I'm back...maybe? It popped in my head that I could post my newsletters to my blog and bring it back from the dead. Lazy? Could be, but let's see if this works... Seems like a long time since I've sent out a newsletter, but time feels different now, since many of our usual markers have been canceled or postponed. The status quo has been disturbingly disrupted over the last few months, pulling the rug out from under many - financially, career, and opportunity wise. But disrupting the complacency about systematic racism is long overdue and will hopefully lead to some real changes. So let's hope we come out of this better to each other, and with a new appreciation for the good interactions we've had to put on pause for these past months. Although I've heard some artists say that the current uncertainty has given them a sense of inertia with their work, I feel it's time for me to focus on studio time. Although I haven't had the extra free time that some have (for better or worse) I've been working out some new ideas, finishing up paintings, and may have an exciting collaboration coming up involving science and ocean exploration. More about that when I find out how it's going to work. And, since exhibitions have been cancelled, and galleries are very restricted, it finally gave me the motivation to finish setting up my online gallery . . .  ANNOUNCING THE LAUNCH OF MY ONLINE STOREFRONT I will be continuing to add new work, but I've started with my Alaska oil paintings and works on paper. I also have a selection of Alaska note cards, sold individually, and in boxed sets. I'm happy to ship cards and works on paper, shipping rates on larger oils will depend on location, so please contact me if you are interested. I'm also happy to arrange pick up or delivery! You can see my store at kathyhodgestore.square.site The Storefront is still a work in progress, so if you see anything amiss, please let me know. I'm hoping it will become a good resource for those who ask to see available work.

Finally facing the truth, updates are *not* coming soon to my blog

Well, I think it's about time to admit I can't even pretend I'm still blogging. I really did enjoy writing it, when I actually did, but....you know...life. I'm not entirely ruling out that I might not pick it up again someday, so I'll keep this site and feel free to peruse my previous posts.

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Out of sequence post about Zion, Denali posts coming soon!

 

Whew, made it.

I just got my confirmation for my application to Zion National Park for an AIR next year. (I know, being greedy).

But it wasn't looking good.

First I miscalculated the deadline, thinking I had till the end of the month. But no! I had to assemble the application (a throwback, they want a CD, paper application and printed photos by mail) and get it postmarked by the 26th.

So, I got up early on the 26th, checked the post office closing times on the web (11:30pm in the city, yay!)  worked on the application and ordered photo printing from the drugstore before my all day "mom care" shift, took her shopping, lunch, etc, picked up my photos, finished the statement, resume, application, photo labeling, CD burning and left for the post office at 9pm.

It looked quiet, too quiet, but the doors were open. Two post office employees inside told me the window had closed at 9. There was no way I could get a 26th postmark.

So I went home defeated, but re-read the application and it said postmarked by the 26th, received by the 29th. So I figured I could send it express and maybe they would excuse the postmark. But first I needed to make a correction in my statement. So of course my printer crapped out and would no longer print black.

I hope they like blue!

Off to the post office again. "I need this to get there by the 29th". "Sure, where to?". "Utah." "Hmmm...."

The soonest I could get it there was 3pm on the 29th. So off it went.

But it wasn't looking good.

That's why it was such a relief to the the confirmation email.  I'll find out in October, wish me luck!

Now, back in the studio to paint Alaska.

Finally, Denali! and hello 2016

Well, it's 2016, and this year I pledge to post at least weekly on my blog (ha, ha, good one!)
But seriously, I need to at least catch up on my so called life, and announce that I have finally conquered "The Great One". Yes—Denali has finally capitulated to my ten year blitz of applications to their artist-in-residence program and decided it was easier to just accept me and get it over with.

So sometime this summer I'll be heading Back to Alaska II, this time to the interior and land of big mountains, grizzlies, and wolves. I will have a cabin with no electricity, but long, long days. No running water, but braided rivers. No wifi, but, but . . . I think I can handle it, a detox will be cleansing.

 

It's especially exciting to be going in the National Park Service Centennial Year and the year the true name of the mountain is acknowledged. More about that when I hear more. So far, I just have this letter to assure me I'm not imagining it.

• • • 

February 1 is the first anniversary of being sprung from my day-job in the newspaper business into the wide open landscape of unemployment. One of my greatest fantasies was having one year, just one year, without the day job. So how did I spend the year of my dreams? Well, mostly trying to figure out how to make some money. To that end, I brushed up on my web design skills and started a web design business (need a website?), took an advance wordpress class, drank the social media kool-aid and set up a few workshops (more about that as I'm trolling for students). I also applied for 2 real jobs, one I wanted, one I didn't. Interesting to go on my first interviews in over 20 years. I didn't get offered either, but nice to know I'm no longer the nervous wreck I used to be when in the hot seat.

My main 2015 accomplishment was two exhibits of work from my residencies in the Tongass and Chugach National Forests. How I could have hung those shows if I was still doing the 9-5 I don't know, it was a panicky scramble at the end as it was, but I think it came out pretty well!

I exhibited in group shows at Gallery X, the Newport Art Museum, Save the Bay and am excited to be represented by a new gallery, the Charlestown Gallery in South County. I hope to deliver more work (with the perk of side trips to the beach) this summer.

So, I kind of fulfilled one New Year's resolution, which was to re-start my blog on January 1. My second resolution was to stop procrastinating. Like I said, kind of.

Hope you all have a great, happy, healthy, adventurous and peaceful 2016, and the same goes for the other 7.3 billion people in the world who don't follow this blog.

War is over. If you want it.
Peace.

Finishing up

 

As the deadline for delivering my work approaches, a question that I am often asked becomes more urgent.  How do you know when is a painting finished? It's a tough question for sure. I often feel that I can keep working on a painting forever, pushing it, changing it...but will it be better in the end? Sometimes, but not always. 

I have had the experience of just "neatening up" a painting I considered finished, only to add elements that I realize were crucial to the work. Other times there are areas that I mean to get back to that suddenly look fine in their brushed-in stage.  I guess the best way I can tell is that if a painting I think is finished bugs me every time I look at it, it's back to the easel. If it seems to settle in, then I can move on to wrestle with the other monsters in the studio.

The painting above is inspired by two of my experiences in the Tongass National Forest as described in my journal...

"It's 11:30 by the time we launch and head across the flat waters of Holkham Bay, aiming for the buoys marking a break in Tracy Arm Bar, which stretches across the entrance to Tracy and Endicott Arms and was formed by terminal morraines of Sawyer and Dawes Glaciers. The sound of whales had been in the air all morning, and as we cross the bar we are surprised by a huge black surge from the water, the back of a humpback whale which is gone before I can fully realize what it is. Solan suggests we knock on our kayaks to alert the whale to our presence, and I bang on mine till he laughs and says "I think it heard you." Then I'm sorry, because the whale doesn’t appear again, most likely off to quieter depths."

• • • 

"As we eat lunch and stretch our legs, walking over the smooth curves of the huge shoreline rocks, we suddenly hear a roar and look up to see that a house sized iceberg had just rolled, exposing striations of jewel-like colors of browns, purples and intense blues. Still wet, it glistens in the sun—an amazing sight. Since the wind is still picking up, we soon pack up and resume paddling. The break had been welcome but I am still tired and sorry that we have to paddle further out into the fiord to skirt the iceberg, but I'm glad that we can get a closer look. Only Chrissy manages to take a picture as we pass, since without constantly paddling, the wind and current drives the kayaks backwards. We paddle through the headwind and choppy waves called haystacks, then turn the kayaks into Ford’s Terror."

I think it's finished. I think. Maybe.

Calendar angst and pre-show jitters

The calendar is nagging me. Insisting it's been over 7 months since I last blogged. Threatening me that it's exactly 1 month till I have to deliver a show's worth of paintings to the Bert Gallery. And a few days later, another show's worth to DeBlois Gallery. And that I'm late, late, late designing invitations, getting out PR and related paperwork. And that it's been over a year since I dipped my kayak paddle into the turquoise waters of Alaskan Fiords.

Well I'm blogging now, so shut up calendar.  And the show will come together. After all, I have a month!

And, although I probably have lost any folks who have been kind enough to follow this blog, those who stumble upon it can see more about my exhibits here
https://www.facebook.com/KathyHodgeStudio
and suffer silly tweets here
https://twitter.com/KathyHodgeArt

OFFBEAT! ICONIC!

Monday I'll be delivering paintings to be exhibited in Green Airport, Warwick, RI, part of my Shoemaker Series

Here's the official description of the show...

CATE BROWN
KATHY HODGE
ALEXANDER NESBITT

OFFBEAT ICONIC features three artists who portray quintessential Rhode Island subjects in unexpected ways. Subject matters include our state’s landmarks, manufacturing history and maritime heritage. Views presented, however, are of the overlooked, bygone or rarely accessible aspects of these subjects. The viewer is invited to stray off the beaten path through the unique vision of these three artists.

So if you are taking a flight, and not running frantically for your plane, take a little detour to the lobby area at the base of the stairs to the Post Road pedestrian overpass. The show runs from January 13 through April 30,  2015.

If you'd like to preview the catalog of The Shoemaker Series: St. Hugh's Bones, and/or purchase a copy, you can see it HERE

Day Job — the Apocalypse

Where I make (made) money

Where I am happy

At the end of this month, my day job will come to an end. After over 30 years in the newspaper business, surviving wave after wave of layoffs, I've finally ended up in the crosshairs and my job will be outsourced in February, to "ad centers" in the U.S. and India.

So, no more day job! I can spend all my time in the studio!

**SNAP OUT OF IT!!**  Turns out I'm not close enough to retirement to not make money anymore, and not far enough away (age discrimination being alive and well) to find a job easily in my field, which is all things web.

And then there's healthcare. Thank goodness my state (yea RI!) has set up a health exchange with many options (yea Obamacare!) so I should be able to get coverage, but no health care program is cheap these days.

So, I must make more money than painting sales can provide.

And...

I'm too old to stand for a job that bores me to death.

So here's my plan.

1. Treat my painting more like a business.
The trade off to having no time was the luxury of not worrying too much about selling. Sure, selling was great, but if it didn't pay the rent, that was what the day job was for. Now I will have to make more of an effort to market my work.

2. Become an expert in Social Media Marketing and Analytics. 
Businesses are constantly being told they have to get "out there" but do not have the knowledge or desire to Tweet, Facebook, Link In, Instagram, etc, etc, etc. So I will offer to do it for them, beginning with myself. This will have the dual purpose of helping me promote my work, and giving me a marketable skill to offer small businesses. So if you see me suddenly getting extremely social, it's all in a day's work.

So....
Follow me on Twitter! @KathyHodgeArt
Friend me on Facebook!  http://www.facebook.com/KathyHodgeStudio

Pin me on https://www.pinterest.com/hodgepainting/

3. Design web site for artists
Because they have so much money to spend on web design!

4. Teach small classes. 

5. Apply for grants.

6. Last but not least —Collect unemployment!

Well, according to the social media tips I've been reading, this is longer than the optimal blog length for reader engagement, so I'll en—

Hello? Anyone there?

New Alaska painting

oil/canvas, 30"x40", 2014

My latest Alaska painting, actually begun after my first trip in 2011, but finished with new inspiration from my 2014 residency and my investigations into the structure of ice. (click to enlarge) A more wordy post will come eventually!

Tossed out of the rat race...

Slowly but surely I'm finishing work I started in Alaska. This one was done just out of sight of our tent on Harbor Island. While I was working on it one of the Rangers came over to tell me that the rushing sound that I subconsciously attributed to waves was actually a whale spouting. So we ran over the bumpy mossy terrain to the shore, and waited, and waited, and waited and then — I saw my first whale! Or the spout anyway, but I did get a glimpse of tail so I guess that counts!

2015 is looking to be an interesting year, I have two shows of my Alaska work in the fall, and in January I'm going to be exhibiting my Shoemaker paintings at the state airport. So that's "good interesting".

I'm also going to be UNEMPLOYED, come February, for the first time in my life, including college. A victim of the ailing newspaper business. That's just "interesting-interesting". We will see what happens with that. I am looking for work, but there's a good possibility I won't find it, right away at least. Perhaps I can live off my painting? I know, always joking....but if I can meet my studio expenses I can still keep painting.

A break would be kind of wonderful, but no paycheck will be a shocker. Fate (and various HR departments) will decide! Until then, to the studio!

Back to the Blog!

[Insert obligatory apology for not keeping up with this blog HERE]
[Insert empty promise to post more often HERE]

Whew, now I feel better!

So where was I?

 I've finally finished a painting I started before I went to the Tongass, this one is from the Chugach NF. I hung out with more oystercatchers in the Tongass, so there will be more paintings featuring these crazy birds.

The Oystercatcher - Pakenham Point, Chugach NF - oil/linen 20x24

These two are were started on my last residency in the Tongass National Forest. The first was foiled by rain, the second by little black flies, but I brought them back to the shelter of my studio and finished them. I'm working as much as possible on my Alaska paintings, and will have two (!) exhibits of them in the fall of 2015. Time is as scarce as always lately, so how will I pull it off? Big changes ahead after the new year....stay tuned!

Harbor Island - Tongass NF - oil/panel - 11x14

Middle T, Ford's Terror - Tongass NF - oil/panel - 11x14

Back from Alaska!

It was an incredible experience. It's been a bit crazy trying to process all my impressions and deal with life back in the real world but I hope to post more writing and paintings soon!

Next stop, Alaska!

Did I mention, a long time ago, that I was returning to Alaska as Artist in Residence with the Forest Service? Well, after months spent doing everything but writing in my blog, I am almost ready to head to the great north! I am almost packed, have read everything I could find about the Tongass National Forest, rolled over in my kayak 3 times and practiced rescuing myself and others in a kayaking class, and even watched YouTube videos of the take offs and landings in the Juneau airport. 

Having already spent a week kayaking in the Chugach NF has really has helped me figure out what to bring on this trip, and I've gotten a little more ambitious. This time in addition to a small gouache set, I am bringing acrylics and canvas, and a little lightweight easel, since those lovely Forest Service kayaks can hold an amazing amount. 

I'm expecting I'll be posting from Juneau, since I've now enabled my iphone to capture the internet and deliver it to my laptop, so if I can get a signal you may be hearing from me. Of course I'll be off the grid when in the field, but really, wouldn't you rather be in a field than mapped to a grid?

4 days till lift off!

Back to Alaska, after all!

I am very excited to announce that I have been once again selected to be artist in residence with the Voices of the Wilderness program, this time in the Tongass National Forest, Tracy Arm/Ford's Terror Wilderness, Alaska. I'm especially honored because due to budget cuts, they are only able to take one artist this year, and I'm it! I'll be going at the end of July, beginning of August, which give me some time to get in kayak hoisting shape, and maybe take a class in rescue techniques before having to practice them in the cold waters of Alaska

To see what the residency is like, artist Jason Elvron has posted a journal on the VOW facebook page that describes the day to day experience. I, of course, have been pouring over the entries. "What kind of pants are they wearing? Hmmm...fleece vests, could be chilly, how many drybags are they fitting into the kayaks? No headnets, that's good. Is that a bear!?!"

Photo by Jason Elvron, 2012 Artist in Residence.

But, since I have already traveled with the Rangers in the Chugach National Forest (Nellie Juan/College Fiord Wilderness Study Area) I have an idea of what to bring. And it's really great to be able to do things a little better than I did the first time. Forget the clunky waterproof camera CASE, I'll splurge on a waterproof CAMERA and take WAY more photos. Any if I can get my hands on another audio recorder, I won't leave it out of the ziploc to be dunked and destroyed in the fiord. And I'll bring two pairs of pants, for when I follow the recorder it into the water.  And I'll be a bit more ambitious in my art supplies, the kayaks can hold more than I had expected. And I'll of course be taking my xtratufs, but with some alternate shoes in case I "overboot" (see above) and need to let them dry out.

The supply tent in our base camp, on Harbor Island.
Photo by Jason Elvron, 2012 Artist in Residence.

And I will spend more time exploring the shoreline life, pay more attention to the ducks and birds, and the forest.

And, if I couldn't get any luckier, Rangers Barbara and Tim Lydon, who kept me alive during my first residency, have family in my area so will be staying with me for a few days while they visit! So they will give me the lowdown on the Tongass, where they were based before moving north to the Chugach. 
 

Ok, this is the kayak launch that scares me, I don't want to find out how deep the fiord is!
 Photo by Jason Elvron, 2012 Artist in Residence.

 Home sweet home. Photo by Jason Elvron, 2012 Artist in Residence.

Posterized

Gallery Night Providence is starting up again with a brand new website and a classy new poster which I am thrilled to report, has my painting on it! This is the second time one of my paintings have made it to the poster and I was very lucky to be asked again to supply the image, and it coincides perfectly with my exhibit, which is having a "closing reception" at the Bert Gallery on Gallery Night, March 20, from 5:30 to 9, if you're in the area. If not, you can always hop on a plane, but no pressure.


The painting is called "The seal" and is a kayaker's view of Harriman Fiord, where I went as part of the Voices of the Wilderness Artist-In-Residence Program in the Nellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area of the Chugach National Forest.

This year I couldn't resist the temptation to apply again to the program, this time just south east in the Tongass National Forest near Juneau. I actually sold a few of my Alaska oils during the exhibit and all of my little gouache studies I did in the field, so need to do some more research and restock! And as this is the 50th Anniversary year of the Wilderness Act, it would be great to spend some of it in the national forest with the greatest number of wilderness areas! Wish me luck!

Icing

 

 

While kayaking in Prince William Sound ice was often on my mind, under the surface, floating by in sofa sized chunks, or towering above like the skyline of NYC. Mostly I was thinking about avoiding a collision with my kayak, but I also wanted to figure out what made ice tick. Transparency has always fascinated me, and I held my camera close to the surface of icebergs to try to capture its inner life. When I returned and began to interpret it in paint I researched (or as I like to call it, googled) the structure of ice,  finding molecular diagrams and even cool animations of how ice forms melts.

I wanted to incorporate the molecular structure into a new painting I am working on, but the 2 dimensional diagrams were limited as models, so the only thing to do was to build my own. I can't wait to get back to the studio and take it for a test drive!

Exhibit update

Three little paintings (Gouache on Paper, 7inx5in) of the trees left by the Long Mesa Fire of 2002 in Mesa Verde National Park where I was Artist in Residence in 2008.  They are currently on exhibit in my show at the Bert Gallery. I will be at the gallery on Saturday, February 22 from 2 to 3, if you are in the neighborhood, stop in and say hi!

Hanging at the Bert Gallery

My latest exhibit at the Bert Gallery is coming together, with the help of Cathy Bert, who has somehow managed to take a disparate collection of my latest work and present it in a way that makes sense, and looks great. The show is still in "beta", but if you'd like to get sneak peek call (401.751.2628) and see if the gallery is open. The official opening is February 20, and will be up through the first Gallery Night Providence, March 20. There will also be a web component, still in development, I'll post a link when it's up. And by a great stroke of luck, an image from the show will be used on the March Gallery Night poster, so check it out!

Denali spelled any other way means Denial...

Ok, I’m over my silent sulk. Yes, I was once again rejected from Denali, and no encouraging notes this time either. In fact, they said that due to the high level of applicants, they even added a few more slots. Which doesn’t exactly make me feel better, since I DIDN’T GET ONE OF THOSE NEW SLOTS EITHER! Oh well, will I give up? Probably not, it's a great program, and there is still the VOW program that I can try again. Alaska is not going to get rid of me that easily.

And I missed my window of opportunity for both an End-of-the-Year Wrap-Up and/or a Welcome-the -New-Year optimistic outlook. Wasn’t that clever? So now it’s mid January, the holiday take-over is done,  and its time to take these dark cold days to catch up and get back on track.

And, a few things are going on…. I have a show up at the Bert Gallery, mostly of National Park/Forest AIR work. The exhibit now is in a sort of a work-in-progress/sneak-preview phase so if you’re interest in viewing it in January, best to call to see if the gallery is open. The official opening is February 20, and the show will be up through March (Except the week of the 10th).  More and less confusing details to come!

Also, because it’s not cold enough in RI, I’ve decided to accept an invitation from a friend to share a lakeside cabin in Vermont in February for a winter painting getaway. Luckily it has big windows that look out on the lake, so if we feel wimpy we can paint inside, but it might be fun to see at what temperature oil paints freeze and paint "en aire glacial". And, maybe I can work on my journals during those long Vermont nights. (What, you say? No, really, I'm really going to finish them this time....)

The mighty mongoose and its brush with extinction

By Miika Silfverberg (MiikaS) from Vantaa, Finland (Flickr

Because I felt I didn't have enough brushes, this little guy's life hung in the balance. In my search to refresh my well worn collection of synthetic mongoose brushes (Monarch) (Princeton 6600).  It occurred to me that if I liked the synthetics so much, maybe the real thing would be even better. Natural, organic, traditional, like the old masters used in their ateliers, probably made in an ancient European workshop by a one of the last few craftspeople who know how to roll the hairs precisely into the ferrule. I looked them up and was surprised that they weren't much more expensive than synthetics, now losing their appeal. After all, synthetic just a fancy name for plastic–-artificial, factory made, so practical.

But then a thought burrowed into my conscience like a mongoose chasing a cobra. "How do you think they get the mongoose hair from the mongoose into your precious brushes?" So I did what anyone would do, I googled it. And found they were endangered, cruelly dispatched, and more in need of their fur than I was.

So, little mongoose, run free
it's synthetic mongoose for me,
Chase the cobra and the weasel,

I don't need the guilt when I stand at my easel.