What The? Bat?

I went out to feed my fish and walk my dog the other day and this tiny bat swooped in, hovered over the water, then plopped in face down! He stayed motionless for a bit, then swam to the edge where he preened himself for about 20 minutes and then flew away.

He was so small! For some scale, the slate edge he's hanging onto is about 1 inch tall.

New Print Releases

I'm happy to announce that Gallery Nucleus is now producing "Thank You, Thank You!", "Daffadown Dilly" and "It's a Trap" prints.

 

 

"Daffadown Dilly" and "It's a Trap" are $25 each and measure 4.5" x 24". A very affordable pair!

 

"Thank You, Thank You!" measures 8.5" x 11" and is only $20.

 

Visit Gallery Nucleus and go shopping!

Green Jell-o Anyone?

My fourth and final show for this month is opening tomorrow (March 30th). It was a lovely surprise when I got the email to participate, but when it came down to it, I had about a week to come up with an idea and execute a work about food.

I went back to my childhood and my love of canned fruit cocktail (yes, I still love canned fruit cocktail) in Jell-o. My mom never used lime Jell-o but I'm a sucker for green!

"There's Always Room" is acrylic on pine and measures 9.5" x 14" and will be at the Food For Thought exhibition at Summit Medical Group in Berkeley Heights , NJ. It's a beautiful space and I suppose I'll be the comic relief as the other artists are doing wonderful, more traditional paintings and photography. 10% of the sale of each piece will go to the NJ  Food Bank.       

So I'll keep you updated and if he doesn't get snatched up at the opening, I'll post him just like any of my originals. But you will have to be patient.

The exhibit will run for 6 months so if anyone purchases these guys, they will have to wait until September to get them. I suppose if you get a doctor's note I might be able to swing it, but I don't think so ;)

I've got some extra space here, so how about a bit of trivia? Did you know that to be considered fruit cocktail, it has to contain pears, peaches, grapes, cherries and pineapple? I didn't either, but now we all know and can pass along this knowledge to others.

 

Thanks for sticking with me. Here's some more closeups:

 

ECT Findings

It's no secret that I suffered through survived, a year long severe depression in 2010. It's also no secret that the treatment that saved me was ECT. I'm 14 months out from my last treatment (I had 13 total) and although I have moments, I am better than I was before it. Way better. I always wanted to be open with what I went through because if it helped just one person, it would be worth it. I read some encouraging news today.

A friend of mine forwarded a news report that a team at the University of Aberdeen just completed a study that shows for the first time how ECT effects the brain: 

"Prof Ian Reid, who led the research, said: "ECT is a controversial treatment, and one prominent criticism has been that it is not understood how it works and what it does to the brain."

"For all the debate surrounding ECT, it is one of the most effective treatments, not just in psychiatry, but in the whole of medicine, because 75% to 85% of patients recover from the symptoms."

(I remember how frightened I was before my first treatment and the doctor gave me this exact statistic.)

He added: "Over the last couple of years there has been an emerging new perspective on how depression affects the brain.

"This theory has suggested a 'hyperconnection' between the areas of the brain involved in emotional processing and mood change and the parts of the brain involved in thinking and concentrating.

"Our key finding is that if you compare the connections in the brain before and after ECT, ECT reduces the connection strength between these same areas - it reduces this hyperconnectivity.

"For the first time we can point to something that ECT does in the brain that makes sense in the context of what we think is wrong in people who are depressed." " via BBC News

He goes on to say that they hope the findings will help them develop new treatments that will lesson the memory problems that effect people undergoing ECT.

I'm encouraged by the article and hope that it sparks a bit of positive thinking on, not only ECT, but depression as well.

 

Brand New Mounted Prints

 

I have two brand new mounted prints available in my shop now.

 "Mushy" got such a lovely response that I had to make this little couple right away.

"Make Like a Banana..." is my best selling print and after many, many requests for a mounted version, I finally got off my butt and made one.

I also listed the mounted versions of "My Poor Meatball", "Mono No Aware" and "Le Tigre" which had previously only been available in other shops.

 

I hope everyone has fun and can enjoy a bit of shopping today!

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Tall Plant Portrait Series Continues...

 

I've always loved that first hint of spring and seeing the crocus and snowdrops blooming is a colorful little sigh of relief after a harsh winter.

 

I humbly present "Master Galanthus" and "Augustus Crocus", acrylic on pine, each 18" x 3.5" x .75".

 

I made them as a set and would love it if they could stay together. They will be available for purchase together on Friday, March 16th at 3pm EDT. If they do not sell as a set within 24 hours, I will make them available separately on Saturday, March 17th at 3pm EDT.

 

Enjoy!

 

xoxo

Kris

"Towering Cumulus Humorous"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received an invite by the

lovely ladies at Parlor Gallery in

Asbury Park to participate in

their latest show, "Fun is the

Law" which opens March 10th.

The focus of the show is 'toys,

skate decks, and fun-filled art'.

I thought a deck would be a

nice challenge and had a vision

for a spindly legged character.

 

 

 

 

 

"Towering Cumulus Humorous"

acrylic on maple skatedeck 7.5"

x 31.25"

 

 

 

 

 

If you're in the Asbury Park, NJ

area March 10th, it's going to

be a great show and I'd love

to see you there. For details

click here.

 

 

 

Dogs Are Awesome

I am proud to say that I have another show coming up March 10th. It's a benefit show at Leanna Lin's Wonderland called The WonderPUP Show! 100% of the art sales will be benefiting the ACVIM Association in honor of Leanna's toy poodle, Richy, who passed away in July with an autoimmune disease.

How could I not contribute?

"Dogwood" is an 11" circle, acrylic on wood. I must say it was bittersweet doing the eyes for this one as it just kept reminding me of my own pup, Ricky. He, too, passed away this July. He was a trooper and my best buddy.

I hope you'll all take a look at the wonderful artwork that will be up for sale. There's some amazing artists and it is all going to a great cause.

Thanks for looking.

xo

Kris

It's Tasty Being Green

"Thank You, Thank You!" my latest piece, is for Look At This, Look At That: A Tribute to Dr. Seuss opening March 3rd at Gallery Nucleus.

Hopefully everyone isn't too burnt out on seeing another artist interpret "Green Eggs and Ham". But after reading through over a dozen of his books, I just kept coming back to that story and couldn't resist taking a stab at it.

I've been enamored with chickens since childhood, both their looks and taste, and thoroughly enjoyed painting feathers again. I also thought the analogous palette was going to be tough, but I enjoyed using that as well.

If you'd like more information on the show and see all the other amazing people showing, click here. You can also sign up for an exclusive online preview.

Enjoy!