STUDIO NEWS March 2020

Detail from my easel of a current, untitled, painting in process, 16" x 20", acrylics on gallery wrapped canvas. Please message me if you would like first dibs on this piece when completed.

Studio News, March 2020

In an effort to counteract the dark clouds gathering on the horizon, I spent a good amount of last month in reflection. This means lots of journal pages, both painted and written, as I sorted through my feelings with color and marks. It meant a lot of reading, returning to studies with a couple of my favorite artists, and getting lost in my thoughts while doing the most mundane things.

Artists are tasked with telling their story of living, through their own eyes. We choose our tools and our voice, and by using those things, we strive to make work that resonates and aligns with what we know in our hearts to be true.

So that's what I've been seeking as I see a growing divide in our world - I've been searching for a way to talk about this abyss with my paintings. I am rabidly optimistic - usually - but the rainbow glitter kool aid of late tastes a bit watered down. For me, it's far easier to paint (and thusly live inside) joy than divisiveness. And I'm starting to think that maybe this is my purpose, to build a portfolio of beauty in a world that is newly blinded to such things, instead of dwelling in the darkness.

And as I hung new Daydream paintings around the Detroit area in a realm of different spaces (The Art of Custom Framing, Starkweather Arts Center, Black Box Gallery, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, The Orion Township Public Library), I realized how very lucky I am to be able to celebrate beauty as my daily job, and to get share it with you. To get to continue to do this, to actually get to study and seek a deeper understanding of this, and to strive to improve my voice and my art.

I am so very lucky to live a life where I can indulge my curiousity, play with art supplies, follow my fascinations, and get to share them all with you. Thank you so much for coming along on this journey.

New this month - a social media presence for Painting a Dog a Day, the daily pet portrait project I began in 2006. My archives are packed with bits of life stories that we all can relate to, and each day I'll share one (just one - there's enough noise out there to try and keep up with!). And a smile.

Here are all the other ways you can see my artwork, when you need another pick me up:

See them in your inbox 2-3 times per week - subscribe to my newsletters.
See them on Facebook - like/follow and then comment on my threads so I continue to show up in your newsfeed - I post art-related content multiple times daily
See them on Instagram - please follow along!
Visit them in person at an exhibition or gallery (or go to your fav museum!)
They are on my website and blog (my blog even goes back to 2006, if you really want to binge!).
If you can afford to, buy an original.
You can bring prints (and other items) into your home, including a new gallery of spring
Leave a book of my artwork on your coffee table or nightstand.
Write or make art in my Reflections journal based on the Siren series of paintings
Attend a journaling class in person (not able to come to me? find a group in your area)
Take a class with me - online or in person, in a group or one-on-one - for as little as $5 a month

You are always welcome to let me know what you think. I'm listening and want to hear about your own beauty. Feel free to respond to this newsletter, shoot me an email, comment on the blog or interact via Facebook or Instagram. Locals can join my journaling group that meets monthly. There's all sorts of ways for us to connect!

THANK YOU so much for making it this far, for reading all my wordy words, for buying my art or taking my classes or commenting and sharing things on social media. I am so grateful to share this journey with you.

Warmly, Kim

“Katie’s Moustache,” 6x12, pet portrait in acrylic on canvasboard, $90. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com . One glimpse of Katie’s face, and I was hooked. Not only did she fall into my beloved “black & white” category, but she came with a full moustache and doe-like eyes. I first covered the canvas with a variety of blues and purples, using a (mixed) light green and pink for the highlights. (Right now my palette has been expanded to include the following: pthalo blue red, azurite hue, cad red dark, alizarine crimson, cad yellow dark, and then for graying/hazing out I use light green yellow and ultramarine purple.) I lighten with titanium white and darken with one of the blues and a touch of one of the reds. As a side note, at this time last year I was really struggling with my limited palette (I went from about 60 pots of paint to 3), but I have lived the benefits – I am so much more familiar with what I can mix given just this handful of colors. My paintings are also m...

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