My Cafe Press Store

Ever travel somewhere, like the Colosseum, and try to find a cool looking t-shirt? So you scour through the stacks of shirts at the gift shop (hoping that they're hiding the good ones) while a woman yells at you in Italian for no real reason (she's lazy and thinks you'll make a mess, even though your not). So then you leave her with a rude gesture and one of those Italian remarks your nana always made when she was angry, and head off to the street vendor's tent to find a cool shirt there. But all of their t-shirts have cheesy gladiator cartoons on them. How very disappointing. If only there was a way to get that cool shirt that seems to be non-existent. Well, now...there is a way! And after I opened my shop, I realized that there were already about 17,000 other ways. But mine is better. Trust me. Now, to figure out how to get mine to show up in keyword searches. The instructions were helpful, until I realized they had no effect. It's a process, I guess. Like everything else in the world. http://www.cafepress.com/KellerNiemanDesigns

Vacations are rough!

Think work is stressful? Try vacation. As a free-time only artist, any time I have that I'm not at work or sleeping is dedicated to trying to catch up on all of my art endeavors. Now, along comes a vacation...a chance to catch up, and get some art done...a chance like that doesn't come along very often. I have so much work planned for my time off, that any setback is infuriating. My computer keeps overheating, eating seems to be a time-wasting hassle, but hunger pangs become debilitating. My brain is working overtime and feels like it's going to explode. My back is aching from sitting in the same spot all day. Before my husband left for work, he challenged me to do no work, and just enjoy my day off. lol Not a chance. While it sounds like a good thing, at the of the day I would regret wasting all that time. So here I am, at the end of the day, still having nothing completed, but having done a lot. I feel like I got run over by a truck, but I guess I'm ok with that.

The Neverending Still-life ENDS

Summer 2007:
I carefully gathered objects for my first still life in my new studio (my parents basement). I had just graduated college and was excited to begin my artistic career. I was ready to challenge myself, to paint a masterpiece that would prove that I was no longer a student, but an artist!
Summer 2009:
My masterpiece, half finished, sat sadly on my easel, practically forgotten. The bottles and mirror were coated in dust. I had found my challenge to be too challenging. I had chosen colors I had never painted, odd shaped bottles, and to make wine glasses more difficult to paint...break them. Then throw in a mirror. The expensive wine was meant to be my reward when I finished, but was close to turning. I had two options, finish that summer...or take it down and drink the wine anyway. In my mind, if I gave up, I would never be an artist. It would be the beginning of a lifetime of starting and giving up before it's over.
Winter 2010:
Still unfinished, but much closer...The push to the finish was on, and extremely sporadic. All that remained was mostly details, and it was driving me nuts! I didn't have the time or patience to sit and stare at it for hours, making small changes now and again. It seemed hopeless. I felt sure that I would never finish and that the wine had spoiled. But still...I couldn't give up.
Oddly enough, I found my motivation...at work...from an employee. One of the guys in my department asked what I was doing that night. I answered, painting. When I explained that I meant painting a still-life, not changing the color of my livingroom, the whole story of the unfinished masterpiece came out. And that became the thing he loved to give me a hard time about. Every couple weeks, he would say, "Hey, Kate. Finish that painting yet? How long's it been? Five years?"
February 2010:
Finished! "In your face!" Yeah, I finished and I brought it in to work to show it off. Proof that maybe I can do this art thing. Maybe my next painting will only take one year.

Hands and Muses

Well, finally, a sample of what I can do. This is conte on newsprint.

If I could just get back in with my artistic muse, maybe I could do it again, or better. That's my goal for 2010, well...one of them.

A little about this pic, I did it in a hands and feet class at SCAD, taught by the all impressive Paul Hudson. Definitely one of the best professors I've had, and probably the most enthusiastic about art.

Back from La La Land...

Okay, so getting married, moving and honeymooning sort of derailed me for a while, but now I'm ready to get going again. Expect great things...

It's all about the art

Woo Hoo!  Today I begin to show the world just how wonderful, talented and extremely modest I am.  It might take me a while to get up and running, but you will see...It's all about the art.  As a struggling artist who spends all day framing non struggling artists works, I barely have time to make my own works.  But, I promise, very soon, you will see my name everywhere.