Time to Get My China Pants On!

In just a few short days I'll be in Shanghai, visiting my dear friend Emily! I'm super excited. I will not be bringing my computer with me (as it is a huge liability) so be prepared to get bombarded with photos and stories upon my return!

I've been to Japan, twice actually, but I feel somewhat unprepared for China. Aside from the fact they are both "Asia" they couldn't be different from each other. I'm only expecting complete mayhem. Luckily, Emily will be there to help me. One thing is for sure, it will be one hell of an adventure!

Opening Photos from Spot'em

Unfortunately, I didn't have my actual camera with me to my opening on Friday. I did, however, have my handy new iphone which does take some pretty decent photos...
The opening went well, aside from the fact that it was about 8 milliongagilliontrillion degrees inside the gallery - so we had to look at the work in shifts and cool off in the nice fall-like weather outside.











Stop by the show if you can! Spot'em will be up through October 7th at the SpotArt Gallery in NE.

Cheers!
Karen

Process photos

I wanted to share with you a bit of my current process for recent work. This piece is entitled "Radiance" and will be in the show on Friday. Stop by the show to see more!

First I start with simple thumbnail sketches to get an idea of composition, then move onto larger sketches to get more clarity. Once I have the main figure the way I like it, I trace it with basic tracing paper.





Then I flip the drawn side down onto my piece of wood, and lightly re-trace. This is a simple way of "printing" my drawing onto the wood. I've found that it's difficult to erase on wood, so that is why I use this method.

Then I begin to paint. And in this case, it takes a while because of all of those lovely different colored dots.








Once everything is painted, I then go back in again with my pencil and darken up the line drawing. Presto! The piece is finished.





copyright Karen O'Bryan, 2011

Spot'em, Opening Friday

I'm going to be apart of a group show opening this Friday, Sept. 9th at the Spot Art Gallery in NE Minneapolis.


spot'em
time to look out for local art

opening artists' reception
Friday, september 9, 7-11pm
auditory delights by dè boss at 8pm
henna+body art by judy o

featuring
serene scene paintings by arnie hamel
frightful fun paintings by bridget riversmith
articulate insight drawings by joel starkey
captured cloud photography by michael mcgraw
fabulous fashionista paintings by karen o'bryan
and dynamic photography by rob levine

thru oct 7

spotArt gallery
1828 marshall st ne mpls
www.spotArt.org


I've made a couple of new pieces for your viewing pleasure, here's just one example to spark some interest. Stop by the show to check out more!


"Circus Act"
Acrylic and graphite on wood panel
Karen O'Bryan, 2011

Hope to see you on Friday!

Cheers,
Karen