Beginning, Middle, and End

Beginning, Middle and End

Fall Colors

Little Mouse, Big.... Impact

It's been a long grueling summer and a hectic fall. I've been making a lot of work but it's been under a state of duress. My father had been very sick and then chose to go into hospice in September. I officially put my brushes down and helped my family through this hard time.  We sat with him, brought in food, family and friends, and as the time neared - we were quiet and held his hand. We watched Irma sweep into Florida on the tv in his room when there wasn't much to say anymore. And then on Sept 13, he passed away.  My dad was my best friend. He taught me how to use watercolor in the first place. Whenever people ask me where I went to school, I always say that my dad taught me how to paint first.  Art school didn't teach me squat when it came to watercolor. Thanks to him, I had to basic skills of it down pat by the time I was in middle school. It was built into the bones of my hands and wrists. It's never been a tricky or scary medium, thanks to my early lessons. My dad set me up with a studio in the basement, where he also had his office. I got a big table with a big lamp, lots of supplies and lots of How-To-Draw books. Many of them were his mother's, who also painted.

A good deal of the art I made these past two years had underlying meanings as my dad's health grew worse and my family went through a lot of upheaval. I deal with death quite a bit in my work and I am not afraid to look at it in they eye. It's a very sacred part of life. The absence of life sticks to us. To say that I will 'miss my dad' is just the tip of what I feel. Thank you to everyone who has helped us out and been so supportive.

Spring came early

Spring is in full bloom, here on the river. Life is bursting out from the ground and down from the sky. The pelicans are here in full force, the morels have popped up (although I have only found one), violets cover the forest ground, and the ants are back in the house. Our dog has new things to roll in, Andy and I are sneezing ourselves awake in the morning. Life is happening. And when it is like this, the painting is non stop for me. The area around my paper and paint is dotted with new feathers, egg shells and other little fragile things that demand to all get painting right then and there.

Some good news. Andy and I will be featured in a segment on Milwaukee Public Television, Channel 10 (Milwaukee PBS). It will air for the first time on Friday May 19 at 7:30 pm on the show "10thirtysix".  It will be featured in a wonderful magazine program that is called “10thirtysix”.  It will air again on Channel 10 on Sunday May 21 at 10:30 am, and on Monday May 22 11:30 pm. A day or two after it airs, the world will also be able to access the entire program on the Milwaukee PBS web site (MilwaukeePBS.org).

Essentially, we were interviewed about our lives as artists, living on the Mississippi River and how we make our lives work. Thanks to Dan Jones for tracking us down, convincing Andy to be on tv and interviewing us.

Duck Hunting

(details from unfinished duck paintings)

The gunshots finally stopped yesterday and, just like that, duck hunting season came to an end. And to add to the finale, the temperature plummeted so that the Bay of Stoddard was completely frozen over. There were at least six brave/stupid men out there to testing their fate and getting a leg up on the ice fishing season. Some local folks keep me stocked up on ducks, so I have a box of frozen specimens in the garage. It won't be above freezing for weeks, so there's no rush.

I wanted to thank everyone for a successful year. This one has been especially hard because of family turmoil. I am sorry I had to cancel so many shows and commitments. But let me say, everyone was very sympathetic and forgiving. On top of it all, the shows I did have went great. Andy and I started working with Tory Folliard Gallery and our work has gone over extremely well there.  

So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays. Let's take this time to come together. We've been so ripped apart.

-Katie

Nature Studies at MOWA at St. John's on the Lake

Katie Musolff and Lynne Railsback are two watercolor painters who depict the natural world in delicate and intricate detail. Musolff’s paintings of butterflies, birds, bugs, and other creatures have an Audubon-esque quality. Railsback approaches her work with a botanist’s eye, creating a colorful canon of paintings of flowers, leaves, roots, and branches. This exhibition celebrates the organic world with precision and beauty. 

Meet the Artists
Thursday, October 20 | 7:00
This exhibition takes place at Saint John's On The Lake, 1800 N. Prospect Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202 

Rittenhouse Philadelphia, Armonk New York and Mushrooms

Upcoming Shows

Rittenhouse Fine Art Show, Philadelphia PA

September 16-18

Rittenhouse Square

Armonk Art Show, New York

September 24 & 25

Saturday & Sunday  10am–5pm
205 Business Park Dr., Armonk, NY

It's super wet in our region of Wisconsin, so my booth with have a healthy dose of mushrooms. They are one of my favorite things to paint, so I hope folks get a kick out of them.

Coming the Old Town Chicago and The Milwaukee Lakefront Festival

New work is here. Look on Available works page.
Old Town, Chicago June 11-12
Lakefront Festival of the Arts, June 17-19 (Happy Father's Day)
Hope you see you there.

Summer has arrived, along with the bugs, turtles, birds and new work

Moth collecting and documenting

Ah, yes, it has been a trying year so far but now I am beginning to thaw out from the obstacles that life granted my family. Every one seems to have survived and now it's time for me to get back to work, which feels good. Better than good. My paintings are more intense, more precise. Perhaps it's a way of gaining a sense of control..... like scrubbing down the oven.  (I should do that too). New work is pouring out of me, which is necessary because the art festival season has started.  

You can see the newest of the new at Chicago's Old Town Art Fair on June 11-12 and Milwaukee's Lakefront Festival of the Arts on June 17-19.  (More pictures coming)