Magnolia Box in June

Magnolia Box, faux marquetry, 9" x 13" x 4 7/8", acrylics on wood
©2009 Kim Bennett

I have several painting on the go. Things have been going great in the studio. I started on a cityscape and made the final touches to the faux marqutery box for the class in June. It is nice to work the right side of the brain again!

The faux wood box is a magnolia design that I have put together for the KVDA members in Charleston, West Virginia. Along with the box, we will also reproduce some early graining techniques with 20th century materials. Non-toxic Traditions Acrylic paints and mediums will be used to create the faux finishes.

There is no need for any specialty brushes for this class. We will use a variety of bristle brushes that are readily available at hardware and art supply stores. We will also be making graining effects with materials that you can find on hand or lying around the house. These can be stored in a album that can be taken home.

Prepare to get messy!

-Kim Bennett

Back to the Drawing Board

It is Monday evening. I have already travelled to Stockbridge and back and had a little snooze at home.

As mentioned in my previous blog post. The past few months have been a little busy with commitments that have involved writing. In the past couple of weeks, I felt that all of my words have been used up and I was getting nowhere. I tried to get going again with things such as long walks, cleaning the studio and house, making several "to do" list, research, and etc. This was not enough.

Yes, motivational remedies are still useful but it is time to focus my attention somewhere else.

I accepted during weekend that I was burnt out and in need of some studio therapy. It is time to lay down the pen and pick up the brush. Time to reconnect with the studio… even if was just for a little while or long enough to get my thoughts in line.

The plan is for:

Sketchbooks- Before doing anything else, I would like to spend some time in the morning working in my sketchbook. Trying to do three sketches or doodles a day. This will be before brush my teeth, wash my face or check e-mail. Well maybe I'll brush my teeth but it could be something that I would do during breakfast.

It will be nice if this can help me get in a creative mode for the rest of the day. Hopefully it will act as long term therapy for the days when getting in the studio is not possible.

Studio Therapy- Immerse myself in the flow of the studio for a few days. The studio is a happy place for me.

So the next few days will be spent enjoying time in the Studio.
Wish me luck!

- Kim Bennett


Here are some interesting links that I discovered this week.

Caroline Roberts writes How Can I Find Time to Create?

Michael Nobbs started a discussion last week asking other artist how they stay focus? In this weeks blog post, Staying Focus Michael shares with his readers a talk from TED.com about creativity and flow.

Happy Mothers Day

The past few months have been spent outside the studio. Instead, I have been busy writing instructions and newsletters. As the instructions for my next class is being prepared, I have momentarily set aside another project. That project consists of 22 pages and growing. Also one of the local clubs newsletter has been completed and the next issue will be due in June.

Blessed are all those women who write instructions. Not just painting instructions but needlework, recipes and anything that helps us or adds a little pleasure to our lives.

Now, as my pen runs dry, the computer creeps and the monitor has become a little temperamental. I am left with a trusty laptop. This is not the best of arrangements but it will have to do.

On this day, I would like to wish a Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers in the world and a Happy Birthday to everyone who is celebrating their day of birth. I would also like to send love to my mother. She was able to forgive me for forgetting to send her a card on time.

Enjoy this time because you are amazing!

-Kim Bennett

Book On Reflections Brings Back Reflections

My art books are my bedside books. Very few of them ever reach the coffee table.

The past six months have been very good to me in receiving art books. They are either piled up on my special “get to” shelf or stacked somewhere near my reading place.

Yesterday a fresh unopened art book arrived in the post. This was from a good friend who knows my soft spot for water reflections in paintings. The book that arrived to me was Reflections of Nature: Paintings by Joseph Raffael written by Donald Kuspit and Amei Wallach.

Just to give you a little insight to myself and interest with the reflections of water.

As an art student at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. I took several painting classes in a studio setting under the direction of Stanley Sporny. He had a different take on colour and approach to painting. And a solid practice on learning to see and the observation of form.

While I was studying, Stan was exploring his Water Series in small studies in his studio. There were multiple elements he wanted to apply in building these painting. It is interesting to see his work after ten years. I think that they were a success from what he had set out to do.

Stanley's last show River Series was located at the Callen McJunkin Gallery in Charleston, WV.
He passed away in October 2008.
Remembering Stanley Sporny

Briefly looking this book and on first impressions. The first paragraph, located in the main text, sums it up for me. This is what I would like to see more of.

“When Joseph Raffael paints water, he paints light and movement. The light is transparent, it glitters, it moves as the water moves. There is a great deal of slippage in this light. It loses itself in the depth and reflects off the surface. The surface appears gelatinous, seems to slide, submerge, to surf the light...”

I could only surmise how much of a challenge these water paintings were to create. They are visually challenging. Yet, there is a calming energy about them. They show what an artist can do.

If anyone has read this book, I am interested in hearing your thoughts.

-Kim Bennett

Going On a Summer Holiday

Well bank holiday has just past us by and now I actually have a little time to write. I became a year older this weekend. It was a good one and thank you to all my friends for the party atmosphere on one of the social networking places. It really meant so much to me.

In five weeks time, I will be on a long summer vacation back at my native homeland in West Virginia. My room is booked at Ma and Pa’s house and just about everything is ready to go. There is not much to pack as everything that I will need will be waiting for me there.

Still, there are a few more things that I need to get ready for including the class I will be teaching during June for the KVDA Chapter in Charleston, West Virginia.

During the past couple of summers, I had volunteered and dedicated my time to paint faux marquetry projects for community service and fundraisers for the chapter. This year, they asked if I would teach a class in faux wood finishes.

I will be teaching a faux marquetry piece featuring a magnolia design. Along with this, the class will be given an album to hold other faux finishes that we will work on.


It will be lovely meeting up and getting back together with everyone. Will see you soon!

-Kim Bennett

Lesson 6: Combat the Uglies

Today's lesson for the Blog Triage class was to make a couple of changes to our blog so it would have more of a visual impact. These are a before and after pictures from one of my post. Before is located on the left and After is on located on the right.

Here are some noticiable changes to the blog.

Font: The font in most of the post, title and side bar has been changed from Times New Roman to Arial. Arial is one of my fonts of choice and as we learned today, it is easier to the eyes. I discovered make Arial into a default text. Hooray… no more forgetfulness of having Times when what I really want is Arial.

The Header: I couldn't tell what the font was originally in the header. I can only tell you that it has changed to Georgia.

Font size: The font size to the post text has also been made larger so it is easier to read. I was able to increase the font size in the settings. So it is still normal but looks larger.

Photograph at the top of this post has been increased in size. An extra photo had been added lower down the post. Another photo has been changed in a previous post.

Colour change to the header, title and links.
The header has been changed from light grey to black.
The titles were originally orange but are now black.
The links The link colour was a little bit of a problem for me as the paler blue links made the difficult to distinguish from the text. And now they are one of my favourite colours.

Another alteration that has been made is trying to have some sort of consistency of labelling artwork throughout the blog.

It looks much better!

Over all I am pleased with the changes but will have to return to it with some changes at a later date. There are still a few more tweaks I would like to do such as add a few more photos to a post and work on developing a header.

Thanks for Alyson's advice. There has been so much improvement to it all ready.

Cheers,
Kim Bennett