WILD WOMEN! Recently, I was one of 8 artists exhibiting in the Wild Women Paint the West 2025 show. When determining the title of the show a few of us were, like, uh, hmm… Not sure if I want to be called a “wild woman” and all the connotations that come with that term. Promiscuous? Undisciplined? Foolish, uninhibited? Sounds like fun…but not really the spirit of who we are. The nucleus of intent for the Wild Women show... [...]
Do you like it wet or dry? Dusty or sticky? I'm talking about pigment, silly! I recently took three months off to paint in oil, the sticky stuff, as I call it. Immersed in colorful oily pigments that come out of a tube, and frankly, can easily turn into a mushy mess if not handled with care. A well earned break from the dusty side of pure pigment that comes in rounded or rectangular shapes called pastels. Beneath My Feet Lies the Rising Tide 12x12 Oil on Panel Pastels have been my medium of choice since I was fifteen years old. They're kinda like a [...]
TOP TEN THINGS NO ONE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT PLEIN AIR PAINTING We all know about bugs, weather, dressing in layers and keeping your equipment light, but: You will need to pee in, on, or behind a bush at some point TIP: for women, If you are on the side of the road and have front and rear doors to your vehicle, you can open both to screen for privacy between your car doors. Tie a long jacket around your waist. Oh, And Make sure to look for ticks and poison oak…. The first happened to me the other to a friend…. No, I [...]
I didn’t grow up in the mountains. I grew up in suburbia, homes 12 feet apart, hoping not to see my neighbor walking past their window as I stared out mine wondering where the thousands of cars crossing the San Mateo bridge were going. Aerial View of Foster City, California I grew up drawing horses and playing with my Breyer models, imagination in full swing as we trotted over golden hills dotted with oaks, or rode a precarious mountain ridge, or felt the wind whipping through my hair as we galloped through the surf. My Muses and Models I grew up on horse back. Our [...]
As a landscape artist, getting off the beaten path in Northern California is a must. Here are 5 hidden gems I would love to share with you! [...]
I get asked frequently, “How do I get into a gallery?” How do I get people to buy my work?” “How do I get into the big shows?” Recently, an artist taking one of my three day workshops insisted he wanted to know the trick to getting his work into shows and how to make people “open up their wallets”, as if I knew the secret and was holding back the answer... [...]
What does it take to bring goose bumps to my arms? How about yours? Much of this last year I’ve had physical difficulty painting. Let’s just say I spent more than an occasional afternoon on the couch wallowing in negativity because I couldn’t put in the time at the easel, much less, do my hair. LOL Last month, I went under the knife for rotator cuff surgery with a frozen shoulder complication. One of the great things that came from this forced time off was reconnecting with my original visual influencers. (yes, that’s an actual word in the dictionary now) I found myself [...]
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE Who doesn’t love a compliment? Happy feelings, a sense of accomplishment. In the artificial world of social media, however, we’ve become Pavlovian experiments, trained to start salivating over “likes” and “shares.” After posting, we refresh the feed just to count how many responses we’ve gotten, which we then translate into whether people like us or not, whether we belong and are accomplished. As visual artists, this constant need for praise can lead to overconfidence in our work. It can also lower the motivation to improve. The desire for “likes” overwhelms and confuses the mind, creating a sense of failure if your [...]
I don’t know about you, but lately life has been up and down. Between critical world events, social media, health, family and friends crisis’s, the opportunity to quiet the mind and be still has lessened. During the Covid lock down those of us who weren’t essential workers, sick, or caregivers, found ourselves with a bit of extra time. The roller coaster of the world slowed down. Air pollution all but disappeared. Mindfulness, meditation, and self reflection, were terms du jour. I joined the band wagon, digging deeper into these practices. However, I always ended up outside, walking, riding or painting to [...]
"The Tale of Sad Sue" or "Sowing the Seeds of Love" Did you know Shel Silverstein’s book “The Giving Tree” is considered controversial? In short, a children’s picture book about a tree and a boy. As they age the tree continuously gives and the boy takes. Some say it is an abusive relationship…I say it is up to the reader to decide.When my son, Ryan, was a toddler I would read The Giving Tree to him as he cuddled up in my arms, fresh from a warm bath and ready for bed. I felt a sense of sadness as the tree eventually became [...]
Kim Fancher Lordier Studio (650) 270-8352 [email protected]
