Thank you for all of the nice comments about Maddy's new room! I have gotten so many emails asking about paint color, lighting, bedding etc. that I wanted

I finally finished my new online class, Soul Dwellings. I have been working on it for several months. There is so much new material I want to teach so I made the decision to create several classes one after another.This first in a series focuses on values, atmosphere, an introduction to composition elements and mark making. Another thing I discuss and demonstrate is making the background for figures to live in. Powderd charcoal is a wonderful media to use as a starting point and something I have been experimenting with which you will see. Here are the projects I complete in the class. There will also be several videos on learning the techniques as well as making beautiful and mysterious collage elements to incorporate in some of the final pieces. I combined one of the scribble exercises to collage onto this piece of art. The wire element gives her stability as well as creating the another way to explore scribble and mark making using wire. This piece was a final painting that I started out using the soft charcoal. I decided to push the portrait further by incorporating oil bars and oil paint. Here I work a figure with a very abstract figure and more defined face. This is a journal page and I demonstrate my favorite way to create journal spreads making drawings to use as collage elements with the scribble mark making and really busy, fun with lots of eye candy. I decided that I wanted to make this a more refined painting. I took the journal page and mounted onto a wood cradled board and continued to cover up some areas to give the painting some rest. I also go over the composition principle of called fulcrum, which was the "bones" of the piece. The composition element I worked with here is the cruciform. I take some of the collage elements made in some of the other videos and used them to create a cruciform composition. I pull it all together with the portrait I paint on top. Here is another project incorporating a landscape with a figure. I start out with a powered charcoal background and the building and figure emerge from this atmospheric piece Here is the link to the class. It starts Jan. 30 and the early bird price is $75.00 (The price goes up to $85.00 once the class starts) http://www.fracturedangelics.com/product/soul-dwellings-e-course I ALSO HAVE BECOME MORE ACTIVE WITH MY ETSY STORE with lots of art and my classes. I will have new pieces going up weekly so check it out. https://www.etsy.com/shop/fracturedangelicsart So as some of you know, I taught a class on Jeanne Oliver's site Children of the Wild. I just loved the theme and continued to create children with their animal muse/companion. I have written in the past about my experience visiting an abandoned reformatory school in North Carolina. I researched the place to discover that many children that lived there were abandoned by their families. I felt this emotional attachment to these "children" and wasn't quite sure why. I photographed inside and out this abandoned campus. As I was looking at the photos and thinking about the children the thought came to mind, if I can save these children I can save myself. Well that is kinda deep! A darling friend said to me, so now are you an orphan?!! She has a great sense of humor and I laughed but it did make me wonder why this feeling. The one thing that comes to mind was my impulsive move to Calif as a young adult. I was a wild child and jumped into a crazy, abusive relationship.I moved in with him.I thought I was quite cavalier free spirit but what I was was scared! My family, in particular my parents, were appalled. My dad told the family 'out of site out of mind'. I realized that my family abandoned me. For my part , my ego would not allow myself to ask my family for help. I was supposed to be this successful artist in Los Angeles.....at least that was what I told them. Less than a year later my dad died of a heart attack. It was the worst year of my life and I felt totally and utterly alone.I continued to make horrible life decisions. I put myself in danger with very reckless behavior. Now I know this is a buzz kill but I thought I would let the viewer into some of my emotional history I bring into my art. It also has brought purpose into my life . I have been privileged to be of service to women and that my past has made me a good messenger of hope. I rescue abandoned animals. I respond to the underdog. I don't dwell on my past as a victim, , but rather make it holy in my work. I actually had another topic to discuss but I will share that on another post. Also my next post will have alot more color in it! At least for me. In fact I am going to add pink! Thanks for reading.......kate

I finally finished my new online class, Soul Dwellings. I have been working on it for several months. There is so much new material I want to teach so I made the decision to create several classes one after another.This first in a series focuses on values, atmosphere, an introduction to composition elements and mark making. Another thing I discuss and demonstrate is making the background for figures to live in. Powderd charcoal is a wonderful media to use as a starting point and something I have been experimenting with which you will see. Here are the projects I complete in the class. There will also be several videos on learning the techniques as well as making beautiful and mysterious collage elements to incorporate in some of the final pieces. I combined one of the scribble exercises to collage onto this piece of art. The wire element gives her stability as well as creating the another way to explore scribble and mark making using wire. This piece was a final painting that I started out using the soft charcoal. I decided to push the portrait further by incorporating oil bars and oil paint. Here I work a figure with a very abstract figure and more defined face. This is a journal page and I demonstrate my favorite way to create journal spreads making drawings to use as collage elements with the scribble mark making and really busy, fun with lots of eye candy. I decided that I wanted to make this a more refined painting. I took the journal page and mounted onto a wood cradled board and continued to cover up some areas to give the painting some rest. I also go over the composition principle of called fulcrum, which was the "bones" of the piece. The composition element I worked with here is the cruciform. I take some of the collage elements made in some of the other videos and used them to create a cruciform composition. I pull it all together with the portrait I paint on top. Here is another project incorporating a landscape with a figure. I start out with a powered charcoal background and the building and figure emerge from this atmospheric piece Here is the link to the class. It starts Jan. 30 and the early bird price is $75.00 (The price goes up to $85.00 once the class starts) http://www.fracturedangelics.com/product/soul-dwellings-e-course I ALSO HAVE BECOME MORE ACTIVE WITH MY ETSY STORE with lots of art and my classes. I will have new pieces going up weekly so check it out. https://www.etsy.com/shop/fracturedangelicsart So as some of you know, I taught a class on Jeanne Oliver's site Children of the Wild. I just loved the theme and continued to create children with their animal muse/companion. I have written in the past about my experience visiting an abandoned reformatory school in North Carolina. I researched the place to discover that many children that lived there were abandoned by their families. I felt this emotional attachment to these "children" and wasn't quite sure why. I photographed inside and out this abandoned campus. As I was looking at the photos and thinking about the children the thought came to mind, if I can save these children I can save myself. Well that is kinda deep! A darling friend said to me, so now are you an orphan?!! She has a great sense of humor and I laughed but it did make me wonder why this feeling. The one thing that comes to mind was my impulsive move to Calif as a young adult. I was a wild child and jumped into a crazy, abusive relationship.I moved in with him.I thought I was quite cavalier free spirit but what I was was scared! My family, in particular my parents, were appalled. My dad told the family 'out of site out of mind'. I realized that my family abandoned me. For my part , my ego would not allow myself to ask my family for help. I was supposed to be this successful artist in Los Angeles.....at least that was what I told them. Less than a year later my dad died of a heart attack. It was the worst year of my life and I felt totally and utterly alone.I continued to make horrible life decisions. I put myself in danger with very reckless behavior. Now I know this is a buzz kill but I thought I would let the viewer into some of my emotional history I bring into my art. It also has brought purpose into my life . I have been privileged to be of service to women and that my past has made me a good messenger of hope. I rescue abandoned animals. I respond to the underdog. I don't dwell on my past as a victim, , but rather make it holy in my work. I actually had another topic to discuss but I will share that on another post. Also my next post will have alot more color in it! At least for me. In fact I am going to add pink! Thanks for reading.......kate

This is my fourth time at The All Arts Market in Charlotte, NC. Please check out their web sitehttp://nodarioty.org/ I am having a great time with these windows. What you see are my displays but I am on the search for smaller, single pane windows to frame my pieces for sale. My Etsy store will be up shortly. Will keep you posted

This is a painting I have been working on. Thinking of teaching my process here. I have taped and documented this piece from sketch to finish. I started by sketching two figures. I knew I wanted to incorporate birds but wasn't sure how they would show up. They weren't in the original sketch. In fact I left out alot from the original sketch as I painted. The sketch is a starting point and usually evolves into something much different. But I think sketching is very important. It helps me become more familiar with my images I am creating. After the sketch, I started splashing paint and creating marks by using brushes, stencils, my fingers,speedball pens. I either paint or draw marks with the speedball pen.The acrylic washes are quite light and look like transparent watercolors. I next go in with more opaque paint and white and blocking out the figures. I paint the features and work on details of the faces. I then go back in with more color and wild color placement and finally I calm the painting down till I am done. It is process that absorbs me for hours and I can't wait to start another. Thanks for visiting!

I am so excited to be teaching at Random Arts in Saluda, NC. Jane Powell contacted me about teaching there on January 1, 2013! What a great start for the New Year!! I will be teaching my technique of working with plaster and layered fabrics (vintage of course) and then painting a figure or a portrait using watercolors, alcohol inks, pastels and gesso. I will be demonstrating how I create my faces with gesso and alcohol inks. Each student will have a completed mixed media art piece at the end of the workshop. I will be supplying a template of a face drawing that can be used as an image transfer if you are new to making portraits. I recently took a trip up there to drop off samples and it is such a warm and stimulating environment. I loved the atmosphere and look forward to teaching more classes there. Here is their website to check out http://randomartsnow.com/

I was in Portland for Art and Soul in October and roomed will the super fun and talented Jill Berry. I taught two classes, My Fabric Book Class and Fabric Collage. You can go to to see all the great student samples from the class. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fractured-Angelics-Kate-Thompson/213204992183#!/media/set/?set=a.10151918618177184.1073741826.213204992183&type=1 I just love how different every piece came out. I look forward to going back to Portland in April and doing it all again. As far as my art journey goes I did this portrait after taking Misty Mawn's class. I really focused on the lighting to created the values. I worked only in acrylics. Acrylics were always a struggle for me because of the fast drying element. I moved away from acrylics and created my own media using reinkers and watercolors and mixed them with acrylic paint. But I wanted to try again a portrait just using acrylics. I think I am going to have to do some more because I really love working with them now. But of course I went back to my beloved watercolors and fabric and worked on a couple of new pages in my Fabric Book. I was so inspired by the class I taught I needed to add some more work. I will never sell this book. It really is like my art journal and journey and experiments...always including a beloved piece of lace or fabric. I am also experimenting using a palette knife to create textures and folds in the blouse of this girl. Palette knives are really wonderful and great mark making tool. I worked on a couple of fabric collages since I sold about 10 pieces this month....thank you God....my inventory is low which feels pretty great! Now another new technique I am working on is starting with paper, applying a layer of gesso, then applying a layer of reinker in different colors (they can dry pretty light with great texture). I then start my painting on top of that. The second piece is a work in progress. I added collage and fabric first, then applied some plaster with stencils, sanded that down, covered with gesso and then the reinkers. I just started to add the figure so this is at the beginning stages. Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog!

Art is sacred and creating art is such a gift to our souls. The figures we will be creating are powerful and personally meaningful for each student. The focus is on faces with abstract figures and I guide you in creating vestments that will protect and honor the figures we will be creating.

Explore katerunner's 90 photos on Flickr!