PENGUIN TALES

Byers w/Clouds

2009-04-24T04:41:00.001-04:00

Byers w/Clouds
Originally uploaded by Kate Garchinsky | PenguinArt.com

Sketched on 04.23.09 around 11:30am. The biggest challenge was the rapidly shifting light that shone through the clouds, creating puzzle-piece patterns on the mountains. I did my best to stick to one particular moment rather than trying to capture every change in light. You can't chase shadows, else the whole blasted thing will be in darkness before you know it.

Byers is my second favorite peak in the Fraser Valley.

Heel

2009-04-24T04:27:00.001-04:00

Heel
Originally uploaded by Kate Garchinsky | PenguinArt.com

Drawn with 2 Pitt Pens while watching parts of Grey's Anatomy with two hardcore fans of the show. I don't watch TV, or even have one, so I was a little lost on the details but still had fun.

This is my foot resting on the opposite leg.

Moab, Very Windy (2008)

2009-04-24T04:24:00.001-04:00

Moab, Very Windy (2008)
Originally uploaded by Kate Garchinsky | PenguinArt.com

I missed Wednesday. So here's something from the archives... drawn in Moab, Utah this time last year. This was the last sketch in my little mini moleskine until I added the alpenglow on Tuesday. It was so windy in Moab that day that my tent collapsed, filled with sand and went aloft like a kite despite all efforts to keep it grounded. I slept in my friends' camper that night.

Said friends are currently in Moab soaking up the sun. I'd like to be there but I have too much to do this weekend in preparation for my move. There will be more trips, I'm not worried.

Fifteen Minutes

2009-04-21T23:09:00.001-04:00

Fifteen Minutes
Originally uploaded by Kate Garchinsky | PenguinArt.com

I'm going to be moving around a bunch in the next few weeks. My lease ends in the apartment that I've come to love so much, and I must float around a bit until I the ground beneath me stops moving. In the meantime, I will be doing 15 minute sketches of my current environment while it is still mine.

Here is the first, sketched with one pink, one yellow, and one blue Faber Castell Pitt Pen. I had to work quickly because the light fades so incredibly fast at this time of day. The reflection of the sunset turns the snowcaps from lemon, to strawberry, to blueberry ice. See photos of the same scene in my flickr by clicking on the sketch.

I love you, mountains...

When it snows, it pours

2009-03-23T21:52:00.004-04:00

It never fails, really... when I have no work, I have *no* work. When I do have work, I have boatloads. This is not a complaint, just a statement on the way things go in the freelance world. One day I'm counting pennies and eating Ramen Noodles. The next, I am still eating Ramen because it is fast and I don't have time to cook a proper meal. But perhaps I've added a little shrimp or something to fancy it up. "Feast or famine" they say. I am so very grateful that the most recent famine is over.

What I've been working on:

Winter Park Spring Blast

Ads

That was last week's workload. This week I have a few newbies coming in as well as several resizings of existing ads. I couldn't be more pleased. Please excuse me, however, if I'm a bit terse in my communications. If all else fails, you will find me lingering on twitter and blip. Come say hi.

Added a few more

2009-03-11T13:35:00.001-04:00

It's Time to Fly: Storyboards
Originally uploaded by Kate Garchinsky | PenguinArt.com

On my flickr page. And now I'm off to show them to a literary agent who will give me feedback and help me get this thing rolling. Wish me luck!

It's Time to Fly

2009-03-05T18:53:00.006-05:00

As mentioned here and there over the past year, I have been working on a picture book. My first. It has been a challenge getting these reluctant birds off the ground, but in recent weeks I have made good progress. And hey! I'm excited that the story is, at long last, coming together.

Storyboarding the manuscript has proven more thought-consuming task than I had previously imagined. Where to start a sentence? Where to end it? What happens on the next page? And the next? Where in the story do the page breaks belong? How do I keep my reader turning and turning to find out what happens next? And more importantly: How do I fill an entire book with the same herons and still keep it interesting, different from spread to spread?

I'm not sure I have all the right answers to that right now. I must remind myself that these are thumbnail sketches, not finished masterpieces. It is tempting to go into feather-by-feather detail with each little 2-inch-high drawing. I tend to get lost in minutiae. When I do I must catch myself and force myself to step back into the big picture. A wider, less meticulous marker has come in handy.

This book has become somewhat of a "Kate Garchinsky's Opus." I first observed these lanky, prehistoric-looking birds over the summers of 2000-2004 at my ex-husbands's family's house in Avalon, New Jersey. Yellow-crowned night herons nested right outside the bedroom windows. I took hundreds of photos with my old-school SLR. I watched and observed several broods hatch, grow and fledge. I wrote the first draft one day in July 2005, shortly before moving to Colorado. It was, at the time, symbolic of the unknown journey that lay before me.

When I arrived in Colorado, the mountains quickly became part of me, and I grew distant from the herons of Avalon--but they never left my mind. As my life here changed, so did my marriage. Eventually I found myself out on my own in the land of snow and pine siskins. I had bought a new computer around that time and during the migration of data from one hard drive to the other, I stumbled an unfamiliar Word document, "Time to fly.doc." I hadn't read it in 3 years and until I opened it, had no idea what it was. The story found me exactly when I needed it.

Rereading a year ago, the words had new meaning. When I had written it I was learning to fly away from my birth nest of Pennsylvania. Three years later I was in the process of leaving the nest of my mate. And now a year has past and my life requires that I fly once more. Spring migration has begun. While my current nest has offered comfort and respite through storms and blizzards, I know that it is time. I've come full circle, and it is time once again to fly.

While I prepare for my next journey, I'll post whatever progress I make here. My goal is to have all storyboards and at least one finished watercolor illustration complete for submission before I take wing.

"Calgon, Calgon, take me away!"

2009-02-19T03:28:00.003-05:00

Back from Hiatus

2009-01-28T19:27:00.006-05:00

The dogs' footpath. Maybe I should use my skis rather than a shovel?

I spent the past 2+ weeks in Pennsylvania catching up with family and friends, some that I haven't seen in 12 years. It was really encouraging to know that I still have a huge network of support where I grew up, in addition to the group of friends here that I call my "Colorado family."

It snowed just a bit when I was at my parents' house, where everything freezes and gridlocks with just a little bit of slush. When I returned to Winter Park were at least 20 fresh inches on the ground—and stairs (above)—and more is on the way. All I have to say is, "it's about time." This being a la niña year, temperatures have been generally warm and precipitation very weak. I am looking forward to some powder days before I head onto my next adventure, wherever that will be.

At the moment I am looking for work. Any kind of work. Due to the aforementioned conditions, in addition the economic crisis, my ski industry clients have cut their marketing budgets to pennies on the dollar. I have educational illustration projects coming up in late March, but until then... Got art? Want art? Need help? Hiring?

Meanwhile, I am working on my picture book manuscript, "Time to Fly." I also have a few other book ideas brewing in my brain that will require some serious research. I plan to apply for as many grants and fellowships as I can to get these projects off the ground. Oh, and you know, to buy things like bread. And wine.

So to all you artists, illustrators, designers and creatives out there who are struggling to make ends meet right now... you are NOT alone. However, this should not stop us from creating, now should it. Our artistic endeavors are needed more than ever in this time of depression and despair. Inspiration is in the air. The government has called upon each of us as citizens to bring prosperity back to our country. What can we do to help? That's something else I have begun to explore. Got ideas?

Celebrate, America!

2009-01-20T02:19:00.002-05:00

CelebrateAmerica.jpg
Originally uploaded by Kate Garchinsky | PenguinArt.com

Happy "Where Were You When Obama Became President?" Day.

I will be in Pennsylvania, where I am right now. On the couch in front of the teevee.

Walls Blank?

2009-01-07T15:26:00.004-05:00

NaturesOrnaments.jpg
Originally uploaded by Kate Garchinsky | PenguinArt.com

Coming to WallBlank.com today: Nature's Ornaments. Limited edition prints of my watercolor painting are available for sale on WallBlank.com for one week, or until the prints sell out. Prices are as follows:

8.5"x11" - Edition of 75
$17

11"x15" - Edition of 50
$27

From the site:

How Wall Blank Works: A new piece of art will be posted for sale every weekday, available for one week or until it sells out, whichever comes first. Once an edition is sold out, it will never be available again.

Each print comes with a certificate of authenticity and ships for a flat $6 in the USA, $8 to the rest of the world. Find out when my art is up daily by following Wall Blank on Twitter. And while you're at it, follow me!

It's My 35th Bird-Day

2009-01-05T15:01:00.001-05:00

Jude Bakes a Cake
Originally uploaded by Kate Garchinsky | PenguinArt.com

And this is the cake that Jude built. Chocolate layer cake with raspberry buttercream frosting inside, and chocolate ganache on top. And a penguin. :)

Today I am grateful for (in no particular order):
1. Jude and the cake that he built
2. My life thus far
3. My family and friends
4. The birds in the pines and on the feeder outside my window, though they make quite a mess, especially the crossbills and the hairy woodpecker currently who is shoveling seeds everywhere
5. My creativity, when it comes
6. Possibilities
7. Chocolate ganache
8. Growing up
9. Maggie and Zooey and their antics
10. My last snowy season in the mountains

Happy New Year!

Memory Portraits: Vietnam

2008-11-17T13:40:00.001-05:00

I'd like to bring some attention to a cause with which I'm involved. As a member of the (no_name) Art Group I recently completed a watercolor portrait for a disabled woman in Vietname named Hanh. Hanh suffered a spinal cord injury at the age of 18 and spent most of the past 18 years (she is now 36) lying on a wooden bed. This was her life until the Lifestart Foundation got involved. She now has a three-wheeled motorbike. Read her story here.

Hanh is one of 14 women who received a portrait from our group. The portraits are meant to serve as a memoir, honoring their heritage and identity, and also providing the women with a sense of support from other women around the world.

Hanh and the other women create crafts to raise money for everyday living. Hanh knits scarves and creates greeting cards. To support these women with a purchase of cards or other crafts, please visit their products page. You can also purchase crafts in person at the portrait exhibit and fundraiser on November 29 at Brasil's Club in Philadelphia.

Overhaul

2008-09-15T14:50:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time, friends. I've been sparse in my blog posts for the past year and for good reason. Over the past months I've undergone major life changes. I may have eluded to this a bit in my last few posts but I know I've been vague. Some things are best left off the internets. I will tell you this: I am back to my maiden name of Kate Garchinsky. You may also call me Katie. And I am happy. Very happy. If you poke around my links you may find a lot of old photos missing but you'll also find a lot of joyous new photos in their place. I've had a lot of overhauling to do in many areas, eliminating the old while welcoming the new.

I'm in the beginning stages of my total internet overhaul, hence the temporary front page and portfolio at PenguinArt.com. You'll see some big changes here as well as I return my focus from my personal issues to my professional career as art director, illustrator, fine artist. I've got a lot of lost time to make up for here, as well the blogs over at IllustrationFriday.com and Sugar Frosted Goodness. Not to mention catch-up time with old friends.

How have you been doing?

Seeing the World Through New Eyes

2008-05-28T17:40:00.005-04:00

Crop of Self-Portrait (in progress)

There comes a point in every protagonist's story where a crucial decision must be made. Where change is option A, and option B is to remain stagnant. I have opted for A and you know, it is scary but not nearly as scary as remaining exactly the same. I was most frightened when I approached the crossroads. Once I chose my A option I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and waited for some kind of self-destruction.

As you can see, that did not happen. I am still here. How crazy is that.

With the choosing came the change. Here are a few examples:
--I have a new workspace with huge floor to ceiling windows that face the Continental Divide.
--I have been painting AND working AND playing, though still trying to perfect the balance. It's been heavy on the "working."
--The nice part of that is that I illustrated a book. I will have my name on a book cover. This may sound kind of obvious but it is honestly the first time that has happened.
--I started teaching an art class 3 weeks ago. I've never taught before. I like... no I love it, much to my surprise.
--I donated two paintings to auction to benefit a local charity. Both sold. I thought it would be painful to part with my babies, but no. I felt liberated by it. Proud even. My art stood side-by-side with some of Colorado's most highly-respected artists. Which in turn made me a peer of such painters. That's really cool.
--Music. After a long hiatus, I have wound some shiny new strings on my guitar and carved a little niche for it in my living space (rather than shoved under the bed). My fingers have been itching thanks to all the new music I've come to love. I'm also going to lots and lots of live shows this summer. I have pledged to myself that I will attend every show in which I have even the most remote interest. This weekend it's the Grand Archives at Hi-Dive.
--This return to music fanhood has affected my wardrobe. It's getting a little funky. :)
--Alone time. I treasure it, I love it, I look forward to it. Especially after art class. :)
--Current reads: "Wreck This Journal" by Keri Smith, "Everyday Matters" and "The Creative License" by Danny Gregory. And Wuthering Heights when I can't sleep.

I do believe the right half of my brain has completely taken over and its having a crazy party and there's nothing I can do about it. Not that I'm complaining. I'm just tickled to be invited.

*exhale*

Works in Progress

2008-03-16T15:30:00.003-04:00

–A portrait of a baby

–Illustrations for a book

–Illustrations for my own manuscript

–A mountain bike trail map

–Two logo/identity packages

–Mountain bike festival ad materials

–Taxes

–Myself

Midnight Musings on Art and Divinity

2008-02-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

Quotes on such matters:

Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Great art is as irrational as great music. It is mad with its own loveliness. ~George Jean Nathan, House of Satan

Art is the struggle to understand. ~Audrey Foris

Art is spirituality in drag. ~Jennifer Yane

God is just another artist, like me. –Salvador Dali

Sources:

http://quote.robertgenn.com/
http://www.quotegarden.com/art.html

The new "Kite Tales" is up...

2008-02-21T01:01:00.003-05:00

...featuring, ME.

Huh, what?

Ok, backing up a minute. I have been a member of SCBWI (the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, which I pronounce, "skib-wee") for let's say, 9 years or so. It is THE organization to join if/when you decide to give children's publishing a serious go. I have been a picture book fanatic since I could see colors and hear my mother read to me. Not surprisingly, children's book illustration was my main focus in art school. I try novels, really, I try, but picture books remain my favorite genre. "I don't read much," I said to a dear friend just last week who tempted me with a novel she had almost finished. "Really? You don't READ?" she choked in disbelief. Ok, yes I have been reading "Eat, Pray, Love" for about 6 weeks now. That is how I read words. Slowly. Meticulously. It can be exhausting. I love words, but I also love art. Picture books have the best, best, best of both worlds (well, ideally). What's not to love?

I digress. So I have been a member of SCBWI for 9 years or so. As of today, how many books have I had published? Zero. How many neatly packaged, friendly illustration samples have I mailed with high hopes to unsuspecting art directors? Thousands, I'd guess. One must submit in bulk to have even the slightest chance of half a glance from an unsuspecting, overworked, just ready for Friday already art director's assistant. At least this is the impression I have received. It is not encouraging to a young girl out of art school. Which is how I got to be so good at Graphic Design. PAYCHECKS.

Still I digress. So in the past 2 years since my big move to Colorado, I have had a few ideas float in and out of my mind for picture books. Picture books that I shall write myself, rather than leave my fate to the gods of celebrity authors, best-sellers and poo-poo potty books. Of course, my stories revolve around nature, which constantly revolves around me. I've got a story about a moose. A heron family. A hummingbird. A puppy (who loves nature).

In the past few months I started looking for a local chapter of SCBWI. They're all over the place. If you want to meet like-minded writers and illustrators, it's the best way to start. I had procrastinated making such local connections when I moved here because I honestly didn't know how long I'd stay. Now that I'm feeling permanent, and actually a bit poetic, I have made contact with the Rocky Mountain Chapter (RMC-SCBWI). They had a vacancy posted for a volunteer brochure designer on their website, and I took it. I'm working on that project now. Almost done.

Meanwhile one of the regional advisors asked if I'd mind being profiled in the upcoming issue of "Kite Tales," the RMC's e-newsletter. Hey sure, why not? I was surprised to learn that the interest was NOT my windy off-center illustration career noted above. It was my blogging.

So right now, I am in the "Blog Spotlight" in the February "Kite Tales." Look at me go. I hope I sound like I know what I'm talking about, because I am convinced that I really do. Gosh, now I'm really going to have to perform here. OH THE PRESSURE.

Yeah, so who doesn't really like another excuse to blog?

Haunt

2008-02-13T23:59:00.002-05:00

*click* to enlarge

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-22T12:44:00.000-05:00

Sneak Peek

2007-12-12T20:10:00.001-05:00

I've been working on a painting that will hopefully make it into greeting card format before the holiday. If not, I'll just have a nice little wintry painting. The sketch above is a little teaser from my Moleskine. I'm completing the finished piece in watercolor, 20" x 16".

The birds, the snow, the icicles, my dogs, the trees, the mountains--these have been my personal solace in what has turned out to be a very challenging time for me. Sometimes life throws unexpected kinks into what you thought was a very well ironed-out plan. There is no way to prepare yourself for these shifts and changes. You may even have believed that you were prepared for them, should they ever happen. But no, you were not. The point of these challenges is not preparation; their purpose is to take you by surprise, shake you around, throw all your pieces up into the air and give you a chance to rearrange, realign. Find your meaning as you evaluate each little torn up piece. You pick yourself, tape it all together again. The result is not a new you but rather a fortified you. One that knows it can be shaken, deconstructed, and still come back together in one piece, stronger than before.

Cryptic, I know. It is to me too.

In my own piecing together I have noticed a few things. I have been feeling very poetic. My senses have awakened to the little details; the swishy sound of snow beneath my skis. The taste of dry powder versus heavy wet snow. The movement of an individual flake as it floats down and lands on my glove, where at just the right angle I can see all of its crystalline facets in the light of a street lamp. The smell of wet pine smoke rising from chimneys. The feel of cold below zero as it freezes the tiny hairs in my nostrils. I become overwhelmed by it all and scratch lopsided verses in my journal until I drift off to sleep.

In Search of Creativity

2007-11-26T11:38:00.001-05:00

One of my new goals for the next few months is to find and/or attend an inspiring creativity workshop. I don't care if it's about general creativity, or more specialized for oil or watercolor painting--I just want something that will get my juices flowing. I have been feeling stumped in this area for quite some time and it stumps my confidence in my work. Something relatively local is preferable, but I will travel to an awe-inspiring location for the right price.

So if anyone out there in webland has any hints on how to find one, or recommendations for a workshop they have taken, please pass it on. Please comment or email me at kate (at) penguinart (dot) com.

In the meantime I am reading SARK's book, "Make Your Creative Dreams Real: A Plan for Procrastinators, Perfectionists, Busy People, and People Who Would Really Rather Sleep All Day."

I *heart* SARK's handwritten, scribbled and doodled books. This one is a little more structured but I don't mind. The watercolor-textured inserts with multicolored marker writings make me want to draw like a kid again. SARK is a bit like Sesame Street for the troubled adult mind.

I will put SARK's next workshop on my list of possibilities.

Gratitude

2007-11-19T14:29:00.000-05:00

Right now, in my life I am grateful for abundance. I have recently received and experienced an abundance of:

1. Support from my friends, both near and far
2. Love from my family
3. Work from my clients
4. Motivation from my husband
5. Affection from my dogs
6. Inspiration from my surroundings
7. Grace from the Universe
8. Hope for my Self

I hope this Thanksgiving, spent at home visiting family will bring even more abundance for me and those I love.

Happy Thanksgiving

Alpenglow

2007-11-02T15:21:00.001-04:00

Alpenglow
Watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold press
8" x 10.5"
©2007 Kate Hamilton

So hey, look! I painted a picture this week. In between manic job quotes, billing and rush projects I crammed in a watercolor painting. I needed something to use as a backdrop for an ad I've placed in Rocky Mountain Bride Magazine. In the next issue I will also have an illustration published in an article about spa days. I'll let you know when it's available.

What is really significant about the painting above is that I completed it, start to finish in just a few hours. I had no choice. The ad deadline was that day. I had no existing ads to pull and reuse. A few times in the process I almost abandoned it. It seems that there is a point in every piece I create where I feel impatient and just want to Get. It. Done. Already. This usually happens after I have all my basic elements laid in, but the detail is not yet there and the colors are merely an underpainting and very non-representational. It is easy to walk away at this point, especially when my pesky inner critic starts to whisper, "This painting is going nowhere. You're really going to mess this one up. Don't waste your time." As a result I have dozens of unfinished pieces in my collection, and all are pretty much in the same underpainted phase (hmm, there's a pun in there). These abandoned efforts annoy me. I hate them. I want to throw them all out but for some reason I hold onto them. They're in a portfolio under the bed.

So I had a few opportunities to abandon my painting above but I persisted. And I finished it. And I like it. So there. Take that, inner critic, Ms. Poopynannyhead.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2007-10-31T18:33:00.001-04:00

Hope you have a hoot...