Archives for July 2015

July 7, 2015 by Kat

Art makes a House a Home

An interesting thing has happened as I’ve put my art out into the world… My home has started filling up with beautiful art from other artists.

It comes from seeing more art, meeting more artists, and fundamentally believing that art has value. The more art I see, the more I want to surround myself with pieces that have interest and meaning to me. The more artists I meet, the more I appreciate how much time and energy they spend to create something special. The more I get out there and share my own work, the more I am willing to spend real money to buy something that makes my heart sing, especially knowing it supports my fellow artists.

Maybe it’s a little bit of good karma, because this is what I want to happen to my art too. I want it to go to good homes where it will be loved and cherished. Where the owners understand it’s a little piece of my heart, hanging on their wall.

It didn’t come as an conscious thing, this idea of becoming an art collector myself. It came as a natural extension of participating in a world that appreciates handmade, local art. But it’s been a delightful and surprising experience which has helped me realize: A house is just walls and a roof, it’s the people, and what they bring into it, that make it a home. A home should be a space that protects and refreshes. A space that you love to be in. Adding art you’ve carefully chosen makes your space something truly special–a home.

I thought I would share some of my growing collection, and a little bit about the artists who made them.

The newest addition is this porcelain plate from Carol Lebreton, a ceramics artist in Portland. She had a booth across from me at the Lake Oswego fair a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn’t help but admire her work. I love her use of pattern and texture, and the green celadon glaze she uses is not only gorgeous, it’s the perfect match for one of the colors in my kitchen. Yay! Someday I would like a whole set of tableware from Carol, not just one showpiece in my kitchen.

This gorgeous piece is another recent addition, from glass artist Jerri Bartholomew. Jerri is one of my fellow Philomath Open Studios Tour artists and I loved being able to visit her studio to learn about her process. She’s also a microbiologist at Oregon State University, and her science comes through in her art. As someone who also has a technical background, I love seeing how other scientists blend their art with their science. And of course, I love that it’s a tree!!

This monotype by painter Mike Baggetta of Portland fulfills my cravings for abstract art. I discovered his work when I bought this piece at an art auction here in Corvallis, and I was excited to meet him when I visited the Art in the Pearl art fair last year. It was wonderful to learn more about his process, and how his monotypes influence his abstract paintings. I would love to have one of his large abstracts some day!

As you enter our home, the dining room wall is one of the first things you see. This area is one of my favorite spaces, a collage of art from various artists:

The centerpiece on the top is from Ron Dobrowski, a photographer from Springfield, Oregon who was my mentor for the Salem Art Fair & Festival last year. He does film photography and these gorgeous silver gelatin prints.
On the top left is a piece from Meri Walker, aka @iphoneartgirl, another iPhone photographer who lives in Oregon. I met Meri through the Expanding Vision exhibition I helped The Arts Center put on last year.
Top right is another photographer I met through the Expanding Vision show, Angie Lambert. She came all the way from West Virginia to attend the opening, how cool is that! I loved the simplicity and the mystery of this piece.
Bottom left on the wall is a small pastel by Kate McGee, another artist I’ve gotten to know through the Philomath Open Studios Tour. She does mostly color, scenic landscapes, but my heart lept when I saw this black and white, more abstract piece.
Bottom center is a photograph from a teenage artist, Emma Spakoski. This piece received an Honorable Mention in The Arts Center’s Howland Community Open show, and I just loved the composition and beautiful softness. I hope she will keep creating as she gets older! (Her Mom, Alexis Spakoski, is a local illustrator and ceramics artist, so she has a great example to follow.)
On the shelf is a wood-fired vase from local ceramics artist Eric Moran. The colors and textures in this vase are amazing, I wish you could feel it. Eric is another artist like me, who works a full-time corporate job, as well as creating and teaching his art. He’s a ceramics instructor at the OSU Craft Center.
Last but not least, the photograph on the shelf is from Lorraine Richey, a Portland photographer who I’ve gotten to know through the PhotoArts Guild. She also does quite a bit of wonderful iPhone work!

In the corner of the dining room there is also a shelf unit with several wonderful pieces:

The top print is an etching of the Duomo in Milan, one of the things we brought back from Italy with us. Unfortunately we never met the artist for this one, but I love the intricate details of this print, a reminder of our time in Italy.
The funky vase in the center is by Corvallis ceramics artist Cynthia Spencer. Cynthia is an amazing supporter of other artists in our area! I first met her when I took an Art Marketing class from her last year, and learned so much from her. She’s done the art fair circuit in the past, was the Director of the Corvallis Fall Festival art fair for many years and is currently the Director of The Arts Center. I love having a little piece of her fun personality in our home.
The bottom photograph is from another local photographer, Rosie Saraga, who passed away about a year and a half ago. She had an amazing eye for form, and I feel so privileged that I got to know her through the PhotoArts Guild. Her vision and love of the world is very much missed.

Now, if only my dining room furniture were as pretty as the art! A local-made dining room set is currently on my wish list.

There are so many other amazing artists I’ve met and work I’ve seen, there is so much more art I would love to own. I’m afraid I’m going to need a bigger house! It’s gotten to the point I tell my husband that I don’t want gifts for birthdays, anniversaries or other holidays. I just want to buy art when something strikes me. As our home fills up with beautiful art, he’s finally to the point he believes me. And, he’s getting in on the action and helping to select the pieces more often, too.

Do you have art from local artists in your house? If not, I bet there are an amazing number of artists in your area, who would be happy to provide some of their art a new home. Keep your eye out!

July 4, 2015 by Kat

What Living Abroad Taught Me About Being an American

In the USA, today is a day of food, fireworks and friends. It’s a celebration of the birth of our country. It’s a uniquely American experience, one that we missed greatly when we were living in Italy years ago. You see, when you live in another country, you don’t just learn about other cultural traditions, you also learn about your own. You learn how your cultural traditions and beliefs, ones you may not even realize you have, affect you and shape you, and make you who you are.

I truly learned what it meant to be an American, a citizen of the United States of America, by living abroad.

I didn’t fully realize how much country and culture shaped me until I lived in a different one. When you have to navigate everyday life in another country, you discover how deeply rooted cultural norms and expectations are. It shows up in simple things, such as paying bills or grocery shopping, and more complex things, like navigating government processes or building friendships. There are certain ways you expect things to be done; certain procedures you expect things to follow; certain behaviors you expect people to exhibit. And when you live in another country, you realize how much those rules and expectations are based on a cultural understanding.

You realize that a shared culture is the foundation for all of our interactions.

Culture affects everything. And when you step away from the culture of your home country, you step away from that foundation onto what, for you, is shaky ground. It’s scary and it’s exhilarating. You realize that there are more ways of doing things than you ever imagined. You realize that the “right” way is relative to the culture you come from. And you might realize, as I did, that being “American” is fundamental to who you are.

As Americans, we have this shared basis of how things work, why we do the things we do, and what possibilities are available to us. Sure, it might vary based on geographic region, religion or socio-economic background, but underpinning it all are similar values and expectations. Really similar. In fact, I would say that we are more alike than we are different, here in the United States of America.

That might be hard to recognize when so much of what we hear around us is categorized as “us vs. them.” Look at the news media, always focusing on controversial issues. Of course they do… Conflict sells. It’s not exciting to talk about the things we all share in common, or the greater cultural foundation that underpins us all. But it’s there. I know it, because I had to live without it for two years. I learned and grew from the experience, but there is nothing so comfortable as coming back to that foundation, to live in a place where you feel at home.

My experience living abroad gave me a greater understanding of what it means to be an American. It gave me a deeper appreciation of our history, and how that has shaped our shared values and norms. It helped me understand how important my country is, to my history and my identity.

My experience living abroad also helped me see how we can’t expect every other country or culture to behave as we would. The USA is but one country on the earth. And each country has a unique history and culture, many of which transcend lines on a map. They go back much longer and are held more deeply than most Americans can comprehend, with our short 200+ year existence on the global scene. We all need to take the time to understand and respect that history, as much as we do our own. It helps to step outside of your cultural foundation, once in a while, and see the yourself and the rest of the world with a different perspective.

Now that we are back home, I greatly appreciate celebrating Independence Day. It’s not just a day of food, friends and fireworks. It is a celebration of the beginning of my country and the shared ideals and history that have shaped me and my fellow citizens.

I hope that on this day, more than any other, we can celebrate the common foundation we all stand on. Happy Independence Day!

July 1, 2015 by Kat

The Influence of the Camera

I like to say that the photographer makes the photograph, not the camera. A camera is just a tool.

That is absolutely true. Cameras don’t create photographs by themselves. The photographer chooses what to point the camera at, the framing, the settings.

It’s also true that the camera influences the photographs you make. It’s not possible to make the same photographs with every camera out there. A pinhole camera is going to create a different photograph than a dSLR. An iPhone is going to create a different photograph than a large format film camera. Each camera has differences.

So the photographer makes the photograph, but only within the range of parameters available from the camera.

When I choose my tool, the iPhone right now, I am choosing a range to work within. I am choosing both the limitations and the options, the advantages and disadvantages, of the specific camera system. That in turn influences the images I create.

I tell people the iPhone changed my art. It changed how and when I take photographs, it changed what I take photographs of, it changed what I do with them. All this fundamental change, because of the tool I use.

The camera I am using influences me as much as I influence the images coming from the camera. It’s a give and take.

As much as photographers might get frustrated with the ever-present gear obsession and the question, “What camera do you use?” As much as we might want to say the camera doesn’t matter, it’s the photographer…

The reality is, the camera we use does matter. How could it not? It’s the fundamental tool we use to create our art.

Your turn: How does your camera influence you?

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