Welcoming 2019

Hi friends!

It’s been a while again! I’ve had a ton of things going on in my life – my day job is really ramping up. My love of painting is growing wider and deeper every time I pick up the brush. I’m exploring oil painting more and finding joy in the sumptuous colors and thickness of the paint. I am working on a series of Lucky Paintings right now – you’ll see them soon! Slot machines, lucky cats, clovers… I’m learning to make my own luck.

Shows

I’m filling out my show schedule for the year – this month I’ll be at Paso Robles Art in the Park – my first show that is far from home. Next month I’ll be at TreasureFest. I was just accepted again to this year’s Menlo Summerfest, which is a great honor. I am hoping to get in to Los Altos Art & Wine, which was my best selling show last year. You can find more of my upcoming shows on the Show Page. I look forward to seeing you there! <3

Celiac

I’ve been struggling somewhat though – after half a year of feeling awful I was diagnosed with Celiac. It’s an autoimmune disease in which if you eat gluten (most notably wheat, rye, barley, and derivatives) your body attacks your villi in your intestines and turns your beautiful shag carpet intestinal lining in to berber carpet. This means you can’t handle foods properly. I’ve learned so much in the past 6 months – no foods fried in oil that had gluten fried in it. Crumbs can make me sick, so we had to get a new toaster and de-gluten the house. My husband is a patient and understanding man and for that I am grateful. I am now 6 months post-diagnosis and have learned how to negotiate and navigate restaurant menus and social events, but it is isolating. It’s difficult to find gluten free food at art festivals, too. All in all, I’ve become much healthier in the past few months and I’m beginning to feel like myself again. 2018 was rough but 2019 will rock!

I hope you have been doing well.

A Wild Month

It’s been a crazy month – I’ve put together everything I need to start out and I have been accepted to Art on the Square in Redwood City!

  • ART on the Square with blues artist, Lara Price at Music on the Square: Fri July 21, 5:00-8:30pm
  • ART on the Square with the PAL Blues & ART Festival: Sat July 22, Noon-8:00pm
  • ART on the Square with Michael Jackson tribute band, Foreverland at Music on the Square:  Fri August 25, 5:00-8:30pm

I’ve been working with a fantastic photographer and printer and I now have a good supply of prints. I’ll be rebooting my Etsy in the next few days for prints only.

I’ve also started playing with oil paints again. I think I’m starting to get the hang of them.

Last painting of 2016

Last painting of 2016

My last painting of 2016 was completed on December 31.

What do I circle back to? A blender, of course. Acrylic on Ampersand Gessobord- one of the most responsive materials that I have ever used. Rosemary Brushes and Gessobord are a match made in heaven!

This year I’m going to try to sell more art. Last year I sold three pieces without putting too much effort in, so this year I’m going to hustle.

I’ve reopened my Etsy, just waiting on a name change to finalize.

In my personal life I’ve got a few updates – my husband and I just moved from San Jose to Redwood City to shorten our commutes by 45 minutes each way. I can bike to work, and we just built a portfolio carrier for my bicycle based on this Instructable which should work really well! I’ll be taking a figure drawing class through Stanford Continuing Studies this next quarter.

When we moved we ditched the TV and it’s been a month. I haven’t missed it yet.

 

Working hard, Hardly working

 

Two weekends ago I celebrated my one year wedding anniversary with my husband in Tahoe. Of course, I bought my easel and spent an hour painting. Here’s what came of that.

 

 

It’s difficult to work a full time job, paint, have side gigs, and work out. I want to blog more, but it’s easier to post to Instagram.

 

I was promoted at work, so if you’re looking at my blog because you’re interested in admissions for Stanford Civil & Environmental Engineering I am no longer in that role. However, please stay and enjoy the paintings! With the new role my responsibilities have greatly increased, and in transitioning to my new role I have been extra busy wrapping up old projects.

Florida, Blender, NASA

Florida, Blender, NASA

Tomorrow I leave for vacation to Florida – we’re going to see the OSIRIS-REx launch on my birthday in Cape Canaveral.

The mission for this launch is amazing – the plan is to hurtle through space to Bennu, an asteroid that comes in near-orbit to the earth roughly every 6 years. They will land on Bennu, mine a sample, and bring it back to earth some time in 2023. Because my mother in law worked on part of it we get to go to the launch!

My Mom and brother Chris will also be in Florida to visit my Grandpa and Oma. I’ll be able to see them on the trip, which will be fantastic. Chris just got his commercial pilot license and will graduate in the spring.

I spent this morning painting the blender featured above – a gorgeous yellow waring nova 1 blender. Yellow like the sunshine and citrus in Florida.

 

Selling Art – Thoughts

Selling Art – Thoughts

After thinking about it for a while I’ve decided to split my Instagram account. My goal with my account is to share my paintings. Not everyone wants to see pictures of me flexing or AT&T Park, but I’m sure that some people do. My Instagram @kathendrixart will now only have art. Having the two separated will give me more opportunities to post for each. Deadlifts and squats on one, paintings on the other.

I’ve amassed quite a number of paintings and it’s about time that they get a new home. I’m exploring how I can best sell them – etsy? ebay?

I’m not sure if dailypaintworks is a good place to sell. I want to know the metrics, see what sells, for how much, etc. I’m not sure how much my art is worth to others. Would others agree with what I think my art should be priced? I suppose I won’t find out until I try.

Burnt Orange Blender

Burnt Orange Blender

I added the switch to the previously posted blender, but that will have to be the next post. Why? Because here’s an orange blender! Complete with faux wood panel, what a cadillac. The glass was especially fun near the base. The heavenly glow around it adds to the magnificence of this machine.

I am lucky enough to work somewhere that offers a set amount each year to spend on professional development. Most people spend them on public speaking courses, computer skills, etc. I take advantage of the Continuing Education courses offered by Stanford. Last year I took an Introduction to Acrylic course. I was very naive in thinking that I was a beginner. They meant absolute beginner. I learned a lot from the course and I tried things I would not have otherwise tried. It was fantastic to paint with others and have an instructor, though.

This year they will be offering a course on Painting from Observation, taught by Katie Hawkinson, Lecturer, College of Environmental Design, UC Berkeley. It is looking to be like the course I will take next.

Vintage Blender: Aqua

At it again with the blenders- this is my third. I love the way the glass turned out on this, and the chrome has a vague resemblance to chrome.

Someone asked me how I would describe my art – what style. I’m not sure. I look on Instagram and I don’t see analogous painting styles. Perhaps I am embracing the messiness more than some. I’m not sure.