Welcome to NEW YORK...

Ok so not to quote Taylor Swift or anything but please, I love NYC!! My hubby and I just had a long weekend there and are exhausted from all the awesomeness. We only had a couple of set plans for the weekend before we left and set out to wing the rest. Some highlights were the Brooklyn fleamarket also referred to as 'Brooklyn Flea', brunch at Bubby's in Tribeca and an amazing food tour in Nolita/ NoHo. We popped in and out of more restaurants and bars than we could shake a stick at. To say it was fun would be an understatement. I got tons of inspiration for some future pieces! As much as I love the big city though I am always ready to come back home. I missed my people tremendously! I love my slow paced life out here in the country...but will always love visiting the Big Apple! See y'all soon!

And another year makes...14!!!

My hubby and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary at Restaurant Iris here in Memphis...time's a flyin'. To say I appreciate this man is quite an understatement. He lets me live my dreams as an artist every single day with nothing but supportive words and actions. I love you babe! Here's to the future...bad and good, sad and happy, tough and fun. We're in this together!

Art Shows!

Well, I've been pretty buried lately. I had 3 different art shows in November....that equates to a whole lotta work and very little downtime. To kick things off I had the Annual St. George's Art Show which was a success as usual. One of my favorite shows that I do. The very next day I had a trunk show in Jackson, TN which was a ton of fun. Erica at The Highland House knows how to put on a good shindig that is for sure. And to wrap things up I participated in Merry Marketplace which is put on my the Junior League of Memphis...a great time and I met tons of folks! Here are some pictures from all the fun! See y'all soon!

A Baby Shower

Weekend before last I had the privilege of hosting a baby shower for a super fun friend of mine. Back in the day I would have reluctantly agreed to help a friend with this charge since it seemed like there was a baby shower every other weekend...EXHAUSTING anyone? But things have changed. Most of my friends were finished having babies a couple of years ago...some for way longer than that...the ones who only had two kids...we like to call them quitters. Anyway, I happily volunteered to celebrate my friend's baby and I was thrilled to do it... AND I had some help from my best friend turned neighbor. From picking the invitations to buying cutesy little paper straws for the glasses...it was really fun! The cake was AMAZING...I always order from Kipp Holmes of Kipp Cakes. She never disappoints! Here are some fun pictures from the day. See y'all soon! -Katie

Landscaping Awfulness

Soooo, THIS is our front yard. We just built this house last year and obviously didn't have any guidance as far as landscaping was concerned. These decisions were left towards the end of our 'million decision list' so we were pretty fried and over it all! We didn't think through certain items and just did what they suggested. Look, I know it's not THAT BAD but we just want it bumped up a little!! We need some stonework, varying heights, COLOR!, etc. NOW we have some time and a little extra money so we have big plans for these beds! Stay tuned for the reveal in a couple of months.....hopefully it will be TONS better!! Can't wait!!!! See y'all soon! -Katie

Camp and Deer

Baby Girl went to her very first week-long camp! The fact that she was gone wasn't so bad but we had no contact with her and THAT was strange...(and yes I sent a baggie of pre-addressed, stamped envelopes for her to write her precious mother and they sat untouched the entire week :) I think it's safe to say she had a blast since the first words from her mouth upon pick-up were, "I missed y'all but I want to stay here! PLEASE!" She takes after my husband in that they are fueled by people and social events. She would probably be happy living at camp for an entire summer if we let her. Well, I'm still doing laundry and may need to wash some loads a couple of times given the stench that poured from her bag...whew! We missed you Baby Girl and we're glad you're home! On another note I snapped this beautiful pair of deer while leaving our neighborhood at 6:30am to pick her up from camp....GORGEOUS!! These sort of snapshots is what inspires my deer paintings...LOVE my surroundings! See y'all soon! Katie

Life for Real

I'd love to start using this blog as an outlet for my daily life...my zoo family that I care for day in and day out written down in 'posts'. I'm often asked "HOW on EARTH do you do it all?? 4 kids and you paint?! I'm in awe!" to which I often reply, "I don't really do it that well. It's all an illusion". True right? (the funny part is that the people who really know me know that I'm NO SUPERWOMAN!) I'm leery of anyone who claims to HAVE IT ALL...aren't you? The reality is that no one can have it all. Something ALWAYS suffers....always. The days that I'm prepping for a show and work for 12 hours straight are brutal. The paintings look so pretty hanging at the show but here's what got me there... I wake up, get my absolutely essential cup of coffee, say hi to the people in the house that are 'awake' and then make my way up to the studio. My husband then assumes the role of caretaker for the entire day (a role that he's happy to fill but let's not kid ourselves, he's no momma). After several breaks for meals, brain re-cooping, etc I find my way back down late at night to find a disaster...I'm talking like, 'FEMA needs to come hand out assistance to the survivors' kind of mess. It looks like a bomb went off and therefore, I spend the next 3 days fixing it all. The truth is although painting is oh so rewarding for me it's a tug of war....and I mean WAR. I think it's like that for all moms. And although what I just described is an extreme case, it's still difficult to find balance. Being a wife and mom are definitely priority and I think the more my business grows the more I'm having to take a step back and examine those priorities. Having an amazingly supportive husband doesn't hurt but it's still difficult. There's definitely an internal struggle. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly thankful that I am able to work from home AND be with my family! I know that not everyone has the same luxury. And I know the problems listed above are not really 'problems', however, it's something I feel the need to talk about. Soooo, next time you see someone who seems to be able to do it all just think....I bet their house is a disaster! See y'all soon! Katie

Happenings

Hello world....between being up to my elbows in my kids Easter candy and painting my little tail off, I've been one busy momma. I have a show running the entire month of April at Palladio entitled "Impressions of Grace: Abstract Stories from the Bible". It's a series that I felt led to do and each piece tells a story. Go by and check it all out when you're in midtown Memphis. Also, I have Double Decker Festival in Oxford in 5 days!!! I'm still prepping and getting everything finished for that. It sure does take lots and lots of prep! If you've never been to Double Decker you don't know what you're missing. Besides being on one of the coolest squares in the south, it hosts live music, amazing food and let's not forget the ART! Lots of artisans and crafters from all over do this show and I'm honored to be a part of it for a second year. Here are a couple of pics from last year. It's a must see and experience! See y'all soon! Pray that I make it through this week!!! -Katie

13 Years Ago...

...we got married!!! Well, technically it was in November but my blogging is all messed up :) We celebrated by going to Restaurant Iris (for all you Memphis people you know how amazing Iris is!). Marriage is work. Plain and simple. But I wouldn't want to work so hard with anyone else. Love you babe. Here are some pics from our wedding and from our dinner....I'm absolutely AMAZED at how different we look in 13 short years. WOW. -Katie

Christmas!

The whole month of December was extremely busy for us. I tried very hard to keep my focus on what the season is really about and talked to the kids about it often. With all the distractions it's difficult to keep us ALL focused to the birth of Jesus...the elf was especially a pain in my side this year. Sorry all you elf folks....BUT I'm over it. On another note, I was the busiest I've ever been during the Christmas season...thanks to all who ordered from me this year! What a blessing to get all those messages after Christmas telling me how much your loved ones appreciated and loved their gifts!! I LOVE my job!! Here are some highlights from December. We hosted a Mother/ Daughter Brunch with all of our friends like we do every year. We made cookies for Santa...and he ate every single one! We spent lots of time with family and friends. It was a good month. Much love and I'm looking forward to a fabulous 2014!!! See y'all soon! -Katie

Up close and personal pieces...

Here are the two pieces that were featured at the First Fruit Vesta Home in the previous post. See y'all soon! -Katie

Vesta Home Show 2013

The Memphis Area Homebuilders Association had another Vesta Home Show this year. First Fruit Collection, located on the Collierville Square, had the big job of decorating one of the Vesta homes this year and BOY did they do an amazing job! I was honored to have a couple of pieces hanging in their house. Out of the 6 houses that participated in the show, the First Fruit house was by far my favorite! Check out the pictures below....see y'all soon! -Katie