Journal

Notes from the studio

Thoughts on painting, looking, travel, and the animals that inspire the work.

October 10, 2026

Well, Friends, What a Weekend!

Well, friends, I’ve had a very exciting weekend, and the weekend isn’t even over yet!

Thursday night, I decided to make a reel for my Instagram account. I’ve been trying to grow my account and get my art seen by as many people as possible, and I’m told that reels are still the way to go on Instagram, as much as I don’t particularly love making them.

So I decided to make a quick one. I didn’t put much time or effort into it. I spent about five minutes making the reel, posted it, and went to bed.

I woke up to 500,000 views, 2,000 new followers, and about 800 comments waiting for me.

Well, that was something else, friends!

It’s quite exciting to watch a rather nondescript little reel go viral. I’ve been keeping an eye on it all day, and as I’m writing this, it’s about to hit one million views, and I’ve gained around 3,500 new followers.

If you’re one of those new followers who found your way here through my reel, thank you so much. I truly appreciate you being here.

This website is brand new. I’ve worked on it for quite a while, and I’m very proud of how it has come together. It’s been wonderful to have so many new people discovering my work.

Confident Casper and Shop Updates

Confident Casper is the cat featured in the reel, and both his original painting and limited-edition prints are now available in my shop.

I’ve also added all 31 birds from my Birdtober collection to the website. One of the originals has already sold, but the others are still available.

As always, prints are available too. I’m offering limited editions of 100 prints per artwork, across all sizes. Once those 100 prints have sold, that particular edition will be retired.

I’ve been working on quite a few new things this week, and there is plenty more coming.

Experimenting With New Paper

I’ve been trying out some new paper, which has been an interesting experience!

For quite a while, I’ve been working on Strathmore mixed media paper, which I absolutely love. My usual sheets are 11 × 15 inches, but I recently found some beautiful handmade paper measuring 12 × 16 inches.

I was very excited to work with it.

That excitement lasted until I started loading it up with paint and realized that handmade paper behaves quite differently from my usual mixed media paper.

It gets soggy!

The first two renditions of cats went straight into the trash bin.

But I’ve started figuring it out. The process requires a slightly different approach: more layers, thinner applications, less water, and less pressure.

And now they’re coming out beautifully.

I’ll be sharing some of these new cats over the next few days. They’re really fun, and I love the feel of this paper. It’s thick and heavy, with a beautiful handmade edge.

In fact, I think these pieces would look wonderful framed with the entire sheet visible, leaving those lovely natural edges exposed rather than hiding them beneath a mat.

I’m looking forward to showing you what I’ve been making.

A New Sketchbook and Something New for the Shop

Another thing I’ve been working on is a new sketchbook.

Over the past months and years, I’ve made quite a lot of work in my sketchbooks. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of working on both sides of the pages.

I say mistake because there are quite a few pieces in there that I would happily have offered for sale, but I don’t feel comfortable selling an original artwork that has another painting on the reverse.

So those pieces are staying with me.

Which, really, isn’t the worst thing in the world. I love having them, and this is actually the first sketchbook I’ve ever completed from beginning to end. It’s rather special to me.

But I’ve learned my lesson.

In my new sketchbook, I’m working on only one side of each page. That means I can carefully remove individual pieces and make them available as original artwork.

I’m calling these Sketchbook Pages.

The paper is a little thinner than my usual loose-leaf Strathmore paper, but the artwork itself is created with the same care and attention as my other originals.

These pages will be available for $200 each.

I already have around ten pieces completed, and I’ll be adding a new section to the shop specifically for Sketchbook Pages.

As always, the artwork you see in my portfolio and shop can also be made available on other products, including prints, notebooks, postcards, and greeting cards.

A Little Life in Colorado

What else can I share with you?

We’ve had an absolutely beautiful week here in Colorado. Temperatures have been hovering between 75 and 80 degrees, which is quite lovely for October.

Although I do hope this warm weather doesn’t wake up our resident bear.

I haven’t seen him lately, and I’d very much like to keep it that way.

I’m still extremely careful about putting the trash out. Our trash can has become something of a fortress, complete with metal ratchet straps and various other security measures.

This bear has caused quite a ruckus in our neighborhood.

I was talking to our garbage collection man, and he told me that on the days the bear has been through, you can practically follow his route by the trail of destruction left behind.

One overturned trash can after another, all the way through the neighborhood.

So here’s hoping our furry neighbor stays asleep.

Until Next Time

I think that’s about all I have to share for now, friends.

It’s been an exciting few days, between the unexpected attention on Instagram, all the new faces discovering my work, and the experiments happening in my studio.

I’m looking forward to sharing the new cats, adding my sketchbook pages to the shop, and seeing where this rather unexpected reel takes me next.

Thank you for being here, whether you’ve been following my work for a long time or only discovered it this weekend.

Until next time!

October 2, 2026

Thirteen New Cats, a Well-Fed Bear, and October

Hi everyone!

Big news from the studio today: thirteen new cats were added to the website! They are all available as originals and as prints. It was a full day of getting them photographed, named, and listed, and seeing them all lined up on the page makes me so happy.

As I sit here working on my website, I find myself thinking about how proud I am of it, and of my work, and how exciting it is to have a job I absolutely love. I work long hours. Often painting and editing, designing the website, and taking inventory, twelve to fourteen hours a day. But it is as they say, find a job you like and never work a day in your life. That is what it feels like to me. Most days I have to force myself to leave my studio and turn the lights off. I never knew it was possible for me to find a job I loved this much. I have always been envious of people who love what they do, and go to work happy with their profession.

Good news on the bear front, I have not seen him, or seen any evidence that he is still around. I am not sure when bears go into hibernation, but our mountain has several feet of snow covering it. Maybe he took his cue from that and decided it was time for a long winter's nap. I saw him running through my yard a week or two ago, and he is one well fed bear, let me tell you. He was fast too. He ran faster than my dog does. Now that is not much of a feat, since my dog does not run, but use it as a metaphor for dogs that do.

I hope you are all enjoying the spooky season, October is already here. I am going to try and tear myself away from my desk this weekend to put out some Halloween decorations.

Have a great first week of October, everyone!

Sincerely, Karin

September 25, 2026

Happy Fall, a Bear, and Birdtober

Hi everyone, I missed telling you happy fall on the first day of fall. We are now a few days into fall and the weather certainly has changed here in Colorado. The temperature is noticeably colder and I heard my heating system kick in just a few mornings ago.

One thing I am excited about that coincides with the cooler weather is that the neighborhood bear should start hibernation soon. What a nuisance he has been, going through my trash almost every single night. No fun to have to clean up the next day. I finally found some pretty decent metal bear proof straps on Amazon and installed them, and that almost did the trick. He doesn't just grab the trash and spread it over the yard. He now takes the entire can with him and deposits it hundreds of yards further away. The first bear proof straps I purchased were plastic and he ripped right through them.

This bear talk is making me think I should paint a few bears sometime.

The website is pretty much complete. I have not made that public yet because I have not yet received my print proofs from my printer. I want to make sure the prints you will receive are of the best quality and are approved by me. Any day now they will be delivered and I am so excited. Currently the only prints I have available are of my oil pastel cats, but soon I will add my birds as well.

Talking about birds, I have joined Birdtober, an art challenge that has us paint one bird a day for the month of October. I started painting my birds September 1 and should have the whole series done by October 1st. I am very excited to share them on my page, and when I do, the originals will be for sale as well as prints.

Thank you all so much for sending me photos of your cats in the meantime. I have so many amazing cat models I can hardly keep up. I am trying to get to every cat but I might miss a few.

Thank you also to all my supporters and fans on Threads. I have found the community there is very friendly and hella supportive!

Sincerely, Karin

September 13, 2026

A Few Things About Cats, and a Few Things About Me

Hello again from the studio.

I have been painting cats long enough to notice that they are excellent teachers. They nap without guilt. They stretch like it is a performance art. They will sit in a sunbeam for an hour and call it a good afternoon. I am trying to learn from them.

Here are a few fun facts I keep in mind while I work:

Cats sleep about twelve to sixteen hours a day. I tell myself this is research.
A group of cats is called a clowder. I would very much like to paint a clowder someday.
Cats have whiskers on their cheeks, above their eyes, and even on the backs of their front legs. Those little sensors help them feel the world before they move through it. I like to think my brush does something similar: feeling out a shape before the color lands.
Cats cannot taste sweetness. This seems unfair, but it also explains a lot about their attitude.
Adult cats usually only meow at people, not at other cats. So every time my cats talk to me, I know it is a private conversation.

Speaking of private conversations, I am still drawing a few cats every day. My count is nowhere near one thousand yet, but every cat gets me a little closer. Some days the drawing feels easy. Some days a cat refuses to look right until the very last mark. I have learned to be patient with both of us.

I also tucked a few more little surprises into the website this week. Keep exploring. Some of them might make you smile, and one of them might make you reach for a treat.

Thank you for stopping by the studio. I hope you find a sunbeam today.

Much love, Karin

September 11, 2026

Welcome to My Studio

Hello, and welcome to my new website. I am so glad you are here.

This little corner of the internet has been a week in the making, and I have had so much fun building it. What started as a simple wish to share my work has grown into a place where I can show my paintings, sketches, photographs, and the stories behind them.

You will find my cat portraits in oil pastel, gouache, and acrylic, each one painted with its own personality in mind. There are travel sketches from places that have stayed with me, like the river surfers in Salida and the scarlet macaws I watched in Costa Rica. My photography portfolio is here too, along with a shop where you can bring home prints and originals.

I also tucked in a few secrets and little surprises for anyone who takes the time to explore. Some things are best discovered by accident, so I will leave those for you to find.

As much fun as this week has been, I am ready to get back to painting full time. The good news is that I have managed to draw a few cats every day since I started working on the site. That is a wonderful thing, because my goal is to draw one thousand cats.

Thank you for stopping by. I would love for you to wander through the portfolio, sign up for my newsletter, or just enjoy the art.