nocturnal

'Wildlife' 24x30" oil pastel on panel; Kathleen Faulkner

'Wildlife' is currently on display at 

Schack Art Center in Everett, Washington. 

The show is titled 'Cambian Layers II' 

and will be available for viewing through August 23, 2025

 

Below is some new work on the theme of night:

that other world through which we sleep 

'Sea Breeze' 8x8" mixed media on panel;
Kathleen Faulkner

'Deep Sea' 18x18" mixed media on panel;
Kathleen Faulkner

Older night scenes:

'Night Vision' 12x12" mixed media;
Kathleen Faulkner

'Nautical Twilight' 29x28" oil pastel on panel;
Kathleen Faulkner

'Nightlife' 22x30" oil pastel on panel; Kathleen Faulkner

The birds have it

'Welcome to Birdland'  8x8" oil pastel, charcoal;  Kathleen Faulkner

http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/94364/play

No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.

                                                                                          William Blake

Life is short

Myself with three of my paintings and one sculpture
by Louise Warner;   photo: Susi Watson

I am delighted to now be represented by Simon Mace Gallery  in Port Townsend.  Currently, I have five paintings in the Small Works Show which will run through December.  This show includes work by nine painters and one sculptor and is worth a visit.

During this holiday season and every season please support your local artists and galleries.  

I do believe that art is necessary for life..  food for the soul.  

So, eat up.

'Life is short, and Art long; the crisis fleeting; experience perilous, and decision difficult.'

Hippocrates

One more

'Low Tide'12x12"  oil and soft pastel, charcoal, medium;
Kathleen Faulkner

It rains.  The wind blows and  

we lose our light as the days grow shorter.

It is a good time to make some art.

and another..

'High Tide' 12x12"  oil and soft pastel, charcoal, medium;
Kathleen Faulkner

The big lesson I'm learning this Fall is, yes, everything really does change.  Nothing stays the same.  The only constant Is change.

This can be a hopeful reality.  Maybe things will change for the better.

another marsh picture

'Wiley's Marsh' 12x12" oil and soft pastel, charcoal, medium;
Kathleen Faulkner

My first oil pastel of the fall season.

This piece is part of a series of studies I'm working on before attempting the very large (for me) 3x5'

painting.  

It is very dark but I think like it.  

For Paul Havas

'John's Trees' 17x17" oil and soft pastel, charcoal;  Kathleen Faulkner

About a year or more ago I did a piece titled ' John's Trees'.   

There was a story that went with the work.  The trees were planted by a well known Skagit artist and so I titled it accordingly.  John Simon had recently passed, he was on my mind and I titled it thinking of him..  but he didn't plant those trees.

I did this piece from my memory of the work.  It came out closer than I had expected.  

So, here's to you, Paul.  May you rest in peace.

'Paul's Trees' 17x17"oil and soft pastel, charcoal;  Kathleen Faulkner

Mind's Eye

'Mindscape' oil and soft pastel, charcoal;

Kathleen Faulkner

The Monday after the full moon and weekend craziness abounded.  Plants grew faster and my head still spins. 

What to do to counteract?  Mindscape series continued:  

all I can do is listen   

and draw.  

This came from a place I don't go often 

a place I'd like to get to know, 

a place I will re-visit.

Auction for the Artist

Matzke Fine Art Gallery
Presents the Second Annual Art Auction for the Artist
Saturday, April 23rd.
Preview April 16th, 17th and 23rd from 11am to 5pm
Bidding starts promptly at 6pm

'Landscape' brooch, sterling silver, paper,
colored pencil, mica; Kathleen Faulkner

'Webster's Woods' 17x17" oil and soft
pastel, charcoal; Kathleen Faulkner

With over 50 artists, this live auction has something for everyone:  Great art, wonderful conversation, tasty bites and an amazing sculpture park and gallery.  

Please support the Arts, Artists and this event.

Anniversary

'Slough' 7x9" oil and soft pastel, charcoal; Kathleen Faulkner

I started this blog one year ago today.  

The plan was to have an alternative to a website. What happened is that it took on a life of it's own leading me down some other paths.

I made a conscious effort to keep personal business out of it.  That didn't work.  I had planned to concentrate on calls to artists, show reviews and showcasing my work.  That didn't happen except that I have showcased my work.

What I discovered is that I enjoy telling the stories that inspire the artwork:  the full picture, so to speak.  I also discovered that if I just go with the flow it will go wherever it goes and that's ok.

One great benefit to me has been the feedback.  It is good to know that someone is out there.  One never knows who or what awaits once the publish button is pushed and the post is thrown into cyberspace.
It is also good discipline.

Now,  just for fun, here are some statistics from this last year:

'Solstice: full moon lunar eclipse' was the most viewed post.  'in addition' was a close second.  

Besides the US, Canada and Germany gave me the most hits.  

'Neckpieces' and 'Water' were the most visited pages.  

Monday has the highest viewing numbers with the most hits between 10am and 2pm.  

The image from 'A Fairy Tale' was included in Regina Hackett's blog post,  'Foot Fetish'.   

My blog was listed in two international jewelry blogs and dumped from one painting blog.  

All in all I'd say it was a good year.  

So, here's to another year of story telling and art making.  

Thanks for viewing. 

Cheers!

A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
Mohandas Gandhi 

The Winter of it

'The Winter of It' oil and soft pastel, charcoal; 8x8"
Kathleen Faulkner

It is the Winter of it.  Darkness, rain  and the mentally ill.  

I think about a painting I did.  Title:  'It's Good to Have a Running Start'.
It is hard to have a running start in the Winter of it.  Friends are falling and Life is challenging.  I'm giving things away.  It helps.

It will soon be the Solstice.  Then, the days will grow longer and we will move toward Spring,  the favored season.  Then we shall all carry on.

'The Winter of It III' oil and soft pastel, charcoal; 8x8"
Kathleen Faulkner

R.I.P.

'The Long Walk' 17x17.5 mixed media; Kathleen Faulkner

My friend died.  She took her life.  She finally made it work after having tried a few times before.  The whole story is one that could happen to anyone and it's so very sad.  It makes my heart ache.
Struggles, strife: some are more sensitive than others  Some just can't take the rawness and ruthlessness that life dishes out. It is a cruel world that can leave us with nothing.

We tend to shun those that are different.  They scare us.  e don't know what to say, how to interact.  It's easier to be afraid, to run away, ignore or bully.

This is the day we celebrate the dead.  I will celebrate you, my friend, and I will miss you, sweet lady.  I'll always wonder if anything could have changed your outcome.  May you rest in peace.

John's Trees

'John's Trees' 17x17" mixed media; Kathleen Faulkner

We walked for hours.  It was a grey day; the ground beneath our feet was spongy, muddy, wet.  No sound but the slosh of our feet and birds, birds everywhere.  Lost in the thoughts of this place, smelling the salt, the mud, the sea,  breathing it in deep, feeling the healing.  

The week had been tough, filled with deadlines, overextended commitments, drama and worries.  I had been looking forward to this day. 

We stopped for a minute when David said, 'Those are John's trees. He planted them.  His energy is still here'. 'I can feel it', I said, and it was true.  The wind suddenly swept up through the trees singing a song of long, lost memories..    Then we continued on our way.

The business of staying alive

'Good Sound Quality' 21x23" oil pastel; Kathleen Faulkner

Here it is October and winter is close behind.  Time is slipping by.  I'm working constantly,  preparing for 'Arts Alive' coming up the first weekend in November with the opening on the evening of November 5th.

I am pleased to announce that I will be in the 'Emerging Artists Show' with my mixd media paintings and, new this year, the 'Jewelry Show' which I will be a part of, as well.
Shortly thereafter is Whatcom Museum's 'Art and All That Jazz' on November 12th.  Work for that is due the end of the month.
Then Christmas is right around the corner which means inventory for my galleries and a couple of Christmas shows.  whew.

I worry that I won't get it all finished. It's the same thing every year.  It's silly, really, since I always do manage to make it all work and I find that little breaks help.

'when it all gets too heavy I go down to the sea'

There is nothing better than spending some time near water.  It clears my mind, is inspiring and I leave feeling like I can actually manage things.  I will be needing to head that way for about an hour then back to the business of staying alive.

Talkin' bout my Friends

'Bird's Eye View' mixed media, Kathleen Faulkner

listening to NPR this morning talking about the price of wildlife 

What is a pelican worth?  Some said priceless others' thoughts ranged from $1.00 to $1000.00.  

Legally, BP is required to 'make the public whole' which means a pelican becomes worth one pelican. 

There are four spills in progress as you read this.  The latest is threatening Lake Michigan.   

'It's Good to Have a Running Start'

mixed media, Kathleen Faulkner

'The Dunce'

The Dunce

He says no with his head

but he says yes with his heart

he says yes to what he loves

he says no to the teacher

he stands

he is questioned

and all the problems are posed

sudden laughter seizes him

and he erases all 

the words and figures

names and dates

sentences and snares

and despite the teacher's threats

to the jeers of infant prodigies

with chalk of every color

on the blackboard of misfortune

 he draws the face of happiness.  

                                                                                                          

                                                           Jacques Prevert

'The Dunce' 10x8" mixed media, Kathleen Faulkner

Tidal Marsh

"Tidal Marsh" oil and regular pastel, 

charcoal, gesso, 9x9", Kathleen Faulkner

It was an adventure.  We headed out early. 

Muted colors, bird sounds and the smell of salty sea grass hosting billions of organisms.. Standing in the midst of it all,  I could hear "it" living, breathing.

I lost my boot but got it back and, once home, pulling it off, I was struck by the blackness of the mud  blacker than the darkest farmland dirt   almost blue. 

"Salt marshes are one of the most biologically productive habitats on the planet,  rivaling tropical rain forests."  Wikipedia

"A tidal marsh is: soft, sticky, living tissue that grows on you.  Once into tidal marshes, you can only extract your person.  The mind continues to wander through with long, complicated, sinuous, personal thoughts"  Josh Collins 1996