Anahata Katkin

Gone Swiming...

Well as much as I appreciate our American summers, it just simply cannot compare to a pink shack on the Caribbean. I will be in Belize for the next month eating fresh fish, drinking rum and pineapple, painting in my room and riding my bike like a big happy nerd.
It's been four years since I have been back there so I am looking forward to every minute of it.
I'm hoping to figure out how to blog from there. But I may experience some technical difficulties. Wishing you all a wonderful summer start and we'll be in touch as soon as I figure out how to cross the internet/island divide. (If you have retreat inquiries regarding Bali or Italy I will still have email. anahataart@mac.com or you can contact PaPaYa! at 1-888-488-0638 xoxoxox...

Italy Art Immersion

Pam Garrison and I will be teaching in Cortona, Italy next August for a week long Art Immersion. (Yes the same area that Under the Tuscan Sun was written about) During that week we will have four full days of workshops, serious flea marketing at an old world market, and the retreat will be held during the world famous Tuscan Sun Music Festival! Rob and Stacey, our host's at Arcangelo Prouctions live part time in Italy, part time in Bali (right here) and have a store (Urbino) and home in Portland, OR. They will be giving us the inside track on both locations and holding space for a week of festivities, dining, art making, antique scavenging and creative expansion in Cortona, Italy. Click here for more details.
or email Stacey & Rob at info@arcangeloproductions.com until the registration page is open. I know it's a year away still but this retreat will fill up fast. It's going o be my first trip to Italy so you can all help me pick my jaw up off the market floor! (from awe of course-not the red wine!) xoxoxox....

Sabrina Ward Harrison Workshop

Anyone who is in my life and knows me well knows that if I had to pick a personal hero, it would be Sabrina Ward Harrison. She is the author of several books. The most well known of them is Spilling Open. If you don't know her you must!

Meeting (the somewhat elusive) Sabrina was a desire I've had for probably ten years. Sabrina is a pioneer of mixed media and was the first journal artist that I know of in print in this groundbreaking format. For me roughly ten years ago I was doing artwork alone and pecking away at my own journals and artwork and until I saw her book I had never seen another journal artist. To make it even better she too was very young and I identified with her at that time and saw her as a living example that I was on the right track. In my life and in my artwork. It was an unexplainable feeling that I have kept close to my heart all these years later. And what I love about her is her rawness. Not just as a writer but as an artist. It's the unrefined goodness of it all. And I am thrilled to have heroes who are in every way real and human. A slam-dunk-hero to me means a life worth living and a vulnerability of emotion and expression.
So when I discovered she had some workshops happening in Los Angeles I hopped a plane and jumped in. This was one of my pages from the weekend at the workshop. What I most enjoyed was Sabrina's encouragement to write. I have been unable to write for many years now. I used to fill my journals with dreams and longings and records. But it has been ages since I have had a written voice. Taking time out to write was so supportive for me and I am excited to take the time for it again.
Pam Garrison & Amy Hanna met me there and we hid out in the very strange Universal City hotel (during the fire no less). It was great to spend time with them and indulge in my workshop buddies!
This was just one area of the sidewalk Sabrina had written on before we arrived at Carol Parks house. And it seems fitting. Thank you Sabrina for all whom you've inspired, encouraged and shined the light for all these years. You have opened the doors for so many artists and thinkers. xoxoxox...

Painting Weekend, Ashland

The painting retreat this weekend was such a lovely break from all the travel and rushing around lately. I have been desperately wanting to devote myself to some canvas for a long time. But I wrestle with it- as so many do. What should I be doing? WHen will I have the time? Is this really working? Etc. So turning off my head and just getting into the paint was wonderful.
Despite a few glitches as we began the weekend was a great success. We had the opportunity to paint on private land outside of town. Surrounded by ponds a creek, and a huge amount of wildflowers. Teesha and Tracy Moore from Artfest came down for the weekend and so many others from all over. It was all very "Sister Moon" as Teesha would say. We cracked ourselves up and had a blast. Thank you to everyone who made hosting this event such a success! The artwork was enchanting and the process was delicious.

June is for Peonies...

For those of you who were wondering what kind of flowers to send me the answer is definitely PEONIES! (What? I heard you wanted to mail me some?) I used to work for a Peony farmer at Seattle's Pikes Place Market. It was a sea of Peonies and it is still a magical memory for me. It's the one month of the year that we can actually get our hands on these babies and I have been taking full advantage. At the NY show we had giant Tree Peonies which I had never seen until last year. The blooms are literally as big as my face. They start out magenta and slowly fade to peach. YUM! Whatever you do make sure to spoil yourself this month with armloads of the empress flower! (and not just because Martha would!)
I have been having a whole new affair with plants lately and I can't get enough of them. All I have is my patch of porch though so I have to make the most of it. This week after visiting a friends creekside property I came home and spiffed up the porch with this summertime altar full of wishes. It faces my front door so I see it everytime I leave the house. I love me some kitschy, inspiring goodness. Why not! I give you permission to get woowoo on your porch too!

For the love of Tycho!

The utterly talented and incredibly cool musician gone genious designer, Scott Hansen of a.k.a, TYCHO, has released a poster for the OBAMA camp. I myself am in the same camp this year and I'm thrilled to see so many artist's getting involved with the power of imagery and youth. Scott Hansen say's about his creation, "I see Barack Obama as a leader who can inspire people to effect change and who himself can effect change. As an artist, it was only natural for me to want to create something that visually echoed these sentiments. I wanted to create an image that evoked the ideals I feel are central to our needs at this critical time in history: change, progress and hope. Because Barack Obama represents all three of these things to me, I felt compelled to express that through my work." you can find out more about Tycho here and the Obama poster right here. A thank you to Kathleen for keeping me posted on this.

Back from NY

We are back from the Stationery Show in NY. As usual I barely even have pics from the show. I end up getting nervous asking other designers for a snap shot.
Kathleen was my partner in crime for the week. Well there were five of us- but since we were outnumbered by stinky, PaPaYa! boys we pretty much stuck to our girl power out and about town.
For the most part our booth was slammed so we only snuck away for some crazy NY rapid shopping. We even managed to hail a cab with trees and armloads of flowers at the wholesale flower district. I have to admit that I am becoming a "bumpkin" and got a little flustered rushing to and fro in the madness. The wonderful, colorful, dynamic and inspiring goodness of it all was indeed at times too much for my country-gal nerves. (It's wierd. Suddenly I am not a city girl but I really don't make a good granola bumpkin either. We need a new word for this!) But one of my favorite stops during the week was at Pearl River in SoHo. It was as Kathleen had said. China town in one store! I loved it. If I hadn't been limited by my suitcase I would have loaded up on completely unnecessary goods. The every best kind. I finally got my armloads of tea tins I'd been after for years and lots of plastic goodness. Oh and the cutest little "kung-fu" outfits for my son and his friend. They have been obsessed with Jet-Li lately. So their dragon outfits are probably not even in the kung-fu ballpark. But to them it's a perfect match.
At the show I was thrilled to find Wendy Addison milling around the edge of our booth. In classic groupie-fashion I lept on her with adoration! (You really must go to her studio!) we tried a few shots in front of her letters, now available through Tinsel Trading. But my camera decided to malfunction! Oh-lordie!

The Whimsy Press ladies were our show neighbors and they are the best! I was smitten with their card line. My current favorite is their SONSABITCHES card.
(The back says "don't let the bitches get you down.")They are so clever it makes me crazy! All in all it was a wonderful trip full of great food, lots of people watching and people adoring, and a refreshing glimpse of the all encompassing city of New York. And I'm happy to be a bumpkin again...

Mom's Mandala

I just wanted to let you all know that there are a few spaces left in our Ashland Painting Retreat June 6,7,8th. This is my mother's FIRST painting ever that she did while on retreat with our teacher, Paul. Since then she has been jamming away on all sorts of new art projects. This image hangs in our PaPaYa! office these days. She used to say that I was the artist between us. But as you can see that is certainly not the case. I'd say it runs in the blood!

Wallpaper Demo

I finally got my scans done from Artfest. This image was from the wallpaper class. It was my demo. I haven't added to it since then but I am looking forward to finishing it up. I am so excited about doing the wallpaper class in Bali next year and integrating more of the Balinese themes into them. It seems like the perfect medium to play with there. But in the meantime I am gearing up for another Stationery Show in NY! Those of you who will be there please stop by and say hello. I am looking forward to being in NY again. Each trip I am able to sink a little deeper into the place. But I'll be back on the ol' blog before I head out...

Shiloh Paintings

I met Shiloh a few years ago while at a trade show in SF. Her artwork was beaming from her booth and Shiloh herself is dripping in jewels and looks like one of her paintings. Shiloh has turned her passion for painting into a multifaceted lifestyle. With teaching (both women and teens), gallery events, publishing and now manufacturing. I thought she is another great example of some of the things we talked about it the previous post. I personally
am looking forward to taking a painting workshop with Shiloh. I have been feeling inspired to paint more lately but I haven't forced myself to sit down and get still yet. I find that mixed media works for me since I am such a go,go,go person . But I realize that I must take the necessary time to cultivate creativity on canvas with slower, hard earned images. It's a whole different type of creative process for me. That's why I am so looking forward to painting with Paul here in June. I need focused times where I can immerse myself in paint alone.