Catnip Bandana
I had some white bandana blanks sitting around my print studio so I decided to create a fun bandana to share via my pop up shop July 28th at Waterloo Bicycle Works.
Opens at 10A.M.
🔊🔊🔊
316 W 3rd Street
A splash of neo pink and crisp navy blue ink with a sassy cat flanked by mid century modern clocks.
Frame it.
Wear it.
Laugh with it!
Available now via my Etsy shop
@waterloobicycleworks
#katebrennanhall #illustration #illustrator #screenprinted #printmaker #handprinted #patterns #colormehappy #catbandanas #madeinusa #printedinusa #bandanas #catnipcats #midcenturycats #ragbrai
Handprinted bandanas make such fun gifts!
Sunday Sketching July 18 Edition
Thanks, Johnny.
RIP sweet Champ
Lucky
I'm feeling especially lucky today because the great folks at The Ragged Edge Art Bar and Gallery have started selling some of my original paintings and prints!
So if you're thirsty for a tasty beverage and fun art in a beautiful (quite magical) space then I encourage you to head over there. They also have a wonderful patio!
504 Bluff Street in Cedar Falls, IA
(just to the south of Viking Pump offices)
HOURS:
Thursday:
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Friday:
4:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Saturday:
12:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Sunday:
2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Forgiveness
Follow my Instagram page where I post images more often than via my journal page…!
Trusting
"Trusting (In Times of Fear)"
Sunday sketch.
Thanks, Dave.
#katebrennanhall #illustration #illustrator #drawing #markers #patterns #nature #flowers #soothing #sundaysketches
#cedarheightscommunitypresbyterianchurch #shelter #peace #comfort #trust #poscamarkers
Grateful
I got to hug this friend last night in the music filled gardens at The Hearst. I'm so grateful to all the scientists, health workers and public servants who have guided us through these rough waters. To be able to hug a friend is truly a gift.
Collaboration
#ThrowbackThursday Back to 2018-19 when I was trying to figure out how to stop using plastic packaging for my towels. There were a couple of false starts but eventually Mike Tyer from Trademark Letterpress Co. came up with this beautiful solution.
There were so many objectives to check off:
--no plastic
--affordable
--just in time printing (less paper waste)
--easy to read
--ability to hang on a display or lay on table top
--telegraph the fact that my towels are designed, handprinted & packaged
--easy for customers to tuck them into luggage when traveling with gifts
--easy for me to ship via my Etsy shop
--provide visual continuity so long time customers could spot my goods in shops
Thank you Mike for your patience and hard work. I needed to collaborate with someone who understands handmade goods and whose love of typography shines forth from the packaging. So grateful for all your amazing work!
Washing Away
“Washing Away” {Gouache + markers}
Sunday sketching.
Happy Caturday
Cats, yarn and sunshine. The only thing missing is a bouquet of catnip!
Happy #caturday!
My smallbatch postcards and cards are available via my Etsy shop and many of my stockists.
#katebrennanhall #illustration #illustrator #gouache #portraits #capturingdelight #patterns #surfacedesign #patternplay #catsofinstagram #catcards #kittens #greetingcards #postcards #madeiniowa #iowamade #smallbatch
Pattern Play
Sunday sketches.
Uppercase Surface Pattern Guide // Issue 49
These past few months have brought so much joy within my creative life. A chance to show my work via the Hearst Center for the Arts and then news of my pattern designs being accepted into the "Surface Pattern Design Guide" section of uppercasemagazine.com #49 issue.
With over 850 entrants narrowed down to 100 artists--- it had to be a tough job to select which ones would be published. I am thrilled to be a part of it! Each artist could submit up to nine patterns and three would make it into publication. (see the nine I entered in this post)
I am a novice when it comes to patterns. They are a challenge! I learned so much from this experience that I will take it with me as I create more pattern designs this year. Thank you for your comments about the patterns that I create. I appreciate your feedback!
I am very happy to be featured on a page with the beautiful patterns of fellow "Kates" from Canada and Scotland: Kate Golding and Kate Livingstone.
Little Things
This is a story about "the little things"
For many years I worked out at my local rec center. I'd greet the check in staff and go about my merry way. One day I brought along freshly baked homemade cookies to give these helpful people. I will never forget the stunned-happy look on their faces. It was like I had given them a *huge gift. In my mind it was just some delicious cookies but it was clear that my small gesture meant something to them.
This past month I've given free postcards of my work via my show at Hearst Center for the Arts and so many have thanked me for this gift. A small gesture that has radiated back so much unexpected happiness to me. Thank you!
Today I'm sending out these samples with some hand drawing to add some cheer.
#katebrennanhall #illustration #illustrator #drawing #gouache #color #colour #printmaker #patterns #textiles #makers #handmade #smallbatch #kitchengifts #madeiniowa #iowaartist
Keep Going
Image: WIP “ Reporting” (gouache on paper)
I had a delightful email exchange recently with a friend who has known me since the early stages of my career as an artist. This friend was experiencing a serious case of the “Doubts” because someone had discouraged them from creating. They doubted if their works were worthy of being shown and they asked me if I thought they should keep making, keep creating.
It became clear to me in our exchange that they thought I’d always been surrounded by encouragement and by this time in my career that I was without artistic doubts from time to time. I laughed aloud, “Ha! If they only knew!”
And so, in the spirit of encouragement I let this person know:
Since the very beginning I created without parental/family encouragement. Wanting to pursue a life of creating was the same as saying, “ I’m creating a space craft to fly to the moon…” —audacious, foolish and highly impractical. But the best gift I ever received was the lack of guidance. Without any strings attached to my dreams I was free to fly off with a sense of self determination and yes, plenty of doubt.
Early on, a teacher told me I’d never be an illustrator. No explanation, just decided to act like some “Oracle of Art” . But yet again—another gift. Never assume that everyone will like my art. It also fueled my stubbornness to forge ahead and seek out mentors who could realistically encourage me.
So my reply to these questions about doubts:
Yes, we all have them—me included! But thankfully that hard wired urge to create on most days (!) overrides these doubts and fuels me to keep searching, learning, growing and going! So find your people*. Find the folks who “get” what you’re trying to accomplish. Keep creating!
*I want to thank you for your encouragement along the way. Your constructive and kind thoughts are greatly appreciated. I hope I can do the same for you!
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Full Circle
Viewers can be as close as the end of their noses to lush flower bouquets, plays on pattern and color, collages, pithy thoughts and affectionate portraits of friends, including dogs and a cozy cat so detailed that the fur looks real.
Thank you, Melody Parker, of the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier for your piece about my show at The Hearst Center for the Arts this month.
It's always fun to hear how people experience your creations. And this experience is brought about by the excellent team at The Hearst---including the curator, Emily Drennan, whose careful curation/exhibition work sets the scene for wonderful encounters with art.
Discovering
This image shows the first painting I completed utilizing my older screenprints from my flat files, "First Dibs on the Window". The supplier no longer makes this wonderful paper so in the spirit of waste not-want not (my mom's favorite saying) I am giving it a second life.
Another reason I love this process is that it almost feels like the jump rope game "Double Dutch" from my childhood where you "jump in" to join another person jumping rope. You find the rhythm and then add your own spin to the game---all the while smiling and laughing at the fun you're having.
My old print is full of shapes and contours that I can choose to bring forward or set into the background. And it often sets up a series of unanswered questions/statements for the viewer: "What is that behind that flower?" "Why is it there?" "This kind of reminds me of my Grandma's kitchen wallpaper..." Or, the viewer may think, "I like pink!" Questions are good!
Process
I haven't quite figured out *why I love the process of painting over my screenprints but golly, I do!
My tulips were gradually opening across today so this painting was a bit like chasing the sunset...hurry to catch it!
In my upcoming show at the Hearst Center for the Arts you can see more paintings that reflect this process of opaque vs transparency.
#katebrennanhall #illustration #illustrator #gouache #color #flowers #playfulinvestigations #tulips #hiddenwords #oldsignage #whatdiditsay
happiness in my mailbox today
Some happiness arrived in our mailbox yesterday. I thought it fitting to place it on top of a pile of more #playfulinvestigations
in my studio.
Show dates: April 16 through May 16. Free admission, masks required. Many unframed pieces will be available for purchase.
#katebrennanhall #illustration #illustrator #gouache #cedarfallsiowa #printmaker #iowaartists #collage
Movement
This is a story of how a handprinted towel gets made.
1. Watch Netflix show with wild car chases.
2. Draw abstract design reflecting all that *energy.
3. Flip through drawing journals and come across the design and think "Hey, that could be a fun towel!"
4. Create positives, coat screen with photo emulsion, mix jazzy HOT pink ink, print towel, heat set and package the towel.
5. Clear away random paintings (for upcoming show) to make room for photo shoot.
6. Post on Etsy!
7. Ship to stockists!
The End. (really it's more like Rinse & Repeat!)
