Tag: New Blog

Making Quilts

Hats off to quilt makers all around the world. This is by no means an easy task to take on. I love blankets and patterns so quilting has always fascinated me. This Christmas I chose to make a few small ones as gifts for loved ones and the process has challenged me in several ways. I have never been a fan of measuring accuracy or straight lines so this in itself was intense for me. I triple checked every ounce of these quilts and still had some Happy Little Accidents. I think this is what makes a good quilt though. The love and time, also intention, put into one. With each thread or movement of the piece, I try to think of beautiful thoughts and imagine these wishes being sewn into every stitch. These are truly gifts of love and I am happy I can spread joy this year through another form of art.

Would I ever do these on commission or try to sell a quilt I made…I really don’t think so. As I said in my opening sentence, “hats off to quilt makers around the world!” These gifts are true works of art and I am fortunate to say that I am almost finished with my last one for this year. I am thankful for a handy YouTube video with a really nice lady who posted how to add batting and backing as I had forgotten. Her link is HERE. If you would like to get into quilting, her channel seems excellent! I hope these quilts keep my loved ones warm for many years to come.

I am grateful for everything I have learned this month about sewing and my own perseverance. I knew it was strong and I was resilient, yet, these projects tested time. It is very easy to put a project down and think, “I will finish that later when I have time.” This is usually a stopping point for me and I end up not finishing it for years after I say that sentence. So I am working on this tonight, tomorrow night, and hopefully by Thursday..it will be done! I wish you all luck with any projects you have going on. Thank you for reading and have a marvelous Monday!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog

Peppermints

Red and white swirl together mixed with peppermint flavor and fond memories of my childhood. The scent of these hard candies on my Grandmother’s breath as she kissed my cheek and smiled when she held my face will live in my heart forever. A bowl of peppermints always sat on her table and they were continuously shared with love. Whenever I see a peppermint candy, or smell the flavoring of the plant, I think fondly of my Grandmother. With all of this in mind during the holiday season, and needing to find inspiration during commissions or competition paintings…the thought came to mind to make ornaments that looked like my memories. Placing them on my Christmas tree to photograph them for sale on my website was a true treat and a very special day. Painting them made my mind drift back into my past and several card games played with one of the most amazing ladies I have ever known.

Karen Hilliard Art | Ornament | Blissful Peppermint Number 1 — AVAILABLE CLICK HERE

One of the many things my lovely Grandmother did was work with adolescents who needed guidance. When one of them did not have anywhere to go for Christmas, she invited them to her family’s celebration. She was a remarkable woman and I am sure she shared her peppermints with the teens she shared the holidays with. No one was ever left out of her care or her love. Everyone who knew her, knew that they, themselves, were important. They knew they mattered. So these peppermint candy ornaments are my way of sharing this love and friendship with all of you. Reaching my hand out this Christmas and offering you my bowl filled with Peppermint Candies and loving memories. The true spirit of the season. Togetherness. I hope this blog finds you well and these ornaments bring happiness to your homes. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog

Thanksgiving in the Mountains

Grateful, thankful, blessed is an understatement for my family. Cousins truly make the best friends I could ever have imagined. Always welcoming and full of love. Thanksgiving this year was one I will treasure forever. Watching the children run around and figure out the stairs was entertaining. The food was excellent and every word spoken was kind while hilarious. There is so much to be thankful for and I feel so blessed to know these people. Being welcomed by them is one of the greatest feelings. We were fortunate enough to spend time with loved ones nestled in the snow covered mountains. The drive was wonderful as it did not snow during the trip and we had clear starry skies. When we arrived there was so much to do and explore.

We bundled the baby up like the child in the movie A Christmas Story and set out on adventures. The wind was gusty and lovely as it blew leaves around her, filling the day with pure enjoyment. The home owners had festive displays of pumpkins or Santa Claus and she loved seeing each home decorated with holiday spirit. The dog enjoyed all the new smells in the wind and the river was his favorite place to be. Many walks were taken and leaving stones along the path was beautiful. Reading other people’s messages on their stones was a wonderful experience. Painting Ornaments to say what we were thankful for created such a sweet memory we will cherish. Overall, an amazing time. I am so fortunate to call these people family. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog

Another Beautiful Day

Another beautiful backpacking experience through the desert near our home. We found multiple rocks and stones with different types of history intertwined within. Each one had various sediments and the stones were smoothed by wind and rain. Feeling the texture of the Earth beneath and through our fingertips was wonderful. Making shapes with our bodies with our shadows was entertaining. The shapes were followed by movement and flow with the wind. We got to watch a raven in flight and being held still in wind gusts. The fire preventative vehicles of Lake Mead drove the trail as well creating massive dust. They all waved at the baby and the dog sat while watching them pass. The gravel was deep like sand hills on a beach, for those of you that love the ocean or lakes, you know what I am talking about. It was a complete leg workout for sure. Having the dog on leash while carrying a toddler was an interesting experience.

We were fortunate to have a warming sun overhead and a cool breeze below. It was definitely hat and bundle up weather. Our favorite time to be outside for sure. The desert holds many marvelous transformations throughout the months. We went from massive heat waves to a drop in temperature quite quickly and are enjoying every minute of it. I recently made a reel, a post, with a video of the two little loves roaming about outside. I mentioned how all of us find a deep passion for the outdoors in our own ways. As an artist, I get motivated and find extreme inspiration for all my creative ventures. Motivation also pushes my ideas for knitting, crocheting, sewing, cooking, etc. Many talents to be explored for sure. I come home with so many ideas and hopefully carve out the time to complete a few. I wish you all a Wonderful Wednesday and hope you can get outside this week! Thank you for reading.

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog

Backpacking

Stomach flu running through the whole family can take an entire two weeks out of a month. Our schedule has for sure been thrown off and blogs, painting, etc. were not even in the cards during this time. Now, with a clean bill of health all around, we are all back and ready to take on the day. After resting for what felt like a very long while, the baby and I decided to go for a backpacking trip. We had a quick out-and-back due to weakness and needing to build back up muscle strength in the Mama. She had been asking to go backpacking for several days and I did not want to disappoint. Lake Mead Recreation Area is a great place for quick out-and-backs. The trailheads are right off the road for most of the mild hikes. We found a lovely spot and went out just the two of us. Here is a little sketch from our book about what we did while out there.

A beautiful bird with blue on its tail feathers joined us for a short amount of time. It watched us from a perch in a hueco on the rock formation and then proceeded to fly low around us. The bird had a wonderful call or chirp. I love their specific communication calls and wish I could identify this little wonder. We collected rock sediments, dirt, and watched how they flowed through our fingers into the wind. A lovely textile experience and quite enjoyable for both of us. There was also much fascination with our shadows and creatures we created along the walk. The baby did a wonderful job walking some of the way and loved being in the backpack for the rest of the journey. I hope you have all been well and I look forward to writing this blog again now that we are feeling better. I wish you all a Terrific Thursday and thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog

“Juliet’s Fall”

Here they are! The new Tiny Painting Series, “Juliet’s Fall.” I wrote about these little color wonders in my previous blogs “Fall Season,” and in “Chestnuts” I gave a glimpse of one of the other paintings with Fall foliage. The colors of this series brought such joy to my studio and warmth to my home. I wrote in my Newsletter about how I envisioned knitting sweaters, hand warmers, and scarves while possibly sipping tea or coffee. Going from the “Pumpkins 2024 Series” to “Juliet’s Fall” was a wonderful transition from October to November for me. These new paintings focusing mainly on leaves and season changes reminded me of our last days at the Pumpkin Patch at Gilcrease Orchard. Watching the vines and leaves descend due to people choosing their pumpkins and also because of heat exhaustion, was an interesting change to experience from the year before. The pumpkin Patch was much cooler last year than this one and we could really see the difference in pumpkins this year from the year prior. They have been ripening sooner than expected and many meals have been made already! The Pumpkin paintings have filled my home with new colors thank the year before and inspired those deep orange hues for the new Fall pieces as well.

I released the paintings in my Newsletter as well along with the New larger painting I have been working on, still a work in progress. You can find out more about that painting by signing up for my Newsletter…just an email from me to you every month with new artwork, and a friendly hello! In this blog, I am diving a bit deeper into the inspiration for these smaller works. Juliet, the photographer, is a wonderful person who fills the world with color and light. She is also an amazing mother with fantastic children who bring light to this world as well. Juliet is honest, hard working, brilliant, and has a warm glow about her. She can talk with anyone and treats everyone with respect. I wanted to honor her personality in these Tiny Paintings. It was a challenge to create smaller bits and pieces of this beautiful lady’s persona and hopefully you can feel her light shining through to all of you. I will be adding more paintings to this series, and they will all look different than the ones posted. Wishing you all a Fabulous Friday and thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog, watercolor painting

Trials and Tribulations

I have been through many trials and tribulations throughout my life and I am a huge fan of the trials. Focusing on the trying aspect of many ventures has helped me through any type of discomfort. If I am writing about art, since this is an art post, I would focus on the many attempts for each painting, drawing, sketch, etc. There is such a joy in the build up of what an art project will eventually turn into. Most of the time, I love to just start with a dot or a line and see where it will take me. There are many mess ups, mistakes, or as Bob Ross put it, “Happy Little Accidents.” Life boils down to how we look at things and what perspective we are seeing each moment with. The movie, “The Choice,” adapted from the book by Nicholas Sparks, explains this in a lovely way. Life comes down to choices. The mom in Bridgerton spoke to her daughter about love being a choice, which I find to be a wonderful description of life and love. We choose how we perceive everything that comes our way. How long to give it space in our thoughts, bodies, etc. A hard concept to wrap the mind around most of the time, but an amazing concept of confidence non the less. Sometimes working through things daily, hourly, minute by minute, can become a necessity. So…back to how this relates to art.

Karen Hilliard Art | Redwoods - Lighting the Way | Watercolor and Ink — **SOLD**

My mind can get caught up in details and lost in them at the same time. In the past, if something did not look just right, it weighed on my thought process. Now, I don’t really have the time for this circle or merry-go-round so to speak. With such a limited amount of time, I have to focus on what I want to accomplish minute by minute. The most important part of my day is now a tiny human and I do not have the luxury of getting lost in certain mindsets. I am grateful everyday for the new perspective of “slow down, enjoy it!” Each painting has now become more free and has a bit of air to them. Now, I let the paint tell me where it wants to go…even on a portrait which could be quite scary or nerve-wracking. A whole new thought process of choice. Choosing to let go and find comfort in the uncomfortable. I love my tight style of detail oriented pieces as well as my more recent loose ink and watercolor paintings I have been creating. They are still highly detailed as well, just a bit more play with water. Smaller works are more suitable for the time I have allotted presently. While I long to work on larger pieces, I am grateful for any moment at my art table. I had no idea where I was going with this post when I started to write. Trying to keep up with the consistency of my blog and social media is a whole different story for another time. As for now, I enjoy the trials of everyday life and look forward to lessons I can learn. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful Wednesday!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog, watercolor painting

Pumpkin Patch

Days at the pumpkin patch have been filled with happiness and wonder. Walking into Holvrease and getting greeted by the staff with such joy is a great experience and sets the mood for a fun filled day! Meandering along the path to the pumpkins and choosing a wheelbarrow to collect our treasures also brings a smile to our faces. From the moment we enter to the moment we leave the Patch is full of possibilities. I love watching our daughter run her fingers through the dirt, collect it, and watch it float in the air through her fingertips. Children truly are fascinating. These years of wonder are filled with whimsy and a sparkling personality is being formed.

Karen Hilliard Art | Blog | Pumpkin Patch

Karen Hilliard Art | Pumpkins 2024 Number 10 — AVAILABLE CLICK HERE!

The pumpkin series holds so many meanings for me. Each one wrapped in my memories of where we picked the pumpkin, the weather during the day as it has been vastly different, and the people we were with upon choosing the pumpkin. We think of what good we will create when I finish a painting and the pumpkin is ready to carve. We have made soup, gnocchi, bread, and scones so far. Last year we attempted chocolate chip pumpkin cookies which came out nice but way different than the recipe. So each pumpkin in the “Pumpkins 2024 Series” holds a special place in my mind. Every painting I create does actually since most are from nature and an experience in my life. The memories of going to the Pumpkin Patch with sisters, nieces, friends, cousins, and our loved ones will live in these paintings for all time. I hope these pumpkins bring you joy and a bit of whimsy. What a wonderful world we live in. Thank you for reading and have a marvelous Monday!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog, Pumpkin Patch, watercolor painting

Apple Cider Cookies

The cookies were a big hit!! Children and Adults loved them! The aroma filled our home with the scent of fresh picked apples right from the farm. Sheffield “Apple Pie Spice” is a lovely blend of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, Ginger, and Cloves. This was our free gift when we purchased our teas a couple of weeks ago. The shop owner also gave us a little recipe card for their “Caramel Apple Cookies” which would have made three dozen cookies if made correctly. The recipe is linked above which is free on their website, and I also linked their pie spice which you can order if you would like to purchase it. I used one rounded teaspoon instead of maybe two per cookie and they were a bit more bite sized than the picture showed. My brown sugar was all clumped (afterwards I added an apple slice to help fix this situation) and I think I ended up using one cup of Brown Sugar instead of the Cup and a Quarter Cup the recipe called for. Everyone seemed to like the smaller portions that added a nice pop of flavor to all of our palettes. I think I will use one rounded teaspoon when I make these cookies in the future as well.

Karen Hilliard Art | Blog | Apple Cider Cookies

Karen Hilliard Art | Pumpkins 2024 Number 6 — **AVAILABLE** CLICK HERE

My family was in town to go to the Pumpkin Patch at Gilcrease Orchard with us and I wanted to make something special for the kids. Pumpkin Soup was a give in and some sourdough with pumpkin added to it accompanied the soup nicely. The cookies were an afterthought because the Orchard also makes delicious apple and pear cider which we had on hand in our fridge. I thought the cider would go nicely in the cookie recipe and substituted it for the apple juice. Each cookie had the delicious flavor of the cider and the kids ended up enjoying the apple cider at the orchard the next day as well. I did not make the Caramel frosting for the cookies but will definitely be trying this next time. If you end up frosting the cookies with the Sheffield recipe, please let me know in the comments, or by contacting me, how they turn out. I would love some feedback. Baking sure does bring everyone together and warms the home in such a wonderful way. I hope you all have a Soulful Sunday and thank you for reading my blogs!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags Apple Cider, New Blog, Pumpkins, watercolor painting

The Art of Whimsy

Karen Hilliard Art Blog | Pumpkins 2024 | Pumpkin Paintings — AVAILABLE

Karen Hilliard Art | Pumpkins 2024 Series Number 1 — AVAILABLE

Whimsical is defined as playful or amusing, also as appealing. This pumpkin series is meant to bring a jovial jive so they dance through the minds of each viewer and take each person to a land of wonderment. The land of awe where anything is possible and the world is full of all the colors on the spectrum. There is a play of light and dark throughout this series including various undertones with different techniques. Water play and detailed brushwork went hand in hand with each piece and the ink came at the beginning, middle, and end. Every time I look upon these pumpkins, I am transported back in time to happy memories of holidays with my family and the warmth this time of year brings. These colorful wonders also ground me into the present moments I am having with my little family at the Pumpkin Patch and watching our daughter explore the natural world. The paintings also give me hope for our future and dreams we have coming into fruition. Consistently putting in the time, hard work, and dedication needed for these goals to become a reality. This series is definitely a fun project for me.

Every year the pumpkins we choose change yet we always try to find the majority for eating. We cook soup, scones, breads, etc. If you have a recipe or a link to one, please share it in the comments below. The previous blog Pumpkin Soup was supposed to be about soup, yet, as writing is a form of art, it took two directions. That blog became one of hope for others and an outstretched hand. This blog comes back to the original sentiment of the series and the loveliness I am trying to spread in the world, one painting at a time. Whimsy means fanciful, which is in one’s imagination, and behavior for which we act. These paintings are a glimpse inside my mind which is a spider web of wondrous thoughts, hopes, and dreams. Each brush stroke, dot of the paintbrush, or pen is a thought from me to you. I see many different images in the lines of my creations and usually am smiling the whole time while working on these fun little pumpkins. I occasionally have a determined or concentrated look on my face and then a chuckle comes from my mouth while the water flows its own way again. These little pieces are meant to bring magic and humor into your life and to be viewed with whimsy. I love how each painting is unique and not one is painted the same!

Wishing you all a Wonderful Weekend! Thank you for reading.

-Karen Hilliard

SOLD!

Tags New Blog, Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkins, watercolor painting