Category Archives: handmade

a Tuesday in my life . . .

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dandelion root tea w/ sassafrass

I had such an amazing day today, Tuesday (don’t you just love Tuesdays?), the last Tuesday in August. I love how everything is shifting for me, in my inner & outer worlds. I just feel better with more energy, more joy, more focus. It just feels good all over. Today was for some reason just so delicious. I started it with a cup of dandelion & sassafrass root tea. I have many dried roots that I’m experimenting with. Dandelion root is great for digestion & heaven knows I need all the help I can get. Actually, now that I’m mostly eating raw & realizing how important consuming tons of water is everything is flowing much better! (I bet you’re glad for that update! :o)).

I wrote a job description while sipping my root tea for a position for our newest company, Wildcat Bulk Water Services. It was written for a Marine who is transitioning into the “real” world to help us deliver bulk water. Yippy, it’s all coming together so easily. I’ll write more about this in another post.

For lunch I met my beautiful friend & soul-sister at Tiny’s Boxwood for our second lunch in two weeks. This is actually is born from an intention to grow our community here in Houston. Sara is a great friend who is completely aligned with me & yet it has been months since we have made time to see each other. But now I am making a commitment to open up & allow community & friendship to come into my life. We shared this amazing Beet Burger minus bun. Yum, I didn’t know they could do that to beets.

the glowing Sara @ Tiny's

After lunch I had time to puruse through a new antique store in the Heights. I actually fell in love with a ring & then was able to talk myself away from the edge & out of wanting/needing desperately to buy it all in the 15 minutes before picking up Raine from school.

We went to JoAnnes for some fabric for a skirt for Raine & curtains for our backyard naked patio. This is the fabric I chose for the curtain. What do you think?

new curtain fabric!

Larry, Finn & I went to pick up our bushel of luscious fruit & veggies at the Rawfully Organic Co-op tonight just to get hugs from the lovely Kristina. She is this incredibly dynamic woman that I want to hang out with. She runs the co-op & about a dozen other things!

The Lovely Kristina & her beet!

 

Rawfully Organic

Kristina & Lisa at Rawfully Organic

I took my bushel of veggies & chopped it up into this delicious chop salad for dinner!! so Goooood.

chop salad

Raine sewed up this sweet skirt tonight for picture day tomorrow. She is so crafty! She got the idea off of the Sweet Verbena blog.

Raine Sewing

Raine's Handmade Skirt

After whipping up this skirt she did her homework & then baked cupcakes to give to some friends at school tomorrow. What a gal!!! I’m so proud of her creativity & ability to just independantly jump into projects.

Okay now I’m sitting with Larry both of us with our laptops open, eating cold watermelon listening to Adele on Pandora. Time for bed.

goodnight!

Kat

Sunday Creating . . .

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The beginning

Today, finally, after weeks of not painting I finally went up to my studio & worked on a this painting that had been sitting on my easel forever. It felt so good to be painting & creating again, without any expectation of what I would end up with. I just flowed in & out of colors, designs, scribbles & so on! I am not done with it just yet, but the most of it is done.

The words say, “Girl you’re amazing, just the way you are!”

The first step is to cover a your canvas (in this case it is a piece of cut up tempered hard board from Home Depot) with paper & paint in any pattern really, just to create some dimension to the piece. This was done weeks ago so the glue was dry.

Next is to wash over the papers on the canvas to create a backdrop for the image that will be painted. This can be so hard for me to do, but I’m learning that it is important.

wash it all away

Next I pick out the main image I want to focus on & either transfer, paint or collage it on. For this painting, I had planned to transfer this image on but I used too heavy of paper & then it didn’t work properly (these sort of flubs happen frequently) so I rolled with the punches & collaged the failed transfer image onto the canvas & then painted over it. Then I just added embellishments, a bird, some words, & other designs as they flowed out. I wish I had a better plan, but I usually don’t plan much, so the color & layout just evolve as I progress with the painting.

Anyways, it’s fun & highly therapeutic. The teacher from last week’s workshop saw some of my photographs & was so impressed by them that she asked me why I bothered with painting. It sort of hurt or rather cut at me because here I was working on improving my painting skills but it was a compliment as well. It just felt like an insult to my desire to paint better – or more betterererer.  But I thought about it & realized that I paint because it’s therapeutic. It just feels good to be in a creative flow with paint splashing everywhere & layering & layering. I love the process, it really doesn’t matter to me if I ever go anywhere with it. I’m enjoying creating now & watching my deeper creative emerge ever so slowly the more I am able to quiet the outside voices. I think if you have the inner urge to create, then we are obligated to create, even if it just to find some inner peace.

almost finished

creative salmon . . .

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girls in Pahoa, Big Island

The swift movement of Fall has already arrived & it’s still August, the month of doing nothing – the month where the entire continent of Europe takes off for their holiday. But just like Halloween & Christmas creeps in earlier every year. I am feeling the full blown energy of fall when everyone picks up the pace, starts moving faster to everything done for some unknown yet felt deeply reason.

This past few weeks Raine started school, we went to Austin (which reminds me i have some photos to share of my favorite city), I had tons of appointments, helped Larry prepare for audit, worked on putting together the new business & on & on. I have become one of those moms that runs errands, is in the car waiting for kids, juggling a schedule & so much more. Part of it is demand & part of it is all this new energy I have from juicing now for 2.5 weeks. Yipeeeeee!

I am accomplishing a lot. I am very “productive.” I can check items off of my list. But what is the cost?

I haven’t painted in 2 weeks, I’ve barely been able to blog, or even take photos. It’s excruciating. I feel a bit like a salmon out of water, flopping around on dry rocks trying to flop back into the flowing river of creativity. Help! Someone pick me up & throw me back in the creativity. Make this mad world of going, going, going & doing, doing, doing stop. I want to slow down again. I wasn’t ready for summer to end. I suspect I will find my new rhythm in this dry world filled with lists, time tables & drought prevention procedures. I don’t want to learn how to live in a drought, I want to splash & roll in the wonderful thirst-quenching, juicy-ness of dripping, creativity.

Last night i got a few moments in my studio & decided to try out some new textures on some old photos I had taken years ago. I got these textures from Florabella. I was a little heavy-handed on the opacity but liked them that way. so I just wanted to share what i came up with.

Ripe

riper

philippine's toe, santa fe, NM

santa fe, NM

Amalfi

updated version . . .

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i birthed a beautiful being (finished . . i think)

So I think I’m done with her for now. I lightened her face a bit, added more details & it feels good. One of the ideas i was playing with was using different tones of white. I had some warm whites & a cooler white-painted around her to make it a little more dynamic. I actually learned about that idea from an article in a magazine about Flea Market Decorating where this woman had a house of different shades of white. It doesn’t exactly show up in this photo but the actual painting is distinctly different. I also like the contrast of the paint against the charcoal. It gives it a gritty sort of dirty imperfect feel.

Now to move onto the next painting.

Thanks for witnessing this journey with me. Blogging makes me feel not so much a lone on this path.

Big Love,

Katariina

i birthed a beautiful being . . .

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I birthed a beautiful being

This is my newest painting – well it’s a charcoal with paint around it. I call it, “I Birthed a Beautiful Being.”

I’m not quite done with her but I put her on my wall anyway, to sit with for awhile.  I love her body but her face is causing me a lot of grief, but oh well, I’ll keep on it.  This is the evolution of her.

1st sketch

Phase 2

I birthed a beautiful being

Words on Painting

The words are, “I birthed a beautiful being. I fed that beautiful being with my breasts. My baby is a miracle. My body is a miracle. I will honor me for the miracle that is me.”

I have to say it is so freeing to create without thinking about selling it or if someone will want to buy it or not. It changes everything. Since I embarked on my path of devoting the next 5 years to the study & practice of creativity in every form that ignites me, much has changed. I can see my skills getting better & I have a better grasp of how to approach a project with more confidence & not just guessing. I have a loooong way to go. It’s only been about 8 months, so while it is fun being in the process & seeing my progress, I can’t wait to look back & see where my journey has taken me! Okay, okay, I know . . . for now I will stay in the moment & enjoy la dolce vita!!!

For now, I’m going to work on lightning up her face!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my talisman

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I made this!!

I was inspired by the jewelry in the recent Sundance Catalog, primarily with Jes Maharry’s necklaces, that I wanted to create one for myself. Now the difference, of course, is she makes all her charms & I bought mine in a little bead shop in Santa Fe (which was a fun adventure in itself). I was a little out of practice with working with wire & beads, so it took a few tries to come up with this.

I call this “my true nature.”  It has all the elements I feel are truly me; a blossoming flower, a flying bird, a sea turtle, different wires, all the elements, all the colors, combined to create contrast & intrigue.  It was put together a bit clumsily, not perfect (I can be a perfectionist around imperfection – don’t want to offend the Gods & all) There is a swirl, showing the constant movement inward. And I love the cloisonné bead & vintage bird design – perhaps these depict my old soul-ness. Anyways, it was fun & frustrating making, but I love the end result & I’m excited to start on my next one.

My true nature necklace

 

my reminder

 

 

love these thunder thighs

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loved til the end

I painted this from a photo of me & then exaggerated the thighs a bit, not much, but enough. I love her audacious movement. I call it, “Loved Until the End.” she seems to be like someone with the confidence, strength & beauty to be loved until the end of time. I think she is definitely a member of the Clan of the Thunder Thighs but check it out for yourself. (http://heatherbarron.blogspot.com/ ) I’m not quite finished with her just yet, but I wanted to share anyways. I’ll keep you all posted on how she turns out.

The piece to the right is an assemblage I call, “Riper for Revolution.” It’s a swan tied to a silver spoon with wire & other doodads. I love doing assemblage & with this one started playing around with embossing metal. I made all sorts of designs, swirls, flowers, etc. It is fun.

 

ripe for revolution

 

I started this mixed media piece in 2004 & just picked it up again to work on it. The top squares are all photographs I took. I should take a few closer photographs so you can get a better looksy.

Remembering

That’s it for now. I just got into Santa Fe, NM, so I want to get out & see the enchanted city.

sunday nude

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I had this old canvas lying around from 2007 from a painting I started that never really worked out so I just used it for a practice nude. It was a bit awkward for a portrait because of the tissue paper I had glued on the canvas (a bit bumpy) but I dove in anyway just for the fun of it. So this is my Sunday Nude, wait it’s still Saturday – all the days blur together. My Saturday Nude!

So I started with a sketch from a nude out of photography book & then started in on the shadows first and built up until I got to this below.

handmade & recycled from etsy

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earrings from etsy

If you haven’t perused the wares of Etsy, you are in for a treat. Click here for a sampling. Just click on that link (the one back there – the underlined one).

The cool thing about etsy, well that I love about etsy is that it is all handmade or vintage items, not to mention so beautifully styled & laid out so creatively I feel like I’m discovering hidden treasures every time I go shopping. EYe cAndY! That’s what it is! Eye Candy!!! Once I get started looking on Etsy I have to pry my fingers off the key board just so I can feed the baby or go to bed or something. It’s like crack for the creative soul. well maybe kind of.

Most recently I bought a Turkish Delight tin from England & Fiesta Earrings. I photographed them for you & noticed that something interesting is taking shape in my being. I’m buying yellow things. I tend to steer clear of yellow but lately I’m loving it. Anyways, I love, love, love these new things & most things I find there.

turkish delights tin

Part of living lusciously is being conscious of the energy that is in the objects & that goes into the objects that surround you & that you consume. This tin is a silly little ornate piece that has brought a smile to my face every time I walk past it. It has a history, a lineage that continues. How did it travel to my house from England? Then these earrings were put together by an artist who thoughtfully came up with this colorful design. Then after creating these earrings, she packaged them with a sweet ribbon & a personal message. That’s another wonderful thing about Etsy is the personal touch & conversations I can have with the artist or seller.

I think that I may one day be a seller on etsy, that will be cool, but for now I’m just playing, still playing with art. Cheers! and don’t forget to click on the link.

around here it feels safer

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nicaraguan drift wood

My current state of being, unfolding, discovering keeps me close to home. I move from the front porch/garden to the kitchen, the great room, my studio & soon out back in our pool (they are working on it this week). I feel most comfortable here. Perhaps it’s the avoidance that they say those with PTSD do best, but I find it feels safer & creates less anxiety – it’s just easier. Plus there is so much right here to explore, tend to, care for & create. I am officially addicted to my iPhone camera Instagram app! (as if you couldn’t tell).