KRISTIN DONER
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Better for All of Us

2/22/2018

3 Comments

 
All of the products on my website are produced on demand. In a nutshell, POD (print-on-demand) supports independent artists, is better for the environment, and creates jobs in the USA and Canada.

Think about it. For every product you buy at a department store this is what happens:
  • The artist creating the design receives from 6% to less than 2% of the wholesale price many months after the sale has been made, even though the design is the selling feature. 
  • The item has likely been produced overseas in massive quantities on speculation. This means that decision makers have planned how many thousands of an item to produce based on their best guess of what consumers want to buy.
  • ​Your un-unique item is then packed on cargo containers and shipped overseas to the US, where it is trucked to a storage facility, then trucked again for final distribution. Great for the ozone, right?
  • More often than not, retailers are left with a surplus of items they can't get rid of. Bargain sales move some of the goods, and seconds stores sell much of it too, but you paid full price. 
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Watch this video highlighting the cost of mass manufacturing in the fashion industry.
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Instead of consuming mass-produced goods, buying unique products directly from the designer provides all of the following:
  • Custom made products delivered to your door in about one week.
  • Exclusive original designs.
  • A money-back guarantee.
  • The pleasure of dealing with a person who cares, not a customer service agent.
  • The certainty that you are supporting an independent designer and creating jobs in the USA and Canada.
  • The knowledge that the ozone has received the least impact possible because your products are produced locally, after ordering.

Living life more intentionally means that you are making choices in your life that not only enhance your lifestyle, but also take into consideration the environment and how your purchasing power impacts the rest of us. I invite you to consider buying print-on-demand products.

Let your style shine intentionally. Indie design home decor by #PissyKrissy, delivering custom made products without the landfill liability.
3 Comments

The Art of Gesture in Two Media

7/1/2015

2 Comments

 
For me, the act of creating art is about being in the moment, connecting without judgement to the impulses I feel driven to express. As it turns out, I also have conflicting loyalties between technology and the physical act of making marks on paper. The work I present here encompasses two bodies of work with a single theme, gesture.

In fine art a gesture is an expressive mark derived from an impulse and captured with media, such as ink on paper. My paintings are clearly "of the hand" which are done with acrylic paint and watercolor media on paper, using the subconscious to develop the image. I often meditate before beginning to paint, looking to banish thought from my mind. Then, as I start to paint I let go of judgement and try to respond.
Sometimes my response is based in emotion, sometimes from something I see, but knowing the source only comes after the painting is complete. For instance, months after painting "Bent Figure" I finally recognized the source, a stenciled graffiti on a regular route. The gesture found in these paintings isn't controlled or practiced. I rely on many years of experience, letting my body do what is familiar, without letting my mind create expectations. Not an easy task, yet a very satisfying feeling when I can accomplish it.

But finding a way to accomplish a satisfying gesture on the computer has been a bit more challenging. Creating an 
expressive line in Photoshop with a stylus is the obvious choice, but an interesting result requires a lot of practice and manipulation, and is therefore no longer an impulse. Early in the exploration process I threw handfuls of salt onto a black cloth, made gestures with my finger and photographed it. This process evolved into making gestures in sand at the beach under strong sunlight. Then one rainy day I struck upon the idea of substituting a scanner for the sand. The image to the right here is the result of scanning a gesture. Then in PhotoShop I lift interesting shapes from the gestures, recombine them to form motifs, finally collaging the motifs into new compositions. Every mark you see in my digital work is sourced from one of these scans, so in essence I've made this work entirely from fingerprints. See a short demonstration here.
Tall Figure, acrylic painting by Kristin Doner
A scanned gesture with selections isolated by Kristin Doner
From the Wabi-Sabi Ikebana Series by Kristin Doner
2 Comments

About Scanned Gesture

1/8/2014

2 Comments

 
My scanned gesture work is made entirely from fingerprints, using hand movements captured on a scanner. The scanner records an artifact of my movement in a scan. From the scan, I manipulate organic lines and shapes often working with shapes that aren't immediately apparent. Here are some snapshots to demonstrate the process. To begin a gesture is made on a desktop scanner (the white line is the light bar which moves across the glass). Next shown is the image resulting from scanning a gesture, with distorted fingerprints. Then selections from the scan are isolated from the background. The final image shows some motifs assembled from the scan selections. Watch a short video.
Kristin Doner scanning a gesture on a desktop scanner
A scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
A scanned gesture with shapes isolated by Kristin Doner
StarFlower motif made from collaged scanned gesture by Kristin Doenr
Composition using the StarFlower motif by Kristin Doner
2 Comments

Solo Chronicles: FinalĀ Installment

8/5/2013

2 Comments

 
Organic Perspectives: The Fern Series is printed and installed at East Bay Sotheby’s!
Now it’s time to catch you up.
In Solo Chronicles: Third Installment, I shared some of the objects I created from the scans I made (Second Installment), which were inspired by my trip to Fort Ross (First Installment). From the resulting work it’s obvious that my favorite object was the “fern,” which is featured in the final series.
Beginning a composition can be problematic when working analog (with physical materials, like paint on canvas, pencil on paper, etc); the blank canvas stares back, daring you to make a commitment (or a mistake!). This really isn’t a problem when working digitally, because anything can be changed. And if I’m not sure I want to change it, I can just duplicate the file. Therefore inhibitions really aren’t a problem.
Interestingly, the exact opposite is true… it’s more about “anything goes” and “what if?” So much can be changed at any point, that the options can take me in many different directions with the same image. As new possibilities are presented, the work leads me where it wants to go. Responding to ideas, rather than having a preconceived notion, allows me to make discoveries (and have a lot of fun exploring!).
The only down-side to this process is the massive amount of work produced. Conservatively, there are over 125 images in this series (not counting objects made). Certainly, not all 125 images are good enough to be shown… but many of them were used to make more artwork with.
Here are some examples of explorations that came early in the process, testing color palettes and combing objects.
From the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
From the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
From the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
From the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
From the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
From the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Then I develop some compositions, focusing on the balance of objects, how they relate to each other, foreground/background issues, etc.
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
The final part of the process combines previous results. In some cases it is easy to see the mashing, while in others it is a subtle complication, which might require a keen eye to detect the sources.
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
Part of the Fern Series by Kristin Doner
2 Comments

Solo Chronicles: ThirdĀ Installment

12/4/2012

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In Solo Chronicles: Second Installment I shared how I produce the scans that are the basis of my work. My next step is to use the scans to produce new objects that I can make art with. Here are some of the organic shapes produced from the scans done for this project.
Shapes from a scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
Shapes from a scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
Shapes from a scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
You may have noticed that most of my early work relies heavily on flipping and repeating shapes, reminiscent of Rorschach tests or kaleidoscopes. This is an easy device to begin an exploration with, and while I am moving away from using these repeated shapes in my finished work, they still provide a good starting point.
After a few of these flipped and repeated shapes evolve, I become bored with the predictability, and begin exploring complex shapes without flipping and repeating. Combining unrelated organic shapes creates an entirely different exploration, which can loop back around to flipping and repeating. The final image shows some composite shapes made from several organic selections. All of these shapes, plus many more, form a “library” which I will use to create the work for the Sotheby’s show .

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Solo Chronicles: SecondĀ Installment

11/27/2012

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Ok, I’ve fallen behind a bit in sharing my process. The demands of starting a new studio with 15 other artists has been a bit taxing. Turns out the process of creating community is a huge amount of work, which will continue wether I make my own artwork or not. And sharing my work with you is important to me, so I hope you can forgive the irregularity in my posts.
In Solo Chronicles: First Installment I shared the photos I had recently taken and described my use of the camera as a tool, and how the photos might influence my artwork. The making of artwork has begun in earnest by now, so it is high time I shared the steps that have taken place.
After spending a little time with the photos, I made two large story-boards that captured the best parts of my favorite images from the photo shoot. This process was more about continuing to look, rather than sorting the images or thinking about their use. This helped me rediscover inspiring aspects and notice new shapes and similarities.
With the shapes and patterns from the photos fresh in my mind, I started scanning some gestures. While many shapes and movements can be created by my hands, the scanner will only capture a small amount of data at a time, in a linear fashion. For instance, if I move beyond the light bar, the gesture isn’t captured. Likewise, moving my hands backwards produces no result. This means that “drawing” a circle is impossible. Therefore, all the shapes I make are abstracted ideas to begin with. Interestingly, this provides freedom, rather than limitation. Here are the scans I produced for this project.
A scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
A scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
A scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
A scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
A scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
A scanned gesture by Kristin Doner
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Solo Chronicle: First Installment

9/11/2012

1 Comment

 
Making art is a constant evolution, in far too many ways to enumerate here, but on the other hand, showing by example is much easier. I find myself at a beginning point with a new project, which I hope to share with you. I’ve been offered a solo show at East Bay Sotheby’s in Oakland’s Montclaire district, planned for late July thru the middle of September of 2013. Since open studios is just a month or two previous, I’m hopeful to make all new work for the Sotheby’s show, beginning with the scans.
Any good art project begins with looking, so that’s where I’ll start my chronicles. Today I happen to be at Fort Ross, on the northern coast of California. My husband is a kayak angler, and went out on the ocean, giving me lots of time to unwind, soak in nature, and meditate.  The fog was in pretty deep when we first arrived, but cleared quickly. Nonetheless a mood of introspection was set by the spectacular scenery engulfed in first fog then brilliant light. How could one fail to be inspired by such dramatic sights.
Field of boulders in fog at Fort Ross, California
Field of boulders in fog at Fort Ross, California
Lichen on a rock at Fort Ross, California
Lichen on a rock at Fort Ross, California
Lichen on a rock at Fort Ross, California
Lichen on a rock at Fort Ross, California
Succulents growing in the crevice of a rock at Fort Ross, California
Lichen on a rock at Fort Ross, California
Lichen on a rock at Fort Ross, California
Lichen on a rock at Fort Ross, California
Buckwheat growing at Fort Ross, California
Southern view of the Pacific Ocean at Fort Ross, CA, with Buckwheat in foreground.
Fort Ross, CA plateau at cliff edge in fog.
Fort Ross, CA above cliff edge in fog overlooking Pacific Ocean.
Fort Ross, CA, field above cliffs, ocean with fog in distance.
Dried out dead thistles at Fort Ross, CA
Horsetail Fern at Fort Ross marsh.
Buckwheat at Fort Ross, CA.
I don’t want to give the wrong impression; I will not be using these photos for anything other than inspiration. I view the camera as a tool for looking, a way to shut everything else out and connect with feeling the thing I’m looking at. I usually use a Fujifilm digital, but have scaled back my equipment-carrying to the iPad. The photo taking experience with an iPad is nothing like a camera, and I find it more than sub-standard compared to any type of camera: biggest problem is glare on the only surface you have to look at. Plus there aren’t any controls for any function other than (a fuzzy) zoom. That being said, it did provide a portal for beginning to look. The camera helps me isolate ideas and get to the richness I find in natures many facets. Layered color, sensual shapes, moody lighting. The photos may become simply a record of what I was thinking about while preparing for this show; or they may become a more direct reference in the work, such as shapes and how they relate to one another or how colors are layered.
That’s the beginning of the journey. After I move into my new studio later in September, I can begin the scans… I wonder which of these shapes will inspire new ideas for my library of objects?
1 Comment

    Kristin Doner

    I make things. These are some of my thoughts about making and being a maker.

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  • Home
  • Editions
    • Organic Compositions
    • Illustrative Compositions
    • Recent Work
    • Combined Illustrative & Organic
    • Full Catalog
  • About
    • About This Work
    • Scanned Gesture Defined
    • Artist Statements
    • Art for Sanity’s Sake
    • About Kristin Doner
    • Ceramics
    • CV
  • Contact