But what does it mean? (Part 2)

"Rain"

24x48

"Made of different stuff than when I began..." 

(written around the border of painting)

This is the one of the first true expression pieces that I did after I began to paint.  (This is not the original, someone owns that, but this is the second one).  When I sat down to paint this particular piece, I let a blank canvas sit in front of me while I listened to music on my iPod, hoping for a little inspiration.  I knew that I wanted to paint something a little more layered that had depth and meaning to it, but I wasn't sure how I was going to do that.  As I sat there, a song by Brooke Frasier came on. "Shadowfeet"(from the Albertine album)  As the long started out, she sang, "I am changing, less and less asleep, made of different stuff than when I began..." That's when it hit me.  I had changed.  I was "awake" and "aware", having moved out of my old self and into my new self. Now, don't think I'm going all new-agey on you, we all change.  We all have an event (or multiple events) that change our direction and our outlook.  Mine was that I had found God and found a church.

In 2005, my husband Harris and I joined the Journey Church in Franklin, TN. http://journeyfranklin.com/  It was a church plant by Pastor Jamie George, and it changed our lives.  In short, I found God there.  He had been waiting on the sidelines for me to finally recognize that I wanted Him and needed Him.  He had been so patient and graceful in my blatant disrespect and lack of loyalty.  See, I had known God my whole life.  Even considered myself a "Christian" because I had "prayed the prayer".  But my life reflected nothing of who God is.  It was simply all about me and my comfort.  I chose God when it was convenient...even though He had always chosen me.

After being a part of the Journey Church for a year, it clicked.  I was tired of the game of trying to live more than one life.  I was tired of running away and making it all about me.  I wanted so much more.  I wanted real life.  Real joy. Real love. And the simple line out of "Shadowfeet" jumped out at me as a testament to my life. So I began to paint. I painted the city as a sign of my community.  The clouds hung above the city as normal rain clouds do, however, they were not "normal" clouds.  They were raining buttons. Hundreds of buttons.  This was me.  I look physically the same, yet I was exuding something entirely different in my life.  I was standing out among those around me.  I was showing people that everything that I valued and everything that's inside of me is not what it seems at a quick glance. I knew that when I open up my life, you would see a difference.  I will communicate differently.  I will care differently and deeply.  I will love my spouse differently.  I love my Creator differently.

After serving and attending Journey Church for 4 years, my husband and I moved 45 minutes away. Because Journey Church would no longer be an extension of our community, we knew that we would find a new church family closer to where we lived. Before leaving, I went to Jamie and gave him the original of this painting as reminder that he done exactly as God had asked him.  He had brought the lost to Him.  Jamie had helped me dig deep and discover that there was so much more.  And as I was leaving, I told him that if he continued to do what we was doing, there should be a thousand more of these paintings showing what peoples' lives had become after learning the truth.  There would be no other option than to "rain" differently.

More Bars in More Places...or Not?

*(No names will be changed to protect the "innocent", because we all know AT&T is crappy. Only the "girl" will remain anonymous)

Once upon a time, there was a girl who had a mediocre phone (a Blackberry) with a great cellular company called Sprint. She loved her cell phone service. It worked no matter where she was and never dropped a single call in over 8 years. All was well in the world because she could literally make a phone call whenever, wherever, without having to worry.

Then it happened: Apple unveiled the greatest thing to ever hit the cellular world.  It was the iPhone. It was dazzling and could do just about anything her laptop could do...and more! It was the king of all phones. But it was on a different network. It was on AT&T. She cursed Apple for giving their superior phone to such an inferior network, and swore that she wouldn't switch to AT&T just for a phone.

After the iPhone had been around for about a year, Apple did it yet again: they released an even better version of their amazing phone! The girl couldn't believe it!! This phone could do much more than it's counterpart...she had to have one. Besides, sometimes you have to compromise, and AT&T claimed that they had the most coverage and best service than any other network. "More bars in more places".  She decided to give it a try. She left Sprint (and the crappy Blackberry) behind and moved on to Apple and the iPhone.

After getting her new phone, the girl noticed a few things. First, she could be at home, downtown Nashville, and have no service. None. She also noticed that she would be talking on the phone and all of a sudden the call would get dropped. "Call Failed" would be the blinking icon on her screen. "Funny," she would say, "I was just talking and the call was going just fine.  What happened?"  It didn't take long for the girl to become annoyed, something she was never with her previous network. She couldn't go anywhere without having calls dropped and no service.  How could this be? She saw the commercials that showed that AT&T covered "97% of the US", but somehow she found herself always in that other 3%. Even in major US cities! And what was even more bizarre was that the service didn't seem to be improving at all. In fact, it felt as if it was getting slower and worse!  It was "no bars in all places".

Then Apple made a big announcement that they would be releasing yet another new, superior phone. And the rumor (or maybe it was just more of a hope) was that it would be released from it's contractual obligations with AT&T, and would be available on Verizon, the much better network.  The girl had high hopes that it was true. She would gladly give crappy AT&T the $150 it would cost her to get out of her contract early if it meant that she could get the new phone with service that would actually work! But alas, it was too good to be true. Apple stayed with AT&T, even when during a demonstration of the new phone, AT&T's "service" reared it's ugly head and showed the whole world what it was capable of: absolutely nothing. 

Today, the girl still has the same iPhone with the same crappy service. She continues to look forward to the day when Apple will realize that it needs a superior network to go with it's superior phone.

The End.

Would you risk it for $22 Billion?

I'm really not a blogger.  At least that's what I sometimes tell myself as I begin to organize my thoughts on my Apple iBook. (I'm old school...for now)  The process looks something like this:

1. Get a thought that just kinda sticks in my head.
2. Say to myself, "you should blog about that".
3. Sit down and get about 2-3 paragraphs down.
4. Second-guess my writing skills and wonder if I'm completely wacko for even thinking that someone would be interested in what's going on my head. (it's a jungle in there)
5. Stop writing and leave the draft on my laptop to finish when I become "inspired".
6. Never finish the blog.
7. Tell myself that I'm really not a blogger.
8. Drown my sorrows in a container of raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream

To help you understand how debilitating my blog-phobia is, I just deleted about 30 drafts from my post listings that I'd started and never finished. Not gonna lie, it felt a little depressing and I began wondering "am I really cut out for this whole blogging thing"?   I want to be good at it.  I Twitter all the time! (sorry for all those of you out there who hate following my seemingly meaningless tweets about going to bed or being at the pool. Some people just really want to know!)

As I was brooding about all of the thoughts that I had never managed to complete, I stumbled across an article on www.cnn.com about a man named Ron Wayne. Now, if you haven't read this story in it's entirety, I suggest that you do so here : http://tinyurl.com/2bm9a3r  Mr. Wayne is 76 years old and at one point, was one of the three original founders of Apple. In the beggining, he owned 10% of the company alongside the more popular, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.  He was quick on his feet, gave answers readily, and knew what he was doing. There was one catch, however.  Mr Wayne had a fear that he would acquire lots of debt if the company didn't make it.  He knew that they were up against a few competitors (such as Microsoft) and wasn't interested in a "rough ride". So, with that mindset of fear, he left the company for $800 eleven days after Apple was formed.  Today, his 10% equity would put his net worth at over $22 billion dollars. Yes....I said billion.  He gave it all up out of fear.  Didn't think that he could cut it.  Didn't think that it would be worth it.  Was afraid of the consequences from his past businesses re-playing in this business.  If only he had known what the outcome of Apple, Inc. would be.  If only he had taken a little bit of risk.  Today, Mr. Wayne has all of his money tied up in his coin and stamp collections.  That's it.  He plays the slots in local Nevada casinos hoping to "strike it rich".  If only....


As I read this, I couldn't believe it!  A man had given up 10% of his holding in one of the biggest companies in the world for a mere $800!!  Was he nuts!?  But he couldn't have known that Apple was going to be huge one day.  He didn't know that a little bit of risk would go a long way.  He had done exactly as I had done with my blogging; he had sat down and began to write a story, only to abandon it shortly after it began.  He became afraid, just as I had, that he didn't really have what it took.  


I, however, am willing to risk it.  Let's not kid ourselves...we all know that there's no $22 billion that will come about from having a small blog with 5-6 followers.  But who cares?  It's about taking the risk and putting yourself out there in the first place that really matters.  It's about recognizing what you're good at and what you love and just doing it!  It's about not worrying and running the race as it was meant to be run, not giving up after the first mile or 2 because it's too hard. Just let it go and be yourself. (now I'm sounding like a guru)  


To be totally honest, I don't even care if no one ever reads my blog.  (And I am, by blogging standards, nobody) It's something that I need to do for me.  And if people follow along, then so be it.  :)

But what does it mean?

As both an artist and a lover of art, I know firsthand just how easy it is to paint something that has so much meaning to me, but very little to everyone else. When I paint, it's a part of my soul. It's an expression of emotion and many times a glimpse of what is going on in my life. But if you aren't the artist, it's oftentimes impossible to see that in a simple painting. That being said, I plan on taking a few of my pieces and giving you a glimpse into the soul behind them. The raw emotion. Hopefully then you can have a better understanding of why I do what I do...

"Light"

30x40

"From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson (quote lines border)

I was commissioned late last year by a small church group called "House of Light" here in Nashville to do a piece for their opening night of worship.  So I sat around for a while and I began to think about what we, as Christians, should look like to the rest of the world in a literal form of light. So I painted the city as a symbol of where many of us live.  Then I painted a man holding "balloons" that were a dull ivory color. (the balloons are small stone and ivory buttons) Those balloons were a small representation of complacency, mistrust, lack of care, those who have turned away. Then there was a much larger white button that looks like it has a giant starburst coming out of it. The largest button is a literal representation of of what Christians should look like.  We should stand out among the rest. We should be trying to break free from what everyone else would consider "normal".  We should be illuminating the world on so many different levels.  In reality, just as Emerson said, "...we are nothing, but the light is all."


Hopefully this gives you a little glimpse into what I was trying to say and accomplish in this piece.  Maybe it will give you a better appreciation for what the art is saying, all the while being to enjoy pretty art. 


As Pablo Picasso once said, "Painting is like keeping a diary".  Welcome to mine.

Illusionism.tv

It's finally here!!  For the last year or so, my husband Harris has been working his tail off on a new project: www.illusionism.tv

Illusionism.tv is a membership website where aspiring magicians of all ages can go and learn weekly magic tricks from skilled instructors, upload performance and practice videos, and get advice from friends and other magic aficionados. It is a one-of-a-kind, premiere learning site that is a friendly environment for kids and adults to learn magic together. You can hone your skills as much or as little as you'd like! But the best part is that it helps to maintain the motto that all magicians have: "Magicians never tell their secrets".  Because this is a membership website, not just anyone can learn the tricks that you can learn here!

In celebration of the site having officially launched today (June 25th), Illusionism.tv is offering a HUGE lifetime discount that will only be available until July 1st.  So be sure to sign up and start learning magic with other magicians!  And let your friends and family know to sign up as soon as possible so that they can take advantage of such an awesome discount.

It's been a long and tiresome process, but the anticipation has been nothing short of insanity because we are so excited about it!!

Again, the website is www.illusionism.tv  Go check it out!!

One of Those Months

I know that it's been a while since I've been here to blog, it's definitely something that I have to really work at. I'm much better at micro-blogging on Twitter or reading other peoples' blogs. But I have a few things that I'd like to give people a heads-up on.

For anyone who reads my husbands' blog (http://www.harrisiii.com/harris-iii-blog/), this first little bit isn't going to surprise you. At the end of May, my husband and I found out that our 6 week tour to Thailand in July and part of August had been cancelled due to all of the government protesting and violence that had sprung up over the last couple of months. The small nation went into a state of emergency and began enforcing curfews and suggesting to foreigners not to travel to their country. Public gatherings were also suspended until further notice, which meant that we were not going to be able to hold any shows. Because we found out at the last second, (everyone was hoping that it would be okay and we would be able to come over), we were left with a vacant July and a partially vacant August. No income. Now, I don't know about what kind of jobs you all have, but if you take an unpaid leave of absence for 6 weeks with no other form of income, you might begin to panic when you realize that none of your bills are going to be paid. Welcome to our current state.

Now, all this being said, here's what we've been doing since finding out: we've been racking our brains in an attempt to come up with the money to pay our bills (which we have both personal and business since we are self-employed) for the month of July. It sounds like a lot, but our bills for both exceed $8000. Some of our income in June will carry over, but because of some recent big expenses with our travel vehicle (it keeps breaking down), we don't have as much in the bank. My husband has been on the phone with tons of people looking for ways that we offer our talents to both churches as well as locally to theaters. I have been busy fulfilling art commissions and getting updated photos online.

Because we work together 12 months out of the year, we would consider doing nothing less than that same thing right now. So we have split up the income so that we can carry this burden together. Normally I am able to sell art when people are interested in it and come to me. This next month is going to be a little different. I am taking a step to expedite the sale of art by offering everything that I currently have as inventory as well as commissions at a 20% discount. This offer is only good for the month of July. That being said, please check out my Facebook fan page for updated photos of everything that I have. My goal is to bring in $4000 in July. That's all. I am willing to take commissions, sell what I currently have, or duplicate if possible. If you aren't interested in art for yourself, I encourage you to tell your friends and family and pass on the info to them. The more people that can see it, the better.

So please take a look at my fan page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kateharrisart Check the photo albums for pictures and pricing. If you find yourself interested, you can either message me directly on Facebook, or email me at kate@kateharrisart.com   Your support in this time of need would be greatly appreciated, and know that we aren't asking for a handout...we are working hard for it!

Here are a few of the most popular pieces that I have just to give you an idea:

"Vintage Piano"

24x48 

normally $595

now $475

"Liquid"

48x60

normally $895

now $715

"Dandelion"

30x40

normally "595

now $475

"Light"

30x40

normally $400

now $320