calls from Willow Galley in Walla Walla telling me I had sold 3 more
pieces of art. Rockin'!!

So off I go to paint. Have a great day.

Willow show.

I am afraid that I don't have any new art to show for myself
and there probably won't be for the next week. I am going through
a million changes and am very busy. Wednesday I am going to
Portland until Sunday or Monday. Yesterday I went to Walla Walla
to replace a piece of art that sold. "The Green Room" is off to Seattle
or Palm Springs, the new owner had not yet decided.
Since only a few people were in the gallery while I was there I snapped some
pictures but they didn't turn out very interesting.

I am feeling very fortunate about this show having sold this piece and getting
the large commission. And, of course showing at this lovely venue!

Happy Summer Solstice my friends.

Julia Kay- Art and Meaning

"Sun Dances with Monstera and Me", Acrylic paint on canvas.
49" X 49"

"What meaning does doing art have for you?"

"Let the beauty we love be what we do." Rumi as translated by
Coleman Barks

Sometimes I think my visual cortex is tied more strongly than
usual to the pleasure centers in my brain. Looking - at rich color
combinations, warm low light on autumn afternoons or cool light
on late winter mornings, multiple reflections on glasses at the dinner
table, or layers of peeling paint on an old wall, makes me really
happy. The process of seeing enriches me. I can get stopped still
at odd moments, staring at a slice of light down a narrow alley
between buildings or the accidental juxtaposition of colors as strangers
pass each other on the street.

At the same time, I feel like I haven't really seen something until I've
drawn or painted it, so making art is a way of seeing better, and thus
making myself happier since the seeing itself jazzes me. I also feel the
pull of what the photographer Eldred Davis referred to as a 'visual call
and response' similar to some traditional dances and certain kinds of
jazz music. I see beauty and it thrums in me and I need to respond, my
response is the art-making process. It's my way of dancing with the
universe.

Of course I love it when other people like what I've made, but what
really pleases me is when I like it, and I have something new to look at,
thrumming and humming with the rhythms of the world.

For more of Julia Kay's work go to http://studiojuliakay.com/art
Her blog is: http://studiojuliakay.com/dailyArt/
Her email is: julia@studiojuliakay.com

Julia Kay is the instigator of the Julia Kay Portrait Party. The Portrait Party
currently has more than 250 artists from around the world who are about to
top 2900 portraits of each other in less than 4 months. Here's a link to a slide
show of the party: http://www.flickr.com/groups/portraitparty/pool/show/

Drawing after Lucien Freud

"Drawing after Lucien Freud", Charcoal on paper, 24x21, framed, $395
If you are interested in purchasing this drawing please
email me at katherine@katherinetreffinger.com

I have been so negligent of my blogs lately. It has been a busy time for
me. I have started working on a screenplay with Kirby. Since it is my
story, I am having to lay the foundation. Needless to say I have not
been spending much time in the studio. When I do go to the studio I
have been getting nothing but frustration as the piece I am working on
is definitely not cooperating. I am going to have to start kicking into
creative gear soon as I now have a commission. A lovely couple from
Seattle, referred from the show in Walla Walla visited my studio this
weekend and told me what they wanted and it will be a large painting.
It is a bit ironic because I did a whole group of smaller paintings for the
show against my desire to paint large, and here the sale is a large painting.

Follow your bliss!

What do you think of the new blog template?

Galleries and Dealing with Rejection

"Spring Moon", Oil on canvas, 24x30, $900 ($675 today)
If you are interested in purchasing this painting please
email me at katherine@katherintreffinger.com

I have been having a discussion with Annell Livingston
about how to approach galleries. In the process she
asked me how I deal with rejections. I spent so much
time on the answer this morning that I thought I would
post it.

Annell: "Rejections." Certainly nothing new to artists.
How do you handle it?

Katherine: In 'On Writing' Stephen King said that he put
a 10 penny nail in his office and put his rejection notices
on the nail as he received them. The nail was full by the
time he sold Carrie, his first published novel. I think of
that. I do get a little bummed but then I pick myself up by
the bootstrap and remember that every no is one step
closer to the yes and the most successful people in the world
are the ones that have had the most nos and kept going. I
would like some responses. Mostly I hear nothing.

My partner is a screenplay writer who has not sold anything
but his follow up is remarkable and as a result he has several
production companies that will read anything he puts in front
of them. The head of the Academy of Motion Pictures gets
right back to him. While I have been selling tons of art he
has sold nothing but he just keeps getting more and more
confident. You think galleries are tough, try Hollywood! He
has been making these phone calls for over 10 years and has
a prestigious agent (the only way he can get read. His agent
does very little by the way. If he had not done the pursuing
he would be no where.) His attitude puts me to shame if I get
discouraged.

On another note. Today is the last day of my 25% off sale.
That is a large cut if you are interested in any of my pieces.
Check out my website. www.katherinetreffinger.com. The
prices on the site do not reflect the sale reduction.

Yes I am still painting. but nothing I am ready to show yet.

Annell Livingston- Art and Meaning

Desert Poem #970 10" sq gouache on w/c paper

"What is the meaning of doing art for you?"

The "doing" is the "art". We see the finished work and
we think that is the "art". But the finished work is only
the visible by-product of the process. We go into the
studio and we begin the ritual, hopefully, with grace,
because everything shows.

And that is where I am and where I must stay. Each
morning as the sun rises above Taos Mountain you will
find me at work in the studio. It is a problem unsolved,
that turns into another problem unsolved and I must
continue. I am responsible to the process. It is my life, my
breath. Whatever happiness is, I could not be happy
without my work. It is what I do. It is what I am. It sustains
me in all weather, be it sunshine or shadow.

My favorite quote is Henry James, "We work in the dark,
We do what we can, We give what we have, The rest is the
madness of art."

The journey is unknown, winding, and full of danger, but the
rewards are great. And what else do we do in life, that we
sign our name to?

Stumble, Stumbling, Stumbled

It's never easy for too long.
It seems, sometimes we stumble,

--We right ourselves--

Perhaps return to a safer place,
Perhaps jump to the next stone,

--We get clear--

This is what I want
And this is not.

--We begin again--

It's never easy for too long,
For sometimes...................we stumble.

www.annelllivingston.com

www.taoswebb.com

www.webbdesigninc.com

www.kathleenbrennanstudio.com

www.artistsregister.com
www.luminagallery.com

www.somethingsithinkabout-annell-annell.blogspot.com

and her email: annell@taosnet.com

Rainy Week Sale

"Painted Pony", (Painted over)

We here in the high desert of Eastern Oregon are
having an unseasonable amount of rain. I am beginning
to think it might have something to do with the
Volcano that went off in Iceland. I am also wondering
what happens to Desert Sage in this much rain.

Anyhow, I have decided to have a sale on my art, just
to lift the gray sky spirits. Everything on my website
that says to contact me if you are interested in
purchasing the piece of art is 25% off. This sale is good
until midnight of the 9th of June. It even includes the
collaborative work and the prints. Sales are first come
first serve and the price does not include shipping.

Website: www.katherinetreffinger.com

Since my website has a bit of a lag in coordinating
photos with info please be patient to make certain you
are getting the correct info. If you are interested in a
piece I will send a photo with the info to make sure
we are clear.

The current prices listed on the site are not
the sale prices!!!! So take off 25%. Prints are also
25 % off but the half off offer for the second print is only
good with the normal price. If you have any questions
feel free to email or phone me.

Happy June to you all.