A Month of Catching Up

It's coming up on a month since I last wrote anything. That's not completely accurate since I did write an entire post but I deleted it instead of posting it. I decided I didn't want that post on here.

So here's what's been happening. I've had several art shows and all that that entails. The making of work, taking photos of work, pricing my work, packing and then loading it into my car, then unloading and setting up my booth, taking down and repacking my work, then unloading the car once I get home. I've done that seven weeks in a row now and I have one more show this summer on Saturday. After that I have my three day Renaissance faire in September and at least one Christmas show in November, plus any open studios I do. I have won two ribbons this summer so far and I'm very excited about that!

Minocqua Island Art Walk

Three Lakes Art on Main

I haven't needed to make any pottery the last couple of weeks, I will be making some after the show this week, but instead I have been crocheting. I need to get some Kritters made, they seem to be pretty popular and I finally picked up the yarn to work on my temperature afghan again. I made it to July 28th before I ran out of another color and now have to take another trip to buy yarn. Considering I was stuck somewhere back in May, July 28th is pretty caught up, at least for now.

I ran out of orange about 10 inches from the end of the row.

I also took some work to a friend's store, Stamp, Paper, Scissors in Minocqua by WalMart/Trig's. She has a little of my pottery, scarves, Kritters, paintings and cards. So a little of Katlyn Koester Designs and a little of Katlyn's Bohemian Designs. If you need some of my work you can check it out there. (I also have some of my old style pottery at Chocolates and More in the boardwalk shops by Save More, Kritters and sweater monsters in the Three Lakes Center for the Arts, and as always a selection of old and new style pottery and Kritters at Artistree Gallery in Land O' Lakes.)

My display at Stamp, Paper, Scissors

Along with all the shows and art I actually had a little time to be social this month. I spent a couple days hanging out with some family that came to visit, went to a friend's birthday party and made new friends, went blueberry picking with my family and went for a hike with a friend. In essence that amount of socializing is what I usually do in a couple months and I had all of that in about 10 days.

Now the end of summer is near and isn't that odd? Where did it go this year? I feel like just a couple weeks ago I was hiking the Ice Age Trail. You can read about that adventure here: Day 1-2, Day 3-4, Day 5-6. Of course a lot has happened this summer, some good, some not so good. But you can't stop time no matter how much you want to, just have to take notes, pictures, and enjoy it while it happens. And the more you enjoy it, the more it stays with you.

Dragonflies

Do you believe in signs from guardian angels, spirits, your creative genius, or whoever or what ever you believe is watching out for you? Do you know what to look for? Some people have a personal symbol, something they identify with. I always look for feathers when I'm out walking, but beyond that I haven't noticed any real significant signs.

Until a couple weeks ago.

My dragonfly painting.

When I started my painting for Katlyn's Bohemian Designs, one of my favorite images was a dragonfly, I hoped I'd be able to use it for my new business cards. Then a potter I follow on Facebook posted an image of a small platter she had made with a labyrinth, a symbol of walking or finding your path, surrounded by dragonflies. And she described dragonflies as "bringing positive transformation" and being associated with "courage, strength and happiness." That struck a chord with me as that was/is what I am hoping for with my new work.

A dragonfly pocket stone.

Then there was mention of a dragonfly in the book I was reading, and an over sized dragonfly balloon at the grocery store. One of the other pages I follow on Facebook posted a dragonfly inspired basket. I also found a little dragonfly pocket stone I had made a while back and just tossed in a dish and the dragon whistle I had decided to keep in my personal collection has dragonfly wings.

My "dragonfly" whistle.

Last week I went to a friends house to pick up some art and craft supplies she thought I might like and there sitting on top of them was a little box stamped with a dragonfly. I told her the whole story about seeing dragonflies everywhere and how I was hoping they were trying to tell me I was on the right path with my new art. When I got home I opened my "suggested pins" on Pinterest and two of them were dragonflies. Up to that point, I hadn't looked at anything dragonfly related. Now I keep getting dragonflies there too.

The little box that was "right there" on top of the art supplies.

I always considered the butterfly my personal symbol. But maybe it is time for a change there as well. Whoever or whatever is sending me these dragonflies, I hope they are looking out for me. They are telling me it is time to adapt, change, transform. Which is what I have been doing with my art, I hope, maybe I really am going the right way with my work. Time will tell, but I do believe there will be more dragonflies in my artwork.

I painted this little stone after seeing so many dragonflies.

Katlyn's Bohemian Designs

My new Facebook page has gone "live." I've decided after much mind changing to call this new venture "Katlyn's Bohemian Designs." In any art path I take, I've not been able to keep my focus on one medium. I started in pottery and branched into crochet and now with this new business branching off of Katlyn Koester Designs, I'm expanding on the crochet and adding painting and beading. And maybe some other things, I don't know yet, but everything will have a more bohemian and gypsy vibe.

To me that means pattern, color and texture. Bright bold paintings. Vibrant and/or luxurious crochet. Fun, a little funky, and little additions that make each thing just that much more unique.

I realized after unpacking my pottery this spring to set up for open studios, (which I am now in the midst of doing each day I am home) that the patterns I've been painting on my pottery have started going that way too. So all of my work is becoming bright, bold, fun, and hopefully worthy of the gypsies. I can picture many of my items being right at home in a gypsy wagon. And I can't even count the number of times I have wished to take a caravan and go exploring like a gypsy and just sell my art along the way. Just one of those fantasies that sounds very appealing when the winter snows start to cause cabin fever.

I still hope to get my Etsy shop up and running, but each time I look at it again I get frustrated by the steps I have yet to take to make it look professional and work as a store. For right now, my work can be viewed and bought on my Facebook page as I get it posted. I hope to have greeting cards before June. The printers have some of my paintings right now to turn into cards, so I will have those soon and I'm pretty excited about that. I also discussed with a friend some other options of things I could do with my new work, but that's still down the road a little bit.

Ramblings

I started writing a post this morning and realized I was just trying to fill up space without really saying anything. I'm not quite ready to share my new plans in full so here's what's up.

My first four months of my temperature afghan. I'm marking
family birthdays with special rows, and up toward the top you can
see the orange rows where we've had two days of 70 degree weather.
Immediately followed by 30 degree days.

This week has been quiet. I have spent a lot of time painting and crocheting. I have thought a lot about some options and things I am working on, but it is all still pretty new, so I'm not sharing it with the world just yet.

Some of our daffodils that got 3 inches of snow dropped on them.
And then rain, and wind, and some blazing sun. Briefly.

And it is being a fairly typical northwoods Wisconsin spring. Meaning the weather is trying to fit winter, spring, summer and a little fall into one week, sometimes into one day.

Are You Happy?

I can honestly say that I have not been happy. Sure, I've had moments of joy, excitement, fulfillment, satisfaction, interest, but to be truly happy, to be in "a state of well-being and contentment" (definition, Merriam Webster), I don't think I have. Some people will argue that to have joy or those other emotions is to be happy.

I think "happy" is a deeper, more true emotion. You can be simply happy, or deep-down-in-the-gut happy. It is a glowing contentment (see I'm using the definition to describe happy because there is no other way to do so.) And that's been the problem for me, I haven't been content. Not with my life, my job, my goals or ambitions, my accomplishments (which there haven't been many in my way of thinking. Or is it society's view?)

In fact my subconscious, my soul, my inner voice have been trying to convey that point to me even in sleep. All the dreams I have remembered, written down and then interpreted the meaning of, have included signs and symbols of a discontent life. Hiding emotions, being stuck, running away, fear, embarrassment, avoiding issues, etc. And I haven't woken from any of those dreams feeling good about it.

Until last night. Last night's dream included symbols for peace of mind; renewal and new beginnings; rest, relaxation, clearing of the mind; foundation, stability, and sense of understanding; mobility, independence, and freedom; taking a step in the right direction; wanting to reconnect (old hobby, talent, or interest); being too hard on yourself; freely expressing femininity; love, joy, sweetness, happiness, affection and kindness; getting back to your roots. Plus in the dream I was content, I felt peaceful. I woke up feeling calm.

Something I am currently doing or thinking about has led me and my inner me to feel good. I am focusing on bringing more mystical things into my life. (As many times as I have linked back to this post, I probably could have figured this out sooner had I been paying attention.) Maybe I need the energy from meditation, lighting candles, and crystals. Maybe that is who I am really and I have been trying too hard to fit into society's idea of a person, or business person. I've been trying to fit the mold, as much as an artist can since artists tend to be on the outskirts of the "norm" anyway, but maybe focusing on some new paintings, a new style, new imagery and new ideas (all from a part of my interests in childhood), has finally allowed me to find "happy." I know I am enjoying what I've been working on and the business plans I have been forming in my head are certainly entertaining. Watch for new comings in my art, maybe I've figured out what it takes for me to be ME.

 And then when I went outside this morning, one of the first things I found was a feather. It was grey, black and white side up, but I haven't found a meaning for three colors so... Black and white feathers represent protection or the sense of union. Grey and white feathers symbolize hope. Grey is peace and neutrality, peace within, wisdom, a nudge that you are on the right track, authenticity, and flexibility. I was starting to compose this post in my head when I found it.

Post Hike

I've been home almost a week now. I had my posts set on a delay for my own safety. Unless I can know exactly who is reading my blog there is no guarantee that everyone has good intentions for me. And so I've been posting a few days behind where I actually was on the trail.

A collage of my first day, the river was the view from my first campsite,
the tent obviously my first site, and the flowers I saw all over the trail that day.

Since being at home I've been angry, frustrated, sad, confused and several more emotions in regards to my hike and the rather abrupt end of it. The whole trip was not what I expected. Nothing in my life really ever is what I expect. I was going to spend the hike trying to figure out what is next for me. I was using it as a break from the frustration I have felt in my life and as a time to maybe spend a little less time worrying about everything. Being away from home meant I only had to worry about more primal matters. Staying safe, dry, healthy, eating, setting up my shelter. There was no income or expenses, I had taken care of that before I left or my mom was going to be mailing out some things. There was no immediate concerns about my profession or personal relationships.

No painting the second day, it was raining and windy. This was from a bench
overlooking a marshy area the third day. An otter ran through while I was painting.

It was peaceful, or as peaceful as I could get when I spent a lot, ok, most of my time swearing at hills that I'm sure they routed the trail over because it was a glacial feature, or swearing at the adverse weather of which I had plenty, or wondering about my poor choices in life of which I have made plenty. There were a couple days I didn't even bother with painting and I left my journal stashed most of the time because I knew what I wrote would have been the same as it was the last dozen times I took it out.

The sunrise at Moh's Mountain the fourth day. I spent some extra time trying
to get warm that morning and hoped my tent would dry out before I packed up.

I'm still using this time as "free-time." I got enough done before I left that I don't need to worry about getting pottery done. I'm still using this time as thinking time and since I am home I am using it to focus on projects that I thought for sure would never get finished because they are extra things that I don't have to do. I'm also using it as time to relax. I certainly won't use the next two months that way, but at least I can take another week or two, until the end of April, to see if anything comes to mind as to where I need to be heading with my life.

Painted this at the home of the chapter coordinator. I had seen three giant
white pines and three interesting feathers that were the inspiration for this one.
I was hoping the feathers would be messages from the spirits while I hiked, but
never stopped to figure out what each one meant at that particular moment.

I actually spent one afternoon (maybe an hour) meditating. I lit some candles, closed my curtains, grabbed a few of my crystals and repeated to myself What do I need? What do I need? like a mantra. It's amazing what comes into your head and what you experience when you have no outside influence, when you are completely relaxed and focused on one thing. I'm not going to tell you what popped into my head, I don't know if it something my head, heart or soul needs or if it something that I want. Maybe what I want is what I need, but either way it is mine, and I don't know if I will act on it, or even how to act on it. Maybe I'll try meditating again and see if the same ideas come to me, but in the meantime I thought I'd share the paintings I did while hiking or that were inspired by things I saw.

There was some interesting mushrooms, no idea what kind, but I immediately
saw purple, blue and gray when I first saw them and that is how they ended up in my painting.

Pack Weight

This pile of gear is what I will be taking with me on my hike. Somewhere in this pile is my tent, sleeping gear, camp kitchen, clothing, toilet supplies, first aid, personal items and tech items. Not everything is in this picture, I still want to find some lightweight shirts, and my bathroom items (soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, contact supplies and glasses, medications and vitamins are all absent), and some of these things will be cut out or minimized. In my first aid kit I have a whole tube of anti-bacterial ointment, I will be transferring a small amount to another container, and my camera case is not coming, it is just representing the camera I used to take the picture.

And obviously the scale is not coming. However, I did use the scale to weigh each item, or collection of items, (I counted my tent, footprint, rain fly, poles and stakes as one item) and then entered these numbers into a chart to see what my current estimated pack weight is. (Estimated because my water containers are not filled and I don't have my food prepared.)

Right now, without a couple items I've forgotten and without those few items minimized, I am at 42.5 pounds. It is a little on the heavy side, but since I am essentially hauling my entire life on my back for two months, I'm proud that I've kept it where it is.

Some items, like my purple fleece or my awesome new bright blue hat that I got at the Hiker Box in Eagle River, also where I got my backpack, (go see them, they know what they are talking about when it comes to backpacking) don't really need to be counted in the weight since anything you will wear daily doesn't add to pack weight, but I put these in there because I don't think I will be wearing them every day. I didn't count my pants, shoes, or trekking poles.

Item	Weight pounds	Ounces
Backpack	3	15.6
Tent (footprint, fly, stakes, poles)	2	13.2
Sleeping bag (compression strap)	3	3.8
Sleeping pad (bag)	1
Water bladder (empty)		9.7
water bottle (empty		1.3
Water filter		15.1
Kitchen (fuel, stove, pot, spoon, bag)	1	10.2
extra fuel canisters (each)		13
poncho		11.4
Bear Bag rope		7.3
Food bag		2.4
first aid		4.9
Pocket knife		2.7
Additional first aid		2.5
Bandana (2)		2.2
Towel		2.5
Head Lamp		3.3
Carabiners and clips		3.3
Bag		1
Cup		5.1
Toilet paper (w/ shovel, bags)		8.6

I have seen more organized charts, but I simply listed items as they came out of my pack or as I thought of them. No rhyme or reason to the order.

There are some items I know people will be looking at going why is she taking that? One such item is what appears to be a box of screws in the bottom right corner. That good critics is my art box, I plan on doing some painting while out hiking and so I will be taking a pencil, drawing pen, watercolors and brush(es) with. I also have my sketchbook and journal there. That little stack of items weighs 1 pound 5.4 ounces, but I couldn't get rid of it even if I was trying to reduce pack weight. I am not taking anything else to keep my mind occupied or to relax at the end of the day and I wish to record my hike by writing, drawing and painting. And I seriously doubt my ability to go two months without doing anything creative or artful. That little box contains everything I need to create mini watercolor paintings, including water.

Today I also went through the whole hike again to work out some shorter distances for resupply boxes. I had been at about a week between, but I think I have found enough places to cut that back to 5 days at most which means I have less food, and weight, to carry between resupplies.

So over the last few weeks of my planning time, I will be working on cutting back my weight by shaving a few ounces off items where I can, finding lighter alternatives or maybe (but not likely) removing items completely.

Courage

Some people call them "buzz words" or simply "word of the year," either way it is a word you pick to be your focus. How you are going to choose to live the following year. Last year I chose "Fearless" and I painted a banner to hang above my door where I could see it whenever I looked toward the kitchen. Last year I tried to Be a Daily Creative and the painting of the banner was one of those creative choices. I've already noticed this year I have done something creative every day with out needing to actively think about it. Anyway, this year I chose the word "Courage." To many people these two words may mean the same thing. I think fearless is a little more dramatic than courage. To be fearless means to be without fear. To have courage means acting despite, or in spite of fear.

My words to live by.

Last year "fearless" did get me out the door on a few adventures. Well fearless and a kick in the pants from a friend. My First Adventure took me to a couple places I had never been and from there I began my other Adventures. Fearless even got me out to Colorado for some hiking and backpacking with a friend. This year I claim "Courage" as my word and I added it to my banner instead of painting a whole new banner.

I have to keep making pottery, there is no question about that. With nearly 1800 pounds of clay and all the equipment I can't simply walk away from it. I may not be able to walk away, but I can start on something new. And maybe that will be my watercolors. I got an idea on the winter solstice this year for a painting and maybe a week later I began sketching and painting. I think I am done with it, I haven't decided yet, but it is the first in a series I hope to finish this year. This first one is called "Winter Solstice." Perhaps sometime in the near future Katlyn Koester Designs will include watercolors for sale.

I must have had a premonition or something in college when I picked the name I wanted to have on my business cards. Not "Katlyn Koester Pottery," something must have told me I'd never be happy with only pottery. So now I can include all my assorted artworks under one business card and continue to be Katlyn Koester Designs.

My Second Adventure: Part 3

After playing on the beach at Little Girl's Point and visiting all the waterfalls, I headed out to Black River Harbor. I really wanted to find some agates and someone who could tell me I had in fact found some. I also wanted to draw the suspension bridge that crosses the river.

I had intended to do some sketching of the various waterfalls, but I never took my paper out of my backpack. So when I got to the harbor the first thing I did was sit down and draw the bridge. The bridge is a part of the North Country Trail, too.

The sign on the bridge is one of the blazes showing the North Country Trail route.

This is when I got to speak with some of the people on the college trip. One of the chaperones joked with me that he just hoped that by the time the students got out of college they would know how to tie their shoes and wipes their backsides. This was in reference to how some of the students walked down to the beach without their shoes and then complained about the path being gravel. I wasn't sure how to respond, I sort of chuckled because it was funny, but I didn't know how seriously to take him.

The bridge from my bench.

Anyways, I finished my sketch then took a break up at my car and headed back down to the beach. I plopped myself down about halfway between some of the college students and a man who was agate hunting. I started to "dry agate" as this man called it, just shifting the rocks around to find agates. Other than some sea glass and pretty rocks I wasn't sure I had found anything. So I took my maybe-an-agate and asked him if it was.

He said he didn't think so, and he didn't have a good example to show me what an agate did look like. He had a couple that he was going to polish and see if they were. About two minutes later as I was heading back to my spot I heard him call out, "I found one!" He gave that one to me as an example. I then quickly found three others and realized I must have thrown several of those back earlier in the day because I didn't think they were agates. Go figure.

The confirmed agates. The one in the top left is the one given to me, I think the one
on the top right is pretty awesome, the agate is still in its host rock.

I ended up with the three I had found, the one he gave to me, and a small collection of unconfirmed but suspected agates. I also have a small collection of sea glass and some pretty rocks.

My unconfirmed agates, though some look pretty obviously agatey to me.

My sea glass.

The pretty rocks I found, the trapezoid one in the middle has a flower pattern on it.

Something else I found a few of, wishing stones. These stones can be any size but they must have a single solid band of another color (usually white/quartz) around them. There can't be any offshoots or other bands (although I saw one site says there can be more bands, but they too have to be solid). The story is if you make a wish on a wishing stone it will help the wish to come true. However there are three separate stories, you have to either: keep the stone(s) close to you, give them away, or throw them back into whatever water source they came from. I'm keeping mine because I think they are cool.

Wishing stones.

At the end of my adventure I head to leave because I was tired, but also because the black flies had discovered I make a tasty meal and the sun was cooking my brains and even though I had applied sunscreen, my arms. The drive home was unexpectedly short, but I still didn't get home until about 6:30.

A fly landed on my camera lens when I took the picture, but there is a tiny figure
out there on the beach, that is the man that gave me the first agate.

I haven't decided where to go on my next adventure yet, but thanks for joining me on this one. I really am having fun with this discovering who I am on my own and what I really want to do! So until next time find an adventure of your own and see who you are!

Be a Daily Creative

I started out this year with a goal. I was going to do something creative every day, but I was more specific than that. I was going to paint something or write something every day and not just in my journal. I wanted to write poems or short stories and then paint a picture to go with them. I figured if I didn't finish a painting, at least I could write a little something and then paint the next day or finish the painting the next day.

I also decided this year to be fearless. I have this above my bedroom door to remind myself.

I actually kept up with it for a couple weeks. And then I started going every other day, then every third day, then once a week. I've heard it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. I didn't quite make it to 21 days with the daily creative venture.

I only wrote one poem, and I consider myself even less of a poet than I consider myself a writer.

This is the painting to go with my one and only poem.

Soft colors washed across the sky;

In the quiet time 'tween day and night.

Stark trees stand watch over it all;

And shadowed snow, blue in the light.

Sounds fade as creatures settle down;

Color fades, snow blends into sky.

Nothing left now but a gentle breeze;

Blowing through the trees with a sigh.

A self-portrait. I had never done one in watercolors before.

I've not painted anything now since the end of January. The box of my supplies is still sitting on the floor, where I can pretty much trip over it if I'm not paying attention and it makes me feel guilty. Not guilty enough to set aside the things I have been working on, but guilty enough to remember that I bought a couple packs of watercolor paper specifically for the purpose of painting every day.

My miniatures.

I painted a few full sheet images, I was also painting miniatures. I divided an 11 by 15 inch sheet of watercolor paper into 20 equal sized spaces and each day I could sit down and paint for 20 to 30 minutes and have a cute little painting done for that day. I did 15 of those. This idea was inspired by a class being offered at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. I read the description for that class and decided to just try it. I didn't have to paint miniatures all day every day, just once a day and I could say I had painted that day.

I started out with a sewing theme: thread, button, scissors, flexible ruler.

My miniatures in order of painting are thread, button, scissors, feather, flexible ruler, dice, unlit votive candle, lit votive candle, half melted votive candle (I was trying to see if there was much difference in how I painted each stage), mug, a rock (my least successful object), marble, clothes pin, Rubik's cube, and a banana.

My mom has asked me to do a series like this of her summer flowers this year. I think that will be fun. Although with the warming weather I should at least divide a piece of paper so that as the spring flowers start to bloom I can begin painting.

Clothespin

I really would like to start this again. Or try to make it a part of my normal daily routine. The thing I discovered in the short time I did a painting each day was that I need to have it be a part of my morning routine when I write in my journal. You know, like, breakfast, email, journal, painting, and then the rest of my day. The problem with this schedule though is that if I want to paint the sunrise as it is happening I have to paint first then everything else. Or if I want to paint flowers out in the yard I can't do that while the sun is still down. I didn't know how to work it into my schedule.

Scissors, I really like the way this one turned out.

Is this something you would add to your own life? Just a little moment of being creative out of the whole day, but a little moment of feeling you've accomplished something.

For an idea of how small the miniatures are.