Autumn has arrived

   Amazing frost patterns on a car hood.

TODAY we had a hard frost; a chilly walk with my sister Pam. (Sunday, October 4, 2020)

It is a reflective time and a retrospective time for me as I continue to work on some pieces of art. 

Ideas come and they all take time along with questioning to put together into art pieces.  Working on one at the moment for submission to Center for Visual Arts in Wausau exhibit on Up Rooted, I had flashbacks to many Up Rooted times for me in New York City, in Greensboro, in North Dakota, in Minnesota, in DeKalb, in Madison, and here in Stevens Point.  In being Up Rooted in New York City (moving there in the 70s from the Midwest - a bit of a culture shock),  I felt displaced and trying to settle in an unsettled place that was always alive 24 hours a day.  So I decided to create a watercolor of the place I lived in for two years in Greenwich village, a half block from Washington Square Park.  I spent many hours working by the window on the third floor looking out watching the street life that passed by.  We'll see if it gets selected for the exhibit.  

Enjoying teaching with the art faculty at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, I am in their adjunct pool as a retired professor emerita and listed on their website.  It was an unusual time for me teaching this last spring with the COVID shut down, mostly online, but all of my students made it through the course fine.

I did get a piece of art accepted into the New York Studio School Alumni Show this summer, and it brought back memories of being an "artist" in New York City at one time.  Now I have some art in a show in New York City (over 40 years later . . . . .  oh my).  Artsy website also posted the alumni show art piece for the Burgos Cathedral Window.

 Also I have some work selected for the Riverfront Arts Center in Stevens Point for the September/Ocober Black, White & Gray exhibit.  These were two more art pieces inspired by my 500 mile walk across Spain on the Camino Frances.  The arts center FaceBook site posted one of my works, Sculpture on the Medieval Church in Portomarin, Spain.

During this time of staying in place, we have had more slow time to spend with the natural world around us, and the color and images never stop to amaze me.  I have also enjoyed very much the Farmers CSA boxes this summer and fall.  The vegetables and fruit are full of their care, and one of the farmer's is a former student of mine from London Semester Abroad (he wrote a POST about traveling with me there in 2013).  Memories of good times.

So back to sketching. . . . . .   Looking forward to the next World Wide Sketchcrawl on October 24. SketchCrawl LINK (It is neat to see work from around the world that is sketched on that day).

 

Mistaken Reality can be Deadly (window reflections)

Up Rooted times, working in art during  the time of COVID.

   

Trying to Settle in an Unsettled Place NYC 10011

Reflections on an Up Rooted moment in the past.

67th World Wide SketchCrawl at a Social Distance

67th World Wide SketchCrawl at a Social Distance

With the Spring weather arriving in April, Jo and I were able to get out, at a social distance, and do a bit of the SketchCrawl out at Lake Helen.  It was great to sketch out in nature.   LINK to Stevens Point SketchCrawl Post.
I am looking forward to the Summer World Wide Sketch Crawl and more sharing with sketchers of life across the world LINK

And a SIDE NOTE today.  Out of the blue, I received an email from a friend, Bill Kirby, with an old photo attached from 2005.  In October that year, we both participated in an Outdoor Survival weekend at UWSP Treehaven natural resources education center. It was taught by a staff member from Teaching Drum Outdoor School.  We had to make our own shelters for the night, out of a tarp and what ever else we found in the forest - leaves and pine needles for a mattress, sleeping bag on top and then large branches to form the shelter, with the tarp stretched over.  Yes, in October, we did have frost that night.  It was a very good learning experience. But, oh my, that was 15 years ago now!
In looking over my past links, it is always confusing to see how they change sometimes.  The link to my digital sketchbook online at the Brooklyn Art Library is now https://www.sketchbookproject.com/library/S71251

Strange Times we are in - Kent State Commemoration of May 4, 1970 and Learning about Art in the Time of CoVID19.

Strange Times we are in .......
Kent State Commemoration of May 4, 1970 and Learning about Art in the Time of CoVID19.
May 4, 2020   MONDAY in north central Wisconsin

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Kent State Tragic Event.

Kent State 50^th Anniversary Link https://www.kent.edu/may4kentstate50

Attended online View a Virtual May 4 Commemoration that honors and remembers those who lost their lives on May 4, 1970, and recounts the events of that day. It was a good commemoration program at noon for an hour - they also had it on YouTube LINK.
It ended with a song by Crosby.

Wikipedia Note:  "Ohio" is a protest song and counterculture anthem written and composed by Neil Young in reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970, and performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. ... of horror, outrage, and shock in the wake of the shootings, especially the line "four dead in Ohio," repeated throughout the song. 

And the “Stay at Home” Time has definitely changed our lives and routines.  
 I finished my online Art History Survey class with the students and now I miss them.  It was great to be interacting and sharing what many museums have online for learning and experiencing art during this time.  Some of my favorites have been:  The Metropolitan Museum of New York and The Museum of Modern Art In New York City.

There are lectures free and available online for continued learning such as at MOMA (https://www.moma.org/audio/).

The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History pairs essays and works  of art with chronologies, telling the story of art and global culture

through the Museum’s collection. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/chronology/#!?geo=eu

MoMA Learning    https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/

Browse by Artists or Themes.  And MoMA Courses online – FREE and at your own pace

https://www.moma.org/research-and-learning/classes
and this is a good program with updates on current artists: https://art21.org/

TEACHING AGAIN

As a place for notes on sketching, this blog will become more active in May after I am done teaching again.
Currently, as a surprise to me, but very enjoyable, I am teaching a section of Art History Survey, from the Late Middle Ages to contemporary art.  Fascinating stuff and a very good review for me as I go through my collection of photos from my trips with students overseas (1985-2015).

So, more to be posted here as a rainy day in March continues on the campus of UW-Stevens Point and yes, that's snow over behind the tree.

Kathe Julin -  webpage

Senior Lecturer, Spring Semester 2020

715-346-2669

NFAC 193

kjulin@uwsp.edu

https://www.sketchbookproject.com/library/S71251  One of my sketchbooks in the Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Art Library:  Creating Sketches to Capture the Experience of Travel in Italy by Kathe Miller Stumpf Julin

So, I'll add a little more here on this Saturday, March 14.

Since I will be starting up this blog with more energy (I hope), I thought I would include an old post from 2011 from a different blog that I had (and lost the password, so I can only view it).

http://designsketching.blogspot.com/

Sunday, December 18, 2011

35 years between paintings - oh my!

Sitting at the coffee house early this morning as the sun is rising and a golden orange melon hue is on the east horizon, I look back at this past week and think about how I have fit in my drawing and sketching and realize it is starting - just starting slowly - to fit in a little better to my hectic life style.
On Friday, I actually was able to take a larger block of time and I did a painting sketch of fruit (http://www.flickr.com/photos/katjulin/6526570789/in/photostream). It was in the evening after a long work day, but I felt driven (with some goals that I set for myself that week and would have been disappointed in myself not to accomplish). The painting that I made was of two pears and an embroidered white linen napkin on an oak table (there an odd feeling the next day as I ate one of the pears for a snack, after spending so much time looking at it, turning it, positioning it as an actor in a still life, drawing it, and painting it in color). I had not painted with acrylics for over 35 years, I realized on Saturday. (It's really never too late to start again .) Way toooo long to not do something that gives me a feeling of wonder and joy. I gave the painting to Lyna for her birthday.

Why do we do that? Wait so long to do something, because we do not have time? Or because we think we are not able to do it well, so we can't start until we have more time to practice? It comes down to priorities for our time and that we really do have control of our time. We can plan to fit some things in by taking the time (planning time for it is the key with busy schedules). This week, for the first time since the 1970s, I finally feel the need inside to continue each week, each day with my passion - drawing life, sharing what I see with others through expressing it visually. Once you start, it does become a habit, a ritual that feels right to do as a part of your life.

Also, fitting in something that I rarely do but enjoy, was to go see a movie on the big screen yesterday. Hugo, by Martin Scorsese. It was meaningful with a lot of points to think about woven through the themes in the movie - family, orphans, the feeling of being alone or lonely, hope, danger, magic, adventures, dreams, dreaming while awake, courage, destiny and more. The one that stood out was fixing things, making things work even if it wasn't as we planned or perfect, and perseverance towards our goal (stories are never over, but continue on).