an imageteller captures image celebrations.
sharing image tales broadens an artistic expression.
doing so, brings this particular creative indescribable joy.
what is your image story? perhaps I can help you tell it!
CUTLERY Solo Photography Exhibit At Quick Silver Photo
It was an honor to be invited to present a solo show of my photography at Quick Silver Photo Lab. This was in 2019. A strategize session on Valentines Day with Cate in 2020 went very well, complete with a delicious slice of cake across the street at Pure Bliss.
But then, well...you know. Things Covid happened.
So... here we are into 2022 and my solo show is now happening!
The theme is Cutlery.
While it is a revised version of what I originally thought I'd present, I am super excited about it
Artist Statement: Here is the game I play. One may wash dirty cutlery only AFTER the last clean spoon has been used. Allow said “wash me” cutlery to assemble ever so artfully on the bottom of reflective stainless steel sink. Pause occasionally to observe random, pleasant and rather artful arrangements of forks, spoons and knives. Post an image of “oh look at that.” observation on Instagram.
I began social distancing long before the pandemic. I am very good at the blur of lost time and nothingness. I treasure home and it’s subtle visual celebrations. Is a collection of dirty cutlery at the bottom of my kitchen sink pandemic behavior? Not really. It’s more about me avoiding the task of washing them. It’s the quirky part of me. Or a little game I play to avoid tedious day to day tasks.
The work before you is a collaboration between myself and Cate at QuickSilver Photo. Our goal was to highlight similar themed photography with different types of photo processing.
Bio: Karen Hanrahan found her way to WA State in her mid-50's after living most of her life in the midwest. She has grown children, a cat, she loves road trips, scratch cooking and anything made out of glass. She lives small in less than 300 square feet and values light, quiet and privacy.
Karen thought of herself as a closet creative for most of her life. To her, that meant she wasn’t officially an artist. As of late, Karen is out of the closet creatively and feels like an artist each and everyday! She is captivated by the image stories around her. This has her taking way too many photographs! Self taught, and utilizing a simple point and shoot camera, Karen works intuitively. Her image capturing style is described as organic, up close, and authentic. Most say that her images are narrative. She likes that!
Karen also makes quilt like mixed media pieces out of paper. Her materials are gifted or found, which keeps her making very low cost and sustainable. While she has been a collage artist for over 25 years, it wasn’t until 2016 that she began to show and sell her work. Both her photography and collage work has shown in galleries all over the country. Karen teaches others the creative subconscious mind collage process.
Below is how we decided to represent the collection:
Framed Poster - 20x24
Framed 11x14 on Washi Paper - More and more artists are turning to digital printing as a part of their production, and so are looking for more interesting surfaces to print on than the standard digital papers available. Washi can be that surface. The subtle liveliness of the fibre shows through the ink with softer results, and because washi is generally more absorbent than western papers the paper and ink appear integrated rather than the ink sitting on the surface.
Shadow Box Framed - 8x8 Metal
4x6 Prints For Sale
Kaleidoscope Of Color - Group Exhibit At Allied Arts Center
I am thrilled to have been selected to participate in a group exhibit titled "Kaleidoscope Of Color" at Allied Arts Center.
I submitted a portion of my people project or the 8x8 stitched collages that I call Portraiture Within A Boundary.
Portraiture Within A Boundary: Deconstructed faces are puzzled into a specific space. They assemble themselves accordingly. Often, especially after trauma, lines are drawn. A person may execute a divide as a method of self protection. This is my dynamic, this is how I portray myself, this is what I want you to see. Or this is what I keep to myself.
The Technique: I apply crazy quilt style technique but with paper. I border each subject with 1/2 strips. I fill in the rest of the dimension with 1 inch strips. I then machine stitch in zig zag to secure design and to embellish the patterns. Each piece is bound. Much like a quilt is. No two collages are alike. It took me over a year to perfect this particular collage style. As things pandemic continued. I made art for the sake of the calm it provided me. I latched onto an 8x8 dimension for my work. The limitations felt reliable and safe.
About the Artist: Washington based artist Karen Hanrahan, works with found magazine pages to narrate the challenges of her life into a collage format. Her self taught multi-disciplinary work expresses her tenacious spirit by processing personal topics such as rape, loneliness, trauma and poverty. Karen’s work is acknowledged as organic, intimate and visually engaging. She has exhibited in Chicago, Seattle and Bellingham.
How these hang when grouped together like a quilt.
The works of the other artists.
Kids Art Walk: Biome Sweet Biome
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Let's make some art! "Biome Sweet Biome" will be the fourth annual collaboration between Make.Shift Art Space and two local Montessori elementary schools, Cedar Tree Montessori and Samish Woods Montessori. 4th, 5th and 6th grade students have imagined their own biomes- they then paint and write about them to give a full picture. These pieces will be interpreted by local artists and each artist's "response piece" will be displayed next to the student painting that inspired it. |
My student artist this yearwas Finn, he wrote... "This is my biome! I put a castle in it because I think castles are really historical and cool. I put Ada, mom, dad, me (my family) in the doorway of the castle because they are super important to me. I made a special stage for Drake because he is my favorite singer. He has a great voice. I made lots of grassy hills because I think it would be fun to roll down them! That’s my biome for you!"
Artist: Karen Hanrahan /she
Title: Finn’s Biome
Medium: stitched collage
Price: $75
Gift to student artist if not sold
Bio: Karen Hanrahan found her way to WA State in her mid-50's after living most of her life in the midwest. She has grown children, a cat, she loves road trips, scratch cooking and anything made out of glass. She lives small in less than 300 square feet and values light, quiet and privacy. She makes quilt like mixed media pieces out of paper. Her materials are gifted or found, which keeps her making very low cost and sustainable. She has been a collage artist for over 25 years. Her work has shown in galleries all over the country. She teaches others the creative subconscious mind collaging process.
Essence Of Bellingham 2022
These are the 10 images that I selected this year for Essence Of Bellingham.
I will update this post in a month if I am awarded.
UPDATE :: May 2022. The image below was given an honorable mention. yay!! The city shared that they will be displaying those awarded from 2020 - 2022 at city hall this year. All images are archived at Whatcom Museums Photo Archives. 55 Photos rec'd awards out of 315 submissions.
here are former years, if you feel curious.
* 2016 - no blog post
These are some of what I didn't select but what I captured as potential to submit.
I liked the two season representation of these
and the saga of a curbside chair.
to quote my kids when they were visiting. "what could she possibly be taking a photo of?"
It was this.
Audacity With Roaring Artist Gallery
I submitted to a call for art with Roaring Artist Gallery, with the theme title of Audacity. The call for art was juried by Artist Martin Lee Martinez.
I personally resonated with their prompt:
"Claiming space in the Art World requires scrappiness, tenacity, and… AUDACITY! So often, the path of women artists is nonlinear and unconventional, and we want to celebrate this! Audacity explores the concept of the “self-taught artist.” But since no one is entirely “self-taught” we're interested to hear YOUR interpretation of the meaning as it relates to YOU and YOUR approach to art making. Are you an artist who was unable to shoulder the financial obligation of higher education? Did you have a later start to your creative pursuits, because an art education was “off-limits?” Have you earned a photography degree, but have found yourself working in fiber arts? If you see within your path that space where you had the audacity to push aside “imposter syndrome” and create regardless, then we can't WAIT to see what you have to ROAR!"
The show opens virtually April 1st. 2022
Click HERE to view the virtual exhibition
28 Artists are participating.
I was one of 9 artists invited to give an Artist Talk!! Wow! I can't even believe it. Katie, the gallery founder and curator wrote about how they select those artists and shared that she "generally compares notes with the juror whose art and stories stood out to us" The artist talk slot that I selected will be on Mothers Day. May 9th. More on that later
UPDATE - Here is the YouTube link to my artist talk if you'd care to listen!!
I journaled quite a bit about this one. The topic brought up a lot about my upbringing and how I was educated. It brought up a lot of not so great memories and limitations. I decided not to go there with my submit and instead focus on something I did in recent times that I taught myself. That I am still teaching myself, and that I am proud of.
Here is what I wrote:
I taught myself how to make wonky stars this year. I perfected a form of crazy quilting the year before after months and months of trial and error. I learned how to bind with a background, the year before that. What makes all of this so remarkable is I did all of this quilt like making with paper! It all began when I was trying to make paper art that would hang and appear finished looking without a frame. I was beginning to participate in exhibits and the cost and storage of frames was too much for my budget and very tiny space living.
I stumbled upon an example of a wonky star in a YouTube tutorial dive. My first attempt warmed my heart. I loved the asymmetry, the wonky, the mismatched of it. It felt honest and authentic. It made me want to play.
I’ve produced a prolific volume of paper art. Especially in the last 5 years. That work has had multiple expressions. Adding machine stitching to my collage work was definitely a feat of self instruction. Making wonky stars within that realm is still a work in progress, but in 2021 I definitely made a dent in learning that process. Applying quilting techniques to paper is the quilter wanna be in me. I will admit that real quilting with fabric intimidates me. But with paper, I feel rich with resources and able.
I studied art and I attended art school, but there is no degree. I had abilities, but I had no idea what to do with them. I put aside my creativity to marry and raise children. The artist in me was there, but she again had no idea what to do with that all of that sensibility. My life has been a path of fits and starts, trauma and heartbreak, pain and drama. I believe that surviving in life nudged me to make. For those that know me they say that I am resilient.The audacity to create with “signature” took me time to find. I had to learn to not compare and to make art for myself.
These two wonky star stitched collages are titled flight. They speak to the feeling of fight or flight or the stress response. During a particular rough patch of life I had finally found safety. I realized that in those years I barely took a breath. I never stopped fighting. I was in flight for a very very long time. I had to learn to breathe again.
The gallery selected the first one
here is my first wonky star attempt. (which I just love) Talk about wonky!
second attempt - I went more traditional and stitched it like quilters do. very tedious, and not very exact.
third attempt - I decided that cutting or my own way was a better way to go. I thought to myself...I like this!
many attempts and many versions later. these are the wonky stars I made.
they may seem simple but they are tricky. they fool you!!
I am still perfecting!
Photography = a never ending opportunity to capture visual celebrations.
