Katie Jeanne Wood

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

Orange bird painting No 40

Katherine Jeanne Wood - 4x4 Bird Series No 40 01
acrylic on panel, 4×4, animals
Available here

Katie Jeanne Wood - oil palette
Prepping a new oil palette
I need the first few layers to be thin. Fat over lean, so the oil doesn’t crack.

Everything starts somewhere, though many physicists disagree. But people have always been dimly aware of the problem with the start of things. They wonder how the snowplough driver gets to work, or how the makers of dictionaries look up the spelling of words. ― Terry Pratchett

I’m teaming up with my husband on my next few paintings. He’s loaning me some of his photos to use as my reference, which is a pretty big deal to me. I stopped using reference photos over a year ago, and have been working straight from my imagination and memory ever since. While some artists might find it stressful to have to come up with a new idea for a painting without a photo to rely on, I prefer it. I find reference photos to be extremely restricting, and leaves no room for imagination or artistic expression. That, and I tend to fuss over little details until I’m ready to pull my hair out.

Thinking about the old way I used to paint breaks me out in hives. So why I am painting with reference photos again? Good question! My inspiration for this little project is coming from two different sources. 1. Having great reference photos to choose from because my husband is a nature photographer. 2. From a book I’m reading called The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting by Suzanne Brooker. I’ll be writing a book review sometime within the next week or two, so stay tuned for that. 

Okay, now to get to work. 

Oil landscape Mini Painting No 20

Katherine Jeanne Wood - 4x4 Landscape No 20 01
oil on panel, landscape, 4×4
Landscape No 20
Available here
Small to large prints available here

Killing oneself is, anyway, a misnomer. We don’t kill ourselves. We are simply defeated by the long, hard struggle to stay alive. When somebody dies after a long illness, people are apt to say, with a note of approval, “He fought so hard.” And they are inclined to think, about a suicide, that no fight was involved, that somebody simply gave up. This is quite wrong. -Sally Brampton

Last week was most difficult. We’ve been mourning the loss of a family friend. It’s a tragic story, not mine to tell. Now to gingerly pick our shattered hearts, and lives up off the floor, and carry on. I need to paint today. 

Morning pages

Katherine Jeanne Wood - 4x4 Landscape No 18 01
oil on panel, landscape, 4×4
Landscape No 18
Available here
Small to large prints available here

I’m going to continue to challenge myself this month as far as writing goes. I’ve decided to do morning pages again. The last time I attempted this, I think I did it for a day or two, and forgot about it. Oops. This time, I have no excuses because my writing desk is the first thing I see as I walk upstairs every morning. I’m going to put a big MORNING PAGES sign on it. There’s no way I can forget, but in case I do, I’ve also put it in my Google calendar, and it will be emailed to me each morning at 4am.

I think it’s pretty amazing that Julia Cameron isn’t a morning person, yet she sets out to do these pages every morning. I wonder if she ever skips or misses a day? I’m sure there will be quite a few I’ll want to skip, but I’ll force myself to do it. It’s for my own good because the more words flow, the more they keep flowing. I want to get to a place where it’s easy to write. I’m sure it won’t be easy every single day, but I want to work towards that goal, and the only way to get there is to write more often.

In other news, the blizzard is going to miss us, but the thunderstorm last night was pretty cool. Thunder and fierce lightning on the first day of February will always be cool in my book, tho. The sun is shining now. Hard to believe just a little north of here it’s a whiteout.

Blackbird oil painting – Bird Series No 35

Katherine Jeanne Wood - 4x4 Bird Series No 35 01
oil on canvas, 4×4, animals
Available here
Small to large prints available here

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I used to think it was impossible to be a daily blogger. I remember writing several times that IF I could post artwork, and not words, I could do it. Yet here I am, not just posting art, I’m actually writing every day. Weird, I know, but it’s happening because of a huge shift in my thinking.

I remember thinking to myself..I’m a painter, what do I have to say? All I do is work all day in the studio ALONE..my life is pretty boring. I figured out I was looking at it all wrong, and I began to make some changes to my thinking. Instead of saying “I can’t, I can’t” I started saying “I can” for starters.

I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow. – Julia Cameron

I also decided instead of trying to find a topic to write about, I’d instead ask myself one question when I sat down to write..”what’s going on today?” By answering that one little question, I filled up the post, and didn’t have much trouble finding words to do it. I tried it again the next day, and the next. I’m now in a writing groove, no longer at a loss for words. What surprised me the most is I no longer hate writing here, nor do I find it nearly as difficult as it used to be. Instead of having no words, I find myself editing out huge giant paragraphs to shorten my posts because I’m writing too much. ha! Never thought I’d say that in my lifetime. Well, it’s true. I did indeed write too much today, and I’m going to keep writing because the more I do it, the easier it gets.

If you’re finding it hard to write a blog post, try starting from where you are in that moment when you sit down to write, and go from there.

Writing makes you alive, and awake, and happy. – Natalie Goldberg

 

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