Note to self: have fun

I have decided that things were getting a little heavy in the business aspect of promoting my art. Sometimes, that has a way of seeping into the creating of art. If I feel too much pressure to "make a painting", there is a good chance I will get blocked or freeze up while painting so the art looks rigid. No one wants rigid art!!! It must look free and exuberant. (At least I think it should look free and exuberant.)

So, yesterday was a "play day" for me. I decided to play with some ideas that have been percolating in the old noggin. You know what? - it WAS fun! Here are the results. These are postcard sized. watercolor, tissue paper, soap wrapper, and ink.


Just a little reminder, my website is now updated and live! karineswenson.com if you would like to check it out.

After Thanks and eating

I enjoy having one entire day to be thankful. I am almost getting to the point where the eating part is something I could skip entirely. I like to eat as much as the next girl, but that whole turkey dinner thing is WAY OVERKILL. Maybe I am the only one who feels this way.

Anyway, my in-laws are here, and so we have been having fun. Yesterday, we climbed onto the roof to get our swamp cooler ready for cold weather. It was fun up there, since you can see really far. I also got some nice shadow shots. Here is one with me, and I have long legs. That is probably the main thing I love about my shadow: I look tall with long legs!!! As a short person, that is something new and exciting. The sun was setting, so I also took some photos of the desert landscape with the shadows of dusk. Isn't it beautiful? I find that I am still adjusting to our new environs, but I do love the colors here.


Here is a shot of the four of us, plus dog, in front of our beautiful desert home.
I think this is my new favorite kind of family portrait.

This morning, on the walk with Pono, the dog had another close encounter with the dreaded cholla. This time, he got a few on his lips, a few in his foot, and one in the roof of his mouth. We now know it takes FOUR people to get ONE thorn out of the inside of Pono's mouth. He is an amazingly strong dog. My friend's dog had cholla thorns in his mouth - even in his tongue - and she and I were able to get nearly all of them out with just the two of us. Her dog also outweighs Pono by about ten pounds. I guess Pono is just not as well trained or something. I am trying to teach Pono that we can get those cactus thorns out better than he can, but he doesn't believe me. If only I could speak "dog"! I hope that he will learn to avoid them entirely soon. Even if I am becoming a pro with the tweezers.

Here is the shameless promotion part: I have listed some new art on my etsy site today, including this watercolor. For some easy Christmas shopping, please do stop by! This is shopping with no crowds, no parking, and no grumpy sales people!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all of you!

big art, small art

Thanksgiving has come and gone. One day off has a way of going by very quickly! I am staring at my brushes, and the big oil painting on my easel that needs finishing. I would like to get to it right away, but you know I am paying bills, doing paperwork, and trying to sell art to people who come in. So it must wait. This is a painting that I have reworked 3 or 4 times now. I think it is close to being finished, but it ISN'T finished yet. It still needs resolution.


The watercolor I am posting today is a recent painting (from late summer). I like the looseness of it, and I find the color combination appealing. I have always liked the look of watercolor and ink together. It is small, measuring just under 6" square. I have been told that some artists who work big are not able to work small, and vice versa. I have always enjoyed both. There is a time when the intimacy of small work pulls me in. Then, there are those days when nothing will satisfy like a huge painting. In a big painting, a line is the result of whole arm movements - even body movements. The act of painting is almost a dance with a brush to record it. It is unlike a small painting, where a line is a result of a finger or wrist movement. Sometimes, I find that I can work out composition problems in a smaller work and then blow it up big. I will continue to work both ways, no doubt.