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  • studies of my son - perspective is everything acrylic on canvas

    Perspective is everything. Same photo, 4 different paintings. Painting feeds my soul & reminds me of lessons that just won't sink in any other way. Seeing the same pose 4 different styles helps me realize other areas of my life where I need to step back, look at things from an new angle, and loosen up. I posted these studies in the order I did them - you can tell my style loosened up as I just enjoyed the process. These aren't for sale, just for fun. I was curious what would happened if I did 4 paintings pretty fast of the same pose. It helps I love the subject!

  • Katie Humphress, Gigi at the Pool 1943, Acrylic 48x96 (two panels) Summer 2021

    one of my favorites of my favorite person. My grandma, Janet, is the one in the yellow and white bikini. This is probably the biggest painting I've ever done aside from a wall mural. It's 2 48x48 panels and I can't quite find a wall big enough for it. My grandma & her friend hung out at dreamland pool everyday in the summers. The reference photo was taken probably in 1943 - crazy to imagine.

  • Layer Upon Layer

    People, like paintings, have many layers. My first oil painting class with Molly changed my life. It opened up a world I didn't know I needed, and taught me to see beneath the surface of people and things in order to become a better painter. In fact, one of the major lessons in Molly's School of Art is Molly saying, "I'm teaching you to see." Molly didn't teach me to paint by numbers, she taught me to look beyond the surface of any painting to see what's underneath. "Layer upon layer" is another Molly-ism I hear from her to this day. It might be one of the more powerful lessons in art revealing a deeper aspect to life. Take the portrait above - on the surface it's clear it's a face, but upon closer inspection another layer is revealed. Under the top layer of the portrait is a painting of a house (pictured below.) People, like paintings, have many layers. I'm so grateful for Molly continuing to remind me to look beneath the surface of a painting... and of people too. You just never know what's beneath the surface, and after years of working with Molly - I'm finally beginning to understand. Life is a mystery with many layers, but if I take the time to look beneath the surface - a richer picture is revealed, at least in part if not in whole. Thank you, Molly, for teaching me to see and take the time to look beyond the top layer of people and things. Layer upon layer, you just never know what's underneath.

  • Count Your Blessings

    Count Your Blessings Grandma “Gigi” Janet October 9, 1928 - October 24, 2021 Eight years ago, my grandmother had a stroke. Afterwards, I asked her what her life advice would be. What did she want us to know? She gave two answers: count your blessings, and “God is good, God is great, God is good all the time.” My grandma Janet lit up a room, she was always in the heart of the crowd, head thrown back laughing with her movie star smile shining. I remember feeling proud to be associated with such a glamorous, kind, generous, sparkling woman. To be her granddaughter made me feel glamorous too. I remember thinking she was rich, and being so surprised later on in life when I realized - yes, her life was rich, but her riches weren’t in paper money. She was rich in gratitude. She was rich in her belief that God was good all the time regardless of circumstances. One of the greatest privileges in my life almost didn’t happen. When I found out my grandmother was dying, I went into a tailspin. I didn’t know whether to pick up my daughter from school, or hit the road, or move to Alaska, or join a band. So I called my friend, Nicole, and asked her what to do. She said, “Katie, this happens once - go to Ohio.” There were no plane tickets to buy, or borders to cross - so I made the short four hour drive. And being there with my hero, with the person I’ve always wanted to be, I was scared. I couldn’t think of what to do. Everything felt surreal. But then I noticed her Bible. The one she bought in 2007 as my grandfather, her husband of over 50 years, was dying of Alzheimer’s. In her Bible I found her response to the worst of circumstances. I thought my sparkly, positive grandmother was just naturally grateful and sunny - but in the pages of her worn Bible I saw the behind the scenes work - complete with dated entries - of how she made the hard choice to be grateful always, even as her beloved husband passed away from a cruel disease. A lover of poems, my grandma taped a poem in the very front cover of her Bible: If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. Happy moments, praise God. Difficult moments, seek God. Quiet moments, worship God. Painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God. And in her handwriting below, she’d written the words “Life now and life eternal are both gifts of love from God - 2007.” The year my grandfather passed away. Suddenly, I wasn’t scared. The sights, the sounds, they were sad. But I let them feel sad, and then I noticed the gifts in the pain too. The incredible people who came to check on my grandmother as she passed, she wasn’t aware of them, but they treated her with such gentleness and respect reminded me of first responders in an accident. An accident can be a heartbreaking thing, but the first responders fill me with hope. I’m so thankful for one final lesson from my grandma. Gratitude takes work. It’s a choice. I can’t control what happens, but I can control how I respond. I can choose gratitude, just like my grandmother chose to see life as a gift even when her circumstances were painful. My grandmother - my hero, my aspiration and inspiration for how I want to live - is now enjoying the gift of eternity. She’s with the love of her life, her precious mom, and so many, many friends who made her laugh her movie star laugh. I never want to forget what made my grandmother’s life sparkle despite circumstances. I too want to make the choice, even when it’s hard - even now when someone I love very much is gone - to count my blessings. I too want to go to my Bible and remind myself - as she had written in the margins of some of her favorite verses - not to “harden my heart.” After all - even when I don’t understand all of it - God is good, God is great, and God is good all the time. My grandma taught me that. Photo of my grandmother at her 90th birthday party. There were so many people who came to celebrate her! I did a charcoal of her high school portrait. What a beauty.

  • 48x48 acrylic portrait

    My kids and dog...who thinks he's a kid too

  • Nepal

    Did this one based off my friend's photo: jeffrogers.com and gave it to our friend, Mark, for all the cool things he does for people.

  • Rylie Charcoal Portait

    Free Spirit is written all over the bottom - I write words on all my portraits. Whenever I draw my daughter, the words "Free Spirit" stand out to me. I also did an acrylic of this one... I meant to keep it as a sample of my work in my studio... but it's hard not to take pics of my kids home!

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