Kat Anderson

“  BY Patrick K. Mares Close the Door, Turn the Light On Before you even enter the White Dog Black Cat Cafe you are greeted by art, the stylized murals of animals that adorn the outer and inner walls of the building. But inside you’ll find them mixed with a set of very different pieces. The critters that give the place its name share the walls with dozens of bold and liquid, heavily-textured, abstract pieces. But these aren’t just visual art. This collection is part of a joint effort between local musician and songwriter James Edwards and Kat Anderson, the painter behind the canvas around us. It’s called From the Porch, a collaboration of composition in audio and visuals as Kat was excited to tell us, “This has been my dream, for at least oh my gosh, at least sixteen-seventeen years, to have music go along with my art in my show so it can make a bigger impact.” About a decade ago she met a musician named James Edwards, “Of course we didn’t work it out [then] … but he got in contact with me twelve years later and I said okay. I told him, okay, this has been my dream.” Something about his work just clicked with Kat, and the two decided to collaborate, “It blew me away. You know how you get chills. Do you ever get that when something just feels right? … If you don’t get a chill [when you hear it], I am going to pinch you.” Kat’s art surrounds us as we talk, contrasting colors and darkness that move in whorls and waves. Kat tells us the 21 pieces on the walls around us are the result of about three months of inspiration. She has been in town for all of six months at this point. And she tells us, for the first half of those she hibernated, growing roots and chipping away at an art block while she settled in. But three months past her dog passed away, a companion of 16 years. Kat told me the process of moving on “is like closing the door, letting everything from your past go so the light can come on.” In fact, the phrase both Kat and Jim use to describe From the Porch is “close the door, turn the light on.” Kat explained that you can see the difference in her work as she recovered, “Some are brighter than others, because the light came on basically.” The changes and emotions she’s struggled with and worked through over the last several months went directly into the composition. Kat suggested that the presence of that story behind those works gave them a deeper meaning, and perhaps the ability to connect with others in similar circumstances. In a sense that would be like a form of healing, if you’d like to call it that. A side of the music. Like I said, this is part of a journey that people can relate to. Especially right now. And I thought that this was really important as opposed to just doing art. for art’s sake. It tells a story that people are having problems with right now. A lot of people. Not everybody, but a lot of people. Jim explained how he went about constructing the musical half of From the Porch. He was aided in this by musician, Joe Delong who helped co-engineer the piece. Jim was looking to work the past into the song just as deeply as Kat wove her own story within her paintings. To this end he incorporated the the musical tools he’d built up around himself over the years, found and broken instruments and stored animal recordings. There are puppies suckling recorded 30 years ago, and birds calling across the desert. Jim explains, “I have them captured. it’s part of my past. It relates to her present.” While the dogs are a reference to Kat’s missing companion, the birds reminded her of her loved ones. She told us that every time a loved one passes away, she hears a birdsong ring out in the silence. When she hears those birds again she’s reminded of those she loves as if they were with her. The music is an eclectic mix, seguing from one style to the next over its eight minute run, mirroring the content and differences from painting to painting. We had a drink and listened as the music segued from guitar to synthesizer to didgeridoo. As the pastiche of sounds drawn from the lives of two artists melded with the paintings from the last three months, shards and drips of every color mixed with the eclectic music, and Kat got up and started dancing along with the accompaniment to her work. Afterward Jim told me, it wasn’t until then “that I realized this: the collage of musical reflections of her exhibit that I have woven, fits not only the art, but the woman as well… To me, it’s an unexpected compliment.” As for me, I felt the chills Kat was talking about. If you’d like to catch them yourself the art is showing at the Black Cat White Dog cafe through the end of March. But that’s only half the experience. The complete project will be on display at the second art showing for From the Porch: Thursday, March 19 from seven to nine. ”

“ We're in Good Company- "A Summer with the Ladies" opens tomorrow in Redondo Beach by: Sean Carroll Behind the AES power plant lies gallery 608 North, which is hosting an exhibition dedicated to the work of nine talented female artists titled “A Summer With The Ladies.” The exhibition opens tomorrow (Friday) with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m., and will be on view through July 14. I was very fortunate to interview six of the nine artists that are exhibiting their work: Edie Pfeiffer, Margaret Korona, Vivian Ryan, Kat Anderson, Andrea Schouten, and Eve Pericich. The show was organized by Kevin Holladay and the other artists are Angelina D’Arcy, Dolores Garren, and Janet Milhomme. Art from many angles Edie Pfeifer “fell in love with clay early in life,” and focused on ceramics while at Santa Monica College. She worked on figurative sculpture as well. At the exhibit she is showcasing a mix with her clay work as well as some plywood sculptures that were in the recent California 101 show. She is the only sculptor in this show and specializes in “table-top” size sculptures. “A lot of people are put off by sculpture. They think they need to have a pedestal or a huge house or something,” she says. “I don’t do huge.” She will also have an abstract head on display titled “Free to Be Me.” She chose this title because she feels “that artists are not free to be themselves; they’re trying to please someone else.” Margaret Korona, a native of Szczecin, Poland, specializes in painting in the Old Masters Style, painting portraits of movie icons, such as Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. Back in 2000 when she first came to America, her friend from the Hamptons asked her “to paint a black and white portrait of Marilyn Monroe.” She felt “a great release,” and came back to New York over the years to create more portraits of movie icons. However, there is something unique about the way she paints them. “I like showing them as angels with swan’s wings,” she says. “I lend them my jewelry and accessories and change their hairstyles. Sometimes I place them in surrealistic surroundings that have never existed.” Some of her works on display include Audrey Hepburn as an angel, a ballerina, and yoga meditation. Vivien Rhyan started painting when she was only three years old. She studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where she has a B.F.A. and worked for Hannah Barbara as a background illustrator. She also worked for the Jacque Harvey Studios of Beverly Hills in the United States and France for eight years. She currently works for Sundance Graphics, a print company in Orlando, Florida. At the art gallery, she’s exhibiting art such as “equestrian art, sailboats, children’s fantasy, Indian, landscape, floral, cupcakes, butterflies, and lots of posters.” She also “currently exhibits works and watercolors and acrylics through various dealers and designers across the country.” Kat Anderson is a self-taught painter who grew up in Las Vegas, where she was a singer for years. She has been painting since she was a child, and was painting professionally for fifteen years. Painting is her passion because it makes her feel good, and she could do it 24/7. “I interpret vibrations such as thoughts, feelings and impressions and translate them onto canvas,” Anderson says. She has a new style of painting where she wants the viewers to interpret the art for themselves. Andrea Schouten has always been artistic. Her method of painting is called “scratchboarding,” which is an “etching technique to scrape off black ink from a white surface.” She discovered this method of art in 2007, and has been “nearly working exclusively in this medium.” To accomplish this, she uses “blades, needles, and various sharp objects.” Besides being a scratchboard artist, she has a distinct style to her paintings, mainly influenced by science-fiction films, and also “ideas of nature, dreamscapes, imaginative realism, ancient architecture, and fantasy art.” Most of her artwork is in black and white, and after that portion of her works of art have been completed, she uses acrylic paint. She has been a scratchboard artist for five to six years. Eve Pericich is the oldest artist of the group. She is a retired adult schoolteacher who became seriously involved with painting. Her works of art specialize in acrylic collage. The collage consists of “lots of paper cut from newspapers and magazines” which “gives it more depth and texture.” She is also interested in textiles, costumes, and colors from Central and Eastern Europe. In fact, she has a B.A. and an M.A. in Slavic languages and literature from USC. Also, she is the artistic director of the Zhena Folk Chorus, which sings village folk songs from central Europe. Her main work of art that she will be displaying is “Sedona.” With this work of art, she used a new technique, making it more abstract. A Summer With the Ladies opens Friday (tomorrow) with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m. at 608 North, located at 608 N. Francisca Ave., Redondo Beach. Hours, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (310) 376-5777 or go to 608north.com. ER”

“        Hearts of Las Vegas project benefiting St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital An Affair of the Art May 12, 2012 At Four Seasons Las Vegas, NV For more information visit: www.stjude.org/lasvegas Title: "The Journey Description: Inspired by my passion to create, this heart represents a journey of truth and living life in the moment. It is an honor to be given the opportunity to create art for such an amazing cause and give back to the community. Thank you so much Niki Sands for this beautiful gift of giving".      ”

“    Charlie Rivero "That's Ok" Single May 8, 2012 An artistic vision with a European feel of art and love coming alive" ~ Charlie Rivero Kat was commissioned to create the art for this music video as well as appear in a minor roll. Thank you Charlie for this artistic and fun opportunity". If you would like to hear more of Charlie's music, please visit www.charlierivero.com”