January has been a very busy month!

I have completed 3 paintings this month which I am going to show you in stages. The fabric collage painting has been filmed and will be part of an upcoming class. Will let you know details soon.
I have an new online class on thetroddenpath.ning.com and I will be teaching live at Random Arts in Saluda, NC in August. So excited!!
O.k. so here are the paintings and a few notes about them.

So this is the first painting. I started with some earthtones mixed with some metallic paint to give a subtle glow.

I continue adding layers of color using some warmer tones. I also added some stencils for texture. I  wanted this
girl to really glow so I used some metallic paint mixed with titanium white and yellow ochre for skin tones.

I really made alot of changes with this painting. I decided that her legs had to go and concentrated on creating subtle patterns
at the bottom of her dress which created a border of abstraction. The rabbits were imbedded deeper into the painting
and the dark abstract marks 1/3 down from the painting gives the impression of a landscape.

Here is a close-up of my girl. Metallics are now definitely a part of my skintone pallete. My goal was to create a very pale
glowing girl with a very dark earthtone background. The girl turned out the way I imagined but the background
changed drastically. The background I imagined wasn't working so I had to let it sit for a few days and wait till the
solution was revealed.

Painting animals is new in my work. Was never really interested in painting them before but now
I find they need to be in my paintings. It might be a result of my new studio that looks out to a huge
back yard. So far I have seen birds, rabbits, squirrels and the biggest surprise of all deer.

 

My new online class has started-Fabric Book Art

http://thetroddenpath.ning.com/group/fabric-art-book

Fabric Art Book- my new online class

http://vimeo.com/56073888

This is my new online class starting next week . Check out all the info on my classes at

http://thetroddenpath.ning.com/profile/KateThompson

I really love making books and I wanted to share my process and two really cool binding techniques. The first is a coptic which is pretty common, but the second one is a looping technique that makes a beautiful book.

My painting approach is not a direct formulated approach. I start out with something in mind but somewhere during the process it changes and I allow the change to happen. I share that process of how I go through stages of a thought out approach and then move into spontaneity. I seem to bounce back and forth with the two stages until the art is finished. My videos are full of techniques but what I really like to get across is the process in the moment and jumping on those wonderful surprises that happens during the creative process.

I paint on fabric, wood, and paper. I also show you how to imbed paper into the fabric and having the option of painting on both surfaces.

I love interacting with my students and hope to see you in my new class.

Evolution of a painting

This is a painting I have been working on. Thinking of teaching my process here. I have taped and documented this piece from sketch to finish. I started by sketching two figures. I knew I wanted to incorporate birds but wasn't sure how they would show up. They weren't in the original sketch. In fact I left out alot from the original sketch as I painted. The sketch is a starting point and usually evolves into something much different. But I think sketching is very important. It helps me become more familiar with my images I am creating.
After the sketch, I started splashing paint and creating marks by using brushes, stencils, my fingers,speedball pens. I either paint or draw marks with the speedball pen.The acrylic washes are quite light and look like transparent watercolors.
I next go in with more opaque paint and white and blocking out the figures. I paint the features and work on details of the faces. I then go back in with more color and wild color placement and finally I calm the painting down till I am done.
It is process that absorbs me for hours and I can't wait to start another.
Thanks for visiting!

Watercolor and acrylic washes portrait painting class is now open

http://thetroddenpath.ning.com/group/watercolor-and-acrylic-washes-portrait-painting

Teaching and creating

I just started my first online class at The Trodden Path. I love teaching and interacting with my students. People have told me over the years that I should consider teaching and I just didn't think it was my path. Jane DesRosier contacted me about teaching on her ning site and I am so thrilled I said yes! I now have so many ideas I want to share and teach. My next class will be on portraits. I discovered a technique that I am really enjoying and it is working with watercolors, gesso, alcohol inks and acrylics. The portrait class will be working with that technique. My current class, Watercolor Fresco Painting, is working on a substrate I call plaster fabric and using photo transfers watercolors and gesso. There is a painting in this post of a woman with a acrylic wash background and layered with acrylics and gesso. I am planning on creating a class where you create acrylic washes and drippings and working on top of that by creating a composition of figures. The figure inspiration can come from post-raphaelite painters as a starting point and building the layers with acrylics, gesso and watercolors. Really excited about this process. I thought teaching would take me away from my own art but what it is doing is crystalizing my style and digging deeper into my process. I love it!

Watercolor Fresco Painting

I am almost ready to launch my first online class "Watercolor Fresco Painting at http://thetroddenpath.ning.com/. Here are some of the examples of what you can make in this class. I have always loved watercolors, but in the past 2 years I started painting in acrylics and loved the layering and texturing you could achieve with them. I still loved how watercolor looked with all the beautiful watermarks and how they blended so well. I discovered, by mistake, where alot of magic happens, that I could work with the layering method by using gesso with the watercolors. And to get even more in the texture I could paint on cracked plaster.
For so many years I worked as a fiber artist and loved creating with fabrics and stitching. I discovered two years ago, that I had a passion for painting, and now it is all coming together with painting on the fabrics. I have a collection of vintage linens that work so well into these pieces. It is fun to hunt for new and different painting substrates by digging through vintage linens! I look forward to this new adventure in my life.....teaching!! Come join me!

Watercolor gesso painting from Kate Thompson on Vimeo.