3 Artists and a Conversation

Just getting set up for the event. Anne M. Bray's work can be seen in
the center background and Betty Sheinbaum's just glimpsed to the right.

We had a lovely audience for Saturday's Art Spoken Here event at TAG Gallery, and so many attended that we ran out of chairs. Here's a recap.

Gallery director Laura Korman began by announcing the exhibition’s three parts: Echo – representing Ann M. Bray’s revisiting of her work from the ‘70s, Eco, for my Murmuration series, and Econ, Betty Sheinbaum’s paintings about local people and our economy.

Laura asked why we choose to work in specific media? For us it boiled down to the benefits or drawbacks of oil versus acrylic, and digital versus hand drawn. I find it really interesting that there are a variety of opinions among us.

We were asked about our creative process in general and whether how or where we grew up had an influence on our becoming artists. And, what is an important turning point in our career? 

We were asked what other professions we've had and how that has impacted our work. Anne works in textile design, Betty was a sculptor, using car parts as material. I feel that my background in visual effects helped bolster my creativity, sharpen my eye and keep my hand skilled.

I got a chance to explain that Spooky Action at a Distance and Quantum Entanglement are both names for the same theory in Quantum Physics, that describes the way things that are physically apart from each other influence each other’s actions even though there is no visible or known connection.

I learned a lot about the other artists, that Betty went back to school in her sixties when she could no longer do sculpture due to physical impediments, that Anne is inspired by the Hudson River Valley school of painters, among others, that Betty’s favorite contemporary painter is Diebenkorn.

Our biggest fear as artists? The pressures of time, for Anne the hours of daylight and productivity versus down time, for me, not having enough time to get it all done, and for Betty, the fear of showing work.

Betty also spoke about the experience of being a founding member of TAG.

Finally, there were some great questions from the audience, with one gentleman asking how artists can deal with the discouragement that can come from frustration. We advocated patience and fortitude, putting the work away and coming back later with a fresh eye, and taking a nap.

More photos here on TAG's Facebook album.

Buy Local, Think International: Group Exhibition

Marsh Labyrinth  © 2011 Katherine Kean
oil on linen 30 x 24"

I'll have one painting in a group exhibition, starting today at TAG Gallery, Bergamot Station:

Buy Local, Think International
January 3 - 28, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 7, 2012, 5-8 PM

TAG Gallery, Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave. D-3
Santa Monica, California 90404

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sundays: noon - 4pm
310-829-9556

Questions Are Answered at TAG Gallery's Panel Discusion

The Panel: Sally Jacobs, Katherine Kean, and Susie McKay Krieser

The Question and Answer Panel at TAG Gallery on Saturday was well attended. Microphones helped everyone to hear and TAG’s Director, Amy Lombardo, kept the discussion going. As the moderator, she could insure that nobody rambled on for too long, and for those of us who tend toward the laconic, she prompted more with further questions. There were also wonderful questions from the audience. A couple of questions were difficult to answer - as sometimes the best questions are. One was about the moods I am painting and whether they were of sadness, joy, excitement, or something else. I answered that they are multi layered and I had to say that if I could adequately convey all the nuances in words that the need to paint them wouldn't be as compelling.

Amy Lombardo addressing questions to the panel.

The questions about our three exhibitions alternated among the three of us as we passed the microphone back and forth. We were each asked about the advantages and disadvantages of our chosen medium, the answer for me is that I like the color, control and archival qualities of oil on linen and the biggest challenge is the drying time. Sally Jacobs (From the Ground Up) commented on the advantages and difficulties of working with botanicals - such as the fact that they age and decay, and Susie McKay Krieser (Building a Story) talked about the challenges of figurative subjects – of how she handles issues of positioning and the scale.

Susie McKay Krieser explaining working with models.

It was great to have such an attentive and intelligent audience and I really enjoyed myself. I am grateful to TAG’s gallery assistant Craig Best, who had the presence of mind to ask for my camera and take photos, which is why I am able to post a few of them here.

Atmospheric Question and Answer Panel

Exposure
oil on linen 20 x 10"
©2010 Katherine Kean

Have you ever wondered why an artist might choose to work in the medium that they do, or what experiences in their lives might have been a turning point in their careers? This weekend you'll have the opportunity to find out the answers to these and other questions at our moderated Question and Answer Panel on Saturday, November 13th at 3pm at TAG Gallery in Santa Monica. I will be prsent, along with Susie McKay Krieser and Sally Jacobs.

TAG Gallery
Bergamot Station D3
2525 Michigan Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Gallery Hours: Tuesday -Saturday 11am - 5pm and Sunday from noon - 4pm.

Atmospheric Reception at TAG Gallery

I took one photo before the reception started and then put the camera away and forgot all about it while spending the next three hours with guests. Thanks to everyone who came - there was a wonderful turn out! It was wonderful to see so many friends. I, of course, loved the feedback and I also got to introduce friends to other friends, which is one of my favorite things to do. For those who couldn't make it - don't despair - Saturday we're having a moderated Question and Answer Panel with Susie McKay Krieser, Sally Jacobs, and myself at 3pm. We're also staying open until 7pm on Friday evenings and are open on Sundays from noon until 4pm.

After all the running around I've been doing; delivering artwork, buying sparkling water and ice, buying more ice, getting my car towed to the shop (again!), this week I'm attempting to get back into a more normal routine. Today I spent some time in the studio cleaning one painting, and wiring and finishing the edges of another, getting it ready to ship. If all goes well, by next week I'll get back to doing some actual painting.

Atmospheric Installed and Open

I got all the paintings delivered to the gallery and installed last weekend, and took a couple of photos of the process along the way.



I rented a cargo van from U Haul to accomodate the larger paintings. It was a very new van and handled better than any that I've used before, which was great. That used to be my least favorite part of having an exhibition.



Here is the mostly empty gallery, freshly patched and painted.



The paintings are carried inside and lined up where I think that they'll go.



After some suggestions from Ellen Starr, who has an amzing eye for how to hang an exhibit, the paintings are up on the wall and waiting for lettering. Not every painting got hung, and those that didn't fit are up in the stacks so that they are still available for viewing.



The lettering being installed for Sally Jacob's exhibition From the Ground Up.



Everything up on the walls, lighting adjusted, and ready for our first visitors.



The exhibition runs through November 27th and the gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11am - 5pm. The reception is Saturday, November 6th from 5 -8pm and the Question and Answer panel is Saturday, November 13th at 3pm. We'll also be open on Sundays from noon until 4pm along with several other galleries at Berganot Station.

TAG Gallery Interview

Vent © 2010 Katherine Kean oil on linen 10 x 10"

TAG Gallery has a blog and has been running a series of interviews with exhibiting artists all year and this week it's my turn. I have been the interviewer many times in my life and I must admit it was a kick to answer someone else's questions!

If you've got the time, take a look at my interview on the TAG Gallery blog. Feel free to leave comments or ask more questions. I promise I'll be checking in often to respond.

Saturday's Crowded Reception

Clouds Swirling Over the Great Marsh 18 x 24" oil on linen
© 2009 Katherine Kean

The painting above is included in The Best of TAG 2010 group exhibition. The opening reception was this past Saturday evening. It was wonderful to see a full crowd with both new and familiar faces. There were at least seven other openings happening at the same time so the parking lot was overflowing with the line of cars waiting to get in extending down the street all the way to the exit ramp and on the freeway. Many people said that they parked wherever they could and walked the rest of the way. Thanks to everyone who fought their way through the crowds to get there and my apologies to those that never did find a place to park and had to turn back. There is still plenty of time to see this exhibit. It'll be up through the 30th of this month.

We sold many signed copies of the book 100 Artists of the West Coast II, which includes the work of four TAG Gallery artists, myself among them. I think there are still a half a dozen of the signed copies left. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11am - 5pm.


Related Posts:


TAG Gallery Moves to Bergamot Station/Daily DuJour

TAG You're It/Art, Tiles, and Mosaics

TAG Gallery Opening

Sunland Sky 16 x 20" oil on linen
© 2009 Katherine Kean

I had so much fun seeing familiar and new faces at TAG's opening Saturday night. The new gallery space looks great. Plus, I feel that I got wonderful feedback on the piece I exhibited (above). A thank you to everyone who came by!

This exhibit runs through December 26th, at TAG Gallery, Bergamot Station D3, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404. The hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11am - 5pm.

New Place

A Small Look at the Great Marsh -SOLD-6 x 6" oil on linen
© 2009 Katherine Kean

I'm prepping work and updating my portfolio this week. Saturday is TAG's official opening day at the new location and I'll have one small piece as part of a group exhibit that opens December 5th and runs through December 26th.

I went by on Tuesday - which was move in day. The movers happened to have an irresistably adorable little puppy with them that someone had given one of them that morning while they were on the way to our location. Luckily someone had some spare dog supplies in her car and a box with a blanket was prepared. The puppy slept through the morning in her box, but later when she woke up I ran out and got some puppy food. Feeding her and taking her for a little walk was a fun distraction from moving.

When I left the painters were already making good progress even as furniture and office supplies were being moved in. It looks like everything will be all set for the opening on Saturday.

Group Shows Coming Up at TAG Gallery's New Location

It's Official - TAG Gallery is moving to Bergamot Station next month and is kicking off the transition with back to back Group Exhibitions.

Starting in December TAG Gallery will occupy the D3 space at Bergamot Station. The first exhibit will include the work of Anne Ramis and Eve Brandstein as well as an exhibit of small works by all of the TAG artists.

Another group show will take place in January of 2010.

More details to follow.

Catching Up

I’ve let a whole week slip by without posting. I have a good excuse - I was out of town briefly visiting family. I got to go to my 5 year old niece’s bowling alley birthday party where I learned how it is that 5 year olds can bowl. (With gutter guards and steel ramps to aim the balls.) Now that I’m back I’m getting started reviewing portfolios for potential new members at the artist owned gallery that I belong to. This is a job that I really enjoy. It involves looking at fresh new artwork and meeting creative people – what’s not to like?

In the meantime I’ve gone back to work finishing up the paintings I’ve started this summer and although I made good progress this past week I didn’t finish yet. Next week I’ll be beginning on new work - drawings for more on this series about nature’s transitions written in the wind.

For now I’ll show you this image of a determined looking Bear enjoying his first cantaloupe rind. For some reason I thought he would just chew the “edible” portions and not go for the whole rind. Silly me, after a brief tug of war I got most of it back and he only chewed up and swallowed a few pieces. It doesn’t seem to have done him any harm.

Some Guidelines For Hanging an Exhibit

Recently a friend emailed to ask for any tips I might have on hanging a group exhibit and as I spent a part of this weekend unpacking boxes of artwork for TAG's California Open Exhibit (which starts this week), I got to thinking of some of the hanging methods I use. I've hung dozens of exhibits over the years, my own as well as group shows. What follows covers only some of the basic technical aspects rather than the aesthetics of layout.

You will need:

Artwork

A hammer

Picture hanging hooks of various sizes for different weights. A very large, heavy painting may use two hooks for extra support.

Wall putty, or earthquake putty.

Extra picture wire just in case.

Measuring tape, measuring stick.

Level.

A big eraser.

Plexi cleaner or Windex.

A bit of white paint acrylic might be good to have on hand, assuming the walls are white. Many galleries keep some of whatever they use on hand for wall prep.

Wall spackle to fill any hole mistakes. I use the pre mixed quick dry kind.

Make sure that the artwork is wired to hang - no glass, just plexi on framed work.

Make sure that the artwork is labeled on the back. If it is a group show - or for any reason you are not familiar with the work it also helps if there is an index card on the front with name, title, medium and price. If you are using wall labels you can speed up the process for a group show by having the artists submit the info in advance so it can be typed into the label format so it's all ready to print out and stick on the wall. I use Avery 8663 Easy Peel. If you use wall labels than you don't have to fuss with numbers.

Arrange the work around the space, I usually lean the work against the wall about where I'll want it to be. I measure the linear wall space and add up the artwork width and subtract that from the linear space. I then divide that number by how many pieces there are to know the spacing between.

There are several methods of aligning the work on the wall. When I'm hanging mid to large scale work in a home I like to align the top edge with the top edges of windows and doorways. Another way to have a uniform look is to center each painting on the wall at eye level (eye level may be from 60 to 65 inches - but pick a number and stick with it).

The formula is eye level measurement + half the painting height minus the space from wire to top edge = place for nail or support placement.

I usually do all my planning and calculations in advance so that I don't have to spend a lot of time futzing around on hanging day. So going by the formula if a painting is 18 x 24" then 18 inches is the height. That means the center is at 9". All you have to do to find the place for the nail is to add the 9 inches (or one half of whatever the painting's height) to your eye level number - let's say you decide that eye level is 60", then add 9". Then subtract the distance from the center of the hanging wire to the top of the painting and that's the measurement for placement of the nail (or hanging support). So if the painting is wired three inches from the top the nail or support is at 66". In other words the formula is: eye level (60") plus half the height (9") less wire to top edge (3") = nail or support placement (66"). When I am hanging my shows I do all the math beforehand and put that number on masking tape and stick it on the painting.

After nailing the supports in the wall, hang and check the work with the level, then put a dab of wall putty on the bottom corner between the artwork and the wall.

Stacking, Storing, Labeling: Inventories and Juried Exhibits

Lightfall oil on linen 40 x 18"

Yesterday I labeled and wrapped 5 paintings to take to the gallery. Last month the office and stacks of the gallery were demolished and a new, more efficient layout constructed in its place. The new design increases the capacity of work that the gallery is able to have on hand. In addition there is a monthly group show hung in the North gallery. Even though I am not planning to have a show until late next year the pressure is still on to produce fresh work. I am also going to have to update my inventory method in order to keep track of what painting has been exhibited where and when. I have several versions that I keep on my computer, but lately I've been thinking that it might be a good idea to have a three ring binder and a page for each painting. I used to keep a system like this before. I had special large index cards that had a slot at the top for a slide. The front of the card had all the info about the painting; title, size media, and date and the back listed the exhibits and the current location of the work – the provenance.

In the meantime I have work in the Art Slant online showcase. You can view this month’s painting entries here. My regular Art Slant profile is here. Viewers are allowed to vote, however it is my understanding that this is a juried competition so the voting has no impact on which work is chosen as winning entries.

While we're on the topic of juried exhibits, TAG Gallery has just announced the 2009 California Open Exhibition. The exhibition dates are August 19 - September 5, 2009. You can download and printout a prospectus online. Even though it is called the California Open the competition is open to all U.S. residents.

Small Work: Cypress Grove Point Lobos

Katherine Kean Cypress Grove watercolor 3 x 4"

It's already time again to bring new work in to the gallery. This past month has gone quickly. Thankfully, Cole is starting to feel and look a little bit better. He has come out of his hiding place way in the back of the closet where I put some thick towels to make him more comfortable and he more or less slowly follows me around. He still isn't eating or drinking on his own and having to keep up with taking care of that by hand is keeping me on a very short leash with trying to time every trip out to an hour or less. That wasn't too difficult this past week or so, because I've had a cold that kept me home anyway and not doing much except sneezing and coughing and using up every tissue in the house. With all of this my studio time has been very limited, but I am back on track this week. I have two paintings in their final stages and two started and today I finally got around to updating portfolio pages. Hopefully a website update will soon follow.

I'm bringing the diminuitive watercolor above for the ever changing North Gallery, at TAG. It's a sketch from the Cypress Grove in Point Lobos State Park. In keeping with the times I've been focusing on presenting smaller, more affordable pieces.

Malibu Creek: After the Rain, Digital Print

Katherine Kean Malibu Creek: After the Rain watercolor 3.75 x 6.76"

This abstracted little watercolor was painted on sight at Malibu Creek on a Saturday morning after a very heavy rain. Malibu Creek is usually, in my experience, a slow moving creek, more of a reflecting pool than a raging river. But on this day it was rushing along and carrying loads of debris; branches and leaves being carried off in the fast, turbulent, current. It was cold and I was working quickly and just as I finished it started to rain.

The original watercolor sketch - a page torn from my Aquabee sketchbook - is hanging in my house, framed with the spiral binder holes showing, acknowledging the immediacy of the moment. There is something about it, the size, the motion, or maybe the the torn spiral binder holes, that has made me want to hang onto it, so I've never offered it for sale. However, a matted and framed archival giclee print is currently available at TAG Gallery.

This is an "open" edition, by the way. I've only made one print of this (so far), but I may make more. I don't really comprehend the point of a limited edition digital print. The idea of having a limited edition does apply, in my mind, if the printing process involves an actual plate, like a woodcut, for example. During the printing process using an actual physcial plate the printing process does wear the plate down, limiting the number of prints that can be made, thus a limited edition is a way of preserving the quality of the print. Also, the closer to the beginning of the process the print is, the better the quality, so the number of the print has real meaning. In a digital print there is no plate and theoretically an endless number of prints could be made with no loss of quality to the image. Furthermore if an image is in high demand why would an artist want to put a limit on their potential sales of that image? So, there. That's my rant on limited edition digital prints.

"Works" Opening

The opening of TAG's Group Exhibit "Works For Everyone" was Saturday evening. I am happy that so many friends showed up. It was fun to chat and catch up - even though I had just seen some of them over the holidays - life can change that fast that there is always some news to share. I was positioned behind the catalogue table for most of the evening so it was hard to get photos, especially after it became packed with people, but I did take a couple, which I've posted below.

Each of 40 artists had one piece in the exhibit making quite a diverse showing. The exhibit stays up through January 31st.

Works For Everyone Group Show

Works For Everyone is the next exhibit I'll have a piece of work in at TAG Gallery. It's a group show that opens January 7th and runs through the 31st. The reception is on Saturday, January 10th from 5 - 8 pm. Until then the gallery is closed for renovation.

What I'm Working on Now

Evening's Light Not Yet Gone   © 2009 Katherine Kean
oil on linen  18 x 24"

At last a moment to update this blog. It is finally feeling like winter in Los Angeles. It rained all night and this morning I built a fire to warm up the house. I connected the last two rain barrels on my rain water collection "system" this weekend and they are now all full to capacity! I'm waiting for the first jar of olives to finish curing. I try an olive every week. To my taste they still have a little bit of bitterness to dissipate.

TAG Gallery is starting 2009 with a group exhibit in January so I'll be painting the edges and wiring for hanging the painting above. The exhibit starts January 7th and runs through the 31st.

New Work, Small Works

I brought these two new paintings to TAG Gallery to be part of the upcoming "Small Works" Group Show. This exhibition will be in the East Gallery and running concurrently with a two person show in the West Gallery. Each of the paintings below is 12 x 12", oil on linen.


One of the artists in the two person show is friend Carole Garland. I'm really looking froward to seeing her latest pieces.

Overtaken By Dusk

Unraveling the Day