Kim Radatz in “BRAVA: A Collective Exhibition of Seven Women Artists”

The Studio @620 hosts an exhibition of works by seven women artists during Women’s History Month. This exhibition organized by Gallery Curator and artist Kenny Jenson features work from the members of this collective: Chalet Comellas, Candace Knapp, Phyllis McEwen, Joanna Karpay, Carolina Cleere, Lyla Haggard, and  Kim Radatz.

The works presented range from paintings to textiles, sculpture, photography, video, and installations. The artworks are as varied as the individuals in the group. The common theme is one of support, community and creative growth shared among women artists.

Radatz will be exhibiting the work featured above, a mixed media installation of buckets made from encaustic medium and thread, in addition to three piece made from repurposed and vintage clothing.  All of Radatz’s  work deals relationships and the emotions that stem from them. 

There will be an Artists’ Talk during the closing reception, Sat. April 2 from 5-9.

March 12-April 2, 2016

Gallery hours by appointment, call 727-895-6620

Opening Reception Sat. March 12 / 5:00-9:00 PM

Closing Reception with Artists’ Talk Sat. April 2 / 5-9 PM

620 First Avenue South

St. Petersburg, FL 33701

The Studio@620

The Gift of a Residency

That’s what I did this weekend; I gave myself the gift of a residency.

Nope, I didn’t apply for anything, or get any funding.  I gave this time to myself.

I am fortunate enough to have carte blanche access to a condo in Daytona Beach, Florida that over looks the Intercoastal Waterway.  For a salt loving, ocean loving person this is pure heaven.

But I seldom go.

It’s too difficult most of the time to just go.  Life gets in the way.

But this past weekend I did it.  And, boy am I glad I did.

I wasn’t making work, rather working on the business of art.

Not as much fun as making art, but very enlightening and worth the effort.  We artists really need to know the why’s of doing this crazy thing called art.

I won’t be so bold as to say I did all that I set out to do, but I accomplished a lot and I hope to do it again in the future.  It is a necessary part of being an artist.

My only wish would be to have the opportunity to do it with like minded artists, too.  This past weekend was for solitude, but having a sisterhood from afar to share ideas with, well, that would be fantastic.  And I hope someday that wish comes true.

But now it is Monday.  I am refreshed and ready to face the world.

I hope you are too.

May you have a creative day!

Little White Lies

I took the Encaustic class at Penland School of Crafts that I mentioned in an earlier post a year ago knowing I wanted to work 3 dimensionally, but it took me this long to finally get a piece done.

Sometimes work just has to percolate for a while.

And the main piece that has been brewing and stewing all along is Little White Lies.  It took me that long to bring it fruition because I struggled with what I wanted.  I am a big proponent of working in tandem with each piece, but I need to have some aspects in mind before starting or I could flail around wasting time.

Some of the issues I struggled with were:

• Should I have a wheel or not?  At first I thought the piece should be that literal.  But as I struggled through one wheel after the next, each looking just like a wheel that Fred Flinstone might have on his car, I started to reconsider.  The wheel barrow was stopped in its tracks, after all, so why have a wheel.
• What should I fill it with, if anything?  One thing I wanted to use were the little fortune tellers from my childhood, and something I use repeatedly in my work.  At this point I had thought the entire piece should be a pale pink for a sense of innocence, but the little voice in my head kept telling me, "no" to both.
• I landed on just using text to fill the bucket part.  So, what should the text look like?  How much text should there be? And what should be made of?

I decided to keep it pale white with a gray wash to highlight parts of it, and to use large flat text that is attached to the bucket with just a little overflowing out of it.

Here is an image of it in progress:

Kim Radatz
Little White Lies, 2013

And a detail near the completion:

Kim Radatz
Little White Lies, detail, 2013

Better photos to follow, just a quick peek for now.

What do you think?  Any input would be greatly appreciated!

May your day be a creative one!

Kim

One Year, One Month, One Day

That is exactly the amount of time that has passed since I last blogged.

Mercy me.

It wasn’t an intentional choice to stop, it just happened.

First, I went to Penland School of Crafts for an encaustic class.  Which was FABULOUS, by the way.  I learned lots and met a wonderful group of artists.  Hands down one of the best experiences that I have had taking a workshop.  (Below are a few pieces I made during the workshop.)

And then one thing led to another, and then another, and I got out of the habit of blogging.

I toyed with different blog post ideas from time to time, but they never made it past the idea stage.

But, here I am back again.

I’d like to think I’ll make it a regular habit, but in the past year I have also tried to let go of the many “shoulds” in my life, so I’m not going to force myself into a “one size fits all model.”  Instead, I’ll shoot towards once a week and hope for the best.

I do have much to share and much to learn from you, so I look forward to reconnecting again.

Until the next time, may your days be filled with lots of creativity.

Artfully,

Kim

Encaustic work done at Penland 2012
Kim Radatz

Encaustic work done at Penland 2012
Kim Radatz

Letting Go, Orange
Kim Radatz

Letting Go, Green
Kim Radatz 

Polka Dot House
Kim Radatz

You Say
Kim Radatz

Seeking North
Kim Radatz

Me and Tink

Sometimes a piece will make itself. I’ll get an idea and bam, it all falls together seamlessly. No laboring. No redoing. No tinkering.

But at other times, ugh, work, rework, think about it, and tinker with it.

Usually I’ll do the required dance to bring the piece to fruition. Tinker here. Tweak there. And then, wah-lah, it’s done.

Other times I have to call it quits on the idea. And that’s okay. Frustrating, but part of the process.

Currently, I have been tinkering on a piece for almost a year. A year! Not consistently, but it sits in my studio and I often ponder how I can see it through to completion.

See it completed I do. Knowing how to accomplish that, I don’t.

Maybe now would be the times to wish for a deadline.  Possibly that would force me to figure it out.  Or call it quits.

No, I don't think so.  There is something about this installation that I feel the need to see.  So I’ll keep tweaking here and there and eventually I’ll figure out what to do.

Tweaking, tinkering, all the same, methinks.

If only I had her wings too. :)

May your day be a magical one!

Thinking about Absolutes and Wondering Which Camp You Are In



Image from the Internet



There aren’t many absolutes in my world.

No blacks or whites.

Too many wonderful middle greys in between to put me squarely in one camp or the other.

But a week ago today I found myself rethinking this philosophy. Maybe I do have some absolutes after all.

My step-son, Brian Radatz of The Ride Factory in Ybor City, won best in his class in a prestigious motorcycle show.

His class was Radical. Even if you aren’t a motorcycle enthusiast it is easy to imagine this would be a large and difficult class to win.

Yet win he did. On his very first time out of the gate.

Hmm, why did this Cinderella story come true for Brian? And why am I blogging about it on an art blog?

Because, you see, motorcycle shows are no different than art shows, it is just the objects that are different.

No matter what the object is, no matter where the object is made, say in a house or in a garage. Objects they are. Make we do.

And when we choose to put these objects up for review by our peers, we are allowing them to say which object they think is the best.

Judges are just like the rest of us; each of us has a preference. Some of us prefer fine craftsmanship.  Every piece meticulously crafted and put together. While others’ prefer a message.  Something that speaks to our heart and soul. And sometimes it’s a combination of the two, though it is my belief that we lean closer to one way or the other. Content or Craftsmanship.

Which makes it our camp.

I’m not saying either one is better, just that we have our tendencies, and it’s good to know our preference so we can fine tune that part of our work.

Brian’s bike was in no way better built than the other motorcycles. Not high tech either. But he had a concept and he followed that concept all the way through. And the judges saw what he was doing and liked it.  (And I am thrilled they did!)

The stars aligned for Brian this time.

I hope he understands that the next time the judges might walk right past him with nary a look. And I hope too that he doesn’t take it personally. He can’t, because it isn’t personal. It’s not about his work so much as it is about the judges’ opinion.

He needs to have clarity in his vision and follow it through, no matter what anybody else says.

And that goes for any type of show we enter.

So, no matter what you make, and no matter what camp you are in, I hope you knock ‘em dead the next time you show. And if not, well, we all know that you did your best.

Happy creating to you!

What is it You Want?

In It’s a Wonderful Life, George asks Mary, “What is it you want, Mary? What do you want?”

The question bears repeating in real life as well.

What is it you want?

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I love having targets to shoot at. But sometimes I loose site of those targets and things get a bit muddled up.

What to do, what to do?

Get back on track by identifying what my target is. Often times this requires some fine tuning and/or adjusting as life changes. But that’s okay, because I am reaffirming the target(s) at the same time.

But what if you don’t know what you want?

According to Jennifer Grisham of Everyday Bright, “One of the most undervalued commodities in our society is clarity.”

Really? Interesting thought. And one well worth the trouble of fixing. Because as we have discussed before, you can’t aim at something if you don't have a target.  Which means lots of bullets could be flying about willy-nilly and accomplishing very little.

Just putting pen to paper is a huge step towards identifying and understanding what you want. But if you need more help, I’d highly recommend Jen’s blog post on the subject as she has some great tips to share.

Until the next time, may you have creativity and clarity in your day!