Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
January 11th, 2012Going to try to upload some pictures today! Tunnel on the left, River Night on the right. These are watercolors. The Tunnel is from my imagination and River Night is from one of my watercolor lesson books.
2012 Happy New Year!
January 10th, 2012So glad 2012 is here! This is a “growing year”, for sure. More and more students are coming in for classes on Wednesday afternoons. Recovery Center students are enthusiastic and creative artists who come in at 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoons. Then at 3 (on the hour & 1/2 hour) pm more students arrive for individualized instruction. Many wonderful works of art are being done by everyone.
Some are learning “the basics” and others are moving forward with lessons in perspective or using various media. Gradually each student (artist) is finding their favorite “niche” and if not, yet, will find some media that is a favorite.
I’ve added a lot of photos over on Facebook under Karen’s Studio 125 if you wish to see them there. Facebook makes it very easy to share photos.
We’ve participated in the Bricks project – painting bricks for the Breast Cancer auction and we’ve painted soup bowls for Interparish Ministry fundraising. We’ve attended and participated in Essex Art Walks (4 times a year).
In the past we used to go to The Cincinnati Art Museum once a month, but now CAM is closed @ 5 on Wed. evenings – so our museum visits are put over on my Meetup site for weekend visits (usually linked with my Cincinnati Brunch Club Meetup).
I’ve been selling more paintings (happily so). I will change out my show at Symphony Hotel in the next couple of months. I am gearing up to doing some serious work! We’ve been selling more works, too, of our artists at the Essex Art Walks. This all is very good news for all of us!
I thank you all for being part of Karen’s Studio 125 and am looking forward to another relaxing, creative and productive year!
Onward!
August 4, 2011
August 4th, 2011Studio news: I finally purchased a 25,000 BTU air conditioner. It’s cooling 1/2 of the studio when turned on a couple of hours before class. Will be turning it on the night before so that it’s cool for our class. The overhead fans (3) help to circulate the air, too. This is an old building (clothing factory) that holds heat – nice in the winter. There are a lot of windows, too. I’m thinking of getting some roller blinds to knock back some of the heat, too. I figure if I plan to stay there for another 5-10 years, it should be a comfortable place to work. And, with these changes, I may add on more class hours – say a Tues. evening class, too.
Students are making good progress. Teaching 4 teenagers. We’re covering “the basics”. I’m hoping that I’ve introduced them to enough various materials and techniques (only “scratched” the surface) that they will take what they have learned and use it throughout their lives. (Big hope on my part). I’ve put their work on Facebook, too.
I’m also on Twitter (krnstudio). Learning how to use social networking to increase studio business and share our progress.
March 2nd/3rd 2012 Essex Art Open House 6 to 10 p.m.
February 8th, 2011Stop by Karen’s Studio #125 (6-10 pm) for March 2nd & 3rd 2012 Art Open House.
2011 New Year, New Opportunities
January 8th, 2011Thinking about what I can do to bring in more students to the studio.
Offer more classes, more variety. Offer cheaper classes – say $5 an hour instead of $15. During “this economy” the price needs to be dropped. So, I will do it!
Hoping all of you are considering the possibility of coming to the studio. Just let me know. 513-600-8063
Food is art, too!
January 15th, 2009During the 40′s and 50′s Mama and Daddy would take us to the The Spanish Inn which was located downstairs at 13 East Eighth Street across from the Cincinnati Public Library. I remember the brick floors and dark interior of this special restaurant.
Last year I found an old cookbook at Half-Price Book Store called The Ford Treasury of Favorite Eating Places from Famous Eating Places.
On page 136, The Spanish Inn is described as following: Amusing murals sketched by well-known artist patrons, unusual hand-carved furniture, and gleaming copper utensils hanging in the kitchen combine in this restaurant to suggests the Old world atmosphere of a Madrid cafe.
Here’s the featured recipe:
SOPA DE GARBANZOS (Chick-pea Soup)
1 lb. garbanzos (chick-peas)
2 1/2 quarts water
1 tablespoon paprika
3 tablespoons ham drippings
2 cloves garlic
1 cup rice
Salt to taste.
Soak garbanzos overnight. (I might just buy canned chick-peas to save time). Cook slowly for 2 hrs. in the water, adding more water when necessary to maintain the same amount of liquid.
Fry the paprika in the ham drippings; add a little cold water to separate the fat from the sediment. Skim off the fat and add it to the soup with the garlic cloves which have been lightly browned.
Add the rice 15 minutes before garbanzos are done. Salt to taste.
Note* I remember one of the drawings that said, “Veni, Vidi, Vici” – Latin for “I came, I saw, I conquered”. We dined on Arroz con Pollo and Plum Pie.
Food News:
Last month I took a cooking class for making garnishes and appetizers at “The Veg Head”, a wonderful vegetarian restaurant, just outside of Loveland, Ohio. (Thanks to Mitzi for sharing). Classes cost $50 which includes the recipes and food to take home, plus being taught by an experienced, creative chef, Mark Metcalfe.
To read more about Mark Metcalfe’s unique restaurant check out:
www.eastsidevibe.com/TheVegHead.com/html (Read down through the middle all the way down the page).
Pumpkin Seed Pesto
1 cup unsalted hauled pumpkin seeds
1 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup soy oil
1 lime
1 tsp salt
pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne or black pepper
Toast pumpkin seeds in skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly until golden brown. Transfer to blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Can be used as a spread on toasted pieces of garlic bread as an appetizer.
Studio? Not today.
January 14th, 2009It seems that more often than not, I do not go into the studio. It is bitter cold and getting colder tonight. Today is the day Mama and I each had our pedicures and my toes are still “curing”. They aren’t dry yet and I don’t think I want to sit by the space heater until they do dry!
I’m inclined to go up to the house and get under the comforter and snuggle down awhile. Anthony Bourdain may not be on TV, but watching a food program is something that I find to be quite relaxing. Noticed that the lady of “Barefoot Contessa” has trimmed down a bit. Wondered if she would do something about her weight. She hid it well under a wide blue shirt that flowed away from her body. Amazing how a nice smile and loose clothing can hide “the obvious”. I’m intrigued by “weighty matters” and often watch the programs about obese people trying to lose weight. Whew!
Well, studio, I will miss you, but my heart is always there, reaching for my paints and having quiet time to create. I’ll pick up the painting I’m working on here and add a few more lines to it. Deciding what design to use for balconies is puzzling me – plain or intricate? Filigree? Tee hee!
I watched “The Ascent of Money” last night on PBS. Will watch it again to see if I “get it” or maybe check out the book. Talk about credit confidence. If we owe the Chinese and they decide to collect big time, what will that mean for all of us? I like Chinese food and thinking along those lines it’s probably time to get some Egg Drop Soup again. Knee-Hi, the latest dog, likes Egg Drop soup, too. She especially likes the flat, crunchy noodles that accompany a take-out order of soup.
And so, another day passes here at “The Cottage”. Mama is in her bed with her word-processor “writing away”. She’s a writer (you know). It will be for me to take the word-processor and download a file to my computer to print it out for her to edit.
Onward!
Chinese Art 2009
January 13th, 2009The Cincinnati Art Museum and The Taft Museum recently featured outstanding Chinese exhibits. “China Now” was incredible! I hope you have the opportunity to “Google” and explore what is happening in the graphic arts in China.
Show Time!
January 13th, 2009Getting ready for my next show at the Symphony Hotel is a priority task on my list of “to-do’s” for this month. Five paintings are framed and “ready to go”. I have two other paintings I want to complete. They are street scenes done on illustration board – using gouache, watercolor, ink, marking pen and acrylic paint.
It certainly is encouraging to have family and friends who appreciate my paintings and drawings. This Thanksgiving and Christmas I continued the tradition of doing my own card. Uncle Gene kept a scrapbook of my pictures for years. One year I didn’t produce “an original card” for Christmas. It was an “awful moment” for Uncle Gene. Oh my! So, now I continue the tradition – easily – by taking a photo of one of my paintings and reproducing it through Publisher 98 on my old, reliable computer. This year Mama and I sent out more than 200 cards.
Back to discussing the show: what is required is a system and supplies. I have pre-printed tags that can be filled in “on the spot” and posted by the painting. I have a bag which contains hammers, hooks and other materials for hanging a show. I need to make a postcard that will be my “advertising” for this show. I think I’ll produce my own and save a big printing bill. Oh my! I need to check with Symphony Hotel for final details, too. Onward!
New Year, New Start!
January 6th, 2009Mama and I are still here – still ticking off the moments day by day. The New Year offers new opportunities to refocus upon “things important”. For me, it’s getting Karen’s Studio “up and runnig” again. This takes concentrated effort on my part. It takes advertising, promotion and “making time” to get the job done! I’m painting pictures in the family room now. The bar area works nicely for setting up a small studio area. The painting I’m doing now is a street scene with a cobblestone walkway going up the middle and around a corner between several European “row houses”. Windows of a flower shop and antique shop are on opposite sides of the street. The outline of the buildings are done in black ink. I “fill in” the rest of the scene with watercolor gouache and acrylic wash paint. I enjoly “making up” street scenes.
I have a couple of street scenes that I painted during those years I was single – 1968 – 1971. They are favorites and hang in my bedroom and dining room hallway.
Classes are not increasing in size. I’ve started an “Art, Music and Theater” Meetup.com group. Some of you who belong to the group will be joining me and my students at the Cincinnati aRt Museum for the first Wednesday of the month to see the latest exhibitions. Then, we will continue our regular Wednesday evening classes at my studio at 2511 Essex Place, Essex Studios #125. Classes start around 5 p.m. and go until 7. We are very “casual” at the moment.We paint what we want to paint. We enjoy being together. New students – will pay $15 a session on a “Pay As You Go” basis. Call 513-600-8063 to let me know if you will be starting classes. Adult beginners or adults who want to “start over again”.
We had a good holiday here at “The Cottage”. Some of the decorations are still up. The colors are cheery. The decorations are happy reminders of a special time together. I’ve been trying to learn how to do more filming so that I can eventually have my own “You Tube” site working. Maybe I will demonstrate some of the painting lessons.
Hope all goes well for all of you this year. ONWARD!