Saturday, January 29, 2011

if you've been reading this for some time, you already know this. saturday's really are my favorite. the few times i have them off, they turn into the most wonderful, dreamy days. and that saturday of freedom usually comes when i need it the most - in the midst of a dreary week, or month even. they say it's going to be 53˚ today... the park and a camera might just be in order. 

go have fun today. we'll talk more seriously and creatively on monday. 
- k
ps. listening to Happiest Lion. go listen to them, you'll love yourself for it. 

Friday, January 28, 2011

found: diagram

that little cat might be the greatest thing, ever. 
i know, i found it at christmas, but doesn't it bring a little joy to your heart?

- k.

Monday, January 24, 2011

self portrait. ish.

my dear friend Meg Marano just moved back to LA.  i miss her creativity, and the encouragement she gave to mine. as well as long conversations about nothing, smoking cigarettes and drinking wine while talking about writing and art and just how to live life.  nothing's quite the same without her here, but where she's at will be good for her (i think. and hope so).  

so. she asked me to send a self portrait to her... here it is. i hope she enjoys it, and i hope you do too:


love you meg. 
enjoy your day. 

- k.

ps. she is a great artist and writer - i'll share her pieces with you, once i find some of them.

Friday, January 21, 2011

found: document


apparently steph got more points(?) than ryan, therefore she had to circle it... or, who knows, maybe it's just math problems. adults are difficult to understand. 

enjoy your friday.
- k.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

little treasures

there's nothing quite like receiving mail on a crummy day in the middle of a crummier week.  this morning i felt inadequate, insignificant, and empty... its been building up for the past couple months - working every day combined with dark weather just makes sad thoughts sadder and being inspired less inspiring. 

but today, in the midst of this, i received two postcards. it reduced me to tears and told me that i was more valuable than i let myself believe. 

that's why we need people in our lives. that's why we need community. while sharing your life over the internet is easy (yes, you and i are guilty of this), getting a small little treasure in the mail amongst coupons and bills does something different to us.... because that little piece of paper traveled many miles to get to you. did you hear me? to get to you. to brighten your day. to make you feel special. which is why i believe the postal service is something worth treasuring.... would you treasure it with me?

 from katie collins - a fantastic artist living in chicago. 
from LJ. 

d. h. told me this morning that asian soup or thai food cures crummy days. he's right about that. miso soup it is. 
- k.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

morbid? probably.

sketch by ©kbaergen
lately, conversations and my thoughts have led me to believe that i am a morbid person.  a few years ago i would have never thought this of myself, but now, whoa, morbidity is lurking around every corner and in every passing car.  literally.  i think about these things every day.  don't be concerned.  i don't want to die.  nor do i dwell on these thoughts for more than the split second they enter my brain. however, i find it interesting to dissect these thoughts at later points, when they aren't so vivid or real.

here are some examples: 

#1. driving to or from my house i pass through a slightly rougher area.  when driving home, late at night, in that area, i imagine that any of the cars that pass by will open fire and i'll get shot - the death part is always unclear. 

#2. every time i have to reach over the meat-slicer at work i imagine it spinning out of control, going wild, and slicing through my sternum.  this is impossible, unless some outside invisible spirit took hold of it and made these things happen. a lot of blood & guts. but, unclear ending. 

#3. when walking on the side of the road i usually have a thought of the car, which is about to pass by, going out of control, and hitting me or coming very close to it, causing a huge accident, with blood,  explosions and smoke.  again, unclear ending. 

in each of these scenarios everything turns to the apocalypse, in a movie-like setting.  slow motion.  appropriate emotion evoking music.  fog and deep, hazy colors.  less about death and gore, more about cinematic aesthetics.  the hero.  how i might react.  you know, romanticizing it.  kind of like Delacroix's painting of Liberty Leading The People - smoke and death are lurking, but there's hope and beauty marching through. 
one of my favorite paintings of all time. talk about swoon factor. sheesh. 
maybe it's part of how i entertain myself.  mixed with too many frightening movies.  my imagination has always been vivid, and more often than not i catch myself thinking about the strangest things.  but that's what we love about ourselves, right?  these are the things we don't usually tell people, but they're quarks that make us unique in ourselves. 

what are your quarks? the strange things you love, but you don't say them, because they're "odd" or you never identified them as something you love about yourself?

think about it. it's wednesday, you need to entertain your brain somehow. 
- k. 

ps. the fog is lurking and the mist is suspended in the air. i swear. (and i love it). 

Monday, January 17, 2011

some of my favorite days are those spent with my best friend and chatting with my sisters. there's nothing quite like it.  and there's nothing quite like friends who encourage your creativity and push you to be productive and do your best. 

yesterday was spent grocery shopping, skyping with my sister, creating lovely things, homemade pizza, wine, blueberries, and ended laughing with good friends. not much is better than that.  so here's what i made: 



what do your favorite days look like?
enjoy your monday, its overcast here in nashville, but its beautiful and lovely and in the 40s. 

- k.

currently reading Tribes, The Good Body, and still working on The Beautiful & Damned. 

Friday, January 14, 2011

found: diagram

i absolutely love finding children's drawings... they just make so much sense. 
happy friday to you

- k. 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

idea verses science

i have this small obsession. 

with the human heart. 

i'm not entirely sure what it is, other than the lines, that keeps me lingering. the very idea that this thing is working inside to keep me alive, and i can feel it, is eerie & whimsical, and actually quite romantic. the creative implications and strings that are woven so tightly, conceptually & design-wise, make my mind wonder and explode with curiosity on how this strange thing works, and better yet, how i can interpret it through my hands, my mediums, my words. i like to read medical books about the heart, because my heart, is making it possible for me to learn about it.... and your heart, is allowing you to read this. a strange cycle and interaction between science, emotion, and the spirit. the idea of the heart verses the science of the heart. 

idea: romantic, painful, joyful, a shape, something that experiences excitement and devastation. the center of us. 

science: an organ which keeps us alive, keeps our blood flowing, regulates us, at the very center of our bodies. 


"My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains 
    My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, 
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains 
    One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: 
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, 
    But being too happy in thine happiness, - 
        That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees, 
                In some melodious plot 
    Of beechen green and shadows numberless, 
        Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

..."
- John Keats
Ode to a Nightengale

science verses idea: think about it, 

- k.

Friday, January 7, 2011

found: missing

to continue my collection of found things, which i talked about before, some deck is missing a joker... which usually gets cast aside anyways.

- k.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

maps. yum.


so, our trip to amacueca is postponed until may. which i am absolutely devastated that i won't be soaking up the glorious sun in two weeks, but may isn't that far away....  so i got to thinking about where we could go instead


which just got me thinking about other trips i'd like to take around the country... and into other countries


and maybe i got carried away just a little bit... but if i had endless resources, i think driving all the way to the south west coast and driving up to alaska would be incredible. 

that is all - more artwork is coming... soon. i've been sick this week... and work is, well, work.  you know that it's always tough to get back into the swing of things after a holiday (all of them). 

keep reading, keep enjoying life, 
- k.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

"happy new year" is my favorite holiday greeting. not only does it wish you a good day, but it wishes you a good year, better than the last. so happy new year to you. 



i cannot believe how quickly the year has flown by, even the first few days of 2011. this next year should be better than the last, without doubt, and for that i am excited. we all need an odd numbered year, because for most of us, this past one was difficult, and difficult to get through. 

excited to share this year with you, 
with its new art & new adventures,
- k.

ps. i do not have my own dog. neither do i have antlers. or that dress. however, if i had that dress, i'd have been an even happier girl on new years eve. as for the dog & antlers, well, i guess that'd be fun too... a plant would have been more appropriate.