Merry Christmas

Wishing you all in Cyber land a very Merry Christmas and a Mooey New Year!

Are You Famous?

Do people stop you on the street and say "Wow, you're her!" ? That's what one of the children at the Landenberg Christian Academy asked me the other day when I went there to do a book reading for them. Sadly, I had to reply no, only that I was a legend in my own mind and someday maybe... LOL! The kids were really great. I started with the preschoolers who I didn't really expect to be able to sit well through my 40 page book. They were really very well behaved and excited. They sat quietly and listened and at the end got to come up with the school director Julie Malone and give my 4 ft stuffed Millicent the cow a big hug. Next I read to the older grades, 3-5. They were also very well behaved and asked great questions at the end. I got to do a little more than just read with this group. I brought all my early writings, scribblings and sketches, in addition to the original paintings used for the book, so I was able to present the entire process of how I wrote and illustrated the book from beginning to end. It was a very fun day and I hope to do it at other schools in the future on a more regular basis.

Julie Malone had this to say about my visit

"I would highly recommend having Karen O’Lone-Hahn visit any school. It is incredibly valuable for students to see real life examples of people who have put a dream into reality. It is also valuable for them to see that even published authors need to work hard and persevere through the entire writing process from the initial ideas, to the rough drafts, to the final published work. Our teachers were extremely pleased with Mrs. O’Lone-Hahn’s visit, as it proved to be a highly educational, as well as inspiring experience for all of our students."

Millicent and the Faraway Moon Reloaded

This is no longer available at Lulu.com . Get it on Sale on my etsy page.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/33528826/childrens-book-millicent-and-the-faraway

Artists are like Diamonds

Even though there are millions of diamonds in the world, each one is unique and shines with its own specific beauty. Such is the way with artists. Each has his or her own unique vision and talent and like a diamond, is special and brilliant. I am privileged to know many other artists whose work I can marvel at and enjoy. I know glass blowers and potters, fabric artists, wood carvers, metal smiths, jewelers-the list goes on and on. I never tire of seeing what someone else is up to, reading the stories that they tell in their work. Every time I go to an art show or a gallery it is like a banquet, a feast for my eyes. Today I spent the day gallery sitting at the Artists Connection Gift Shop in Oxford, Pa.. Truth be told I was regretting signing up to do it as I felt I had too many things on my plate to take a day to spend gallery sitting. I have to say that I am glad I did. I had such a nice time talking with Dave Bliss ( a photo restorationist) and a member of the Connection who was sharing the shift with me. If left up to me, I think I would sometimes corner myself into a cocoon with things I think I HAVE to do, missing out on the company of wonderful human beings like Dave. I am new to the Oxford Artist Alliance and am also glad I went as I got to spend more time talking with Paula Graham, a jazzy watercolorist and creativity coach. When left alone, I spent my time looking around the shop, enjoying the work of various artists. Larry Denver is a masterful wood carver, his pieces generally being inspired by nature. There was lots of jewelry-cool stuff by Storm Fight Designs (Stacey Peterson and Jamie Cox) Deja Vu Artisan jewelry (Cheryl Gross), quilted wall hangings, photography, fabric accessories, paintings by Dianne Blanche Stirrat and the work of several others (myself included)..... The day was quiet though. Only two people came in. Oxford is a tiny Pennsylvania town that is working its way from sleepy rural community to one that is trying to catch up to the rest of the world. I am sure that their are plenty of art lovers in Oxford and the surrounding region and as the Alliance becomes better known, the traffic in the gallery will increase. I hope that those of you who are reading this, if you are local, will take the time to go there and see the awesome work being offered by the artists in the shop. It is located at

38 South 3rd Street in Oxford

Gift Shop hours:
Thursday 11-4
Fridays 11-6
Saturdays 10-5

Southern Chester County Artists Studio Tour

Well, I managed to get my studio together in time and the first day of the tour went off pretty well. The only fly in the ointment was the wind which prevented my friend Mary and I (an amazingly talented fabric artist) from utilizing the outdoors due to high wind. Mary shared the indoors with me and we had lots of folks come by to peruse our work. The people were really cool, several other artists, art lovers and even an animal whisperer who told me a lot about what my cats were thinking especially our oldest one Fluffer. ( He is unhappy) She is the blonde lady seated in one of the pictures. The day went by pretty quickly. I am looking forward to tomorrow and what the day may bring. I sold several books, prints and a couple of originals. If you are local and reading this, I hope you will be dropping by to take advantage of some of the great prices that I have going on for the sale. I am even selling chances on a very popular limited edition giclee'. So, Hope to see you in Landenberg tomorrow or next weekend as the tour continues. I will keep you all updated.

Eagles Thrash Giants at the Linc

My husband and I love football. Especially the Eagles. I used to be a Buffalo girl so I love them too but now that I live near Philly, the eagles are my team. We don't usually get to attend games being they are so expensive, but for our 19 year anniversary, I got us club level tickets for this division rivalry game. Coming off the incredible blowout against the Redskins last week, we, the fans were more than excited to see this matchup. It was so much fun walking through the tailgating people at in the parking lots, smelling the charcoal cooking food, hearing music blasting and people yelling with excitement. Our seats were in the West Club area, but seeing how the layout of the parking lots and the stadium made no sense (the West Club entrance and seats are actually on the East side of the Stadium), we ended up walking about 1 mile to our entrance. That was ok though because even though it was a chilly 47 degrees, we were walking fast enough that it didn't bother us. Once inside, the club area, it felt sedate next to what we had experienced in the parking lot. It was a very beautiful large lounge with pub tables, couches, big screen TV's, several bars and stations serving restaurant quality food. Well, it didn't stay that way for long as the fans started piling in the level of excitement grew inside as well. My hubby and I enjoyed roast beef and fingerling potatoes with cauliflower out of our plastic containers at the bar and generally hung out for two hours in our warm tailgate spot before the game. When we took our seats outside, the stadium looked just beautiful all lit up with fireworks going and the fans on fire. I looked to my left where there was a large banner with reggie Whites picture immortalized on it and it made me miss him. He was a lovely man. The game was great though it felt like a little bit of a sleeper (due to the Giants defense) in comparison to last weeks trouncing o the Redskins. But in the 4th quarter in the last 4 minutes there ere some exciting plays including a turnover by Eli Manning which put the birds in a non stop position. The final score of 27-17 put the Eagles in 1st place in the NFC East. I know many people are still angry with Michael Vick, but I feel that the man did his time and was humbled by the experience. He is someone who has had to start over from no where and is truly working to turn his life around. I got a lot of great pictures but can't post them all. The one I really love

is of what you never see on television, the players from both teams on their knees after the game praying together. After just being on the field with one goal in mind-to pummel the other players, these men go before the throne together in His grace. Awesome.....

Another Side of Karen O'Lone-Hahn: Christmas 1969

Another Side of Karen O'Lone-Hahn: Christmas 1969: "There are some memories that stay with you, happy or sad. Christmas when I was small was an actually happy memory. Above is my oil painting..."

Christmas 1969

There are some memories that stay with you, happy or sad. Christmas when I was small was an actually happy memory. Above is my oil painting, below, I am showing you the Polaroid photo that inspired one of my first black and white paintings from my series of family photos. Photos have a way of invoking such memory-the feel of the non skid padding on the feet of my pajamas, the pressing of the rollers against my ears, the smell of evergreen, memories of those tacky plastic curtains that hung on the living room windows... :0) I loved helping hang the Christmas cards all around our archway and decorating the tree. Some of the other paintings from this time, like "Holy Communion" (Blog post July 2008) have a very eerie, depressed feeling to them, reflecting my feelings of the time. This one reflects

the nostalgia and simplicity of the time as well as my little girl Christmas excitement.

The Aftermath

I haven't posted to my blog in quite awhile as I have been so busy in other areas. I had meant to use this blog to show folks all of the different types of painting tat I do besides cows. I still intend to do that and post new work often, but I would also like to really connect with people on the other end of my computer screen. So, please feel free to post comments or just give a shout hello.

What I am showing you here is how my studio looks after months being on the road doing outdoor shows. I started in early June and had my last one in October nearly every weekend. My task for the next couple of weeks is to get it all straightened out for my upcoming Studio Tour, but more on that later....