Today, I went to class. My last class of the day is an especially fun one: we discuss artworks as historical texts that let us in on the insight of that historical period. We have no textbook except for the art pieces we look at during class.

But today was interesting. We went over the art before and during the French Revolution. I never realized it before, but those years are some of the hardest to look at, especially considering the art. The blunt hatred of God is horrifying and hurtful to look at in those pieces.

As I was reflecting on the lesson and the shift of the European world from strictly religious works to almost strictly political or erotic works, I came upon the realization that this modernity we all live in currently has the same shift. And so I wrote my thoughts down on paper:

"Is this shift happening today? I, unfortunately, believe so. The one hope and knowledge I have, however, is the vision of a revival and revolution in Christ. God has more in store for this generation and future generations. I am placed here with fellow artist-lovers of Christ because we are an army battling the Roman ideas of secular culture that subtly separate us from natural good and God. We will be influences for younger, future generations. Somehow, through Christ, we will have the power to inspire hope and freedom in the stink of chaos."

I then spent an hour wandering around the Brazos river with my camera and my book bag, enjoying the colors of autumn and reflecting more on these ideas floating through my mind. When I got home -- just now -- I received an email from the Baylor magazine The Phoenix which is run by students and publishes literary and artistic work. The editor of the magazine heard of me and asked me to create the cover work for the magazine.

So I sat in my chair and I talked with Jesus. I had received commissions from magazines before to create cover work for, but I never went through with them because commissions and I don't work hand-in-hand too well. So I was talking with Him when I remembered what I had written about an hour previous: "we will be influences for younger, future generations."

I want to show God's glory whatever way that may look. And, for now, I think that looks like The Phoenix.

Portals

God has told me that my outdoor "en plein air" paintings are portals.

If I look at them, it feels like I've been transported to that spot. And I know -- I know -- deep in my heart that I did not paint them. There's no way I could paint something with such a timeless quality as a portal. God is in each of my paintings, for His glory and His purpose. I'm just a paintbrush in the Artist's hands, and I'm a very happy paintbrush. :)

It's my passion to share these portals with God's beloved children. I want to paint outdoors and then give the painting to whoever God puts on my heart. That's the desire of my heart. God has a purpose for these portals that surround me in my room. Just like the artists since the beginning of Christianity have done, I wish for my artwork to help usher a person into God's throne room, where they sit at Jesus's feet and talk with him through worship.

I can only hope these portals can bring them there.

Let's face it: having a real conversation with Jesus Christ changes your life forever.

I want to be where HE abounds

I wish words could relay how connected my soul is to this painting. The landscape is how I remember my Shire; my home. God's glory overhead, clapping in glee and embracing me as I stand alone by the tree, the lush spring grass tickling my legs. Everything once evil and dark in me has been stripped away long ago. I now stand purified through Christ's blood, able to fully drink from the fount of Living Water and truly worship the King of Kings.

I stayed up until 5 AM last night/morning praying over painting titles when God suddenly dumped this painting on my heart and mind. 5 days from the exhibition and I thought I was going crazy...or HE was going crazy. 5 days to plan and finish a painting and let it dry?! Well, look at me now. This 2x4' canvas took only 3 and a half hours to paint. GOD amazes me every day.

Father, glorify Thy name.

I love rain.

My beloved Shire at dusk.

So: exciting things happening. I'm looking for studio space. I feel led to pursue studio art, especially stationed somewhere in downtown Waco. Hopefully I'll get noticed by galleries here or in Dallas or wherever so I can get a good start.

I found out the other day that while I have a passion for art history, I could paint the rest of my life. I'm still trying to figure things out, but I'm running after it for now and seeing where this path leads me.

Twitter

I have had a twitter for a long time but have rarely used it...so I'm going to revive it to frequently update my artistic endeavors. :) I'll still use this blogspot more than anything else.
So now all you secret art-stalkers can take your hobby to the extreme if you choose...

http://twitter.com/bornofdirt

Just finished sketching in a rather large 24x36" painting!
Jesus designed this painting.

Solo Exhibition

I will be hosting my own independent solo exhibition finally! And I am doing something new; something I've never really done before: praying over every step of the way. It's so radical in my mind. Prayer has never really been a big part of my life until now but let me tell you...closing the door to my studio and asking God what the title of this or that painting will be is one of my favorite things to do. Too much is not enough. I can never ever get enough of time spent with my Father and my Savior. And what was originally going to be a showing of what I've painted this summer has evolved into an exhibition of my talent invested in Jesus Christ.

So far, there will be 12 paintings shown. I have about 4-5 more ideas running around in my head yearning to break free in canvas so I'm expecting nearly 20 paintings total.

The exhibition will have a main title: Silent Messengers. And I will have a sub-showing displaying my outdoor landscape work of the land my parents own called The Shire, which will have five paintings (none titled). I have two seperate artist's staments for both segments of the exhibition.

I really hope anyone and everyone can make it! It's the cry of my heart to bring God's passion to the world; his love story to each and every child of His displayed through visible art.

August 14th indepdent solo exhibition: Silent Messengers. Oil paintings by Katelyn Fry.

Full Moon

This is the most impossible painting to take a digital picture of.

This was SO MUCH FUN painting! Seriously the time just flew by. This was painted from a reference photo which had such a cool composition, but I took the colors from a small painting I did outside during the full moon so I could get the landscape colors right.

Holland

Started and finished June 18, 2010.
I feel like the composition is lacking.

Self Portrait

I should have a painting finished by tonight. I just took a break and sketched my model on-call.

Creation's speech

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world. Psalm 19.1-4

This is why I have a passion for painting the sky. Clouds are silent yet loud. They have always reassured me that God is existant and that I am a daughter of the King. I pray that though my paintings are silent that their message will go throughout the earth, like the sky God paints every second of every day.

I'm in the midst of planning another cloud painting...the colors are so amazingly peaceful.

Everytime I finish a painting, I wonder what new project I'll work on next.
I'm getting into brighter colors and more vivid contrasts. I want to paint skies that are tension-filled with energetic forms that still manages to maintain a floating, ethereal quality. It's dramatic, yet peaceful. And I do love to paint clouds!!

God has been shamelessly blessing my abilities. I finish a painting and look at it, and think, "This is the best I've done" and next week I'll finish another painting and compare it to the previous one and think, "That old one looks so amateur comparatively..."
I'm starting to think something needs to be done about this. Of course I'm going to paint more and more, but I'm considering a showing so people who have heard I can paint can see my work in person. A photograph is one thing, but face time with an art piece is something completely different. Just an idea, though.

Random sidenote...I am drinking hot tea whilst listening to solo cello music and watching a gigantic lightning storm roll in. I am content, and when I am content I want to paint.

"Thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer / Before all temples the upright heart and pure, / Instruct me, for thou know'st; Thou from the first / Wast present, and, with mighty wings ouspread, / Dovelike sat'st brooding on the vast Abyss / And mad'st it pregnant: what in me is dark / illumine..." -John Milton, Paradise Lost

Dusk

Finished June 1st, 2010


I have become healthily obsessed with sunsets. Especially if I can fit the moon in there somewhere.
The moon ties this whole piece together, I think. It's presence gives an entirely new element of energy and drama, although it has a small part to play.


Painted on an 18x24" stretched canvas.

detail of brushwork

2-hour Painting

oil on a 12x24" stretched canvas.
I thought it might be difficult to get the colors right since I am more attracted to muted colors...but I surprised myself this time!

My next project will be taking a 8x8" plein air painting I did a month or two ago and painting it onto a larger 20x20" canvas. Unfortunately, I don't have that small painting with me in town...but I will fetch it eventually. In the meantime I guess I'll finish sketching Ophelia. :) Ich liebe Kunst.

Ophelia

So my parents got me this awesome light desk for my birthday, which is AWESOME for tracing. So that's what I've been doing. I'm tracing all my favorite art pieces to gain a better understanding for how the artists drew in facial features, drapery, landscapes, etc. So far I've only traced John Everett Millais's Ophelia and I'm not even done with that, but I've got a lot more ideas for future projects. (P.S. it's not really tracing; I trace the general outline so the proportions are correct then I pencil in the details and shade it in. So I'm not just mindlessly tracing...just to let you know. :)

I painted the flowers in using gouache. I'm not planning on painting the rest; I only wanted the flowers to look like flowers instead of pieces of garbage floating down the river with the tragic girl.

This is one of my favorite paintings. :) I quote Abby: "It's so haunting." What a great story; what a great painting. There are several other paintings by other artists of Ophelia but this is my favorite because it's so delicate and melancholic (is that a word? I'm too lazy to ask google...).

The URL for the original full-scale painting by Millais is here: http://undream.sinthetique.net/&/pre-raphaelites/J%20E%20Millais%20-%20Ophelia.jpg

What can I say? I love the way the moon looks through winter branches. This is less of a study of how the moon really looks through branches but rather an introspective piece. I think this can bring a different reaction to anyone looking at it. I want to know what the viewer feels when looking at this. For me, it's a sense of peace through a time of confusion. For my brother Tom, he sees it as a guiding light through the darkness.

In reality, it's just the moon behind some branches. But when one abstracts it like I did, a whole new perspective can be gained; an idea can form behind a concrete image.

P.S. The warm light bouncing off the top of the painting isn't in the painting at all. It's the work of the light in my room and my camera.

Temptations. o__O

I have my paints and easel in my car. Which means I can take my car out whenever and wherever and paint. So much temptation...I could go out and paint the sunset right now instead of studying for classes... >> You have no idea how much I want to just ditch school and practice my outdoor paintings.

Future ideas

I basically just want to write about my future art ideas because that way I'll get them out of my head (maybe) and have them on the internets so I can look it up when I can't remember. Right now I'm in the middle of painting another moon painting (I know, I'm obsessed) and I'm painting it using only a palette knife. So there's a lot of scraping and scratching and messy paint and I could die happy when I've got my iPod in and a palette in my hand.

The painting itself is really neat -- horizontal format with the full moon to the right of the central axis. Except it's not just the full moon -- it's the moon peeking through winter tree branches. I'm planning on keeping the knifework almost abstract to create the sense of wind moving the branches. I'm also planning on keeping the moon very very fuzzy and ethereal. I can't wait for class to be over tomorrow so I can go work on that...

Oh wait. I have my other school crap to do. Journals for the Aeneid are due Tuesday, a 100-word essay auf Deutsch due Monday, Adjektivendungen worksheet due Monday, 8 podular sculptures due Monday. I'm on number 6 but it's still hard to create at least 4 as a cohesive set. -_-; Someday I will buy AA batteries and someday I will put them in my camera and SOMEDAY I will take pictures of my art projects and put them on here. I want this blogspot to start up again -- it's a good distraction.

Sooo other future art ideas (rambling again): I got a drafting table with a in-set light desk for my birthday and I'm excited to trace some arts!! I've got so many art history books (I have about three copies of "A Basic History of Art", just different editions with different emphasis on specific works. Yes, ich bin nerd) that I plan on tracing famous art pieces and redrawing them on larger sheets of paper. That way the image will be saved in my art-memory so I can redraw the image again and again later without the need for a reference photo. It'll be a cool party trick. "Hey, you're an artist. Draw something." "Weeeell what about the Sistine Chapel? *swish pencil swish* Done, there." "Bravo! Marry me!" or something like that.

I also have an empty 24x48" canvas sadly sitting in my room. I planned a foggy landscape on it but when I realized that the predominant color would be various shades of gray and not that interesting unless I went Seurat on it and dabbed little tiny colors to make one distinct color, I dropped that idea. I think I might use that to make a large-scale Shire painting. In fact, I will do that. I want to do plenty of plein air out there and then transfer that onto the larger canvas. YES that is my big project. Decided.

Okay. I'm done with this blog. Now I'm going back to college work.

Poem excerpt that I absolutely love: "Ah, for Love's sweet sake / (Though the world should fail and the soft stars wane!) / I shall dream delight / Till our souls take flight..." - Philip Joseph Holdsworth