Author Archives: Katie Seibert

Progression: A guy walks out of a bar…

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It was July 11th 2011 and I found myself at Cafe 101 on Van Ness celebrating my cousin Josh’s 24th birthday. I was there with my girlfriend at the time, Zarah, along with Jesse, Grace and my friend Whitney.

At one point Zarah wanted to step outside to smoke a cigarette. I followed her out at a reasonable distance, and just as I stepped outside to round the corner into the alley I heard a voice calling out behind me.

“Hey wait! don’t leave don’t leave!”

I paused, but stuck close to the building, it was clear he was not talking to me.

A man walked out of the bar, about 6’5″ and proceeded to approach Zarah as she lit up her cigarette.

“Oh good, I thought you were leaving, I was about to say, don’t leave. I haven’t even had a chance to buy you a drink yet.”

Zarah’s eyes darted over to me. I smiled. This was funny.

“You know you’re beautiful?”

“I know.” she laughed

He finally acknowledged my presence and asked the same question to me. “You know she’s beautiful?”

“Oh yes, believe me I know.”

Maybe it was the way I looked at her, and the way she smiled, but he seemed to put things together in that instance.

“Oh..wait….are you two together?”

We both nodded and finally indulged in a bit of an embrace.

“Wow, well you are very lucky.”

“Thank you. I do know this, though.”

“Well I don’t want to sound like a creep, I don’t mean to keep you I just wanted to tell her how beautiful she was. Hey listen, when you guys are ready for a drink, just tell the bartender Allie that it’s on me. You ladies have a nice night now.”

He turned and went back inside. Zarah and I took a few moments to chuckle about that situation before we went back inside. He was there sitting at the bar and raised his glass to us as we walked by.

Weird, but it didn’t make me uncomfortable. Zarah is gorgeous, and to me, his actions were entirely appropriate. He attempted to hit on her and when he found out she was spoken for, respectfully backed off. Sounds good to me.

Of course, most men don’t usually quit that easily and he was one of those men. After a few moments of conversation, Zarah returned from the bar and told me that that guy (Reggie) wanted to do shots with her. I told her she was more than welcome to let him buy her drinks, all night in fact. And with that, she went toward the bar.

After some time had passed, I got up to use the bathroom. When I got back, I saw that she was still at the bar. When she saw me, she waved me over and Reggie promptly bought me a drink.

“Man, this girl thinks you’re really something.” he said.

“Well thank you, I am in fact.”

He laughed. “I know I’ve been sitting here all night trying to get her to leave you for me, and all she keeps doing is talking about how great you are.”

“Oh yeah? and why should she leave me for you.”

“Well, for one thing, I’m rich and famous.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me more.”

He then proceeded to wave the bartender over to where we were sitting. He whispered something to her and she handed him a black duffel bag. He opened it and inside it were bundles and bundles of $100 bills. There must have been close to $50,000 in cash in this black bag. I had never seen so much money before in my entire life.

“So you’re a drug dealer?” I said.

He laughed. “No no no. I play professional basketball, overseas in Angola. I just got back to the US and I had to exchange a bunch of currency. Trust me, you can Google me.” (and I did, right there on the spot, and he was telling the truth)

“Oh I see. Well, that is quite impressive.”

“Your girl here was showing me some of your artwork and you’re pretty good.”

“Thank you, I try my best.”

“Do you do commissions?”

“Absolutely.” I mean, what the hell was I supposed to say? This guy had just flashed a bag full of money at us.

“What do you say you paint me a picture.”

“Sure, what would you like?”

He asked Zarah to bring out her phone again. Apparently while I was in the bathroom she was showing him my website. He pointed to a piece I had done way back in high school. A black and white self-portrait. Unfortunately, that piece was already sold and I couldn’t give him that one. Instead, he requested a custom portrait…of Zarah.

That’s a little weird, but it was the least I could do, since clearly he wasn’t going to get to sleep with her. I ran it by Zarah and asked if she was okay with this. I mean, essentially her face was going to be in some creepy (yet endearing?) strangers house. Immortalized.

She was only a little bit drunk when she agreed to this.

Reggie and I discussed our terms, which resulted in me walking out of that bar with $800 in cash. The next day I bought a canvas and went to work. It took me 2 days to get through, as it was a very simple painting. After I finished the most detailed portion (her face) on the first day, I got to work on the second portion (the petals). It went something like this:

2 weeks later, I returned to the very same bar. Only this time, I had the painting in hand. Reggie showed up, slightly embarrassed by the conditions under which our last meeting took place.

However, he made good by his word and expressed his gratitude. The painting was better than he expected (Why don’t people ever think I’m going to deliver on these?) Anyway, he couldn’t stay long so he thanked me and handed me another $700 for the second installment.

And that is the story of how a guy who wanted to sleep with my girlfriend eventually ended up commissioning a painting from me, and paying me $1,300.

the end.

Pomegranate Progression: a personal story

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“But the spheres are pomegranates and the music is the sweet-bitter jangle in your mind / when you pierce the skin and discover what’s inside.” 

-K.M.Hawkes

Two years ago today, I finally completed this painting. Out of all my work, this painting means the most to me. Over the 3 or 4 months during its creation, it pushed and pulled me in many directions. I went through s different style, different colors, different scale, and an all-around different emotional experience and state of mind. I certainly see that my artwork underwent a fundamental change after I did this painting, and I think it is about time it earned its own post on my website.

I am noticing that the most successful pieces come with a certain degree of challenge and inspiration. This piece, perhaps more than any other, is a careful combination of overwhelming inspiration, frustration, challenge, and physical labor. All of this punctuated at times, by drug-induced hyper-focus.

I would like to point out two things before I continue. First, most people who see this painting do not immediately notice that it is a nude portrait of a woman. So for those of you included in that majority, I am here to tell you that is exactly what this painting is of. A woman’s torso, naked. Take a few moments to look at it, and come back when you see it.

Second, (and this is more of a confession)  it’s someone I know.  Moreover, it is someone who has played a very curious role in my life over many years. That is the story I wish to share, thus making this the most personal entry ever.

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a lesbian, but I did not always know this about myself. Around the time I met Genevieve, I was either not completely “out” yet or I had just come out. In any case, I was just beginning to unpack my feelings for other women and it was all very new and scary. 

I wanted to paint about it in a way that made me feel comfortable, but I was terrified of attempting to paint a woman. I asked myself how that would even work, where would I start? What colors would I use? (all of my previous human forms had involved the male figure and had been blue) would they be small or large-scale? (I had big feelings about this…so large canvas right?)

Thankfully, life helped me answer all of these questions soon after I met Genevieve. Something about her made me feel as though I had been hit with a sledgehammer. Right in my chest. She was captivating and I never forgot that feeling I had when I met her on the rugby pitch with the sun behind her and her reddish-brown hair in a braid.

During our long-distance friendship, I had gone through a few relationships, as did she, but we had always remained in touch. Looking back it would seem that I had always been utterly paralyzed by how beautiful she was. This was new, certainly, and while I found it easy to forget about her while I was in a relationship, the times when I was not were plagued with crippling longing.

I remember writing something about her. I can’t find the entry but I did find this word cloud I made around the same time to give you an idea of where my mind was. Essentially, I compared her to droplets of wine that stick to the glass that leave a glorious taste in your mouth but utterly unsatisfied, and casually threw in a mention that her body reminds me of ripe fruit. You know, normal things you say to girls you are infatuated with.

I can’t believe I am making this public.

 Toward the beginning of 2011 I was going through a very interesting time in my life. I was newly single, living in the gayest city in the world and finding no shortage of women to give my attention to. Just as expected, my feelings for Genevieve were resurrected and became so strong that it literally made me feel sick to my stomach. I finally got to the point where I felt like I was drowning in this feeling, and I couldn’t contain it anymore.

I rolled out my 8 foot by 6 foot piece of raw, un-stretched canvas and decided I needed to paint or else I was going to explode. 

The best part is that she knew everything the whole time. I have this unique affliction where I am not only incapable of lying, but also incapable of hiding my feelings. Therefore, I told her everything. She acknowledged it without reciprocation but ended up doing something much more helpful.

After hearing of my plans of the mural that I insisted I needed to paint otherwise I was going to die, she willingly offered her help in the form of a photograph to use for reference. I remember waking up to the message and the photo (the morning of her birthday) and I recall very clearly that I shed actual tears.

The last part of this story is the progression. I found in the depths of my external hard-drive that I had documented the progress I had made in this piece. I will not post the original photo she sent me, but I will start the progression with the sketch I did based off of the photograph. Since I am a pretty damn good sketch artist, you will get a very clear idea of what I had to work with.

So this is what the canvas went through over the course of 2 months:

Sketch

Sketch with proportions

Sketch on Canvas

Prepping the highlights

Color light to dark

More color

Finish coloring

Begin detail highlights

Outline composition

Spend 10 hours painting via drug-induced hyper-focus

Marvel at how you managed to convey ripe fruit and apply finishing touches

And that is how I managed to put years worth of pent up feelings into a painting and also why this is my favorite piece.

I hope you all enjoyed that.

Triptych Triumph on MDF

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Jane's Triptych - MDF (various sizes)

Jane’s Triptych – MDF (various sizes)

 

This is my latest work, and it marks my departure from Sli Na Bande. After completing the mural for Jane, I had enough paint left over for something else so she kindly procured a few pieces of MDF for me, and this is the result.

I don’t usually paint on wood or surfaces that aren’t white. But in this case, it came out of necessity. I didn’t have enough white to prime the wood and my time there was growing short. So in a moment of “f**k it” I decided to just go for it. I must say I am rather pleased with the result. Even though maria “likes white better.” I enjoyed having the paint absorb into the surface. I felt a little bit more like a real artist instead of a child pushing paint around on a canvas. That may sound silly, and I assure you, it is completely silly.

 

In any case, I think they turned out very well and I hope Jane and the family enjoy them. I am very thankful for the opportunity to do so much art while I was here. I am not sure if I will be awarded many opportunities in the future. The benefit of staying here so long throughout the winter was that I actually had time to plan and execute something halfway decent (or very decent, depending on your opinion).

Leaving is somewhat bittersweet. I am excited to head to Belgium, but I have had many good times here in Ireland. Thanks again to everyone. Enjoy.

Panel 3

Panel 3

Panel 2

Panel 2

Panel 1

Panel 1

 

Bubbles!

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This is my buddy Oscar. The paintings above are the paintings of mine he currently has in his room. Oscar is my youngest client so far and it was a pleasure working with him. I’m always glad to see my art going to a good home.

On a trip to Alameda to hang out with his mom, I discovered that he was in need of some artwork. Luckily, I happened to have two good-sized pieces of canvas board in my possession that I needed to do something with and I thought this would be the perfect project.

I am excited for any and all opportunities to do things that are less…mature. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. My painting style utilizes bold colors and highly defined shapes, but I wouldn’t call it childish. However, sometimes exploring something more whimsical is necessary, especially when you are trying to train yourself to paint with colors you don’t usually paint with.

I hate green. There is more on this in another post, but these pieces for Oscar were the experimental phase of using green. Maybe hate was too harsh a word. I find most greens very pleasant to look at and I appreciate it. But for whatever reason green completely eludes me and I don’t understand it at all when it comes to using it in my own work.

The only painting I ever did that was green (Green Piece) was successful because a. it required no blending whatsoever and b. I used two out of the tube greens only. Also, it was paired with yellow and black, two colors I enjoy using very much.

Anyway, I took a stab at some gradients and I came up with these whimsically robotic looking bubble things and thought this would be the perfect thing for Oscar’s room. I hope he likes them. Perhaps when he is a bit older he will be able to tell me what he really thinks of them.

Mural no. 1

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IMG_8154

As you all know, I am in Ireland working on a farm (mostly) and otherwise expending my efforts to keep warm. Douglas and Marlene own about 5 acres of land and both of their kids live nearby.

Jane (their oldest daughter) lives just down the street with her husband and 7-year-old, Joshua. Jane gave me a wonderful opportunity to paint one of the walls in her house. My first mural.

To be honest, I was a bit nervous about this. I am used to manipulating myself, or my canvas in different ways while I am working on something. If it is large, I might even place it on the floor. In San Francisco, my easel was a Foosball table. I am one of those painters who works flat, horizontal. Not vertically, if I can help it.

My other two mural-esque pieces were on canvas, so even though I started them on the wall, I had the option of taking them down and moving them around. This would not be the case here. This is a permanent installation. Every artist’s dream. 

What attracted me initially to this project is that Jane loves blue. I knew immediately this would be successful. Blue and I just understand each other (as you may have gathered from earlier posts). But still, this was a learning process. I had my wall selected and over the course of a week or so I came up with a design.

This piece is going in Jane’s study (she is a lawyer, or as they call them here –a solicitor). However straight-edge that might seem. Keep in mind that I live on a self-sustaining, yoga, hippie retreat center. In speaking with “my client” she mentioned that her spirit animal was an eagle. Now, I don’t do realism well, but I arrived at a nice abstract idea of a feather. 

Behold, the plans.

Behold, the plans.

Now, all I had to do was order the supplies and get to work. And so it began, and looked something like this:

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IMG_8100 IMG_8102

I enjoyed this. A lot. And now that I have time to ruminate on why, I think it has 100% everything to do with my client. Jane was wonderful. Not only did she order my supplies for me, but she gave me unlimited access to the works space, AND gave me chocolate and popcorn as payment for my services. I can’t tell you how awesome it felt to go down to work and sip hot tea and eat Cadbury chocolate WHILE painting. Another key factor was that I had absolutely zero time constraints. Well, I guess if you count when I am scheduled to leave Ireland, that’s one. But for all intents and purposes, I could take as much time as I needed.

In case you are wondering, this took about 30 hours. I spread that out over something like 3 weeks. It was very fun. Here, enjoy some details:

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Oceanside Art

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It has been about a week since I left Oceanside (at least, at the time I am writing this) and I must say, it was a great trip. For me, it seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. Of course, I was there just shy of a month and during that time, one of my best friends gave me a lot of art projects to keep me busy. Behold:

The Gina Walsh Robot (and friends) Collection 2012

Challenge and Change

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I have put off writing about this painting for some time, effectively reinforcing the theme of this entry: Challenge. 

I previously confessed Maria’s Delightful Masterpiece Attempt to be the painting that I struggled with the most. In some ways that is still true, but I have now come to realize there are different types of struggle.

First of all, there is my aversion to green. Originally I had started this piece with the intention of it going to a particular client with a green wall. I also welcomed the challenge to try once again, to have a breakthrough with this goddamn color. I don’t really think that happened, but I did manage to incorporate more green than usual.

It turned into a fusion of Points of Deliberation and something else…It is hard to say because this piece changed so much while I was working on it. I actually thought it was finished twice prior to writing this post and it took a few different iterations before it became what you see here.

It was challenging because I am not sure I am happy with it still, and it came at a time when I was nearing some uncertainty.

As you probably know from the inclusion of my travel blog and my announcement on facebook, I will be leaving the country shortly to do…I’m not sure yet. I fully intend on incorporating art into my life but I am not yet sure how that is going to manifest itself. My studio apartment in the Tenderloin of San Francisco is the closest thing I have had to a permanent working space and from now on I will be entirely transient.

I am bringing no art supplies with me overseas, just my portfolio and a sign that says “will paint for food”

Not really. Kind of.

The point is, this piece represents some tension and I can see it when I look at it. It incorporates individual elements that I like and that I feel comfortable with, but it is against a backdrop I find unsettling. The whole picture together speaks of discomfort and I have definitely never painted anything that made me feel this way.

The change comes in the many different iterations this piece took before I decided it was finished. I’m still not even sure it is…

TV and Toast: Yandell Commission

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Say goodbye to graphic design TV and Toast because I will be without a computer for God knows how long. To kick off the hand-drawn series (on Bristol Paper to be precise) we have a lovely comic commissioned by one of my adoptive parents Sara Yandell.

Sara has always been very supportive of my artistic endeavors and is particularly fond of TV and Toast. She requested I make her an original on paper (signed and all) and of course I was happy to oblige. I came up with this while watching an episode of How I Met  Your Mother and here we are. Of course I had to buy an entire pad of paper in order to make this happen, so there are more to come, but this was a great start.

Cabin circa 2007

I can’t thank the Yandell family enough for their support over the years. I spent this past Labor Day weekend at their cabin and it will be my last so long as I am away on my overseas adventure. My first trip was in 2005 (I think) and they have been kind enough to invite me along on each of their subsequent vacations.

Their cabin is full of all sorts of wonderful things like puzzles and Paul Simon records and toasty cheese sandwiches and coffee (after college, it was also filled with beer and wine). They did a great job of making me feel like a part of their family. They have given me books and canvases, cooked me meals, and had me over for thanksgiving. It really meant a lot to me back then, and it still does to this day.

I wanted to express my gratitude for the continued support of both me and my artwork.

Thank you for everything. I hope you enjoy the comic.

Throwback: Birth of a Style

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I was very excited to receive an email containing these images. I have not seen this piece in years and for some reason I never took photos of it when I first made it back in 2006. Probably because at that time, I was just graduating high school and I was young and stupid and did not know how you act as a proper artist and build a portfolio. I am glad at least that much has changed.

It probably looks familiar, the same elements can be found in pieces like TigerFish and Birdcage, as well as a few others.

The piece I have here is the first appearance of that style, and also the first “commissioned” piece I ever did. Rhonda was kind enough to photograph  my drawing and send me the photos in case I would be interested in posting them on here.

I don’t remember how long this took me, but I do remember working very hard on it. It’s not very large, but as I look at the close-up I can clearly tell that is a .005 micron pen at work (think: hours upon hours of me hunched under my desk lamp with my face nearly pressed up against a paper making thousands of tiny little dots).

My only instructions were the size of the paper and that it should be “black and white” so I had a lot of freedom. I remember actively pursuing inspiration. I looked at other art, graffiti, patterns. Up until this point, I had always worked from other images and copied other styles. I hadn’t ever just done something originating within myself before and I had no idea where to start.

It stressed me out.

But of course, if I was ever going to become an artist, I had to have a style that was distinctly my own. When you study art, it is easy to see similarities between works and other artists, particularly of the same time period. There is the artist and the one who copies him and then eventually, an individuality emerges.

I feel like high school was a lot of learning about styles and attempting to copy them, just to try them on and see how they felt. There is a pretty common saying in the art-education world that goes something like “you need to know the rules before you can break them” and it’s completely true. You will be a better painter if you practice techniques for the sake of mastering them and only copy. But you will be a better artist if you practice techniques in order to understand when and why to break the rules.

It was time. I no longer had an art teacher giving me assignments and I needed to come up with some direction if I was going to continue to make decent artwork.

Whatever it was that I saw, it inspired this. And from this, I have explored different iterations, and probably will continue to explore further. But this was the moment where I understood lines and it was a great moment.

The purpose of this post is really just to express my interest in seeing the genesis of a style that I rely so heavily on now. Nothing I have done since has looked QUITE like this, and I’m not sure I will do something closer in the future, but I enjoy reveling in the nostalgia. Revisiting which elements I have carried on with and which I have discarded.