Blue Door, Numbers

Sunday Morning

Greening

Rosy Cat

March Buds

First Flower of 2008

Found this lovely in the garden this morning (in the snow!)

Mural, Hyde Square

Blue Eggs

Red Door, Bynner Street

Sky, Theater District

Orange Webbing, Day Street

Orange webbing, just for you, KK!

Slice

Slipper

Orchids Submerged

Pink Orchid

Portrait, William

Hampton Tolls

Video Image, Ghosts

A Good Sign

Found these in the garden this morning...

Grape Vine Arbor, Winter

Birds, Nest, and Eggs

Specimen Jar

March Artist Profile: Kathryn Boehm

For March's Artist Profile, I talked with North Carolina artist Kathryn Boehm about her latest work and what inspires her.


What do you like to make?

Kathryn Boehm: I create non-representational, abstract work. The work has become more mixed media over the years: oil paint, oil stick, cold wax, acrylic skins and digital capture images. I have this new idea of printing photographs of grapefruit skins, then drawing and painting on top of the print.

Who/what/where currently inspire/s your work?

KB: Last summer I reconnected with my love for unusual objects, grapefruit skins and orange construction fencing, seed pods and dead clematis vine. I have also been collecting ragged ribbon. These objects are a source of excitement for my mind and eyes. The vine and seedpods are different lines and shapes occurring in nature. I'm collecting these materials and bringing them back into my abstract work as an underlying structure.

Artists: Eva Hesse, Jessica Stockholder, Wolf Kahn, Cornelia Parker

I've also started working with video. There is a woman named Rachel Riley, who does videos of her drawings and she edits them in such a way that they become alive.

www.mediastorm.com

www.bittbox.com

www.ovationtv.com

What theme/s occupy your work?

KB: Organic forms. Color—exploring a certain palette.

A few of the last paintings I did had a unintentional claustrophobic feel, like they were crowed, anxious.

What are you listening to/watching/reading lately?

KB: I started listening to this podcast by DJ Angelica. It is sort of a dub mix. I'm also really into Indian-fusion jazz inspired by Ravi Shankar. Love Bjork.

I'm studying Chinese/Japanese ink paintings and Buddhism. It is definitely on my mind.

Do you keep a journal/sketchbook/blog/website?

KB: I am working on a website. Journaling/Sketching is an on and off discipline. I am not really disciplined about it.

What have you learned from your work?

KB: I've learned that the three dimensional objects are important in the inspirational aspect of work. And while I want to do non-representational work, it's not all or nothing, finding a middle-ground is where the magic is going to happen. And as much control as I've given up for the abstract work, I still have a long way to go. I think my work as a whole is dependent upon to what degree I can give up control.

Who is and what question would you ask of the artist who has most inspired you?

KB: Georgia O'Keeffe, because she had such a unique vision, and she was one of few women within the boys club of the early 20^th century art scene. I would like to know if devoting her life to creating art was enough of an outlet for her nurturing womb being (sensibility innately and biologically shared by all women)? Or, did she have some regrets about not having children?

A sampling of recent work by Kathryn Boehm:

A view of Kathryn's Studio:

(All photographs are copyrighted and used here with the permission of Kathryn Boehm. For more information about obtaining reprints, please contact Kathryn Boehm.)

Please visit www.artyear.blogspot.com on April 1st for another artist profile!

Bins