Mundie•Art

Preparing for a Show

2012-01-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

I have a show in less than a year. Here are a few landscapes and interior paintings that may end up in the show.

Kate Kern Mundie, Arch Street, 14 x 12 inches, oil on panel

Kate Kern Mundie, Bed Room and Bath, 14 x 12 inches, oil on panel

Kate Kern Mundie, Byzantine Bell Tower 14 x 12 inches, oil on panel

Kate Kern Mundie, The Athenaeum , 14 x 12 inches, oil on panel

January

2012-01-21T12:28:00.001-05:00

January
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Heavy sky behind the gate of the soon to be closed Annunciation BVM School in South Philly

Mummer's Parade 2012

2012-01-02T11:33:00.001-05:00

Mummer's Parade 2012, a set on Flickr.

The Mummer's Parade is Philadelphia's annual New Year's Day tradition — a gaudy spectacle in which blue-collar guys (and gals) bedeck themselves in feathers and sequins, strap on banjos and march up Broad Street. Mumming in Philadelphia began in the 17th century as a Christmas tradition among Irish, German and Swedish immigrants. These neighborhood-based performances eventually developed into a more organized public spectacle for welcoming the new year. Officially sanctioned by the city since New Year's Day of 1901, the Mummer's Parade is recognized as the oldest parade in America.

21 Years of Self-portraits

2011-12-31T18:20:00.000-05:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Self-portrait with Tools and Ironing Board (age 37), charcoal on paper, 14 x 18 inches

The new year is a time of reflection, where you have been and where you want to go. I think of self-portraits as a tool for reflection.

The Self-portrait with Tools and Ironing Board captures my feeling about 2011. 2011 was chaotic and messy as I tried to work full-time while preparing for an art exhibition,and also while trying to keep up with the house and be a good wife and mother. I felt tired and unprepared for each day. I never felt like I could complete each task to satisfaction and was always torn between responsibility and what I wanted to do.

Kate Kern Mundie, Self-portrait at 16 Years,
oil pastel on paper.

Over the years I have documented my own life in self-portraits. In my teen years I drew myself continuously. It was partly as a way to learn the human form, but also a teenager's self obsession.

Kate Kern Mundie, Self-portrait at 19, oil on board, 12 x 14 inches

I did several self-portraits in college but the one above is the only one that survives.

Kate Kern Mundie, I'm Ready (Self-portrait at 30), oil on paper, 18 x 24 inches

I'm Ready was painted shortly after I turned 30 and had decided to leave teaching and non-profit work in favor of a steady-paying full-time job. I did this painting while in the midst of a job search. A few weeks after painting this I got my job at the engineering firm where I still work. It was one of the best moves I have made.

Kate Kern Mundie, Self-portrait at 33, pastel on paper,
20 x 24 inches

Kate Kern Mundie, Self-portrait at 34 and Pregnant,graphite on paper, 14 x 18 inches

The nude self-portrait was drawn around the time we decided to try for kids. Making the decision to have children can be daunting for any couple but especially for artists. Children can mean an end to any art making, yet we continue to struggle against that possibility.

2012 will be another busy year as we balance family, work, art, and anything else that comes our way.

just in time for the holidays: new "Gruss vom Krampus" print!

2011-12-04T10:54:00.000-05:00

While creating a label for a special Krampus-themed ale of my own concoction, I decided to also use the design for paper lanterns to be displayed in my home on Krampusnacht itself (December 6th) but also during the first annual Krampuslauf Philadelphia on December 10th.

The lanterns are in production now (Kate and I have the sore fingers to prove it), but the reaction to this design was so overwhelmingly positive that I decided to make a large, gorgeous print available to you, the Krampus-loving/fearing public:

For those unfamiliar with Krampus, he is a goat-like horned devil with a long red tongue traditionally associated with St. Nicholas - however, this kinky Germanic yuletide spirit's folkore tradition actually predates the Christian era. Denizens of Europe's alpine regions had been marking the annual arrival of Krampus for many centuries before the concept of Christmas came along, and long before the aforementioned former bishop of Turkey stole the spotlight. Traditionally, Krampus serves to punish naughty children by whipping them with switches or tossing them in icy rivers. Like Black Peter, Krampus is the "bad cop" to St. Nick's "good cop".

So, now you can display this darker side of the winter in your own home. Krampusnacht may come but once a year, but this 17 x 11 inch print on 12pt stock will help you keep the spirit all year 'round.

Get one today for yourself and a friend at MundieArt.com, and we'll ship them for only $1!

Season's beatings!

Holiday Painting Sale

2011-11-26T15:02:00.000-05:00

Shears
Kate Kern Mundie
oil on mylar, 4 x 6 inches, 2007
archivally matted and framed at 11 x 14 inches

I have not offered a holiday sale in four or five years. Since it has been so long, I am offering a selection of small framed paintings. Now you will not have to worry about how to present the work, or wait while a framer frames the painting, or even pay extra for the frame. You can follow this link to see prices and use PayPal to purchase a painting.

Below you can see how the work is framed.

Pliers
Kate Kern Mundie
oil on mylar, 4 x 6 inches, 2007
archivally matted and framed at 11 x 14 inches

Teapot
Kate Kern Mundie
oil on mylar, 6 x 5.5 inches, 2006
archivally matted and framed at 14 x 11 inches

Still Life for Warren
Kate Kern Mundie
oil on mylar, 8 x 6 inches, 2006
archivally matted and framed at 14 x 11 inches

Fiestaware Pitcher
Kate Kern Mundie
oil on paper, 8 x 7 inches, 2006
archivally framed at 9 x 8 inches

All of the paintings above are presented matted under glass in a 14 x 11-inch waxed maple frame.

Below, is a painting done at Eastern State Penitentiary, America's most haunted prison (okay, I just made that up, but it could be true). The photo on was taken right after is was painted before it was varnished and framed. The color on the left is truer than the example on the right. The image on the right is to display how the painting is framed.


Keyhole (Eastern State Penitentiary) Kate Kern Mundie oil on museum board, 10 x 8 inches, 2007 archivally framed at 11 x 9 inches

framed in waxed maple 10 x 8 inches

Highland Road (A93)
Kate Kern Mundie
oil on paper, 8 x 5.5 inches, 2006
archivally framed at 9 x 6.5 inches

framed in waxed maple 9 x 6.5 inches

Flowers for Vuillard
Kate Kern Mundie
oil on panel, 14 x 12 inches, 2008
archivally framed at 15 x 13 inches

framed in waxed maple 15 x 13 inches

Lilies
Kate Kern Mundie
oil on mylar, 8 x 6 inches, 2007
archivally matted and framed at 14 x 11 inches

matted and framed at 14 x 11 inches

Hero’s Lamps

2011-11-18T09:00:00.003-05:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Hero's Lamps, oil on masonite, 14 x 12 inches

I have started a new series of paintings related to mythology. This is an interior view with a still life of lamps in a cottage on the high bluffs on the Atlantic side of Cape Cod. However, as I painted it, I wondered if these lamps could have been Hero’s lamps for illuminating Leander’s way across the Hellespont. Is this the room after the lamps have been extinguished and Hero has thrown herself into the sea? Or are the lamps waiting to be lit in the evening expecting Leander to arrive?

If you are not familiar with the story:

Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite, lived in a tower on one side of the Hellespont (Turkey's "Sea of Helles" now called the Dardanelles), and was courted by Leander who lived on the other side of the strait. Leander swims across the strait guided by Hero’s lamp in the tower. Leander persuades Hero to give up her virtue and their tryst continues nightly through the summer. A storm arises but Hero begs Leander to swim to her that night. The winds blow out Hero’s lamp and Leander loses his way in the stormy sea and is drowned. On finding out that her lover has died, Hero jumps from her tower and is lost to the sea, too.

Sewing Machines

2011-11-03T09:00:00.014-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Sewing Machine, 6 x 8 inches, ink on paper

Sewing machine is a wonderful still life object. The sleek design and silhouette of an old machine is a pleasure to draw and paint.

The first three images are of a peddle powered machine in a sewing cabinet and the last image is a portable table top Singer from the 1920's.

Kate Kern Mundie, Sewing Machine No. 3, 16 x 20 inches, oil on masonite

Sewing and sewing machines appear throughout art history, whether as a symbol or as a part of the female interior world.

Kate Kern Mundie, Sewing Machine in the Red Room, 14 x 12 inches, oil on masonite

I use the sewing machine as still life object or as an interior paintings focus.

Kate Kern Mundie, Sewing Machine and Sari, 12 x 9 inches, oil on linen

press release: 10th ANNUAL SIDESHOW GATHERING at INKIN’ THE VALLEY, NOVEMBER 4TH – 6TH, 2011

2011-10-25T22:24:00.002-04:00

THE SHOW MUST GO ON:
10TH ANNUAL SIDESHOW GATHERING
CONTINUES AS TRIBUTE TO DECEASED FOUNDER

FRANCO KOSSA’S LEGACY CARRIED FORWARD BY ENTERTAINERS

WILKES-BARRE PA – The Annual Sideshow Gathering — the world's only sideshow convention — returns to northeastern Pennsylvania with its unique and shocking blend of weird, wonderful, and wacky entertainment. From November 4th through 6th, the strange takes center stage when showmen and genuine sideshow freaks from across the country descend on Wilkes-Barre's The Woodlands Inn & Resort to celebrate the giddy thrills of the carnival sideshow. Over the course of three days, many of today's best sideshow performers will walk on glass, swallow swords, eat light bulbs, put hooks in their eyes, attempt to break a world record for the largest simultaneous ten-in-one sideshow, and otherwise risk bodily harm for the sake of twisted entertainment. The Sideshow Gathering is the premier networking event for performers, fans, collectors, and historians. The Sideshow Gathering has steadily drawn increased attendance year after year, and is an unsurpassed weekend of gasps and laughs.

This year, the Sideshow Gathering’s 10th anniversary, is especially poignant as it also marks the passing of its founder Franco Kossa, who died suddenly last May. With Franco’s tragic death the future of the Sideshow Gathering looked uncertain, but a dedicated group of friends, performers, and volunteers have worked steadily to ensure the event will continue this year in grand style. “Franco himself will be present, in spirit and body,” said artist James Mundie, who has designed a special memorial banner to be unveiled at the Sideshow Gathering. “Franco’s ashes will preside over the event, and patrons will have a unique opportunity on Friday night to ‘visit’ with them. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s perfectly appropriate for this event and Franco would have loved it.”

Attractions at the 10th Annual Sideshow Gathering will include:
The weekend's emcees, Tyler Fyre and Thrill Kill Jill of The Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow — named “Best Sideshow Duo” by Washington City Paper; FreakShow Deluxe, Hollywood's own and only carnival-style sideshow; Coney Island Chris, the hilarious one-man ten-in-one seen on America's Got Talent; Philadelphia's Olde City Sideshow, featuring Danny Borneo, Martin Ling the Suicide King, Reggie Bügmüncher and special guest GiGi Holliday of Baltimore's Sticky Buns Burlesque; the incomparable Harley Newman, professional lunatic; Cheeky Monkey Sideshow, featuring Swami Yomahmi, Sally the Cinch, Mab Just Mab, and tantalizing guest Cherríe Sweetbottom; Keith Bindlestiff, co-founder of the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and alter-ego of presidential candidate Kinko the Clown; Knotty Bits Sideshow, and many more! Additionally, vendors such as Col. Hunsley's Freaks and Oddities and James Taylor's Shocked and Amazed! will display genuine freak animals, memorabilia, rare books, and original show banners. Step right up to the Sideshow Gathering for a weekend of entertainment and diversion you will never forget!

Concurrent with the 18th Annual Inkin' The Valley tattoo convention at Wilkes-Barre's The Woodlands Inn & Resort, the Sideshow Gathering begins at 3:00 PM on Friday, November 4th, with live sideshow performances starting at 5:00 PM. The convention floor opens again at noon and performances will resume from 3:00 to 6:00 PM and 10:00 to 11:00 PM on Saturday, followed by a special auction of original art and rare carnival and circus items. On Sunday, there will be encore performances from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. Admission for the entire weekend is only $15.

- - -
"Legacy isn't the first word that comes to mind when you think of sword swallowers and fire eaters and people who eat broken glass,” said James Taylor, publisher of the journal Shocked and Amazed! On & Off the Midway and someone who has attended the Sideshow Gathering from the beginning, “but it was for the late Franco Kossa when he created the annual Sideshow Gathering, and that yearly convention has shown for a decade that Kossa's heart was in the right place when he had legacy in mind. Hey, I told him not to do the Gathering when he first came to me about it, and his reaction was perfect: ‘Yeah, but...’ And he did it. We're all in debt to him."

Ten years ago, tattoo business owner Franco Kossa wanted to add sideshow entertainment to his annual convention, Inkin’ the Valley. These art forms shared a common history, so it seemed an ideal pairing. “Tattooed people have been exhibits forever,” Kossa said. "Sideshow history and tattoo history are conjoined.” However, at the time the popular acceptance of tattooing was on the rise while sideshow was on the decline. It was while talking with legendary showman Ward Hall, co-owner of the World of Wonders, about the wholesale disappearance of sideshows from America’s fairgrounds that Franco hit upon the idea of starting a convention for sideshow performers. The idea was that for one weekend a year showmen and carnies from across the country could gather to ‘cut up jackpots’. It would be like the old showman’s clubs, but the public would also be invited in. From those humble beginnings, the Sideshow Gathering – the world’s only sideshow convention – was born and in time became a much anticipated annual calendar event for veteran showfolk and a training ground for the next generation. Tim O’Brien of Ripley’s Entertainment and Ripley Radio said, “I come every year to find new talent for Ripley’s. This place is a cornucopia of oddities and bizarre acts!”

“Frank was a generous and loving man who created for this group of people a haven where once a year we could gather… to share the love of our different lifestyle, and our respect for one another,” said Ward Hall, who was himself once honored by Franco Kossa at the Sideshow Gathering with an Ambassador of Wonder Award for his many decades in the sideshow industry. “Through his compassion for those who wished to present themselves to the world in unusual ways, Frank provided a method for us to gather together and get to know him and each other as no one else was ever able to do… I expect that he is now working to assemble a Sideshow Gathering in Heaven for all our people who have gone on before us.”

Kossa’s dedication to this art form has proven that public interest in sideshow is in fact alive and well. Over the years, the Sideshow Gathering has attracted a great deal of media attention – especially for the world records that were set there for mass sword swallowing and human blockhead – and attendance has steadily increased year after year. The 2010 incarnation of the event was the most successful to date, and seemed to indicate that the 10th anniversary in 2011 would be its best year yet. But then in early May 2011, Franco Kossa suddenly died and the fate of his beloved event seemed to be in jeopardy. Franco Kossa’s widow, Kim, was left with mounting debts and a considerable ‘nut’ to cover for Inkin’ the Valley. If the Sideshow Gathering was going to continue, it was going to need help. “The Sideshow Gathering for Franco meant bringing something he loved to his home town and sharing it with those around him,” said Kim Kossa. “Cost didn't matter, he just wanted to share the fun. It also was about bringing like minds together. Sideshow acts are on the road so much, they rarely get a chance to see other acts and be among their peers.” Like a big extended family, friends and volunteers stepped in to lend a hand, the most visible effort being several benefit performances held during mid-October in Washington DC and Baltimore under the name “Seismic Sideshow” that helped raise much needed funds to cover the expenses of putting on Franco’s creation.

“I believe in the afterlife here on Earth,” said Tyler Fyre of the Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow, “that a person lives on through the deeds they did, the lives they touched, and the legacy they leave. Franco lives on through the Sideshow Gathering, and by bringing us all together each year his legacy will live forever.”

Seismic Sideshow posters

2011-10-01T13:48:00.000-04:00

I was asked to design the poster for three performances in Washington DC and Baltimore presented by Shocked and Amazed! called Seismic Sideshow - a benefit of earth-shaking proportions. The proceeds from these performances will support the 10th Annual Sideshow Gathering, which is scheduled to take place at the Woodland Inn & Resort in Wilkes-Barre PA from 4 through 6 November 2011.

Poster for Seismic Sideshow at Washington DC's Red Palace, 14 October 2011

Featured in national and international media including CNN, Discovery Health, TLC, The Washington Post, AOL News, Bizarre, and more, the Sideshow Gathering was the brainchild of Franco Kossa, who tragically died earlier this year. The Gathering brings together sideshow and variety performers for a weekend of spectacle and fellowship, and has grown to become a much anticipated calendar event for both the performers and fans of this style of entertainment. Franco himself would take on the expense of putting on the event (booking the venue, etc.), but with his death the financial security of the Sideshow Gathering was in limbo. A group of volunteers decided they would do whatever could be done to make this 10th incarnation of the Sideshow Gathering a success and a fitting tribute to Franco, and so the idea of these benefit performances came about. The title of the shows - Seismic Sideshow - came from James Taylor, founder and published of Shocked and Amazed! On & Off the Midway. The title refers to the groundswell of support from what is often considered an underground form of entertainment (presciently, James proposed this title just a few days before the northeast United States experienced both a rare minor earthquake and then a hurricane). Having been tasked with the visuals for this, it then occurred to me that a volcanic eruption was an apt metaphor.

Poster for Seismic Sideshow at Baltimore's Sinix, 15 October 2011

The Red Palace in Washington DC will host the first of these events on the night of Friday, October 14th. There will be two completely different shows (at 9 and 11:30PM) featuring sideshow, variety, and burlesque acts Professor Sprocket, Paco Fish, Candy Del Rio, Spanky Roundbottom, Mrs. Godawful and Her Musical Saw, Belladonna, Skizz, and many more. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

On Saturday, October 15th, Sinix in Essex MD (just east of Baltimore) will host a 10 PM show with Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow, Olde City Sideshow, and Swami Yomahmi (a late addition to the bill after the artwork was finalized). Tickets for this show are only $5, so it's sure to be a packed house.

This is a whole weekend of entertainment that is more fun than the law should allow - so get out there and collect them all!

From the Sketch Book

2011-09-29T10:00:00.001-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Highland Light in Fog

A week after the opening of my June show at F.A.N. Gallery we went on vacation to Truro, Cape Cod Massachusetts. It is beautiful and has been a place of inspiration for my paintings for the last 10 years. I packed all my painting gear with the intention of doing lots of work. However, after a year of intense painting in preperation for the show I was burned out. I made several attempts at painting but the paintings were terrible and I was out of steam. I chose to stick to my sketch book and do lots of drawings instead.

Kate Kern Mundie, View of Province Town

Kate Kern Mundie, Laundry

US Artists American Fine Art Show and Sale

2011-09-15T10:00:00.002-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Dawn (Looking West), oil on masonite, 24 x 28 inches

Once again I will have work at F.A.N. Gallery's booth at the USArtists American Fine Art Show & Sale

USArtists is the nation’s premier American art event. Many of the country’s
finest art dealers exhibit and sell an extraordinarily rich and diverse collection
of 18th- through 21st-century American art.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, September 23-25, 2011

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts | Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building

Opening Night Preview Gala: Thursday, September 22
New Collectors Night: Friday, September 23

Show Hours:
Friday and Saturday, 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

All proceeds from USArtists directly benefit student scholarships
at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Updates to the Mundieart website

2011-09-13T07:18:00.000-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Metalman Point, Sheephaven Bay, oil on masonite, 10 x 14 inches, 2010

My pages on mundieart.com have been updated. If you have been reading the blog it will be familiar stuff. It is all the oil paintings that were in the June exhibition at F.A.N. Gallery.

New F.A.N. Gallery website

2011-09-07T10:36:00.000-04:00

I have been showing with F.A.N. Gallery in Philadelphia for the past four years. I recently took on some marketing work for the gallery. I designed the new website for F.A.N. Gallery and I manage the blog.

In the Movies

2011-08-25T09:00:00.002-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, 8th and Market Streets (Lits Bros.), oil on panel, 30 x 20 inches

I am a little behind in my movie watching. I finally saw “How Do You Know” written and directed by James L. Brooks. It was a cute romantic comedy starting Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson. The real reason I watched is one of my paintings is in the movie.

Image: via poptower. Scene from “How Do You Know”, painting by F.A.N. Gallery Artist Al Gury can be seen in the back ground in the gold frame.

Production for the movie started in the summer of 2009. The movie was filmed in Philadelphia and Washinton D.C. During that time a “How Do You Know” production staff member came into F.A.N. Gallery looking for paintings of Philadelphia scenes. They rented paintings from the artists Treacy Ziegler, Al Gury, Tezh Modarressi, Gregory Prestegord, and me, Kate Kern Mundie. The paintings were used in developing the look and feel of the office and home of the character George, portrayed by Paul Rudd. On the DVD, you can see the paintings in chapters 2 and 3 in George’s office and in his home at the beginning of the movie.

I don’t think I have ever watched a movie that closely for set design before. The paintings were hard to pick out unless you knew what you were looking for, but it was still exciting to see my painting in a movie.

Looking for Hopper

2011-08-11T09:00:00.001-04:00

Edward Hopper's house from the road

Hopper's north facing studio window

Kate Kern Mundie, Mill Pond Road (Truro)

oil on canvas mounted on panel, 16 x 16 inches, 2009

For several years I had been poking around Truro trying to find the house that Edward Hopper built and used as a painting studio from 1934 until his death in 1967. In past years I had seen the house from a distance but had never figured out how to get to it. I had painted along Mill Pond Road and painted his house perched up on the bluffs above the water by Fisher Beach. A few months ago, I found the address of Edward Hopper’s house by looking at Truro zoning information. From the last information I had found on the house, his nieces were trying to get the house turned into a museum and that they had left his easel in the house as a homage to him. Now, I had an address and knew exactly where to go. When we got to his road I realized why I had never found the house. The turnoff for Hoppers house is a very long pitted dirt road that looks very private and I had been to shy to go poking along private roads. The road winds along through the woods for about two miles until it opens up and you can see his house. There was no chain across the drive way and no “No trespassing” signs so we drove down to it. I climbed the long stairs up the hill up to the house and peaked in the windows. Someone lives in it now. I did not see the easel. I guess the plans to make it into a museum have failed. I snapped some shots of the house, porch and Hopper view and then left. I did not want the home owner to find me there poking around their house. Although, if you live in a famous persons house you must expect some meddlesome fans to periodically come around.

Overlooking Fisher Beach

Hopper's “Rooms by the Sea” is an interior view of this house but he never did an exterior view. I would suppose since he had a great studio space at the house he would be more comfortable painting in the studio and would not have the urge to go out and paint the house. Hopper painted interiors and exteriors of many of the other places he lived or stayed. Some of his paintings were straight forward landscapes, urban streetscapes, however some paintings become almost portraits of the homes of friends. Many of his other landscape sites and buildings are a conglomeration of several buildings and points of view combined to make the most compelling composition. TheNighthawks, arguably his most famous paintings, is believed to be thecombination of several dinners and automats and a couple of different streetcorners.

I am glad I found the house. Seeing his house felt like a connection to the man who has had a huge influence on my paintings and drawings.

Cape Cod 2011

2011-07-28T09:00:00.026-04:00

Walking to Great Island in Wellfleet

We went to Cape Cod for a couple of weeks. It was a time to recharge after preparing for the exhibition at F.A.N. Gallery for the past year. It was wonderful to go for long walks with the kids. We took them to Great Island in Wellfleet where we were able to see fiddler crabs (or as Aidan calls them, "fitler craps"). Along our hike around Great Island we smelled something much stronger than the salty muddy smell of the marsh -- the carcasses of two dolphins. They must have beached some time in the winter or early spring. The kids were more interested in the fiddler crabs scurrying for their holes when the kids came running up to the waters edge than the dolphins.

There were other wildflife encounters that were more pleasant. We found hermit crabs on the beach and Jim put them in a bucket for the kids to watch for a while before returning them to the sea. There were seals out in the water, who come to a protected area near Head of the Meadow beach in Truro to have their pups and feed. From a distance they look like black Labrador retrievers swimming with just their heads above water until you realize that they are far too large and long to be a dog.

On a walk up to the lighthouse we saw a Black Racer snake. It reared up about 8 inches off the ground when we walked into its space. It was around four feet long and really quite beautiful. I pulled the kids back not knowing what kind of snake it was and deciding to err on the side of caution. I later asked the woman running the gift shop about the snake and she told me what it was and that it was not harmful. I wished I had let the kids look at it longer instead of rushing them away from it.

Wild Turkey

One afternoon, when driving back to the cottage we saw a very large wild turkey on someone’s deck. The photo does not do it justice. Another afternoon we saw a fox come bolting across the road with something in its mouth. It was large and at first I thought it was a small coyote but Jim thought it was a fox. I think Jim is right and it is a gray fox.

Gray Fox

Even around the cottage we rented in the woods were were inundated with wildlife. We saw deer and hawks. The kids loved chasing rabbits, chipmunks, and quail around the cottage. Early one morning, Jim saw a weasel chase a rabbit out from under the deck. The poor rabbit did not make it.

At Pilgrim Lake we saw a swan from the vantage point of the bluffs above the lake.

I was surprised to see so many different wild animals. It was wonderful to get away from the city and enjoy the woods, water and wildlife.

Penguin (spheniscus humboldti)

2011-07-18T17:06:00.001-04:00

Penguin (spheniscus humboldti)
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Cool thoughts for a ridiculously hot day...

Lloyds Tower (Donegal)

2011-07-15T06:34:00.002-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Lloyds Tower (Donegal), oil on masonite, 20 x 40 inches, 2011

Artists are intrigued by ruins, from 17^th-century genre painters depicting Roman ruins in a Flemish landscape, 18^th-century paintings done on the “Grand European Tour”, or even current realists depicting the dilapidation of industrial landscapes and urban blight. The artist might choose for their composition to include ruins as a curiosity, to symbolize an allegory, or as documentation. I painted Lloyds Tower partly because of its curious nature - an isolated tower with an interesting history, but I also used the tower to give a sense of scale to the painting. It is a manmade structure in a rugged and austere landscape. The landscape is very abrupt: land… sea. The tower helps tie the painting together.

History of the tower:

Banba’s Crown or Malin Head sits at the northern tip of Ireland. This area on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal has been a look out station for the last few centuries.

During the Napolenonic wars, the British built the tower as part of the 100-plus Martello lookout towers constructed to resist a potential invasion by Napoleon along the coast of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Channel Islands. The tower later served as a weather station and then a signal tower for the famous insurance company Lloyds of London. Employees stationed at the tower used semaphore and telescope to communicate with ships and the island of Inishtrahull’s lighthouse six miles away.

In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi set a radio signal station in the Lloyds Tower and in 1902 succeeded in sending the first commercial radio message from Malin Head to the ship S.S. Lake Ontario. Later the station was taken over by the Post Office for communications.

During World War 2, Malin Head was once again used a lookout station. Other buildings were constructed nearby to house the Irish Defence Forces to keep a lookout and protect Irish neutrality. From the tower you can still see the word "EIRE" spelled out in stones to enable planes to identify their position and to recognize Ireland's neutrality in WWII. Since then, others have added their names along side Eire.

This spot may have been a look out long before the Martello Tower was built. It was originally named for the goddess Banba, the first person to set foot in Ireland.

Cape Cod Light

2011-06-30T10:04:00.002-04:00

Cape Cod Light
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

While we were staying on Cape Cod I spent a rainy afternoon climbing up the tower of the lighthouse that was neighbor to our cottage.

The Cape Cod Light was originally erected in 1797 on a cliff in Truro standing 160 feet above a treacherous stretch of Atlantic shoreline. It was to be the first lighthouse in the nation with a flashing light - affected by means of a clockwork eclipser revolving around a multi-wick spider lamp - to help mariners distinguish it from the fixed beacon of Boston Light.

The original wooden tower was replaced with a round brick structure in the 1830s. A new lighting system of lamps and reflectors was installed during the following decade, during which the tower was substantially remodeled.

In 1857 the tower was rebuilt again, and a first order Fresnel lens installed. In 1901, an even larger Fresnel lens array standing 12-feet high and weighing over a ton was installed. This massive lantern floated in a bed of 600 pounds of mercury. Electric power was introduced in 1934, which created a beacon with 4,000,000 candlepower visible up to 75 miles in clear weather. This lens was replaced with high-wattage aero-beacons in the 1950s. Today, the current beacon (above) uses a tiny 110-watt lamp that is nonetheless visible for up to twenty-miles through the amplification provided by its Fresnel lenses.

In 1996, the lighthouse was moved 450-feet from its previous position due to cliff erosion. Today the lighthouse stands picturesquely in the middle of Cape Cod's oldest golf course.

Interview with Matt Greenway

2011-06-30T07:31:00.000-04:00

Matt Greenway, Late Afternoon, 28 x 40 inches, oil on canvas, 2011

Matt Greenway and Kate Mundie at F.A.N.'s June First Friday

I just interviewed artist, Matt Greenway. He is exhibiting his paintings at F. A. N. Gallery this month.

I have admired his work for the last decade. It was fun to find out how he makes paintings and what inspires him. Matt has been influenced by the English impressionist painter, Walter Sickert, who I was not familiar with. I am going to get to know Sickert's work better. We both have been inspired by Daniel Garber. We both had been blown away by an exhibition of Garber's works we saw at The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art's Museum of American Art in 2007.

It's fun to see how another artist thinks about their craft. You can read the interview at fanfinearts blog.

Daniel Garber, Tohickon, oil on canvas 52 1/4 x 56 1/4 in, 1922. Collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum Bequest of Henry Ward Ranger through the National Academy of Design

What do I Pack for a Landscape Painting Trip?

2011-06-10T07:15:00.003-04:00

Some of my supplies laid out on the studio floor

These are some of the things I take on a plein air painting trip.

Hat, sun block, bug repellent!

Portable easel

Surfaces- I prefer painting on Masonite. Pictured above are 10 x 14 inch, 8 x 16 inch, and 6 x 8 inch boards prepared with white and buff-tinted gesso.

Brushes of various sizes: filberts and rounds

Liquin - to make the paintings dry more quickly

Oil paints by Williamsburg, Sennelier, Schminke and Winsor Newton

Palette

Old t-shirts for paint rags and baby wipes for cleanup, jars for solvent

Camera

Sketchbook and pens

Milk crate on wheels to cart it all around in

The paints in my easel box

The colors in my paint box

I do not use all these colors when I lay out my palette. I use two of each color, a warm and a cool. For example: while we think of blue as a cool color, there are warm and cool blues. French Ultramarine Blue is cool and Cerulean Blue is warm. I change colors depending on the subject. If it is a darker day, with a cloudy sky I might use Delft Blue instead of Ultramarine. I like Courbet Green and Turkey Umber because they can go to blue or green or brown depending on what you mix them with. Courbet Green mixed with a tiny bit of white will look blue, like ocean water; mixed with tiny bit of Naples yellow it will look green, like fir tree; or mixed with a tiny bit of raw umber it will look black or very very dark brown, like the bark of a tree.

2011-06-06T16:00:00.001-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie: New Paintings, June 3rd Opening Reception

Matt Greenway, F.A.N. Gallery's July 2011 artist and Kate Kern Mundie F.A.N. Gallery's June 2011 artist

The paintings installed

Kate Kern Mundie: New Paintings, June 3rd, 2011 Opening Reception.

I want to thank everyone who came out to the opening of Kate Kern Mundie: New Paintings at F.A.N Gallery, and thank you to all who could not make it but sent kind wishes.

It was a lovely June evening, not too hot - a perfect evening for walking around Old City and checking out all the First Friday events. We had a lot of people stop by the gallery. It was great to see so many friends. I wish I had more time to talk to everyone who stopped in.

A Trip to None Such Farm in Bucks County

2011-06-06T08:51:00.001-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, None Such Farm, oil on masonite, 8 x 6 inches, 2010

None Such Farm is a place where nearly all of my interests (family, food and painting) come together. They hold a pumpkin festival in the fall that we take the kids to. They have a farmers market and butcher shop where they sell their produce and grass-fed, humanely raised, organic meats and eggs. And it is a picturesque farm with traditional red barn, big white farm house on rolling fields and tree-lined lanes.

So far, I have only completed this small painting of the duck pond at the farm. This location deserves many more visits and paintings of the house, barn, fields and orchards.

Driving through the Glengesh Pass

2011-06-02T23:02:00.003-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Glengesh Pass No. 1, oil on masonite, 10 x 14 inches, 2011

Kate Kern Mundie, Glengesh Pass No. 1, detail

Glengesh Pass is a glacial cut between the Mulmosog and Glengesh mountains near Ardara in Donegal, Ireland. There is a scenic lookout at the southwestern end (the top) of the pass. From there the road steeply zigzags down to the valley below.

Glengesh Pass No. 1 is a late afternoon view down in the valley, when the farmers drive their sheep back home. Glengesh Pass No. 2 was completed from several watercolors painted from the scenic lookout at the top of the pass in late morning. The note on my watercolor said “more yellow”. At the time I could not get the watercolor pigment to be as bright or as yellow as I wanted, but with the opaque oils I have more control over the intensity of the pigment.

My favorite times to draw and paint at the pass were in the morning or evening when the sun kissed the hillsides and cast deep shadows in the valley. The heather and gorse growing on the rocky slopes turns the hills to lavender and gold. The crumbling stone walls that criss-cross the steep slopes become more visible because of the shadows they cast. On rainy days the mountains are lost in the mist and the valley floor seems cut off from the world.


Kate Kern Mundie, Glengesh Pass No. 2, oil on masonite, 16 x 24 inches, 2011

The Glengesh pass also hold a very special memory of a perfect moment for Jim

and I.

It was late at night under a huge full summer moon. We were driving from Ardara to our accommodations on the other side of the pass. The radio reception on the car stereo was going in and out as we drove through the mountains. Our little blue car, powered by a engine more suited to a lawnmower, could barely manage the steep pass. The pass’s narrow road zig-zags up the mountain with shear drop-offs into the valley below. The car kept stalling and rolling back. We could not get enough power to make it up the hill. We would get about 20 feet up the incline, stall out and begin rolling back, with Jim trying to steer and brake so we would not plunge backwards off road to the valley floor 500 feet below. Jim finally got the car moving and floored it so we could get enough power to get up the mountain. We were shouting words of encouragement to the car as it sputtered and chugged slowly upwards. As we finally cleared the steepest part of the climb, the radio suddenly buzzed back into clarity with 1920’s hot jazz music. As we crested the mountain we wondered at that perfect moment, when we realized we were not going to die in a horrible wreck at the bottom of the pass and how gorgeous the moon and stars were as we looked up the steep sides of the pass into the night sky above the mountain top -- all choreographed to King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. We wound our way along the lane out of the mountains and through the bog as the music ended and the announcer gave the day’s hurling scores in Irish (Gaelic).

Croughan Hill

2011-06-02T10:36:00.001-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Croughan Hill, oil on massonite, 8 x 16 inches

I think the hill depicted in this painting is Croughan Hill, part of the Ox Mountains, but as we were lost I cannot be sure.

From our travel journal written in Ireland in July 1999

(Jim and I were traveling by bicycle up the west coast)

We were in Sligo by about 2:30, so we headed west towards Lough Gill to find a B&B for the night. Since it was so early in the day we thought we might head out along the route toward Lough Gill and Parke's Castle. We had only done twenty miles that morning and were optimistic that we could do more. Our guide book said there was a circular "scenic drive" that would give spectacular high views of the lough so that was our first goal. This is W. B. Yeats country, so we followed the brown signs indicated touring points of interest for Yeats aficionados (just like the book suggested) but we became hopelessly lost. If the scenic drive was the high road above the lough that we found according to the directions, there weren't many views to be seen as the trees and hedges blocked all of that out.

But here we were, panting and hot, out of water and just hoping to find a place to sit down for a minute or two. We thought we should turn back, but our little detour was not on our Michelin map, street signs are something of a luxury item in Ireland seldom to be seen, and the roads were all so twisty through the mountains here that it was anyone's guess which way we should go. While we were puzzling over this, a carload of German tourists pulled up to ask us directions. I found that sort of amusing, but pointed them in the most likely direction. We set out in a direction we thought would take us where we wanted to go and found ourselves having to push our bikes up little narrow roads leading straight up at 45 degree angles. Who would have thought a bicycle could be so damn heavy? By some sort of miracle and the homing beacon attached to Kate's bladder, we stumbled onto the right road back to the B&B. Time for more water! We went down to the little corner shop we had passed on our way in and stocked up, then sat down for a hearty dinner at a very trendy pub up the road. A nice meal and several pints eased our tired frames, so we walked back to our B&B in much improved spirits looking forward to a nice hot shower and some time spent giggling over Irish television.

View From Knocknarea

2011-05-31T21:48:00.001-04:00

painting and drawing atop Knocknarea, Co. Sligo

Kate Kern Mundie, View from Knocknarea,

oil on masonite, 16 x 20 inches, 2011

I could spend a year painting every day on Knocknarea. Every view is glorious. The weather and light change from minute to minute creating breathless moments where you scramble to capture the light or color.

From our travel journal written in Ireland in July 1999

(Jim and I were traveling by bicycle up the west coast)

That next morning our hostess recommended some interesting places on the other side of Sligo we should see and gave us very clear directions so we could find them. So, after breakfast we set on our merry way to Knocknarea. Knocknarea (the original Irish name means "hill of the queen") is famed for having a 5000+ year old tomb on its summit called Maeve's Cairn. Maeve was the Bronze Age warrior queen responsible for the war between Connaught and Ulster recounted in the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley) -the oldest vernacular epic in western literature. Legend has it that Maeve was buried in the cairn standing and facing her enemies (in actuality, her in-laws!) in the north. However, the cairn was on that mountain long before the Maeve of the Táin was born so the name more likely refers to Maeve the earth goddess, placed on the mountain to watch over her children in the valley below, facing the lords of winter that swept out of the north to harry and kill her children. Regardless of the tomb's actual occupant, we started on a steep but pleasant climb among the sheep to the summit. Every few steps opened amazing vistas over Sligo Town, the bay and the Dartry Mountains beyond. The top of the mountain itself is flat, but dominated by the fifty foot rubble mound of Maeve's Cairn and a number of smaller companion cairns. We scrambled to the top of the cairn and were treated to an amazing view of the whole of County Sligo. We stayed up there for hours painting and drawing, watching the changes of light and weather sweeping across the landscape, and soaking in the atmosphere of this amazing place.

Eventually we followed the trail back to the base of the mountain and went back the way we came, but turning right toward Carrowmore. Carrowmore is a Paleolithic graveyard set in the midst of farmer's fields in the valley below Knocknarea. There are passage tombs, cairns and dolmens here numbering in the hundreds between 7000 and 2500 years old.

The main part of the complex is on land purchased and protected by the government, but many surrounding monuments lie in the fields of local farmers who provide access through goodwill. The first of these we came upon was a wedge tomb just over a stone wall along the road. The farmer had been kind enough to build steps into the wall, so we climbed over to have a look at a smallish dolmen-like structure that the local sheep seemed to enjoy as a place to get out of the weather. We later found out that this tomb was one of the ones that marked the start of the old spiral pilgrimage route through the monuments. A little further up the road was the entrance to the Carrowmore Park itself. A nice little visitor’s center has been set up in the cottage of the man who used to own the land. We were just in time for the last guided tour of the day, so we tagged along. The archaeologist leading the tour demonstrated how Maeve's Cairn atop Knocknarea, a companion tomb atop Ben Bulben across the bay, and lesser tombs that looked like nipples atop all of the surrounding mountains of the circular valley likely formed a spiritual protective barrier for the Stone Age inhabitants of the region, as well as serving as boundary markers. The whole area acts as the base of a triangle pointing towards the settlements in the Boyne River valley where one finds the famous (but 700 years more recent) Newgrange.

We trooped around Carrowmore for a while before heading back to our B and B tired but satisfied by the day's experiences.

2011-05-31T07:47:00.000-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Martha's Room, oil on masonite, 2011

I recently confessed to my neighbors, Chris and Martha, that I had done a painting of their living room. I did a few drawings and took some photos in their house while I was cat sitting for them.

Chris is a sculptor and Martha is a writer and picture researcher. Their home is warm and inviting and filled with rich textures, objects, and art. I did some drawings of a few views in their living room, focusing on a chair or table. For this painting, I chose to edit out some of the objects in the room and focus on the warm colors in the carpet and the deep shadow cast by the ottoman. At some point I want to do a painting of their kitchen, which has a Vermeer-like feel.

Delaware and Schuylkill

2011-05-27T07:06:00.001-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Sunrise, oil on masonite, 16 x 20 inches, 2011

Kate Kern Mundie, Sunrise (detail), oil on masonite, 2011

I work in an office building in Philadelphia with views overlooking Independence Hall, the Delaware River, and the buildings of Center City. On a clear day you can see the Schuylkill River, too.

Looking out the window early one winter morning, I was amazed at the beauty of the Sunoco refinery transformed into El Dorado. The golden sunlight reflecting on the tanks and the steam seemed to turn into ice in the air. I do not know if it was the light sky reflecting in the Schuylkill River or if it was ice on the river that made it stand out from the predawn shadows. I had my camera with me but I also sat and did a quick sketch. The only color I had available to me were a few highlighter markers. The yellow highlighter was not yellow enough to capture the morning sky.

Kate Kern Mundie, Delaware Dawn, oil on masonite, 8 x 20 inches, 2011

After doing a sketch looking out our western windows I went to the eastern windows to catch another gorgeous view. The river seemed to be waking up, with barges moving and longshore container cranes gliding along their tracks.

30th Street Station

2011-05-25T09:06:00.002-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, 30th Street Station

oil on masonite, 6 x 8 inches, 2010

In the fall, we took the kids on an evening bike excurison to Schuylkill Banks Park to see LightDrift, a temporary sculpture installation of glowing pods on the banks of and floating in the river. The installation was glorious. I had not been in that part of the city at that time of day since my college days biking back and forth to Penn, and I couldn't help but notice how this part of the city has changed quite a bit since then: it's cleaner, there are bike lanes, and the beautiful architecture is well lit so its features can be enjoyed.

Ben Bulben

2011-05-24T14:46:00.004-04:00


Kate Kern Mundie, Ben Bulben, oil on masonite, 8 x 20 inches, 2010

While snowed in this winter with my kids, I found inspiration in some watercolors, drawings, a journal, and photos from a trip we had taken to Ireland. This became my escape from snow shoveling, kids, cooking, and laundry. The Irish landscapes were painted on the snowiest days this past winter.

I had been thinking of the landscape around Ben Bulben in Sligo for a long time; wanting to do a painting of it in oil. The goal was not to do copy of the original watercolor done on site, but to create a new composition. I used my old watercolor and some photos as a jumping off point but also looked to other artists. I looked at some of the paintings of Irish landscape and genre painter Walter Osborne and of Scottish printmaker Sir David Young Cameron. Cameron did such beautiful etchings of the Highlands and I looked to him to get some guidance on creating a believable rocky structure to Ben Bulben. The painting came together in such a pleasurable way.

From our travel journal written in Ireland in July 1999

(Jim and I were traveling by bicycle up the west coast)

A quick five miles into our ride we stopped at the church in Drumcliff where William Butler Yeats is buried. The headstone itself was a rather plain square slab with nothing but the famous "Cast a cold eye on life, on death/ Horsemen pass by" epitaph on it set in a bed of gravel. At the same site is a rather elaborate 11th-century Celtic high cross and a 5th-century round tower -- all that remain of a monastery that once stood on that spot. The many sheep about the place seemed oblivious of all this history.

Ben Bulben now showed us a different side of its unusual face and the strange scarring near its summit that gave evidence of the height of the seas some 15 million years previous. We rode on along the coast of Donegal Bay, past Ben Bulben and through Cashelgarran, Grange, Moneygold, and Cliffeny -- towns so small we scarcely even realized we had been through them until we consulted the map afterwards.

Dawn (Looking West) in Warm and Cool

2011-05-22T10:14:00.004-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Dawn (Looking West),

oil on masonite, 24 x 28 inches, 2011

detail

I have done several paintings of the view looking west over Center City, Philadelphia. I have attempted to paint this particular view several times. I struggled with the composition. I never liked the white building in the center of this painting. I kept trying to do compositions that were to the left or right of the building so I could avoid painting it. The style of the building bothered me.

I was messing around with the composition once again when Jim came into the studio. He suggested just putting it in and get over my aversion to the architecture. Jim also suggested doing the painting as a warm-cool study with a limited palette. This color restriction would keep me focused on values and major structures, thus keeping me from getting caught up in the details in the lower right of the painting -- which had been another problem for me. I followed his suggestions and I am happy with the way it all came together. I used an extended limited palette of titanium white, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre light, burnt sienna and vermillion.

French Room No. 2 or “The Mob Painting”

2011-05-21T09:41:00.002-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, French Room No. 2

oil on masonite, 24 x 16 inches, 2011

This painting was developed from drawings I did of one of the historic rooms at the MET. Back in the studio, I did a drawing in charcoal on the painting surface and blocked in the color in oil. Then it was just a matter of putting in a few details.

I am a fast painter. If the painting is not coming together in the first hour, I might stop and start a new painting. I usually do a quick sketch to figure out my composition. If I am painting an interior, I will use a T-square to lock down the perspective since I have a tendency to tilt to the right as I am a left-handed.

I completed the painting over the course of an afternoon while listing to NPR. After it was finished, I would refer to the painting as “the mob painting” because I was listing to a Fresh Air interview with mob informant Frank Calabrese, Jr. Now the painting is completely associated in my mind with that interview. It seems a strange juxtaposition.

When I am painting on site, I do not want any music or distractions. I want to hear what is going on around me; it enhances the experience. When I am in the studio, I listen to music or the radio to help me keep track of time, but I may have to stop so I don’t end up with weird associations.

Delaware Water Gap No. 2 or My Montagne Sainte-Victoire

2011-05-20T06:29:00.005-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Delaware Water Gap No. 2

oil on masonite, 24 x 48 inches, 2011

I have done two paintings of the Delaware Water Gap. For this painting, I looked to Cézanne for inspiration, especially at how Cézanne painted Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Cézanne used warmer colors like green in the sky, as if the sky reflected the earth instead of the other way around. I tried to bring some warmer blues and greens into the sky and use a lot of purple in the vegetation the way Cézanne did.

Now, all I need to do is go to the south of France and actually paint Montagne Sainte-Victoire for myself.

Painting at Pennsylvania Hospital

2011-05-19T07:44:00.003-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Above the Old Surgery (Pennsylvania Hospital)

oil on masonite, 20 x 16 inches, 2011

I have painted several times in the historic building at Pennsylvania Hospital. The Pine Building at Pennsylvania Hospital houses the surgery depicted in Thomas Eakins' famous painting The Gross Clinic. The stairs and halls feel mysterious in the secluded attic area above the surgery. It is a challenging space to paint: several roof lines come together, a curved wall, and winding stairs creating some daunting challenges for draughting.

This space makes me think of the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. It is a story of a “hysterical” woman who goes insane from boredom locked in an upstairs room. Gillman wrote the story after being told to “never to touch pen, brush, or pencil again” to cure her own “melancholia”. I have felt a little “hysterical” at times in the past few years while trying to paint, raise two small children, and manage everything on very little sleep. Painting in the empty, very quiet attic space at Pennsylvania Hospital reminds me of Gilman’s story of a woman’s descent into madness. However, instead of going mad, I sat for several hours working quietly rejuvenating my spirit.

Independence Hall under Snow

2011-05-18T06:36:00.002-04:00

Kate Kern Mundie, Independence Snow

oil on masonite, 20 x 16 inches, 2011

Painting snow or a snow storm is a challenge. The variations of white and the flat light can make it difficult to come up with a compelling composition. From my workplace I can look out over Independence Mall and see the snow storms roll in. The buildings, park, and bare trees created a stark group of flat shapes. I had fun piecing it together like a puzzle. I found some inspiration from Gustave Caillebotte’s Rooftops Under Snow .

A post script: My friend Al, sent me a link to an NPR piece on Caillebotte's work, and you can see more on Caillebotte's work here.

Elaine M. Erne at Nexus

2011-05-06T10:46:00.003-04:00

For the last few years Jim has been doing all the blog posts. We have decided to trade off a bit. So you will get to read my blog musings from time to time. I will start by telling you about Elaine M. Erne's new exhibition opening up this month at Nexus, Foundation for Today's Art.

Elaine M. Erne’s art exhibitions over the years -- at The Center For Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA), Abington Art Center, BahdeeBahdu Gallery, Westby Art Gallery, Wind Challenge Exhibition at the Fleisher Art Memorial, and Nexus Foundation for Today's Art -- have depicted a serialized drama told through large scale drawings and prints. The narrative would appeal to any Grimm’s Brothers fan. Stuffed animals give voice to children who are locked into a situation they cannot control and have little power to escape from. Ms. Erne says, “I have found that using humor, however dark, is an important part of dealing with past as well as present dilemmas. The stuffed animals are used as an allegory for children. Often a child becomes like a doll, always smiling, in order to survive a continuing abusive childhood.” Ms. Erne’s most recent chapter in the Lives and Traumas of Stuffed Animals this month at Nexus, Mr. Bunny Misses His Friends asks you, the community, to get involved and help the protagonist, Mr. Bunny. Mr. Bunny’s friends, other stuffed animals, are lost in the Center City area of Philadelphia. Anyone who finds one of these stuffed animals and brings it to NEXUS, Foundation for Today’s Art at the Crane Building in Philadelphia during the month of the show will receive a reward from the artist.

I have known Elaine for years. I find her work beautiful, dark in both value and narrative, and powerful. Elaine creates richly layered graphite drawings over a period of months, sometimes even a year. She takes her original idea from a small 4 x 6 inch sketch and develops it into a 6, 8 or 10 foot drawing. If you visit her studio you would find her standing on a scaffold to reach the top of her drawing that is tacked to the studio wall surrounded by the debris of pencils and graphite sticks worn down to nubs. I have seen her erase whole sections of drawings if she finds a problem (if it had been my drawing I would have started over on new paper). Elaine makes the work bend to her will.

I had not seen Elaine in a while because we were both busy working on our own exhibitions. I wanted to catch up and ask Elaine about the new work for the exhibition.

KM: What is this show about?

EME: Being lost and hoping someone will help you find your way, not just pass you by.

KM: How do the lost/kidnapped stuffed animals relate to the drawings?

EME: The drawings have always been about being lost in a situation that you cannot change or control hoping that someone will save you. I want to see how many bunnies get saved from their fate of being stuck in the elements. The bunnies are tagged with return instructions, numbered, each number correlates to a print number and I am keeping track of their locations. When a bunny is returned the returner will sign-in the bunny, get a print from the wall and the real bunny will be hung in that spot. After the show ends I will know what bunnies were returned. I will then go out and see who was taken down and not returned and who is still duct taped to a post.

This exhibition will feature 90 x 60 and 90 x 72 inch drawings. There may be some of the new postcard sized drawing but I have not decided whether to include them .

KM: How does one win a prize and what will the prize be?

EME: In order to receive [an original, hand-pulled] 5x6 inch relief print, you must return one of the bunnies that is lost in the city to Mr. Bunny. There are 400 hundred bunnies duct taped (well, some are still being put up!) to poles throughout Center City.

KM: Are the stuffed animals lost or kidnapped?

EME: They all have their own story of how they came to be where they are and it is up to them to tell it.

Find some of Mr. Bunny’s friends and see if they will tell you their story. Visit the exhibition at Nexus to see the latest chapter in the Lives and Traumas of Stuffed Animals: Mr. Bunny Misses His Friends.

Elaine M. Erne is exhibiting at Nexus, Foundation for Today's Art this month.

Exhibition details:

Mr. Bunny Misses His Friends

May 12th through June 3rd, 2011

Opening reception on the second Thursday of the month: May 12th, 6:00-9:00 PM

Closing reception on First Friday: June 3rd, 6:00-9:00 PM

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 12:00–6:00 PM

Nexus Foundation for Today's Art

The Crane Building, 1400 North American Street

Philadelphia

http://www.nexusphiladelphia.org/directions.html

"Welcome the Weird" poster for Red Palace

2011-05-01T12:27:00.002-04:00

"Welcome the Weird" poster for Red Palace
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

I just finished this poster design — all hand-drawn with washes of ink — for the triumphant return of James "Shocked and Amazed!" Taylor's oddities collection to Washington DC's new(ish) Red Palace (the merger of the former Palace of Wonders show bar with neighbor The Red & The Black). To celebrate, there will be two big shows on May 21st:

Step right up and WELCOME THE WEIRD back to The Red Palace and celebrate the return of James Taylor's Oddities Collection! Two full shows packed with classic and daring sideshow, beautiful burlesque queens and oddity attractions worthy of 100 Ripley’s! Starring special guests Sideshow Bennie, NYC’s Gal Friday, Cheeky Monkeys Swami Yomahmi, Mab Just Mab and Sally the Cinch, Rev. Valentine of Capital Tassels & Tease, plus Nymblewyke’s International Flea Circus, Patrick O’Brien and his bag pipes, and more! Join James Taylor and all your friends and neighbors as his amazing collection comes home to The Red Palace!

More info and tickets: redpalacedc.com

Autumnal abstraction No. 12

2010-11-26T16:35:00.001-05:00

Autumnal abstraction No. 12
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

press release: WHERE ALL THE FREAKS MEET: ANNUAL SIDESHOW GATHERING at INKIN’ THE VALLEY, NOVEMBER 5TH – 7TH, 2010

2010-10-16T14:08:00.003-04:00

WILKES-BARRE PA – The Annual Sideshow Gathering — the world's only sideshow convention — returns to northeastern Pennsylvania with its unique blend of weirdness, nostalgia, and wonder. From November 5th through 7th, the strange and unusual take center stage when showmen and genuine sideshow freaks from across the country descend on Wilkes-Barre's The Woodlands Inn & Resort to celebrate and share the giddy thrills and forbidden mysteries of the carnival sideshow. Over the course of three days, these showfolk will walk on glass, swallow swords, eat light bulbs, attempt to break a world record for human blockhead, and otherwise risk bodily harm for the sake of twisted entertainment. The Annual Sideshow Gathering is the premier networking event for performers, fans, collectors, historians, and the curious.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of P. T. Barnum, the man who single-handedly created modern advertising and brought some of history's most celebrated human oddities to national prominence. Barnum knew how to indulge the public's curiosity and send them away satisfied and filled with wonder. It is in the spirit of Barnum that the Sideshow Gathering brings together many of today's best sideshow performers for a weekend of gasps, shrieks, and laughs.

Attractions at the 9th Annual Sideshow Gathering will include:
The weekend's emcees, Tyler Fyre and Thrill Kill Jill of The Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow — named “Best Sideshow Duo” by Washington City Paper; Chris McDaniel, the rope-spinning, whip-cracking, singing cowboy; Coney Island Chris, the hilarious one-man ten-in-one seen on America's Got Talent; Olde City Sideshow, featuring Danny Borneo, Martin Ling the Suicide King, and Reggie Bügmüncher; Harley Newman, professional lunatic; Cheeky Monkey Sideshow, featuring Swami Yomahmi, Mr. Eon, Mab Just Mab, and The Darwin Sisters; Magic Brian, outrageous comedy-magic and sideshow stunts; Doc Wilson, escape artist and medicine show huckster; bagpiper Patrick O'Brien; Mr. Crispy, who will be spending his honeymoon on stage; and many more! This year's event also welcomes special guest of honor A. W. Stencell, showman and author of Circus and Carnival Ballyhoo, who will receive the 2010 Ambassador of Wonder Award. Additionally, vendors such as James Taylor's Shocked and Amazed! will display freakshow memorabilia, rare books, and original show banners. Step right up to the Sideshow Gathering for a weekend of entertainment and diversion you won't soon forget!

Study for portrait of Miracle Mike, The Headless Wonder Chicken

2010-09-09T12:42:00.002-04:00

Study for portrait of Miracle Mike, The Headless Wonder Chicken
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Ink and ink wash drawing of Miracle Mike, a chicken who lived 18 months after decapitation in 1945. A fortuitously placed ax left Mike's brain stem intact, so he continued to behave as a normal chicken and received nourishment through an eyedropper. Mike went on to become a popular sideshow attraction and was even featured in Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not, but his career in showbiz came to an abrupt end one night on the road when he choked to death in his hotel room. Miracle Mike's hometown of Fruita, Colorado, throws a festival in his honor every year in May.

From James G. Mundie's Cabinet of Curiosities

10 x 7 inches, sepia pen with sepia and brown ink washes on Arches hot-pressed watercolor paper

[Copyright © 2010 James G. Mundie. Image may not be reproduced in any form without express written permission.]

Lou Reed (King Neptune) at the 2010 Mermaid Parade

2010-08-12T22:44:00.001-04:00

Lou Reed (King Neptune) at the 2010 Mermaid Parade
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

"Oh, all the poets they studied rules of verse/And those ladies, they rolled their eyes..."

Coney Island, Brooklyn NY

Slice

2010-08-11T08:41:00.002-04:00

Slice
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Sliced section of human head from the collection of Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia

From series James G. Mundie's Cabinet of Curiosities

[Copyright © 2009 James G. Mundie. Image may not be reproduced in any form without express written permission.]

F.A.N. GALLERY PRESENTS KATE KERN MUNDIE: RECENT PAINTINGS, 4 June to 24 July 2010

2010-06-01T08:03:00.002-04:00

DATE: 31 May 2010
CONTACT: Fraidoon Al-Nakib
ADDRESS: F.A.N. Gallery, 221 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19106
TELEPHONE: 215-922-5155
WEBSITE: www.fanartgallery.com

F.A.N. GALLERY PRESENTS
KATE KERN MUNDIE: RECENT PAINTINGS,
4 June to 24 July 2010

PHILADELPHIA PA – This June and July, F.A.N. Gallery presents an exhibition of new oil paintings by Philadelphia artist Kate Kern Mundie. Kate Kern Mundie: Recent Paintings features more than thirty new works: from rural and urban landscapes in and around Philadelphia and Cape Cod, to intimate interiors. The images focus on fleeting moments in an ever-changing environment.

The exhibition begins June 4th and continues through July 24th, 2010. Receptions will take place during First Friday on June 4th and July 2nd from 5:00 to 9:00 PM. Both the exhibition and the receptions are free and open to the public. F.A.N. Gallery is located at 221 Arch Street in Philadelphia PA. For exhibition hours and information, please visit www.fanartgallery.com.

Kate Kern Mundie's paintings are the result of daily observations and recent travel. Executed with deft brushstrokes and lush color, Mundie’s paintings often depict unexpected views of urban streets, rural landscape, or secluded interiors. “I am repeatedly struck by how quickly things change,” Mundie says, “from the light moving during a painting session to seeing the effects of erosion at my favorite locations on Cape Cod where some of the gently rolling dunes that I painted a few years ago are now cut back into dramatic cliffs. I feel a sense of urgency to capture those fleeting moments when the light seems so perfect, or to document a place as it appears to me at this instant. ” While Kate Kern Mundie’s paintings are reminiscent of American master Edward Hopper – even going so far as to have visited many of the same locations – she offers a fresh interpretation and a new expression.

In describing the appeal of Ms. Mundie's work, Fraidoon Al-Nakib, founder and owner of F.A.N. Gallery, says, “The vibrant color harmonies and juicy surfaces in Kate Mundie's paintings are a feast for my eyes, inspire my mind, and move my spirit.”

For a preview of paintings in the exhibition, please visit www.mundieart.com/kkm/fan2010-preview.htm.

ABOUT KATE KERN MUNDIE:
Kate Kern Mundie is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania. Mundie lives in South Philadelphia with husband and fellow artist James Mundie and their young sons, Declan and Aidan. For examples of her work, please visit www.mundieart.com.

ABOUT F.A.N. GALLERY:
F.A.N. Gallery resides in the heart of historic Old City Philadelphia, in a Colonial building that dates back to the 1740s. Since it was founded by Fraidoon Al-Nakib in 1991, the F.A.N. Gallery has established a reputation for exhibiting the work of emerging and established artists who explore color, tone and atmosphere in the classic traditions of American painting. F.A.N. Gallery's artists introduce innovative contemporary themes and imagery of the urban environment, dreams and memory, and personal experience. For more information, please visit the gallery's website: www.fanartgallery.com.

# # #

2010-05-17T23:05:00.004-04:00

This summer, Kate returns to Philadelphia's own F.A.N. Gallery with a two-month-long show! Kate Kern Mundie: Recent Paintings will feature more than thirty new works in oil. The exhibition begins with an opening reception on Friday, 4 June, from 5:00–9:00 PM (a second reception will be held on Friday, 2 July) and continues through 24 July 2010.

F.A.N. Gallery is located at 221 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19106.

Divine Lorraine Hotel

2010-04-13T10:29:00.001-04:00

Divine Lorraine Hotel
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

A fading jewel on North Broad Street, photographed on a bitterly cold morning between blizzards.

Sakura No. 2

2010-04-05T08:59:00.002-04:00

Sakura No. 2
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Spring has arrived, and with it comes the annual return of the cherry blossoms. I always find it pleasantly startling to come upon these almost magical bursts of light and color that liven up the drab city streets for a few days.

James G. Mundie's Cabinet of Curiosities: Flayed Man in Repose (Body Worlds)

2010-03-22T13:06:00.003-04:00

James G. Mundie's Cabinet of Curiosities: Flayed Man in Repose (Body Worlds)

Posted using ShareThis

Photographs featured in AOL News article

2010-02-04T09:39:00.010-05:00

Three of my photographs were used to illustrate an article about Ward Hall, who at the age of 79 will once again return to the midway this season with his traveling sideshow — World of Wonders.

Lights No. 2

2009-12-14T14:18:00.001-05:00

Lights No. 2
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Our son Declan — who will be two years old in April — is obsessed with lights of all kinds, so when it came time to decorate the Christmas tree this year he was naturally enchanted.

Drawing for feature in Mineshaft Magazine

2009-10-21T09:41:00.001-04:00

Drawing for feature in Mineshaft Magazine
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

I was invited by the publishers of Mineshaft Magazine to do a feature article on my Cabinet of Curiosities series for volume 24. The article mostly features my photographs, but as Mineshaft is a journal known for publishing drawings by cartoonists like R. Crumb, Kim Deitch, and Bill Griffith, I thought I should draw a comic-style intro to the piece.

"Beautiful Human" at Haverford College

2009-09-10T22:45:00.008-04:00

“Through individual portrayal of real and fictional people, the six artists present bodies of work that explore history, time, truth, love, faith, identity, desire, lineage, mortality, and honor.” - Shelley Spector

Curated exclusively for Haverford College by Philadelphia artist and educator Shelley Spector, founder and director of Spector Gallery/Projects, Beautiful Human presents unique explorations of human life by six Philadelphia-based artists: Donald E. Camp, Matthew Fisher, Laura Graham, Rob Matthews, Joshua Mosley, and James Mundie.

The exhibition runs in the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery from Friday, 11 September through 9 October 2009. An opening reception will be held Friday, September 11th, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Gallery.

An artists’ panel discussion moderated by Robert Cozzolino, Curator of Modern Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, will be held Tuesday, September 22nd, at 4:30 p.m. in the Sharpless Auditorium of the Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center (KINSC).

Located in Whitehead Campus Center in Haverford, Pennsylvania, the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery is open Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Wednesdays until 8 p.m.

Open Bite

2009-08-30T11:14:00.002-04:00

Open Bite
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

On Friday morning, I returned to the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia to take more photos. The last time I was there one of my cameras was misbehaving, so much of the film I shot that day was underexposed (urgh!). I hope to have corrected that issue with new shots, but won't know until I process the film.

I was pleased to find that the Mütter had recently brought out new specimens, so what started out as a simple reshoot turned into several hours of exploration (this shot being one example).

I also did two drawings, one a sketch of part of the Hyrtl skull collection, and the other a mermaid (sirenomelia) on permanent loan from the Wistar Institute.

Soft shoulder

2009-08-19T11:56:00.002-04:00

Soft shoulder
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Two weeks on Cape Cod pass too quickly.

Ring of Fire No. 2

2009-08-08T22:13:00.002-04:00

Ring of Fire No. 2
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Photograph from a rainy summer day in the poor man's paradise, Coney Island.

In the weeks since I took this photograph in Dreamland (the former site of Astroland) land developer Joe Sitt of Thor Equities (Coney Island's very own Big Bad Wolf) has closed down the park - weeks before the end of the season.

New drawings from Mütter Museum and elsewhere

2009-06-15T17:20:00.003-04:00

Several new drawings from the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and other medical museums have been freshly uploaded to Cabinet of Curiosities. These are sketches of interesting specimens I have found during my visits.

Shock & Horror: Human Oddities and Medical Marvels

2009-03-31T23:56:00.005-04:00

From 9 April through 9 May 2009, eighteen new photographs from James G. Mundie's Cabinet of Curiosities will be featured in Shock & Horror: Human Oddities and Medical Marvels at Todd/Browning Gallery in downtown Los Angeles CA. Jim's work will hang alongside vintage photographs by the likes of Charles Eisenmann.

A preview video of the show may be seen here.

Todd/Browning Gallery is located at 211 West 5th Street (between Spring & Broadway), Los Angeles CA 90013.

Image: What Lies Beneath [Museum Vrolik] © 2008 James G. Mundie

Alumni Travel Grant Exhibition

2009-02-25T21:30:00.007-05:00

Alumni Travel Grant Exhibition:

Michael Froio, Jill Greenberg, James Mundie,

and Ann Northrup

February 26 – March 19, 2009
Reception: Thursday, February 26th, 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Felicity R. “Bebe” Benoliel Gallery, The Center for Emerging Visual Artists
237 South 18th Street, The Barclay, Suite 3A, Philadelphia PA 19103

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists is pleased to present an Alumni Travel Grant Exhibition by Michael Froio, Jill Greenberg, James Mundie, and Ann Northrup. These artists have traveled everywhere from Europe to Wyoming in pursuit of their individual projects. The exhibition, presented at the Felicity R. “Bebe” Benoliel Gallery, opens February 26th, 2009 with an Artist Reception from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. Gallery hours for this exhibition are Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Appointments are available as well.

The Center’s Alumni Travel Grant program helps its alumni take advantage of opportunities involving travel that could have a significant positive impact on their work. Examples include apprenticeships, use of a particular facility such as a world-class foundry or print shop, residencies and international workshops, and other specific projects involving travel.

New website for "James G. Mundie's Cabinet of Curiosities" has arrived

2009-02-25T21:20:00.005-05:00

Sound the trumpets, and open your eyes wide in wonder! The new website for James G. Mundie's Cabinet of Curiosities is ready for visitors.

Here you will see original photographs, drawings and prints based on items from anatomy and medical museums from around the world.

Prepare to be shocked, amazed, enlightened — perhaps even mildly nauseated. Wonders abound! Nature herself is revealed!

Anatomy Specimens as Art: "Cabinet of Curiosities" featured in New Scientist

2009-02-19T22:51:00.004-05:00

I am pleased to announce that ten of my photographs from James G. Mundie's Cabinet of Curiosities have been prominently featured by eminent magazine New Scientist. They have chosen a range of photographs from various anatomy museums in Europe, including Museum Bleulandinum and Museum Vrolik.

This momentous occasion also provides a perfect opportunity to announce that the Cabinet of Curiosities website is now ready for viewing at mundieart.com/cabinet. The site is still a work in progress, but there is plenty of material there to tuck into.

Image: Circulation © James G. Mundie 2008 (Museum Vrolik, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Flickr photostream traffic jam

2009-01-23T13:48:00.012-05:00

In the last several days, the viewing traffic on my Flickr account has gone through the roof. My photostream normally enjoys fairly heavy viewing, averaging 2,500 views a day — but for last three days my photos have received more than 17,000 views each day. Yesterday's traffic alone exceeded the total views for the previous week.

What accounts for this sudden rise in interest? I'm not entirely certain, but much of the traffic seems to be the result of a few related blog postings:

I suppose this is proof positive of the viral effectiveness of blogging. Furthermore, this indicates great interest in the material that makes up my new body of work, Cabinet of Curiosities — the new website for which is coming soon.

In transition

2009-01-15T20:20:00.001-05:00

In transition
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

When I visited Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam last year there were several cases acting as a temporary 'holding tank' while the display was undergoing reorganization. In one dark corner I discovered these fabulous specimens.

Happy new year from Jim, Kate and Declan

2008-12-21T12:25:00.001-05:00

F.A.N. Gallery, First Friday

2008-11-17T21:51:00.002-05:00

F.A.N. Gallery, First Friday
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Photographs from Kate's opening reception at F.A.N. Gallery may seen here. The exhibition continues through 29 November 2008.

F.A.N. Gallery is located at 221 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19106. Exhibition hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 12-6:00 P.M.

Sally the Cinch (Cheeky Monkey Sideshow)

2008-11-10T15:55:00.002-05:00

Sally the Cinch (Cheeky Monkey Sideshow)
Originally uploaded by Prof. Jas. Mundie

Photographs from Sideshow Gathering 2008, featuring Cheeky Monkey Sideshow, Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow, Olde City Sideshow, and more.

Review of "Kate Kern Mundie: Recent Paintings" in Philadelphia City Paper

2008-11-06T11:07:00.007-05:00

Lori Hill of Philadelphia City Paper chose Kate's show at F.A.N. Gallery as the top pick in her "First Friday Hit List" and wrote a nice review, which reads in part:

Kate Kern Mundie's perspective on urban life is certainly beautiful to witness, especially considering her recent shift in work habits. Mundie always considered herself a plein air painter, taking herself and her canvas outside and getting those perfect in-the-moment flashes of light and shadow. However, personal concerns (including a newborn son) have forced Mundie to pack up her easel and take it inside most of the time. While this initially frustrated her, she has learned to simply shift her artistic focus...

You can read the entire review here.

Kate Kern Mundie: Recent Paintings opens on Friday, November 7th and runs through November 29th. F.A.N. Gallery is located at 221 Arch Street in Old City, Philadelphia. You can see a preview of the show here.

F.A.N. GALLERY PRESENTS "KATE KERN MUNDIE: RECENT PAINTINGS", 7 to 29 NOVEMBER 2008

2008-10-09T14:01:00.004-04:00

This autumn, Kate will have her first major solo exhibition in a commercial gallery when Philadelphia's F.A.N. Gallery presents KATE KERN MUNDIE: RECENT PAINTINGS, from 7 to 29 November 2008. The show will feature more than two dozen new paintings from locations in Philadelphia, Washington DC, St. Louis, London, Paris and Amsterdam.

In describing the appeal of Kate's work, Fraidoon Al-Nakib, founder and owner of F.A.N. Gallery, says, “Kate Mundie's paintings express a love of the city of Philadelphia and its quality of light and architecture. Philadelphia's buildings reflect their roots in European architecture, some of which Kate has recently explored and displays here beside their American cousins. Her use of rich, juicy color wonderfully depicts light and shadow, making the viewer aware of the visual elements in the city that are often overlooked. Kate Mundie's paintings,” says Mr. Al-Nakib, “help the viewer see what is so wonderful about the city.”

An opening reception will take place on Friday, November 7th from 5:00 to 9:00 P.M. Both the exhibition and the reception are free and open to the public. F.A.N. Gallery is located at 221 Arch Street in Philadelphia PA. For exhibition hours and information, please visit www.fanartgallery.com.

PRESS RELEASE

Dear Fleisher: 4 x 6 Inches of Art

2008-10-03T09:46:00.004-04:00

This weekend, you can pick up some great art bargains (including pieces by Jim and Kate Mundie) at Dear Fleisher, 4 x 6 Inches of Art, the third biennial invitational exhibition and sale of original art to benefit Fleisher's education and exhibition programs.

Dear Fleisher 2008 features original art in postcard size (4 x 6 inches) in a range of media. In keeping with Fleisher's mission of access for all, each piece is priced at $50.00 and sold on a first-come, first-served basis — with no presales. Each postcard is signed on the back, keeping the artist's identity a surprise until after the sale and allowing viewers the pleasure of focusing on the strength of the work itself.

This year promises to be bigger and better than ever, with over 350 artists donating nearly 700 original works of art. I did get a bit of a peek at the work yesterday (though not the identities of the artists) and I can say that it's quite an impressive selection of artwork this year.

The melee begins at 4:00 PM on Sunday, October 5th - but hundreds of people start lining up to get in long before that because it's a first-come-first-served kind of affair. Image the midnight release of a new Harry Potter book, but with art.

Father and Son

2008-09-21T19:52:00.001-04:00

Father and Son
Originally uploaded by Christopher B. Archer

A lovely portrait photo montage of Jim and Declan taken by friend Christopher Archer in July. Declan would have been nearly 3 months old at the time.

"Inside/Outside" at Station Gallery in June 2008

2008-05-23T20:41:00.008-04:00

James and Kate Mundie will be exhibiting together for the first time in an exhibition called Inside/Outside: Kate Kern Mundie and James G. Mundie at The Station Gallery, 6 to 28 June 2008.

As befits the title, Kate will present recent interior paintings and Jim will be showing landscape paintings, drawings and prints. There will be an opening reception on Friday, 6 June 2008 from 5:00–8:00 PM.

The Station Gallery is located at 3922 Kennett Pike, Greenville DE 19807.

PRESS RELEASE

It's a boy!

2008-04-20T14:21:00.004-04:00

Jim and Kate Mundie are pleased to announce that our son Declan Fergus Mundie was born at Pennsylvania Hospital on Thursday, 17 April 2008. Declan clocked in at 7 pounds 12 ounces and 21 inches long.

Mom and baby are both home now and doing well. So far, Declan seems to be a good natured baby, and hardly fussy at all — a trend we hope continues until he is 25.

Nicola Black Design incorporates James Mundie photograph into new Dr. Sketchy's promo poster

2008-03-27T18:44:00.006-04:00

James Mundie is pleased that one of his photos of the Philthy Britches' own Violet Temper was used by Nicola Black Design to promote the latest installment of Dr. Sketchy's Philadelphia — which will feature Violet and three other dangerous divas from the Philly Roller Girls on the model stand.

Tickets for the 18 April 2008 event can be purchased now through BrownPaper Tickets.

To see more roller derby action, check out James' pics on his Flickr pages.

Photographs from European medical museums

2008-03-18T11:12:00.009-04:00

In 2007, James Mundie received a travel grant from the Center for Emerging Visual Artists in order to visit various medical and anatomy museums in Europe. In particular, he was interested in those museums with extensive teratology — the study of "monsters" — collections. During late January and early February 2008, James traveled to England, France and Holland drawing from and photographing (with permission of the curators of each institution) interesting specimens. This is seed material for a new body of work titled Cabinet of Wonders.

James took thousands of photographs on this trip, and you can see a small sampling of these images here.

Image: Hyperostosis (Musée Dupuytren) © 2008 James G. Mundie

James Mundie receives Individual Creative Artists Fellowship from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

2008-02-15T11:06:00.005-05:00

Woo hoo! Jim returned from a European trip visiting medical museums to discover that he has been awarded a 2008 Individual Creative Artists Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

From the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts press release of January 31st:

“Pennsylvania takes pride in the artistic excellence represented in these fellowship grants to individual artists,” said council Executive Director Philip Horn. “As creators and entrepreneurs, these artists help Pennsylvania’s creative economy flourish, which in turn enriches the commonwealth’s economy and our quality of life.”

Individual Creative Artists Fellowships are awarded annually in selected categories. The 2008 awards were available in dance - choreography; folk and traditional arts – performing traditions; literature – poetry; media arts – documentary and narrative; music – classical composition; theatre – scriptworks (for playwrights and screenwriters); and visual arts – painting or drawing/artist’s books/printmaking or new technologies/other genres.

The goal of the PCA’s individual creative artists division is to encourage and enable outstanding Pennsylvania artists of all backgrounds to perform their work and display it to the public. The council annually awards fellowships of $5,000 and $10,000.
Recipients are recommended after a rigorous evaluation process where qualified arts professionals review applicants’ work samples and support materials. The review process is anonymous, with the exception of the folk and traditional arts applications.

This year, the council will collaborate with the Institute for Cultural Partnerships, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and Pittsburgh Filmmakers to provide administrative services for the PCA’s fellowship program.

The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is a state agency that works to develop and promote the continued excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania, as well as to broaden the availability and appreciation of arts throughout the state.

For more information, visit www.pacouncilonthearts.org, or call 717-787-6883.

Kate Kern Mundie exhibits new paintings at F.A.N. Gallery

2007-12-29T16:39:00.000-05:00

Kate Kern Mundie is exhibiting eight paintings in a group show at F.A.N. Gallery, 4 through 26 January 2008. There will be an opening reception on Friday, January 4th from 5:00–9:00 PM.

F.A.N. Gallery is located at 221 Arch Street Street, Philadelphia PA 19106.

Image: Powhatan Creek, oil on paper © 2007 Kate Kern Mundie

New photographs from James Mundie

2007-12-29T16:21:00.000-05:00

Jim has recently posted several new sets to his Flickr photostream, including photographs from knock-down roller derby, the freaky fun of Sideshow Gathering 2007 and the Shocked and Amazed! mini-tour, and the saucy Dr. Sketchy's Philadelphia.

Image: Tyler Fyre (Shocked and Amazed! mini-tour) © 2007 James G. Mundie

NEW: Le Pétomane t-shirt

2007-11-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

Step right up and attire yourself in this fantastic tribute to one of the world's most unusual performers: Joseph Pujol — known on the stage of the famed Moulin Rouge as “Le Pétomane”, the Fartiste.

We kid you not. Pujol was hailed far and wide for the acoustic facilities of his rectum, which he manipulated to create all manner of sounds and left French audiences rolling in the aisles.

This illustration was originally created by James Mundie for volume 9 of James Taylor's Shocked and Amazed: On & Off the Midway, which is available now. But better than just reading about Pujol, you can proudly wear Le Pétomane emblazoned across your chest.

You may now purchase one for your very own through PayPal, or contact us to make other arrangements.

You go away on vacation...

2007-10-14T14:51:00.000-04:00

... and Caramel ceases to exist!

So, how weird is this? We hang Kate's show at Caramel on Wednesday, October 3rd, and we have the opening reception two nights later. Turn out is good and Kate sells a bunch of paintings (yippee!) — which is especially gratifying considering all the money that was spent on framing, advertising, etc. Everything seems spiffy, so on Saturday morning we leave for a week's vacation in Virginia.

We're still on vacation on Friday, October 12th, when I check the email and find a message from the new owner of Caramel — which it turns out shut its doors on Tuesday! What the...?! So, this show that was supposed to be up until Halloween was really only officially visible to the public for three days. Three days! We call the new guy to find out what's going on — because nobody from Caramel ever let on that anything like this was in the works — and basically we need to pick up Kate's work because they want to start gutting the place this week.

Jayzuz... you work really hard to be professional and put your best foot forward and somebody else comes along and screws up the whole thing. This happens time and time again in the art biz, so much so that we've come to expect that every exhibition will have some kind of colossal screw-up either by the gallery itself or a third party. But who winds up looking like a jerk? The artist.

Ah well, on the bright side, the people who bought paintings in the show are going to get them much faster than they expected, and we can spread some of the other paintings around to exhibition opportunities that just popped up.

Kate Kern Mundie: Delaware Valley Landscapes

2007-09-28T15:19:00.000-04:00

During the month of October, Kate Kern Mundie will be showing new and recent landscape paintings at Caramel in Philadelphia. The exhibition begins with an opening reception on October 5th, and continues through October 31st.

Caramel is located at 725 Walnut Street in Center City Philadelphia. Business hours are 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM (Monday—Friday) and 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Saturday).

Image: City Hall, oil on museum board, © 2007 Kate Kern Mundie

The American Gallery of Juror Art

2007-09-28T15:08:00.000-04:00

What do you mean you've never hear of it? Clearly, you haven't been paying attention to the latest developments in American legal machinations. All right, neither had we - but here is proof that jury duty pays off.

After Jim posted some sketches he did during jury duty, he was contacted by Anne Reed, a trial lawyer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who writes a blog called Deliberations about the law and the jury selection process. Who would have thought that the humble drawings Jim made that day to pass the time would have found their way into the hallowed halls of The American Gallery of Juror Art?

Freeks and Geaks at Plowhaus

2007-07-14T10:28:00.000-04:00

James Mundie will be showing recent drawings, prints, and photographs alongside Col. J.D. Wilkes and Brett Whitacre in Freeks and Geaks at The Plowhaus, 20 July – 5 August 2007. An opening reception will be held on Friday, 20 July 2007 from 7 to 11:00 PM.

The Plowhaus is located at 211 South 17th Street, East Nashville TN 37206.

Exhibition news

2007-06-12T12:24:00.000-04:00

James Mundie's Young Woman with a Parasitic Twin Wearing a Mantilla and Basquiña was selected for the 40th anniversary edition of Art of the State® at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, James was recently informed that his piece received an award in the Works on Paper category.

Art of the State: Pennsylvania 2007 will be held 9 June through 9 September 2007. The State Museum of Pennsylvania is located at 300 North Street, Harrisburg PA 17120.

Kate Kern Mundie is showing a new drawing in the Annual Faculty Exhibition at the Fleisher Art Memorial, 19 May through 13 July 2007. Fleisher Art Memorial is located at 719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia PA 19147.

New photo sets on Flickr

2007-06-12T11:38:00.000-04:00

James Mundie has recently added several new photo sets to his Flickr pages:

Eastern State Penitentiary set

and

South Philly set

James Mundie receives Alumni Travel Grant from CFEVA

2007-06-12T11:24:00.000-04:00

James Mundie is pleased to announce that he has received an Alumni Travel Grant from the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA) — formerly Creative Artists Network.

James will be using the funds from this grant to visit medical collections in Europe. He hopes to spend time in several museums, drawing and sketching on site from unusual specimens in order to find new source material for a body of work tentatively titled Cabinet of Curiosities.

Collecting sideshow items

2007-03-23T12:43:00.000-04:00

In a bit of blogging cross-pollination, Jim was recently interviewed about his collection of historic sideshow items on Ephemera: exploring the world of old paper.

New work posted to MundieArt.com

2007-02-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

We have just uploaded a whole bunch of new paintings by Kate and new drawings by Jim to MundieArt.com. Check them out!

Image: Cherry Tomatoes, oil on mylar, © 2006 Kate Kern Mundie

Kate Mundie's Seasonal Landscapes at Fleisher

2007-01-30T20:06:00.000-05:00

Kate Kern Mundie will show new landscape paintings in an exhibition in the Faculty Gallery of the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial. The show begins with an opening reception from 5:30-7:30 PM on Friday, February 16th, and continues through March 17th, 2007.

The exhibition features paintings of locations around the Philadelphia area to which Kate returned several times over the past eight months. The exercise was an attempt to capture how each location changes over the course of the year.

The Fleisher Art Memorial is located at 719 Catharine Street in South Philadelphia. Gallery hours are 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Monday through Friday), 6:30 to 9:30 PM (Tuesday through Thursday), and 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM (Saturday).

Image: South Street Bridge, oil on paper, © 2006 Kate Kern Mundie

Quality artwork at affordable prices

2006-12-07T22:33:00.000-05:00

For the month of December, James and Kate Mundie are holding a major online studio sale of original paintings, drawings, etchings, woodcuts and photographs - at deeply discounted rates. Furthermore, you may make your purchases safely and securely with PayPal.

But wait, there's more! We are also offering free shipping within the United States. This is a limited time offer, so hurry up and get 'em while they're hot!

e-commerce discussion with Libby Rosof on ArtBlog

2006-12-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

Libby Rosof of ArtBlog was curious about my recent adventures in online art sales, and has posted part of our conversation here.

Photographs of Eastern State Penitentiary

2006-11-16T21:22:00.000-05:00

Last week Kate and I spent an afternoon poking through the gloomy but beautiful ruin that is Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary. While Kate set up her easel to paint, I wandered around with my camera.

Eastern State opened in 1829. Unlike earlier prisons in which criminals — regardless of offense, age or gender — were herded into large holding pens, Eastern State was based upon Quaker ideas of redemption through isolation and labor. The theory was that left alone to contemplate the errors of their ways without distraction from other prisoners or the outside world, inmates would become truly penitent — hence the name of the new prison model.

Architect John Haviland's original seven-wing design radiating from a central surveillance hub represents the advent of modern architecture in America. Each prisoner had his own centrally heated cell with running water, flush toilet and skylight, plus an adjacent private exercise yard. This “machine for reform” proved so revolutionary that both the building's design and the Pennsylvania System (as it came to be known) served as the model for hundreds of prisons around the world.

Eastern State Penitentiary operated for more than 140 years until it was finally abandoned in 1971. Today the site is preserved as a historic site.