A Busy Year Ahead



A New (and busy!) Year Ahead

I missed this past fall's blog post so I will try to bring readers up to speed on what's been happening. In October I was invited to speak at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA for their Meet the Artist program. It was a truly enjoyable visit. I gave a demo on creating a value underpainting from a sketch I did in the field earlier in the season. I spoke with a group of about 50 people who were very engaged and asked some really fantastic questions. I love when that happens! Many thanks to Jan Marabito for being so great at organizing this event.

Jan Marabito and me in front of my value demo

Me demonstrating how to close your eyes when you paint.

I painted from a pretty detailed drawing of a house I found not far from my studio. It sits back a bit from the road behind a larger stone house. I have driven by many many times and just happened to notice that the lamp in the first floor window was always on. I mean, ALWAYS. No matter what time of day or night. The people who came to the Meet the Artist presentation liked hearing how I became more interested and parked gas station across the street to do some sketching. I told them I couldn't decide whether to approach the house and finally find out the story behind the lamp or just leave the mystery in place. I think, for now, I will enjoy the mystery of it.


Here is the finished painting. Available framed at $1200.00
"Lamp in the Window"     12 x 16"     oil

Upcoming Events:
I am so glad to be invited again to the upcoming show this spring at Historic Yellow Springs in Chester Springs, PA. This is a beautifully put together group show with some fantastic artists from my area here in PA. The show takes up 2 floors of one of the large main houses in the historic village of Yellow Springs. Please plan to stop in during April 26 - May 11. It's well worth a trip.

This summer's open studio on Monhegan Island, ME will be extra special. I will be holding this year's open studio with fellow Pennsylvania artist Bradley Hendershot. (Check out his work at Bradley Hendershot).  Brad has been coming to Monhegan for 20 years and is a very accomplished artist who demonstrates his mad skillz in watercolors of Pennsylvania and Maine landscapes. Both our recent works will be available and we will be holding an opening reception on the first weekend. Also, the open studio will be for 3 weeks instead of 2. I have always wanted to extend my time on the island and this year will be a welcome jump. Can't wait! The dates are July  11 to Aug 2. It will be in the same place along the road to Fish Beach. Please visit and say hi if you are on Monhegan.

In the past, I have been asked if I give lessons by people in the area who know me as an artist and people who see me painting on location. I'm happy to say I have begun to set up a small class space in my home/studio for instruction in drawing. In the teaching I have done, I see students making the mistake of jumping straight into painting before getting a solid handling of drawing first. I believe it's vital to have strong drawing skills and I have said if I had a choice of what to teach I would choose drawing. Knowing about shape, composition and value can solve most problems people encounter in painting. The classes are being kept to only 5 students each for better individual instruction. 
Beginning Drawing and Intermediate Drawing on Monday and Thursdays from 4:30 - 6pm. and are aimed at students age 14 and over. If you are local to the Collegeville, PA area and are interested in being part of this please contact me through my email at  katy.krieg@verizon.net  

Thanks so much!

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