Trying new things
I love doing this newsletter because I often feel really guilty and lousy if I am not doing something productive (making art, reading, cooking, cleaning, exercising) at all times. Then I sit down to do this and I compile everything I did in a month, and realize that I actually do a lot. I have a lot of fun things to share for this month.
First...
Come to the art show!
I will be having an art show in my home featuring a ton of talented people! It will be very cool and I will have snacks and drinks. Email me if you need the address!
Shout out to these people who are participating (in no particular order):Hunter Gonzales, Craig Auge, Jorden Durkee, Mikey Yates, Emily Altman, Alexa Chmieleski, Ellie Closen, Cecelia Nord, Will Weinstein, Anna Wiber, Alex Skorija, Alaina Colleen, Nick Mehn, Nash High, Tessa Bulger, Margaret Kraus, Taylor Carter, and a performance by Joel Stratton (Joel v Joel)!! (and maybe even more people??)Seriously a ton of talented people. You gotta see it.
The making of my house lamp!!!
I’m going to call this my “cover story” if you will. I am incredibly proud of this. The IdeaOnce upon a time, I sat down and tried to think of something to make for my art show because I wanted to show something new, and I wanted to show something in line with the theme. I started by thinking very literally, and the brain storm sesh ended in all of 3 seconds because I fell in love with my first idea. I wanted to cut out a house out of wood, and to have a light. I also knew I wanted a pull chain because I wanted a tactile element, and I love the sound of a pull chain. The sound and feeling of a pull chain just feels right as ive been yearning for more real life and feeling overwhelmed by the development of technology and ai.
I may sell try and sell this after my show, so if you are in the market for a house that emits light, let me know.
Overcoming the fear of using a tool (in a feminist sort of way) When I was in middle school, I had to take a shop class like most people do. I didn't make a single one of my projects and had other people in my class do it for me because I was scared of using the equipment. My parents raised me to be a little princess and never even let me use a lawnmower, so using any sort of power tool has always been something I counted out for myself. Not even because I was really actually scared, but because it was drilled into me that I was little girl who should not touch a saw. Though, at least 3 times a year, I get a creative idea that would require me to cut wood (I love wood it seems) and I always just let those dreams die because obvious barrier: I am not allowed to use power tools. I also felt like I was too dumb to use a power tool. And also I am a girl. And I can’t measure. And i’m not strong. And my dad told me once that only boys can play the drums. And I can never find anything in home depot. Did I mention I am not even a boy? And my mom would probably be scared if she found out I cut wood with a saw. There's a lot in my way, don’t you see?? Except, of course, those are all fears that live only inside my head and are not actually real obstacles at all. And I am 27 and I am allowed to do whatever I want, but I really forget that sometimes.
Building timeSo I planned out what I wanted to do, asked Hunter what I would need, and we went to some stores. I am the proud (and I mean it - probably the most proud) owner of a jigsaw. I wanted a jigsaw instead of a circular saw so I can kind of “draw” my cuts because that works better in my brain I think. I got an electric sander too.
I cut the wood bravely, and sanded it down. I filled some weird spots with wood filler, sanded it again, glued the sides all together and held it down with clamps. Then I sanded like 42 more times.
For the wiring, I wanted the cords to be red and white and spun together. (I refer to this as the cowboy cord) I know absolutely nothing about wiring, and I was in incredible luck that I actually needed to use two wires, and white and red are very popular wire colors. Perfect. I hunted for a light that could be small enough to fit inside, and had the ability to have a pull chain element. Shout out to hunter for helping me a lot with this part.
Then, it was time for the fun part. Painting!!! I loved painting this. I used interior wall paint and since then, ive been using it for all kinds of things. I love how buttery and thick it is. The window holes looked pretty bad, but i’m ok with that since I still want this to feel a human being with flaws created it. Everything I make is always a little imperfect and I love that.
For the a little final touches, I got a longer pull chain and trimmed it to the length I wanted, and I made a little blue ball to attach to it out of clay. I super glued it on, up the house went, and I wrapped the cowboy cord in the lasso way I pictured. Yay. I spent so much time and money on this, learned so much, and I am so proud. I am struggling to get a good photo of it in the room it’s in, so you will just have to come to my art show on September 20 in my home to see it!!
Ive been going crazy on cutting wood since I finished this. I even made a little painting surface that opens up and folds out with hinges that I can put on my kitchen island. I feel invincible!
Camp Snap
Camera
Hunter bought a Camp Snap camera and I use it so much that I have my own coming in the mail as we speak. This camera is digital, but it has the fun of a film camera. You can’t see the photos you took until you plug it into the computer which I love. This keeps you in the moment and makes taking photos fun, exciting, mysterious, and is really good for creative energy! No in the moment critiquing allowed, just off the cuff spontaneous hopeful photos. It’s also so much cheaper than film, since developing film is super expensive now. You can also upload different filters to play with.
These cameras are usually about $70 and come in all kinds of colors. You should totally get one. (They're on sale right now!) The photo quality is sometimes surprisingly good, but it’s never amazing. If you're wanting a professional camera, this is not the one. But if you want a fun point and shoot, i totally recommend.
Fake Album Cover
I decided to open up one of the photos Hunter took with the Camp Snap camera in photoshop and lightroom to see how the photos are to edit. This is a picture of my niece on a swing, and I slammed lots of colors and blending modes on there in photoshop and copy and pasted the photo and moved it around a bit/added some blur and noise. It felt like it was going in the direction of an album cover, so I added some edgy text. If you're in a band and a need a cover, let me know.
When Making Art Turns into Learning about History
The other day, I was playing with my house paint I used on my house lamp, and I painted a tomato on cardboard. I thought it would be cute to include it in my show, so I thought of what would feel homey- quilts! I glued some stacked cardboard to the back of the tomato, and painted a quilt pattern I found, and glued her on there.
As soon as the tomato hit the quilt- a thought came to my head. Don’t quilt patterns actually mean something? That sounds familiar.. hmm. Time to google. I found this quilt pattern and discovered what it means. In the underground railroad, they would hang quilts in the windows of safehouses, and the quilt patterns would serve as codes that would communicate different messages. This one meant to follow the North Star. If I had never taken the time to make this, I probably would have never found out about this. Who knows how much history we have lost, or has been purposefully hidden and rewritten.
Cool painting for my friend
I am drawing on a pair of pants for my friend Jorden, and ive been doing a lot of drawings to prepare since you can’t really erase marker on fabric and I don’t want to ruin her pants. I did some sketches on a big canvas, and then I decided to paint inside of the drawings and kind of carve out the lines. Ive been painting a lot with house paint that I used for the house lamp, and I LOVE how opaque and thick and creamy it is. Forget oils and acrylics.. house paint has my heart for now. Anyway, I gave her this painting to keep since it has a lot of drawings that will go on her pants. I love it!!!
Granny Square
My coworker Jennifer taught a couple of us how to crochet and we made tiny granny squares. I didn't have time to finish mine and it was surprisingly hard but it was very fun!! I have never in my life crocheted or knitted and I love doing things with my hands so maybe one day ill get super into crocheting. I wanted to include this because it was another moment this month where I felt a lot of pride for learning something new.
Random drawings and things
This is a shitty house I made out of cardboard purely for fun.
Can you tell I like houses? When I was a kid, I liked to make neighborhoods and cities that would take up entire rooms. As an adult, I like to learn about how neighborhoods and cities function, and I also like to draw houses and cities like this like a lot.
I don’t know if this is a goat or what but I do like it.
I have been really into spraying bleach onto things. Don’t tell me if thats dangerous. I painted this blob of watercolor folwers, covered it in salt like we did in elementary school, sprayed it with bleach, and then drew on it with a fountain pen. I love how the bleach made the back of this look. Fun little experiment time.
This is a fun birthday card I made for my friend.
I do weddings! Jk but I did do a ton of illustrations for my friends wedding. Here is one of them!
The end!
Katelyn Betz
August
Trying new things
I love doing this newsletter because I often feel really guilty and lousy if I am not doing something productive (making art, reading, cooking, cleaning, exercising) at all times. Then I sit down to do this and I compile everything I did in a month, and realize that I actually do a lot. I have a lot of fun things to share for this month.
First...
Come to the art show!
I will be having an art show in my home featuring a ton of talented people! It will be very cool and I will have snacks and drinks. Email me if you need the address!
Shout out to these people who are participating (in no particular order):Hunter Gonzales, Craig Auge, Jorden Durkee, Mikey Yates, Emily Altman, Alexa Chmieleski, Ellie Closen, Cecelia Nord, Will Weinstein, Anna Wiber, Alex Skorija, Alaina Colleen, Nick Mehn, Nash High, Tessa Bulger, Margaret Kraus, Taylor Carter, and a performance by Joel Stratton (Joel v Joel)!! (and maybe even more people??)Seriously a ton of talented people. You gotta see it.
The making of my house lamp!!!
I’m going to call this my “cover story” if you will. I am incredibly proud of this. The IdeaOnce upon a time, I sat down and tried to think of something to make for my art show because I wanted to show something new, and I wanted to show something in line with the theme. I started by thinking very literally, and the brain storm sesh ended in all of 3 seconds because I fell in love with my first idea. I wanted to cut out a house out of wood, and to have a light. I also knew I wanted a pull chain because I wanted a tactile element, and I love the sound of a pull chain. The sound and feeling of a pull chain just feels right as ive been yearning for more real life and feeling overwhelmed by the development of technology and ai.
I may sell try and sell this after my show, so if you are in the market for a house that emits light, let me know.
Overcoming the fear of using a tool (in a feminist sort of way) When I was in middle school, I had to take a shop class like most people do. I didn't make a single one of my projects and had other people in my class do it for me because I was scared of using the equipment. My parents raised me to be a little princess and never even let me use a lawnmower, so using any sort of power tool has always been something I counted out for myself. Not even because I was really actually scared, but because it was drilled into me that I was little girl who should not touch a saw. Though, at least 3 times a year, I get a creative idea that would require me to cut wood (I love wood it seems) and I always just let those dreams die because obvious barrier: I am not allowed to use power tools. I also felt like I was too dumb to use a power tool. And also I am a girl. And I can’t measure. And i’m not strong. And my dad told me once that only boys can play the drums. And I can never find anything in home depot. Did I mention I am not even a boy? And my mom would probably be scared if she found out I cut wood with a saw. There's a lot in my way, don’t you see?? Except, of course, those are all fears that live only inside my head and are not actually real obstacles at all. And I am 27 and I am allowed to do whatever I want, but I really forget that sometimes.
Building timeSo I planned out what I wanted to do, asked Hunter what I would need, and we went to some stores. I am the proud (and I mean it - probably the most proud) owner of a jigsaw. I wanted a jigsaw instead of a circular saw so I can kind of “draw” my cuts because that works better in my brain I think. I got an electric sander too.
I cut the wood bravely, and sanded it down. I filled some weird spots with wood filler, sanded it again, glued the sides all together and held it down with clamps. Then I sanded like 42 more times.
For the wiring, I wanted the cords to be red and white and spun together. (I refer to this as the cowboy cord) I know absolutely nothing about wiring, and I was in incredible luck that I actually needed to use two wires, and white and red are very popular wire colors. Perfect. I hunted for a light that could be small enough to fit inside, and had the ability to have a pull chain element. Shout out to hunter for helping me a lot with this part.
Then, it was time for the fun part. Painting!!! I loved painting this. I used interior wall paint and since then, ive been using it for all kinds of things. I love how buttery and thick it is. The window holes looked pretty bad, but i’m ok with that since I still want this to feel a human being with flaws created it. Everything I make is always a little imperfect and I love that.
For the a little final touches, I got a longer pull chain and trimmed it to the length I wanted, and I made a little blue ball to attach to it out of clay. I super glued it on, up the house went, and I wrapped the cowboy cord in the lasso way I pictured. Yay. I spent so much time and money on this, learned so much, and I am so proud. I am struggling to get a good photo of it in the room it’s in, so you will just have to come to my art show on September 20 in my home to see it!!
Ive been going crazy on cutting wood since I finished this. I even made a little painting surface that opens up and folds out with hinges that I can put on my kitchen island. I feel invincible!
Camp Snap Camera
Hunter bought a Camp Snap camera and I use it so much that I have my own coming in the mail as we speak. This camera is digital, but it has the fun of a film camera. You can’t see the photos you took until you plug it into the computer which I love. This keeps you in the moment and makes taking photos fun, exciting, mysterious, and is really good for creative energy! No in the moment critiquing allowed, just off the cuff spontaneous hopeful photos. It’s also so much cheaper than film, since developing film is super expensive now. You can also upload different filters to play with.
These cameras are usually about $70 and come in all kinds of colors. You should totally get one. (They're on sale right now!) The photo quality is sometimes surprisingly good, but it’s never amazing. If you're wanting a professional camera, this is not the one. But if you want a fun point and shoot, i totally recommend.
Fake Album Cover
I decided to open up one of the photos Hunter took with the Camp Snap camera in photoshop and lightroom to see how the photos are to edit. This is a picture of my niece on a swing, and I slammed lots of colors and blending modes on there in photoshop and copy and pasted the photo and moved it around a bit/added some blur and noise. It felt like it was going in the direction of an album cover, so I added some edgy text. If you're in a band and a need a cover, let me know.
When Making Art Turns into Learning about History
The other day, I was playing with my house paint I used on my house lamp, and I painted a tomato on cardboard. I thought it would be cute to include it in my show, so I thought of what would feel homey- quilts! I glued some stacked cardboard to the back of the tomato, and painted a quilt pattern I found, and glued her on there.
As soon as the tomato hit the quilt- a thought came to my head. Don’t quilt patterns actually mean something? That sounds familiar.. hmm. Time to google. I found this quilt pattern and discovered what it means. In the underground railroad, they would hang quilts in the windows of safehouses, and the quilt patterns would serve as codes that would communicate different messages. This one meant to follow the North Star. If I had never taken the time to make this, I probably would have never found out about this. Who knows how much history we have lost, or has been purposefully hidden and rewritten.
Cool painting for my friend
I am drawing on a pair of pants for my friend Jorden, and ive been doing a lot of drawings to prepare since you can’t really erase marker on fabric and I don’t want to ruin her pants. I did some sketches on a big canvas, and then I decided to paint inside of the drawings and kind of carve out the lines. Ive been painting a lot with house paint that I used for the house lamp, and I LOVE how opaque and thick and creamy it is. Forget oils and acrylics.. house paint has my heart for now. Anyway, I gave her this painting to keep since it has a lot of drawings that will go on her pants. I love it!!!
Granny Square
My coworker Jennifer taught a couple of us how to crochet and we made tiny granny squares. I didn't have time to finish mine and it was surprisingly hard but it was very fun!! I have never in my life crocheted or knitted and I love doing things with my hands so maybe one day ill get super into crocheting. I wanted to include this because it was another moment this month where I felt a lot of pride for learning something new.
Random drawings and things
This is a shitty house I made out of cardboard purely for fun.
Can you tell I like houses? When I was a kid, I liked to make neighborhoods and cities that would take up entire rooms. As an adult, I like to learn about how neighborhoods and cities function, and I also like to draw houses and cities like this like a lot.
I don’t know if this is a goat or what but I do like it.
I have been really into spraying bleach onto things. Don’t tell me if thats dangerous. I painted this blob of watercolor folwers, covered it in salt like we did in elementary school, sprayed it with bleach, and then drew on it with a fountain pen. I love how the bleach made the back of this look. Fun little experiment time.
This is a fun birthday card I made for my friend.
I do weddings! Jk but I did do a ton of illustrations for my friends wedding. Here is one of them!
The end!
Katelyn Betz
August
Trying new things
I love doing this newsletter because I often feel really guilty and lousy if I am not doing something productive (making art, reading, cooking, cleaning, exercising) at all times. Then I sit down to do this and I compile everything I did in a month, and realize that I actually do a lot. I have a lot of fun things to share for this month.
First...
Come to the art show!
I will be having an art show in my home featuring a ton of talented people! It will be very cool and I will have snacks and drinks. Email me if you need the address!
Shout out to these people who are participating (in no particular order):Hunter Gonzales, Craig Auge, Jorden Durkee, Mikey Yates, Emily Altman, Alexa Chmieleski, Ellie Closen, Cecelia Nord, Will Weinstein, Anna Wiber, Alex Skorija, Alaina Colleen, Nick Mehn, Nash High, Tessa Bulger, Margaret Kraus, Taylor Carter, and a performance by Joel Stratton (Joel v Joel)!! (and maybe even more people??)Seriously a ton of talented people. You gotta see it.
The making of my house lamp!!!
I’m going to call this my “cover story” if you will. I am incredibly proud of this. The IdeaOnce upon a time, I sat down and tried to think of something to make for my art show because I wanted to show something new, and I wanted to show something in line with the theme. I started by thinking very literally, and the brain storm sesh ended in all of 3 seconds because I fell in love with my first idea. I wanted to cut out a house out of wood, and to have a light. I also knew I wanted a pull chain because I wanted a tactile element, and I love the sound of a pull chain. The sound and feeling of a pull chain just feels right as ive been yearning for more real life and feeling overwhelmed by the development of technology and ai.
I may sell try and sell this after my show, so if you are in the market for a house that emits light, let me know.
Overcoming the fear of using a tool (in a feminist sort of way) When I was in middle school, I had to take a shop class like most people do. I didn't make a single one of my projects and had other people in my class do it for me because I was scared of using the equipment. My parents raised me to be a little princess and never even let me use a lawnmower, so using any sort of power tool has always been something I counted out for myself. Not even because I was really actually scared, but because it was drilled into me that I was little girl who should not touch a saw. Though, at least 3 times a year, I get a creative idea that would require me to cut wood (I love wood it seems) and I always just let those dreams die because obvious barrier: I am not allowed to use power tools. I also felt like I was too dumb to use a power tool. And also I am a girl. And I can’t measure. And i’m not strong. And my dad told me once that only boys can play the drums. And I can never find anything in home depot. Did I mention I am not even a boy? And my mom would probably be scared if she found out I cut wood with a saw. There's a lot in my way, don’t you see?? Except, of course, those are all fears that live only inside my head and are not actually real obstacles at all. And I am 27 and I am allowed to do whatever I want, but I really forget that sometimes.
Building timeSo I planned out what I wanted to do, asked Hunter what I would need, and we went to some stores. I am the proud (and I mean it - probably the most proud) owner of a jigsaw. I wanted a jigsaw instead of a circular saw so I can kind of “draw” my cuts because that works better in my brain I think. I got an electric sander too.
I cut the wood bravely, and sanded it down. I filled some weird spots with wood filler, sanded it again, glued the sides all together and held it down with clamps. Then I sanded like 42 more times.
For the wiring, I wanted the cords to be red and white and spun together. (I refer to this as the cowboy cord) I know absolutely nothing about wiring, and I was in incredible luck that I actually needed to use two wires, and white and red are very popular wire colors. Perfect. I hunted for a light that could be small enough to fit inside, and had the ability to have a pull chain element. Shout out to hunter for helping me a lot with this part.
Then, it was time for the fun part. Painting!!! I loved painting this. I used interior wall paint and since then, ive been using it for all kinds of things. I love how buttery and thick it is. The window holes looked pretty bad, but i’m ok with that since I still want this to feel a human being with flaws created it. Everything I make is always a little imperfect and I love that.
For the a little final touches, I got a longer pull chain and trimmed it to the length I wanted, and I made a little blue ball to attach to it out of clay. I super glued it on, up the house went, and I wrapped the cowboy cord in the lasso way I pictured. Yay. I spent so much time and money on this, learned so much, and I am so proud. I am struggling to get a good photo of it in the room it’s in, so you will just have to come to my art show on September 20 in my home to see it!!
Ive been going crazy on cutting wood since I finished this. I even made a little painting surface that opens up and folds out with hinges that I can put on my kitchen island. I feel invincible!
Camp Snap Camera
Hunter bought a Camp Snap camera and I use it so much that I have my own coming in the mail as we speak. This camera is digital, but it has the fun of a film camera. You can’t see the photos you took until you plug it into the computer which I love. This keeps you in the moment and makes taking photos fun, exciting, mysterious, and is really good for creative energy! No in the moment critiquing allowed, just off the cuff spontaneous hopeful photos. It’s also so much cheaper than film, since developing film is super expensive now. You can also upload different filters to play with.
These cameras are usually about $70 and come in all kinds of colors. You should totally get one. (They're on sale right now!) The photo quality is sometimes surprisingly good, but it’s never amazing. If you're wanting a professional camera, this is not the one. But if you want a fun point and shoot, i totally recommend.
Fake Album Cover
I decided to open up one of the photos Hunter took with the Camp Snap camera in photoshop and lightroom to see how the photos are to edit. This is a picture of my niece on a swing, and I slammed lots of colors and blending modes on there in photoshop and copy and pasted the photo and moved it around a bit/added some blur and noise. It felt like it was going in the direction of an album cover, so I added some edgy text. If you're in a band and a need a cover, let me know.
When Making Art Turns into Learning about History
The other day, I was playing with my house paint I used on my house lamp, and I painted a tomato on cardboard. I thought it would be cute to include it in my show, so I thought of what would feel homey- quilts! I glued some stacked cardboard to the back of the tomato, and painted a quilt pattern I found, and glued her on there.
As soon as the tomato hit the quilt- a thought came to my head. Don’t quilt patterns actually mean something? That sounds familiar.. hmm. Time to google. I found this quilt pattern and discovered what it means. In the underground railroad, they would hang quilts in the windows of safehouses, and the quilt patterns would serve as codes that would communicate different messages. This one meant to follow the North Star. If I had never taken the time to make this, I probably would have never found out about this. Who knows how much history we have lost, or has been purposefully hidden and rewritten.
Cool painting for my friend
I am drawing on a pair of pants for my friend Jorden, and ive been doing a lot of drawings to prepare since you can’t really erase marker on fabric and I don’t want to ruin her pants. I did some sketches on a big canvas, and then I decided to paint inside of the drawings and kind of carve out the lines. Ive been painting a lot with house paint that I used for the house lamp, and I LOVE how opaque and thick and creamy it is. Forget oils and acrylics.. house paint has my heart for now. Anyway, I gave her this painting to keep since it has a lot of drawings that will go on her pants. I love it!!!
Granny Square
My coworker Jennifer taught a couple of us how to crochet and we made tiny granny squares. I didn't have time to finish mine and it was surprisingly hard but it was very fun!! I have never in my life crocheted or knitted and I love doing things with my hands so maybe one day ill get super into crocheting. I wanted to include this because it was another moment this month where I felt a lot of pride for learning something new.
Random drawings and things
This is a shitty house I made out of cardboard purely for fun.
Can you tell I like houses? When I was a kid, I liked to make neighborhoods and cities that would take up entire rooms. As an adult, I like to learn about how neighborhoods and cities function, and I also like to draw houses and cities like this like a lot.
I don’t know if this is a goat or what but I do like it.
I have been really into spraying bleach onto things. Don’t tell me if thats dangerous. I painted this blob of watercolor folwers, covered it in salt like we did in elementary school, sprayed it with bleach, and then drew on it with a fountain pen. I love how the bleach made the back of this look. Fun little experiment time.
This is a fun birthday card I made for my friend.
I do weddings! Jk but I did do a ton of illustrations for my friends wedding. Here is one of them!
The end!
Katelyn Betz