Katie Jeanne Wood

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

Ruining paintings

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Remember a couple weeks ago, I talked about ruining paintings..saying it’s inevitable. It’s going to happen if you’re an artist? Yeah, well, this is one of those paintings I completely and utterly ruined. This was a few years back, maybe 4 years ago, and I’m still mad at myself for doing it. Every time I see this photo of it, I want to cry because I loved this painting just the way it was at this stage. I should have called it finished, but I kept working it, and working it, and ended up overworking it. I ended up completely painting over it with gesso because I didn’t like the direction I took it in, and I couldn’t get it back to this stage. After a few days, I gave up trying. :/ Which is why I say I do believe you can overwork paintings, especially abstracts, even though not everyone agrees with me. 

Deep roots are not reached by the frost

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Purple sunglasses
oil portrait painting on hardboard panel
You can watch me paint her here

Katie Jeanne Wood - yellow leaves
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
― J.R.R. Tolkien

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Thank you for your service, brave veterans.

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I love you.
Oh, how I’ve loved you..
Thank you for all you have given us.
Goodbye, Mr. Cohen.
You will be forever missed,
but never forgotten.

What a highly emotional week this has been. Utter sadness, disbelief, and grief for some, joy and elation for others. If you want to know which political side I’m on, I’m on neither. I’m on the side of love, and every ounce of my being is begging for peace. Please! We need it more than ever. I don’t care who you voted for or if you voted at all. Let’s make some art together, yeah? Show me what you got! Happy PPF!

3 common misconceptions about artists

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Work in progress
You can see me painting this oil portrait painting here

Misconception No 1: Art isn’t a “real” job.

I’ve been in the studio since 5:30 this morning. The day started out with me taking over 500 photos of my paintings for Etsy listings. I’ve been sorting them, editing, and working in Photoshop all day. Some of the photos aren’t up to  par, (I don’t think I was fully awake yet when I started) so I have to spend time retaking them, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. It’s now 8:56PM, and I was about to go relax and watch something on Netflix (which really translates to “lie down, and fall asleep” because I’m beat), but I just realized I haven’t blogged all week, so I’m writing this post for tomorrow. I’ll edit it in the morning. 

If this ain’t real, and this ain’t work, I don’t know what is. My eyeballs are ready to pop out from staring at the screen for so long.

If you’re going to your studio everyday, working your tail off, then it’s a real job. If you’re paying taxes on your art income, which every artist should be doing if they make enough to qualify, then it certainly is a real job. Don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise. 

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Misconception No 2: Artists are born with a gift.  

Some people think that if you weren’t born with “the gift”, you’re not an artist, and never will be one. I used to believe this myth myself, so I can see why they’re confused. I didn’t realize how much work it takes to be an artist. I thought drawing, painting, sculpting, photography all came naturally or you simply weren’t an artist. Did I ever have a ton to learn. 

I wish I had a nickel for every time someone has said to me, “I wish I could paint, but I wasn’t born with the gift.”

Trust me, being an artist has nothing to do with some gift handed to us because we’re special, and you’re not. One look at my earlier work will convince anyone that I wasn’t born knowing how to paint..

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dsc_0589She has no nose because I didn’t know how to paint one.

They say love is blind, and I’m thankful for that because had I known how truly ugly these paintings were at the time, I would have quit immediately. 

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Throwback Thursday on a Wednesday
You can see more work from this old art journal here

Misconception No 3: Artists are extremely moody and only paint their emotions/feelings. 

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Angry Rabbit
sold
Prints are available here

I painted my husband’s mood once when I painted Angry Rabbit, but I don’t make a habit of painting my own emotions. I’m sure some of my emotions seep into my work because I paint nearly every day. I’d have to be a robot or machine not to let that happen. However, I like to keep a safe distance between me and my artwork.

The part I get hung up on? I can’t imagine selling raw, personal work after I paint it. To know you wore your heart out on your sleeve, and now it’s going out the door. This is it. You will never, ever see it again. Nope, it’s not for me. I know artists who can do that, and it’s admirable. For me, if it’s personal, I want to hold it close, and never let it go. You can’t be a working artist if you do that, and I’d rather be working than hoarding all my work. Imagine the storage problems I’d run into. 😉 

Apologizes

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I need to apologize to my email subscribers because lately my posts haven’t been sending through correctly. Sometimes the photos and videos aren’t coming through in the email, and other times the entire email doesn’t come through. It’s been reported, and I’m waiting to hear back from them. Other people are having the same problem, so it should be fixed soon. If you’re one of my blog subscribers, you might want to check the blog in case you’ve missed any posts lately. 

Sweet Pea, Harold and Maude Youtube channel

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Now that I have a computer that actually works every time I need it, I’ve dusted the cobwebs off Sweet Pea’s channel. I’ll be uploading a video there weekly on Wednesdays. Same goes for my Miz Katie channel. New video every week! Exciting, eh? 

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I want to eventually increase uploads to include Saturday also, at least on my MK channel, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m thinking perhaps after the holidays will be a good time. We’ll see. It depends on my workload, and how crazy things get around here. I might have to keep it just to Wednesdays, but I do want to be more consistent non-the-less.

If you love cats, and are as obsessed about them as I am, then you’ll want to subscribe, so you never miss a video. 🙂 

Synopsis: it’s hard to sleep when you’re a restless Harold kitty, and the wind is blowing falling leaves by the window. The little noises he makes slay me. Turn your speakers or headphones up, so you can hear him. I hope you enjoy this super cute cat video. Thanks so much for watching. If you like this, please share with your friends.

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And, coming up on the next episode of Sweet Pea, Harold, and Maude..it’s like a day at the spa for Maudie. She gets pampered like no other. Here’s a sneak peek…

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Back to filming new videos

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Two weeks ago, I rearranged my studio, so I can start filming videos once again. This is a messy shot of my setup. I probably should have cleaned it up before snapping the photo, but eh..just keeping it real.

I’m shooting with my Nikon camera on a tripod. The battery doesn’t last long on my camera, so to prevent it from shutting off midway through a video, I bought a power adapter for it. It slips in place where the battery goes, and I no longer have to worry about the battery going dead because the camera is plugged into my power strip. Works really well if you’re filming in a stationary setting like this. I have a large size SDHC card in the camera, so I’m good to go for a couple hours without needing to dump the card onto my computer. 

As you can see, I film upside down, and then rotate the video once I’m in iMovie. 

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This is a new oil painting that I recently filmed. I sat down, and painted 12 of these watercolor paper portraits over the past 2 weeks. I’ll show you more in upcoming videos. And the good news? I’ll be giving one away each month to my newsletter subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can here.

I hope you enjoy the video. Now that I’m back to filming, and I have a computer that actually works, I’ll be uploading to my YT channel on Wednesdays. See you there! Also, check out the kittens’ channel. I just uploaded a new video there, also, and it’s super cute. 🙂 Please subscribe to both channels, if you haven’t already.

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