I recently entered into the Art Source Gallery Ninth Annual Juried Show competition. I submitted three pieces. Traffic, Kisses From the Sun, and The Market. I just received notification that Traffic made it into the juried show!

The juror is John Taye, Professor Emeritus at Boise State University. He has chosen 55 works from a total of 75 artists and 216 submissions.

I’m pretty psyched about getting in for the second year in a row and I’m hoping to be one of the award winners this year. Cross your fingers and all of your toes for me!

Show Info:

Location
Art Source Gallery
1015 Main Street
Boise, Id 83709

Date & Time
July 1st: Opening Reception, 5-9pm, Awards announced at 6:30pm.
August 1st: Show Ends.

There you have it. I expect to see each and every one of you down there at some point (because I’ll totally be there checking) since it’s a month-long show.

- Kathryn Koozer

See my work:
On Merchandise – Zazzle
Reproductions – Etsy

Follow me:
Twitter
Facebook Fan Page

During the summer months these little snails would converge upon the driveway and walkway to the front door. I can only image how many snail paths were made during their long treks. There would be easily a hundred at one time. Sometimes they would climb up the garage door.

And, yes, they really are that color. It surprised me too. Something else that surprised me, probably because I never took the time to truly look at these little creatures, is how graceful their bodies are. Smooth and a mixture of all sorts of colors once you look closely. It was interesting drawing this little snail. I had to be able to render the shine on the body and on the shell. I am very pleased with how that turned out.

I’m also happy about how the snail-path fractures look. Everything has been walked on at some point by something and that’s what those path-fractures are all about. Hence the name of the piece: Traffic.

- Kathryn Koozer

See my work:
On Merchandise – Zazzle
Reproductions – Etsy

Follow me:
Twitter
Facebook Fan Page

These two are my first attempts at drawing fruit and also using a different blending technique on a main art work. I used throughout most of the pieces lighter fluid and a small paint brush to smooth and blend the pigments of the pencils. And I must say that I really like the results of that experiment.

I haven’t officially named either piece so if you have any ideas let me know.

20″ x 24″
Colored Pencil
Copyright Kathryn Koozer

I am a lover of fruit and golden raspberries are one of my favorites. I like them more than your classic red varieties and they practically drip with kisses from the sun. That’s not a bad title for this piece, Kisses from the Sun, I’ll have to ponder that.

18″ x 24″
Colored Pencil
Copyright by Kathryn Koozer

I am very pleased with how the cloth and the wood turned out in the artwork with the apples. Those are also a new first for me as I’ve never drawn either before. The fracturing in the apples was the most enjoyable part as it was the most interesting to complete. The different colors in these apples and the way they blend together is breathtaking.

So, what do you think of my two new adventures in colored pencil?

- Kathryn Koozer

See my work:
On Merchandise – Zazzle
Reproductions – Etsy

Follow me:
Twitter
Facebook Fan Page

Little Chris, Kaleidoscope, and the currently without-a-title Daffodil.

Each are collaged with various materials including nylon, pressed flowers, and old photographs. The first two mentioned are both 12 inches by 18 inches. That size is a pleasant size to work with as I can draw on my lap anywhere I happen to be sitting. When they are larger it is a bit more challenging to find a good position to work in. The third is 18 inches by 24 inches and is what you might call the mid-range of the sizes I work in.

Little Chris

Kaleidoscope

Daffodil

Kaleidoscope gave me quite a bit of trouble getting the collaging elements acceptable. That one incorporates pressed flowers and it was difficult making them look like they weren’t floating off of the picture. Paper seems to work much better for those things it seems.

Here is where you might expect me to start talking about the concept behind each piece or the philosophy of my overall work. But, I’m really not into that. I want my work to be able to stand on its own. Through the skill involved and how it looks and perhaps how it makes you feel. If I have to start writing long explanations about why I did what I did and why that’s important then I feel that the work isn’t strong enough to be legitimate in and of itself.

You might think from that statement that I don’t have a concept or philosophy behind my work. I do. And it’s part of why I do what I do, but that is mainly about me personally and what I try to do with my art than about the art I create directly. My work is what it is and what each person makes of it themselves. All the critics of the art world and all of the visitors to museums each make their own assumptions and ideas about art. Each person has their own interpretation and it’s not my place to tell you how you’re suppose to see or enjoy my work.

- Kathryn Koozer

But I’m of topic here. When I was looking that device up I came across some info about using solvents on your pencils for blending. Now, I usually use a blender pencil which turns out to be just the binder (like wax) in a pencil form that you rub over your pigment and it helps to blend the colors together. The solvents are a chemical that you put on your work and move around with a brush. It’s like working with watercolor pencils, only you’re using a chemical. So there’s a bunch of different things you can use ranging from lighter fluid, mineral spirits (that be toxic fumes there), and Vodka. I hate Vodka so naturally I used the lighter fluid that has sat in my closet since my freshman year in collage. That’s about 9 years for those keeping track.

So I did some test samples this afternoon to compare how it looks to my normal technique.

this is the rough scribblings

the top section is with the blender pencil and the bottom is with the lighter fluid

close up

another close up

this is a smaller test to show the difference, note the specs on the left

You may notice the little specs of pigment in the sections done with the blender pencil. That’s one thing that’s always bugged me, the lighter fluid obviously doesn’t have that problem but don’t use that stuff on anything you want to keep details in. It also can work as a way to tone down an area if you’ve gotten it too bright, or too dark as I found out on my current drawing. It also basically eliminates the other specs where the paper shows through.

I’m pretty pleased with it and I think I’ll be using it quite a bit in future pieces.

- Kathryn Koozer