I have 3 special somethings to share with you today:

1) A coupon for my son’s birthday

2) More from my loss & hurt project: her origins…

3) A new painting for the Wild Tenderness Collection…

1) My littlest son, my BABY, is 14 years old today! So, I’m giving you a gift. Through tomorrow (Friday) you can use coupon code “14OFF” to save 14% on any order in my Online Studio Shop. Let me know if you have any questions.

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2) WHERE did she come from?

Who is she? Where did she come from? As one alarmed viewer noted last week:
“IT looks like IT is from outer space!!!!”.
(eye roll, that felt rude)

No, not outer space, she comes from WITHIN. When I was first thinking about turning my pain into purpose, I saw a painting on my wall that I’ve kept in sight for 10 years. She was created in April 2007 and her name is SEEKING. I knew when glancing at her that she was my character for this project. She would help me tell my story.

I realized after creating her in paint multiple times for this project, that she has been with me since the beginning...

With the surprise and JOY of discovering a hidden treasure again and again, I went back through my painting inventory to discover that my SEEKER has been a common thread through my work. She came from necessity 14 years ago, and has been waiting for me to need her again.

It seems she first appeared as the painting DESPAIR, in October of 2006. DESPAIR was me finally processing the loss of my father, in a visual way, 8 years after losing him.

In the painting DOWN, created in November 2006, my girl represented ME – and the incredible distress I was feeling while raising a baby with colic and GERD and his need to cry so, so, painfully much.

She was hinted at in CHOOSE YOUR PATH in January 2007. We have the task of choosing how we respond to the people and situations around us… my baby was doing MUCH better by then (and TODAY he turns 14!!).

She appeared as BEAUTY WITHIN in April 2007

She was just a child in DETACHED, created January 2007. Someday I’ll tell you the story behind this piece – or you can ask me.

She was again the form for a painting titled HEAVY HEART, in January of 2007. No longer a child, but a young woman­­ experiencing the loss of her grandfather.

She was the form of my pain in EMPTY – a piece created in May of 2007. She first found her motherly tendencies in June of the same year, with ROOTS & WINGS.

She represented both happy and sad in July 2007 with SPRINKLING SUNSHINE and BLUE IN THE SHADOWS. And continued to pursue motherhood in LADY MADONNA, at that same time.

She lent her form to BLURRING THE LINES in July 2007, and this is the only original painting of my 1360 paintings created so far, that has been LOST. She’s out there somewhere.

In September of 2007 my girl character began to truly embrace motherhood with KISS and ROCKING PAIR.

In the final quarter of 2007, she made her transition into her next form, the rounder and softer motherly form that has slowly become the women I paint today. FOCUS seems like a pivotal piece.

The point is, she has been there. She was one of my first loves when I started painting people at my kitchen table and soon had two babies at my feet. I feel like she was my beginning, she was my SEEKER – and she has hung by me all these years and has now come back.

It’s like she has been waiting for me – she has always been the visual form of my pain body, and now when I need her to help me pull this message together, lo and behold, she’s here for me.

And if you are still reading, then I consider YOU as here for me, too. Thank you, and I am here for you.

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3) I’m building a small collection of one-of-a-kind original paintings on paper (I just love how the paper takes the paint) to be released on JANUARY 30 ~ that’s NEXT THURSDAY!!! 

They will all be released at one time, RIGHT HERE, in my Online Studio Shop as original paintings, then as archival prints. I’ll send you an email when they are ready!

Serenity From Wandering for the Wild Tenderness Collection

She’s wandered to and fro, in awe of the strange world around her. Seeking contentment, a chance to finally rest and realize home.

She has sought a soul to understand and accept her for who she is – someone who will not pretend, then part. She wanders and wonders if she’ll ever find her place.

Then, finding another who seeks, another who has been waiting… at once they discover their place is together. She now has stillness after her wandering.

She gained satisfaction from the rich adventures had, while uncovering a peace from journeying – but now… a quietude with her true friend.

(thank you to one of my collectors who suggested I paint a dolphin, and one collector who threw out the word Serenity for her name, which I built on.)

Let me know if you have any quetions – feel free to write me back.

And don’t forget about that coupon code, expiring tomorrow: “14OFF”


Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful week’s end.
Love & Sincerely,

Katie