Hello my darlings!  I've been away a long while.  I apologize.  Last summer, I had a series of strokes that seriously affected my vision.  I have had to rest them, and not spend as much time on the computer.  The intense double vision has compromised my ability to sketch accurately, and I struggle with not being able to force my art where I want it to go.  That and Covid has all but stopped the In-Person classes, workshops and conventions for now.  So my Art has taken a slow turn.  It seemed before that I was so busy developing new classes to teach and submit, that MY reason and focus became diluted.  The long hours trapped in my head, resting my eyes gave me great insight as to how I wanted to move forward in the days to come as my vision continues to improve.

I have a more focused artist statement:

I find it important to be able to express myself and the things that matter to me in a passionate, if not chaotic way.  I am concerned about the amounts of things discarded in our culture and delight in bringing life, beauty and fun back into cast offs, without overly explaining each piece.  I love that the viewers can decide the narrative for themselves, as their own emotions and imaginations dictate. 

Who I am:

Kari McKnight Holbrook is a published international mixed media artist, instructor and writer. Her style embraces lettering as a graphic, with texture and color also playing major roles in each piece. She expresses herself most often with upcycled fabrics, clay, junk journals, painting and jewelry.  She enthusiastically teaches others how to successfully express themselves, and find joy in the process.

I am striving to:

Be present as I create, to enjoy and experience the processes.  I an going to strive to overcome fear.  The fear of not being "perfect," the fear of nobody liking my finished piece, or the fear of worrying when I will sell the next work.  I am striving to put more of MY authentic voice into my pieces, even if they may not be of commercial interest.  I will no longer listen to people tell me I am wrong for using products and mediums I enjoy.  If online workshops develop out of this, I will go with the flow, and embrace it.

This is my accountability page!  I pray you are all blessed and having beautiful creativity sessions.

I really miss Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine.  The editors and other staff members I dealt with were always the epitome of professionalism.  They were creatives in their own right and used their talents to let others of us shine.  Here is just a little happy throw back to a free tutorial for Zen Doodled Jewelry that I did for them.  Follow the link for all the deets and for step by step instructions.

Back at it!

Hello my lovely fellow human beans!  Quite awhile ago, I decided to "blog without obligation."  I didn't want to put stuff out there that didn't have a purpose.  Didn't want to post "what I had for dinner" or "stuff I am randomly thinking about."  But I have been hiding too.  I have been really ill- with so many bouts of shingles I've lost count.  Mike has had two major surgeries.  Others in our world have been lost to us.  All life, all pretty rough.  But now life has slowed way down for so many of us.  Mike is home a little bit more and we have made strides on getting my studio unpacked!  A sink and toilet have been installed!  I have donated at least 10 bags worth of clothes and household goods that were lost among studio boxes.  I am down from 300 boxes to approximately 240.  Slow, but progress.  I have been teaching private lessons, and really love that.  Tomorrow I am taking the day off from doing taxes to paint out on the deck.  I want to put out plants, but don't want to go to the shops to get them.  I have seeds from other years and am going to try those tomorrow as well.

Last year, I scavenged old worn out pots from my Mom and Dad.  They had planted stevia and the groundhogs actually came up on the deck and scratched the pots to get to the plants.  See the scratches from their toenails? (The groundhogs, -not Mom and Dads!)

 A couple quick coats of paint, and it was looking fresher already!  

I used a wonderful DecoArt Stencil, DecoArt Traditions paint, and a make-up sponge to apply 

some zing!  Lastly, I added two coats of clear sealer.

(The tent in my garage is my wonderful pop up spray booth-easily one of my favorite tools ever!)

The tomatoes and peppers loved their happy new homes!

Thanks to two coats of clear sealer, they still look this good this year!

I'll be back soon- hope all of you are taking a little of this scary time to still enjoy getting some things accomplished, and most importantly catching up with friends and family!

Florals

I have been obsessed with florals lately!  All the clothes I am attracted too seem to have floral motifs and the paintings that catch my eye seem to be floral- I caught myself looking at floral wallpaper and thought 'hold on now- you may have a problem!'  I like florals a lot right NOW.  in 3 years maybe not so much.  I drew the line.  But, as this little ditty popped up in my Facebook feed, I am reminded of how much my art changed when I came back from France and Giverny.  Monet's splendid home set this floral fanaticism off.  Here is one that I did, simply enjoying the process, and was actually very pleased with the result.  Even the little bee seemed to enjoy it!  As I have problems with bee stings, normally I do a crazy dance and run performance when I see bees, but on this day, I was so relaxed from the art, I calmly let him stay while I took the photo!

Hello Lovlies!
   

It's been a long strange trip since my last posting!
Mike and I have moved away from the farm, first to an apartment for a year, now finally into our condo!  We love the new community we are in, and have made many new friends and neighbors.

I have had a couple shoulder procedures and Mike has had a couple of feet procedures.  We have both had tons of acupuncture and Dr.'s trips.  I've had shingles several times and Bell's Palsey 3 times.  I haven't been able to see well enough to drive for over a year.

But we are one the other side of it now, and have survived 2 moves.  It's been 3 months and we are still digging out of boxes, but life is speeding up.  I have many teaching appointments coming up, and Mike has had 2 promotions and is working many many hours to get his new department up to speed.

We are extremely grateful to My Mom and Dad, and many of our friends who have been there to help us through the tough days and the down days.  The calls and visits and friendships helped keep us sane.

Health is better, and hooray, I have begun to drive a little, and Mike is beginning to get changes for the better at work.

I still won't be on here regularly for a while, as this is what I face in the studio.  When you work from home it is like moving a home and a company all at one time.

But I will be back!  I am excited to be teaching very close to home on a regular basis and in between unpacking I am developing new workshops!  So when the studio is rebuilt, I plan on jumping back into the regular local workshops too.

Here is a sneak peek of a messy practice project I did lately that I will be sharing because I enjoyed it so much!

Game Night

In keeping with the whole "don't wait- do it now" theme, some friends and Mike and I have committed to spending one night a month getting together for a home-cooked meal and games.  When Mike and I built our home, we had in mind dreams of entertaining and hosting friends and family.  We are thrilled to have it happen more often, starting this Friday.  Thought it would be fun to share a recipe each month with all of you, who I hope are finding more time to spend with your family and loved ones.



I am in the midst of menu planning for the kick-off!  So far, I am thinking:

Appetizers
Cantaloupe
Deep Fried Tortellini
Tomatoes Provençal                      

Main Course
Italian Salad
Steamed Broccoli
Chicken Parmesan
Garlic Bread

Dessert 
Cheesecake Truffles

We received an Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas, and I can't tell you how much I looooove it!  I just read out the ingredients needed and tell Alexa (the dot) to add it to my grocery list!  She does, and then she sends the list to my cell phone so I have it with me at the grocery.  I also have a to- do list for making the dinner, and she will set all the timers for me.  She even has dinner music to play that night!  I am so happy about this new little hockey puck that sits on my kitchen counter!

Here is my version of Tomatoes Provençal (keep in mind I don't have an nth of Italian or French ancestry!)

I like these as little bite sized flavor pops.  Instead of the traditional plum or larger tomatoes, I like to use cherry tomatoes. 

Mix the following 4 ingredients:

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

1 clove garlic , minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground lemon pepper

24 cherry tomatoes , halved

1/4 cup coarse fresh breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, combine parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Place tomatoes, cut side up, in a large baking dish; sprinkle tops evenly with parsley mixture. Sprinkle bread crumbs over tomatoes; drizzle with oil.

Bake tomatoes until tender, about 18-20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to broil. Broil tomatoes, 4 inches from heat, until topping is golden and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. 

I hope you enjoy!

*2017*

Happy New Year!

Last year, I spent quite a bit of time soul searching, and re-focusing exactly where I want to go in my art life.

I have made up a word that I will use to guide me this year-  "Doosit"  Do/Use It.

The last two years have been quite difficult for me, at times I wasn't sure I would make it.  But good friends,  precious family and loved ones helped pull me through.  They also helped me to see about myself that I had been so battered down for the last couple years, that I allowed fear to take control of me.  The fear of being imperfect, and if I wasn't perfect, what people would say, or who I would let down.  So fearful that I found myself not doing things until I could get everything just perfect.  

Now as an instructor, I see this all the time in my students, where they are afraid to take the next step with their paintings.  My training and education give me the confidence of how to help them, because I know what will happen when they move forward.  But in my life, I don't have a vast amount of knowledge about the future, so I was hesitant.  I have many many things I am working on, but always there was something just not right, and many times it was blocking my path.  I was questioning myself so, that I didn't trust my instincts, and rather than attempt something and fail, and possibly end up in a worse position, I was hesitating. So no more!!!  No more saving a project for a better time, no more saving an idea for a more relevant project.

I have found that my PASSION lies with sharing art with others.  So more teaching is definitely in the future.  I also have realized that yes- I enjoy doing the art videos, and financially they are important, but I LOVE teaching in person.  While I will travel to some of my very favorite places to teach this year, I am also taking a very big step.  I will be opening my studio to the public this year and teaching monthly workshops here.  I will be able to offer wonderfully affordable workshops, as my travel, shipping and time costs will be eliminated!  As an added benefit, I will be using all the supplies that are stored up, taking space in the studio, waiting for a future workshops.  I am no longer waiting for venues, students who come to my workshops will find the supplies waiting for them here!  I will get to take back some of my storage space!  I know it will be fun and successful, because just making the decision made my heart feel lighter!    In truth, this is not a New Years resolution, as I made these decisions a while ago.  It just seemed like the perfect time to announce a fresh new direction.

On the Workshops tab above, you will be able to find my current schedule for 2017.  I am adding to it all the time.  If you would like a private workshop for yourself and friends, please send me an email.  I have more than 60 workshops developed in various different media fields, and would love to share them with you.  

Saturday January 28, Kari's Studio  Orient, Ohio
Mixed Media "Valentine Canvas Workshop"
ALL Supplies included!
10 am- 3 pm  Delicious homemade lunch included!
45$

Tuesday February 7, Kari's Studio  Orient, Ohio
Mixed Media "Heart Bubble Wand/Plant Pick workshop"

Saturday March 4, Kari's Studio  Orient, Ohio
Mixed Media "Bunny Bottles workshop"

Shoot me an email at [email protected] to reserve your place in the workshops at my studio.  They will be kept small and more intimate, for a boutique level quality experience.  Oh- and did I mention, a healthy, delicious, homemade luncheon to rival any top shelf tea room will be included in the price of any day workshops?  More details, descriptions and hours coming soon!

 

I'm REALLY EXCITED to visit EPHEMERA in Paducah KY in March!  
Just the thing to bust cabin fever! Won't you come join me in all the fun?

Friday March 17,   Ephemera   Paducah, KY
Mixed Media "Happy Bird Sings Journal"

Saturday March 18,  Ephemera   Paducah, KY
Mixed Media "Animal Crackles Paintings"

Sunday March 19,   Ephemera  Paducah, KY
Mixed Media "LetterPalooza"

https://www.ephemerapaducah.com/events/mixed-media-melange-kari-mcknight-holbrook/