Happy Birthday Keith Richards

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards... 
As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." 
So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

Good riddance 2016...

Winter Solstice

Happy Birthday Keith Richards!

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards... 
As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

Currently

Boston: A Love Letter*

September always feels like New Years to me. Twelve years ago this week I came here for my undergraduate studies and never left. So recently I took a moment this morning to reflect on this place I call home...

Noteable things not included on this sketchbook page: eating at JFK's table at the Union Oyster House, the guy who walks his pig in the Boston Common, how utterly awful the Green line is all the time, getting cheap margaritas and endless free chips and salsa at Border Cafe, browsing the lot at the Brattle Book Shop, the the time I saw cops drag a body out of the Charles River, ginko trees turning golden on Church St, seeing the Rolling Stones play at Fenway, running through the halls of the MFA at midnight after watching a special viewing of Christian Marclay's "The Clock," Tea at the Taj, the man who planted sunflowers every year on the corner in my old neighborhood...

*I live in Cambridge, which of course is not Boston...but both cities are have equal places in my heart and memories.

Friday Inspiration: The Sea! The Sea! (part 2)

MC Escher, Phosphorescent Sea (1933)

Kate Castelli, The Frequency of Falling (2013)

What Escher called a "phosphorescent sea" is actually a biological phenomenon known as bioluminescence. This "biological light" in the waves is the product of marine microbes called phytoplankton. Various species of phytoplankton are known to bioluminesce, and their lights can be seen in oceans all around the world.

I saw a phosphorescent sea many years ago at Race Point, on the Cape Cod National Seashore. The waves glowed with pinpricks of light as they washed on the shore and around my ankles. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen and it was the inspiration for my woodblock print The Frequency of Falling.

I was here...

Vernal Equinox

Not a Circle (II) and Not a Circle (III) | ink on vintage endpages | copyright Kate Castelli 2015

Spring has sprung...and my favorite daffodils and crocuses are blooming after a very long and harsh winter. They are a welcome sight indeed!

222

Not a Circle (False) | ink on vintage paper | 6.75x10" | copyright Kate Castelli 2015

Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness
It took me years to understand
That this, too was a gift.

 ("The Uses of Sorrow" by Mary Oliver)

The Impossibility of February

Not a Circle (I) | ink on vintage paper | 7.5x10" | copyright Kate Castelli 2015

Sketchbook circles

I've kept a sketchbook for as long as I can remember. The practice intensified in undergrad and my sketchbooks became vital and dynamic extensions of my work. My studio practice changed in grad school and I started using softcover moleskins (they come in a 3 pack) as a sketchbook and notebook. I'd record critiques, observations, research, sketches and layouts. The sketchbook became less precious and more of a deposit of ideas and notes.

I've continued to use the moleskins post-grad school and they are currently filled with lots and lots of circles. The above pages are related to my horizon line series of woodblocks.

Brokenness

An excerpt from Michael Chabon beautiful essay originally published here.

Happy Birthday Keith!

Happy 70th Birthday to Keith Richards...
As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

The Frequency of Falling

Slowly getting back into the studio. I've been musing in sketchbooks, cutting some woodblocks, sourcing new and different ephemera to print on, and figuring out what is next...

(a printing day is order...soon)

Progress

September and the beginning of the academic calendar always feels like New Years to me. A clean slate, a fresh start, back to school and back to teaching.

After a long hiatus in the studio (and a tumultuous summer) I've started some new woodblocks. Rainy, grey days make good studio days.

You can now follow me on Instagram http://instagram.com/katecastelli

Ciao

I'm done with grad school.
I officially have my MFA.
And now....
I am taking a much needed break to eat, drink, and draw in Italy.

Arrivederci!

The calm before the storm...

A photo taken in the midst of installing my thesis show yesterday.

I was evacuated out of the gallery in downtown Boston. I was fortunate to be okay amid the chaos and uncertainty. Many cannot say the same and my thoughts and prayers are with them. Monday was a scary, sad, heartbreaking day in a city I've called home for almost a decade. I still love you Boston.

Indigo

The cure for anything is salt water-- sweat, tears, or the sea. (Isak Dinesen)

In 1837, according to the date on the inside cover, a girl named Georgiana tore this end paper and stitched it back together again. She repaired her book and made it better in more ways than one. The 19th century fast forwards to the 21st century and I add a sea of indigo marks.

Untitled

ink on 19th century paper, thread

9.5 x 11.75" each

copyright Kate Castelli 2013

part of End Page: Books and Works on Paper, MFA thesis exhibition at Fourth Wall Project, Boston

Friday Inspiration: The Boston Athenæum

The Boston Athenæum is one of those places that makes my soul happy. It is as if you stepped into the doorway of another century and into a universe governed by the sheer joy of books and learning. It is a magical place that can be found at 10 ½ Beacon Street.