Skip to main content

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

 

Bare Branches, private collection (thank  you so very much).  Inquiries are always welcome

as the wind howls outside my family is working together in the kitchen 


and I am filled with gratitude for this blessing. There has been some quite animated discussion about how long to soak the cookies for the vermouth cake currently getting built. Fresh gingerbread is cooling, the Nutcracker is playing and the dogs are finally settled in around our feets. 

After the last couple years, I don't take gathering for granted. And now that my kids are grown and live on their own, it's an even bigger deal to all be here (well, we are missing one, but hopeful she'll be able to make it tomorrow, weather gods permitting).

I am aware that my holiday celebration is different than most others. In the best of times this season brings sadness, stressors, unrealistic expectations, grieving, all sorts of difficult things for many of us. I'm carrying space in my heart for those of you who are hurting.

You'll be here at my table in spirit, no matter your frame of mind, no matter the manner in which or what you celebrate. 

Thanks so much for following along with - and supporting - my art journey,
warmly, Kim

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

“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...

Dear Copyright Thieves

Dear Copyright Thieves,   Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's free for the taking. So let's just stop pretending the internet is a free-for-all.   Don't play the card that you didn't know - that's insulting. And don't also tell me that you meant to follow up and get permission but never got a chance to. That's insulting too. And by the way, don't you have a copyright protection notice on your own site?   And don't even try and point the finger at a third party who commissioned you to make a copy of my painting - again, an insult - you and I both know the difference between a reference photo and a painting.   And don't tell me that I asked for it because I share my artwork on the internet. I share my paintings and ideas and the stories behind them so as to encourage others to pursue  their own passions . I do not share so that those lacking integrity and morals can copy and market the images as their own...

Golden Open Acrylics

I get all sorts of process oriented questions. Most recently I've been getting asked a lot about my paints and palette, which made me realize what a nice blog topic this would make! I use a Masterson Sta-Wet Premier palette box . This is comprised of a box (think Tupperware) with a sponge liner and a slice of palette paper that work together to keep my paints wet. This setup allows me to work with the same palette for about a full week, having the box open for multiple hours every day. You can see what the palette looks like at the beginning of a new session above - below the exact same palette after this week's work. For the last 25 years I have used Golden brand acrylics, mediums, and varnish. I love the overall quality of these paints and the fact that, when I have a question, their customer service department is made up of artists who actually use the products. Until last year, I used their Heavy Body paints exclusively. They have a buttery consistency, a little loose...