Kaia Thomas - A path with ART

So I finally put together a Plein Air Paintings section in my Etsy shop and now have some available pieces! I will continue to add work but for now this is what's available... "Rustic Barn" 9" x 12" oil on linen board $150.00   purchase here "San Jose de Gracia" 12" x 9" oil on linen board  $150.00 purchase here "Morning Light" 9" x 12" oil on linen board $150.00 purchase here

   I decided to document this latest still life painting from beginning to end. I was trying out this newly discovered style - a much looser, "get the paint on there", kind of style.       F or much of my artistic life, you probably could of called me a "Miss Meticulous" type of painter. I loved to spend hours on one spot and often leaned towards painting fine detail type stuff (cultural designs, mandalas). There has been a shift in me lately where I have learned to let go and just paint! I truly believe that this has been my missing link, mainly with my oil painting.    T his past workshop that I took is where I discovered this new style and ever since then, my painting style has become looser and more expressive. So, here we go...    I n the beginning I chose not to draw out my idea first, I usually would use charcoal or pencil or even a sketch with paint - this was about a three minute, throw some "thin"paint on there, ...

So I have just returned from a week in Taos, New Mexico where I attended a workshop with artist J. Chris Morel.  The weather stayed perfect for us even though the weather report had us concerned. It stayed absolutely beautiful the whole time! This was my second time taking Chris's workshop and I got even more out of it this time around. His workshop is so much fun! We got to paint at some great locations like the San Jose de Gracia church... and here is my painting from that location...  9" x 12" oil We spent all of the second day at a beautiful ranch outside Llano de San Juan that belonged to a friend of Chris's. We painted amongst horses, goats, sheep, dogs, cats and there were several old inspiring structures as well which I chose to focus on... here is my painting that came from that experience... 9" x 12" oil The last day of painting was hard. By this time everyone is reaching their exhaustion point. I wasn't very happy with what I pai...

So I finally found some time to dust off the plein air equipment and get out to paint! It's actually been so long that I am embarrassed to say. The kick in the butt is my upcoming workshop with Chris Morel and not wanting to show up to paint too rusty. As usual, it was an adventure...it was a pleasant, first cool day in 3 months and all seemed to be going well...We went to a favorite spot of mine that I've known about for many years and it's just loaded with magical beauty. Unfortunately it's also a favorite spot shooters...I was about an hour and half into my painting when the gun shots started. The shots would make me jump and added some unwanted brush strokes to my painting. I tried to endure but soon became very uneasy about ricochet bullets. So I had to put an end to the painting... We went to another area away from the flying bullets but by then the day was nearly spent... So I spent the rest of my time taking photos of the beauty... All in ...

I realize it has been way too long since my last post. Life has gone and got crazy busy again...busy is getting to be a more frequent occurrence these days and time is beginning to be a precious commodity... I recently completed two mandalas - "Renewel" is an 8" x 10" acrylic painting (shown above) and "Vibrancy" is a miniature 2.5" x 3.5" ACEO acrylic painting (see below) and both are available for purchase in my Etsy shop .  These were painted in a different way then I usually do. I disciplined myself to only two colors (minus the black) and after laying out the mandala drawing, what I would normally do is find particular patterns that I wished to emphasize with certain colors and sometimes painting over lines in the process. With these mandalas, I tried something different, where I kept every line and painting with the rule - no one color could touch itself...so it was like - purple, green, purple, green, that sort of thing. I found...

"Lil' Bit" original ACEO 2.5" x 3.5" acrylic on matboard  Here is the next cat painting in the series...this is Lil' Bit who belongs to a good friend and collector. She is normally a very shy kitty and on occasion she will let you get close. It was such the occasion that I managed to get the photo I used for reference here:) I am noticing a natural tendency to slightly exaggerate the size of the eyes when I paint. I don't want to overdo it though...but I like being struck by the cat eyes first and then move around the rest of painting.   This art card is currently available in my Etsy Shop .

"Luna with Purple"  2.5" x 3.5" Acrylic on Acid Free Matboard So after completing the last cat painting, I made a decision to keep going and do a series of cat portraits. This new one is actually my kitty, Luna. This ACEO painting is now available in my Etsy Shop.

  "Two Face" 8" x 10" acrylic on canvas I did this study of Two Face, a friends cat, a few days ago. Two Face not only has a gorgeous face, but a wonderful personality to match. I ended up gifting it to her yesterday which, given the response, was the right thing to do:) I think this has inspired me to try some more cat portraits. I am a cat lover and am always taking photos of them so I have tons of reference. FACEBOOK COUPON CODE I would also like to tell you about an exclusive coupon offer for my FACEBOOK fans. From now until July 15th, I am offering my fans 10% off their order in my Etsy Shop. All you need to do is become a fan of my page ( if you aren't already) and send me a message that you are interested. I'll give you the code and you use it in the provided box during checkout. Click HERE to visit my shop .

"Source of Joy" 2.5" x 3.5" Original watercolor,acrylic,pen and ink ACEO I have discovered, the last few days, how much I enjoy watercolors. I so often grab for the acrylics before I do watercolor but I had an inspiration to use them together on "Source of Joy"(above). I enjoyed how this piece turned out so I used the same design concept and created "Blue Butterfly" which is available in my Etsy Shop "Blue Butterfly" 2.5 x 3.5" Original watercolor and acrylic ACEO Click Here!

Every morning while watering the sunflowers, I find myself getting captured by the backlit glow of the petals. I finally had enough brains to bring my watercolor sketch stuff with me this morning and gave an attempt at capturing it. I also tried to capture this lighting with the camera to save for reference and although the pictures are nice, they don't quite capture that glow... "en plein air" it is!!

It's growing awesome!! These pictures were taken a few days ago in our garden - the sunflowers are starting to bloom and it's stunning. This will be our 20th year of gardening here and it has been amazing season so far. In general, gardening in the desert is extreme and there is a constant struggle against the elements and critters...but this year is being kind and the plants are flourishing. This is also one of the reasons I have not posted in so long, lol, I had to trade computer time for garden time. I hope everyone is doing well out there...these have been some rough times lately. Sending out some positive vibes to all♥♥♥

Walt Whitman is probably my favorite poet - certainly a favorite life teacher! His words have straightened me out more than once. I did this drawing a few days ago of Walt - I was happy with how it turned out and wanted to share it with you all. Here is an excerpt from Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road". Enjoy! Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose. Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune, Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms, Strong and content I travel the open road...       ~Walt Whitman                                                           

  "Heart Blossom" original ACEO pen and ink Etsy shop For whatever the reason, I have found myself exploring a style of drawing that I used to do a long time ago. My start onto the creative path began in pen and ink drawings. As a young person I would spend hours drawing flowers or animals. I would draw a simple shape on that intimidating blank piece of paper and it would unfold amazing and fantastical creatures and flowers. There is a freedom in youth, that often gets snuffed out with age. I worry, stress and plan now. I stared at that blank ACEO yesterday and remembered how it used to be and this flower emerged - it filled me with joy to feel that freedom again. No ideas, no planning just pure creation. I suppose you could call it doodling, although doodling implies your attention is elsewhere. I guess maybe attentive doodling it could be called. I would prefer not to call it anything really...

I remember a few years back someone asking me what my Chinese Zodiac sign was. I had no clue. I could remember those silly place mats at the Chinese restaurant with all the zodiac animals on it but I never paid any attention to it. However, after being asked this, I did eventually google it one night and to my surprise, found a fascinating world to explore. I learned I was a Rat - the first sign of the zodiac and I discovered, after looking up different friends and family members, that it was amazingly accurate! Wikipedia's chart has some good basic info on your sign, if you want to find out for yourself. So, this Chinese New Year, which begins February 3rd, is the year of the metal Rabbit. I have read a lot on the forecast of this upcoming year. It appears that traditionally, the Year of the Rabbit is known to be a calm period, a time for home and family, creative pursuits, creature comforts, that sort of thing. The Rabbit is the luckiest of the signs, so it is expected t...

Ok, so who the heck hit the fast forward button on 2010?? Or the past few years for that matter... I am finding it harder and harder to complete everything in a day - simple things even. This has been the case and getting worse for some time. I think the area of my life that has been hardest hit is in the creation of artwork. This constant feeling of having to race to get stuff done causes a great fatigue which is not conducive to inspiration at all! The creative expression process turns into any other job, which in my book is no good. There are many discussions out there on the subject of time speeding up - a lot of them are related to 2012. The latest doom date to look forward to:) Or enlightening date to look forward to, depending on who you talk to. How I look at it, date or no date, what needs to be done in our lives is still the same. We all have this rather short opportunity here on this planet to experience life, find joy, learn what it means to be this human being and so on....

So I received a special order for a gourd birdhouse before the holidays - it was intended to be a Christmas gift. It was one of three birdhouse commissions I received at the same time! They are a lot of fun to make and I continue to expand the creative possibilities with each one!  This one was actually inspired by a new found love - Moroccan folk art! I love discovering new cultural designs and I'm amazed that I had not stumbled upon their art before. Here I have a step by step look at the making of the birdhouse - although I was told I should call them birdpalaces:) Here was the start - cleaned and holes drilled ready for painting.... I did a quick sketch to work out the general idea...the actual design changed along the way. Drawing in the front design... Front design painted! Drawing in the rest of the design... Body design nearly completed... Ta da!! We have a birdhouse! As my friend said " That's one lucky bird." :)) Hope you enj...