Monthly Archives: May 2018

It’s not work if you’re having fun

Posted on May 27, 2018 | 3 comments

This is where the magic happens. The easel for oil painting. The flat table for watercolor and some drawing. Everything I need within a hand’s reach.

I think people who are creative are the luckiest people on earth. I know that there are no shortcuts, but you must keep your faith in something greater than you,and keep doing what you love. Do what you love, and you will find the way to get it out to the world.” — Judy Collins

My husband will often call me in from my studio for dinner. I’m busy. I’m right in the middle of something, I respond. Or my brother will quip that I haven’t really retired but have just found another job. Yes, I agree.

When I go out to my studio, a commute of about 30 feet, I am lost to the world. Music or recorded books. Ideas abound. Running out of something to paint or express is totally foreign to me.

This does not mean that there are not challenges or some labor involved. I spent several days recently cleaning my studio. Let me be frank. Artists are pack rats. We can always think of something we can do with the flotsam and jetsam in the creative space. This could be useful. Maybe I’ll need this some day. Really! But, there comes a time to clean and to toss.

I have spent plenty of time at the burn barrel…mostly with few regrets. Occasionally I think of something that I’ve gotten rid of and wish I had saved but it was probably for the best.

And then there is the business side of art. Following up on e-mails and phone calls. Scheduling exhibits and competitions. Ordering supplies. Keeping up with the money…or lack thereof. Successful artists really pay attention to these details.

But, this isn’t anything at all like writing a fifty page grant application (or final grant report). Or next year’s budget. Or a formal business plan for a new venture just because the powers that be never thought you could. (They were impressed. And someone else ran off with the business plan. Pfftt.)

So, yes, I’m retired and have a steady income stream. That is always a relief. But the more important thing is that I just get to do what I want with my time. And I want to create art. That’s enough. It’s not work.

“There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you love. You will jump out of bed in the morning. I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don’t like because you think it will look good on your resume. Isn’t that a little like saving up sex for your old age?” — Warren Buffet

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Posted in art, opinion

Tagged art, kit miracle, on being an artist, work

Homage to a dead bird

Posted on May 20, 2018 | Comments Off

Dead bird, wood thrush, watercolor, pen and ink, 10 x 14, Kit Miracle

There’s something about birds.

When I’m sitting on the patio in the evening, watching the night fall, listening to the sounds of life wind down, or in some cases, just change from day to night, I love to try to identify the birdsong. Watch the various birds – robins, blue jays, wrens, the lovely mourning doves. I love how the birds have adopted our territory as their territory. We have so many kinds of birds. Cardinals, goldfinches, bluebirds, owls, even the dratted starlings in the gutters.

So the other night we found this lovely brown thrush on the ground. Apparently he’d broken his neck on a window on the greenhouse. So sad. Although the cycles of life and death are a given here in the country, each little animal has a pull for me.

I decided to capture this bird in a memorial drawing, watercolor with pen and ink. Taking the time to capture his tiny but strong feet. Thinking of them clinging to a twig in the winter. And admiring the bib of spotted feathers. His long black beak.

Although his heart beats no more, he shall live on in this small painting.

That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, lest you should think he never could recapture the first fine careless rapture!

Robert Browning

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Posted in country living, pen and ink, watercolor

Tagged art, birds, country living, kit miracle, pen and ink, watercolor, wood thrush

Racing spring

Posted on May 16, 2018 | 1 comment

About a month ago, here in southern Indiana, we had a white out blizzard. The snow was coming down sideways, windy, and it stuck to everything. Very beautiful but frankly, everyone I know around here was pretty darn tired of winter.

White Iris, dark blue background, watercolor, pen and ink, Kit Miracle

Then the past six weeks, we’ve had spring shoving in on us with summer not far behind. Record high temperatures. This pushes and squeezes all the flowers in the garden. I have been hurriedly trying to capture my favorite flowers before they’re gone!

Purple and yellow iris, watercolor, pen and ink, 10 x 6.5, Kit Miracle

I have several varieties of irises which are always so beautiful to me, from the tall, stately white iris, to the delicate light purple iris. Some were here when we bought the property. Some I traded with friends. They all smell delicious.

Light purple iris, watercolor, pen and ink, 10 x 6.5, Kit Miracle

The problem with painting in the heat, even in the speedy medium of watercolor and pen and ink, is that the flowers change so rapidly. I’ll do a painting in the afternoon, then go back to the studio after dinner to discover the elegant iris I painted earlier has crumpled in upon itself. This is speed painting at its most challenging.

White Iris, light blue background, watercolor, pen and ink, Kit Miracle

These will be on my Etsy shop in a day or two, if you’re interested.

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Posted in pen and ink

Tagged art, country living, flowers, gardening, indiana, kit miracle, pen and ink, watercolor

Remembering Joan

Posted on May 13, 2018 | Comments Off

Behind all your stories is your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begins.

Mitch Albom For One More Day

My beautiful mother Joan at age 25.

I always thought my mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. I knew she was. She didn’t look or talk or act like any of my friends’ mothers.

She was exotic with her dark eyes and British accent. The way she ran the household would put June Clever to shame. No, mom didn’t iron in pearls but the house was European tidy and organized. She always made sure that she looked lovely when dad came home. Dinner was always on the table and there was always, always dessert. Yummmm.

She had a spine of steel and a devil-may-care attitude. I guess that after enduring bombs dropping on your neighborhood for several years, everything else is a trifle.

She was quick to laugh. Not afraid to shed some tears. Ready to cuddle an upset child with warmth and soft there there nows.

A sweet little kiss from me to you.

Yes, we had our disagreements as any mother and daughter will. She was never afraid to voice her opinion but was also willing to overlook some of my ignorant decisions, too. Oh, well, I got smarter. Maybe we both did.

Even in her final days of illness she was able to find a joke to make us both laugh. Boy, what dignity! What an example.

I miss my mom and wish she could see what what I’m doing these days. I can only hope to pass along some of her values to my children and grandchildren. I think she’d be pleased.

Taking a walk with my mother in the park.

No one worries about you like your mother, and when she is gone, the world seems unsafe, things that happen unwieldy. You cannot turn to her anymore, and it changes your life forever. There is no one on earth who knew you from the day you were born; who knew why you cried, or when you’d had enough food; who knew exactly what to say when you were hurting; and who encouraged you to grow a good heart. When that layer goes, whatever is left of your childhood goes with her.

―Adriana Trigiani, Big Stone Gap

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Posted in holiday, opinion

Tagged kit miracle, mothers day

More spring flowers

Posted on May 9, 2018 | Comments Off

Spring bouquet of azaleas and bridal veil bush, watercolor, pen and ink, 10 x 14, Kit Miracle

The flowers keep coming and I just can’t seem to paint them quickly enough. The past week I’ve been working exclusively in watercolor with pen and ink. This allows me to loosely capture the beauty of the flowers but add detail with the pen and ink.

Red Azaleas, watercolor, pen and ink, 4.5 x 6.5, matted to 8 x 10, Kit Miracle

I always sketch the flower arrangement first, then add the watercolor. When that is completely dried, I add the details with a Platinum pen and carbon ink cartridge. Sometimes I still use the dip quill with India ink. I can even use a plastic eraser to remove some of the pencil lines without disturbing the painting.

Lavender Azaleas with Ruffled Edges, watercolor, pen and ink, 6.5 x 4.5, matted to 10 x 8, Kit Miracle

These paintings are usually done on quarter sheet watercolor paper, 140 pound, Arches or another quality paper. They are 10 x 14 inches with a ½ inch border or I divide the paper into four sections. The smaller paintings are matted in museum grade soft white mats of 8 x 10 inches with a foam core backing.

Blue Phlox, watercolor, pen and ink, 4.5 x 6.5, matted to 8 x 10, Kit Miracle

Flowers this week include a branch of dogwood, an arrangement of some lovely salmon-color azaleas with fronds of bridal veil. Smaller paintings include Greek Valerian, Blue Phlox, more varieties of azaleas and whatever else I find blooming. The season is often so short that I can’t capture everything I want to paint but I give it a good try.

Branch of Dogwood, watercolor, pen and ink, 10 x 14, Kit Miracle

Branch of dogwood flowers for painting

Spring flowers. This is a selection of flowers that I painted recently. I’ve picked up the little vases over the years at resale shops, and even our farm dump. Everything is useful.

View the details of these paintings on either of my Etsy shops. KitMiracleArt or My90Acres.

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Posted in country living, garden, painting instruction, pen and ink, watercolor

Tagged art, country living, flowers, gardening, kit miracle, painting instruction, pen and ink, watercolor

Plein air painting on a lovely spring day

Posted on May 6, 2018 | Comments Off

I went plein air painting with my friend Bill Whorrall this week up in beautiful Martin County, Indiana. There is just a small window between the dreariest of winter and the veredant summer. This time of year the landscape sports so many different shades of greens, as well as the beautiful red-bud, dogwood and other spring flowers. I wanted to capture the scene before it was gone.

Plein air painting in Martin County, Indiana. The Overlook in Shoals.

This day we painted at The Overlook in Shoals, Indiana. The scenery is gorgeous any time of year but especially now with the freshly tilled fields. The river you see there is the White River which can sometimes be pretty angry. Now you can see it as the peaceful water highway it once was.

The painting is acrylic on hardwood which has been gessoed and sanded. I chose the longer format as it seemed to fit the landscape.

I only had a couple of hours to get most of the painting down before the sun had moved. A few final tweaks were done in the studio. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted all of my photos for the day so this is the only one available from my Facebook page.

Yes, the painting is for sale on my Etsy shop, KitMiracleArt.