Katie Jeanne Wood

Mixed Media Artist - daily painter of portraits, flowers, abstracts and birds

Melanie Norris – featured artist

Melanie Norris
source

Melanie Norris
source

Melanie Norris
source

 
I found myself nodding in agreement throughout this video. I would have said the same thing myself, had I the ability to put it into words as well as Melanie. The same thing happened when I read her artist statement. I found it so interesting that she edits out clothing. I do the same in many of my pieces. I might tell you the reason why some day, but today isn’t about me. It’s about sharing this great artist with you because I’m smitten with her work. 
 
You can find more of Melanie’s work on Saatchi Art, and see her Ted Talk here. 
 
About this featured artist series: I pretty much always keep my nose to the grindstone, and rarely look up from my own work. I’m so busy in my studio, who has time for anything else? That’s what I used to think, anyway, but I want to change that a bit, and spend 2017 exploring other artists’ work. My thinking is this.. maybe by understanding what makes other artists tick, I can better understand myself, and why art is so important to me. I hate the thought of keeping these gems all to myself, so I thought I’d share them with you. Look for new posts twice a month. 

Wonky, uneven eye situation

1st layer

You see how wonky her eyes are in this photo? I didn’t catch that at the time, but it’s a common mistake I make whenever I sketch out a face while sitting down with the panel or canvas flat on the table in front of me. 

second layer

As you can see in this photo, the eyes looked okay from where I was sitting. But, stand up, and look down on it, and see what happens? 

If you’re having trouble with uneven eyes the best thing to do is to sketch with your substrate in an upright position. Or stand up as you’re drawing, and look down as you draw. Not the most comfortable positions for drawing, but it does help. I’m letting it dry a couple days before I fix it. I’ll show you what layer 3 looks like when I’m finished. 

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Apologizes to everyone on my blog mailing list for the incident that occurred last week. The Jetpack plugin I use to send out the emails had a hiccup, and started spewing out old blog posts from 2012 and 2013. Really bizarre. Tech support is looking into the problem. 

Simone de Beauvoir oil portrait painting work in progress

Simone de Beauvoir oil portrait painting work in progress Katie Jeanne Woodwork in progress

I love how things come full circle. I’ve been wanting to start a black and white series for years now, but never got around to doing it. Probably because I have a long list of series that I’m constantly working on like the bird series (over 200), floral series (over 300), landscape series (356), abstract series (started in 1999, so I’ve lost count), the girl and bird series (30), the sunglasses/glasses portrait series (10ish), the sisters/friends series (15ish), and the series of portraits on 6×6 panel (26). I also have a long list of retired series, such as the Plain Jane Series (200), the $10 series (100+), the Masquerade Mask series (100+), and the Photo Booth Series (20-30). I know there’s probably more I’m forgetting, but my point is, I’ve been a little busy. haha

I recently started to reread The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Satre for the 3rd or 4th time. It led me to looking up his lifelong partner online, Simone de Beauvoir. When I saw the black and white photo of her, so full of emotion, I knew I had to paint her. So the black & white series has finally begun, perhaps? The photo above is only the first layer. Still needs a lot of work, but I’m letting it dry a bit before I continue.

In the meantime, I started painting a black & white of Virginia Woolfe, which if you follow me on IG you’ll see there. BTW, my IG is often times way ahead of my blog because I post more in the moment type things there. Feel free to follow me. 

Telling Stories We Already Told – mixed media figure painting

Telling Stories We Already Told - mixed media figure painting by Katie Jeanne Wood

This is a large 24×30 inch painting I’ve been working on for a while now. It’s actually one I started about 4 years ago, and thought I had finished. I recently took it down off the wall in my living room, and decided it was time to revise it, and offer it for sale. 

Telling Stories We Already Told - mixed media figure painting by Katie Jeanne Wood

This is one of the first of many larger paintings to come this summer. 

Telling Stories We Already Told - mixed media figure painting by Katie Jeanne Wood

Telling Stories We Already Told
Acrylic mixed media figure painting on canvas
Available here
Prints are available at Saatchi Art

Anyone who has been in a long term relationship or marriage will relate to the title. You’ve already heard it all from your partner before, but you politely sit through hearing the same old story one more time.

My poor husband knows this all too well. I am notorious for retelling stories. I don’t know why, but my husband generously gives his time to listen to me. Sometimes more words get added, and the tale gets longer, but it’s still the same story in the end. 

Listening to: Harry Styles playlist..gosh, I didn’t expect to like his music. Not at all, but after seeing him do carpool karaoke with James Corden, I had to look him up. I love this album so much. He’s so pretty. I think I might have a wee bit of a crush. 

Girl and her chicken oil portrait painting

This one has taken me about a month to paint. I’ve had to allow the oil paint to dry in between sessions because her skin tone was getting too muddy. Plus, I had to do a lot of detail work with a tiny brush. Hands and skin tone don’t usually give me any trouble, but for some reason I struggled on this one. I think I finally finished it a couple nights ago, but I’m going to let it sit for a few days before I decide for sure. More photos to come later. 

*****

I’m still having a studio sale in both of my Etsy shops. You can find portraits here. Florals and birds here. Some prices have been reduced greatly. I need to free up some space for more paintings. 

Don’t Look, But Isn’t He Cute
Was $400, now $300

I’m thinking of painting over this one soon, if it doesn’t sell. Get it while you can. 

Apologies to everyone for not visiting your blogs lately. I’ve been working around the clock, and haven’t had time. I’ve also been having trouble staying consistent with my blogging schedule, plus I have a slew of comments that I haven’t got around to reading and publishing yet either. Ugh. I hope to get it all back on track this week. I hope you understand.

Love,

your exhausted friend, Katie xo 

Bundled: pink chickadee bird painting set

Bundle of four cottage chic chickadee bird paintings by Katie Jeanne WoodBundle of four cottage chic chickadee bird paintings
Bundle of four cottage chic chickadee bird paintings by Katie Jeanne Wood

Bundle of four cottage chic chickadee bird paintings by Katie Jeanne Wood

To ease up my workload a bit, I’ve started to bundle some of my mini paintings. Not only is that good news for me, but for you, also. If you bought these four paintings separately, it would cost you $160. You can get this bundled set for only $125, and if you buy it through my website, I offer free shipping within the USA. You get a mini gallery to hang on your wall, as well as savings. It’s a win/win for all! This cute set of 4 cottage chic birds is available here. 

There will be more, perhaps larger, bundled sets to come in the future. This is only the beginning, so stay tuned. 

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