Air and Sky

Imagine a front yard as big as a city park for neighborhood joggers: twelve times around and you’ve done your 3 miles.  To find such a yard in Indianapolis is thrilling enough, now add the post quarantine exhilaration of sharing this open greenery with a hundred and fifty ball tossing, laughing, chatting, singing, eating, and dancing newly liberated folk of all ages.  It’s an annual End-of-June bash for members and friends of a near-by Catholic church.  End-of-June?  Yes, indeed, some people will find any time of year, any month on the calendar as an excuse to have a wonderful get-together.

I shared a tent with a face painter and a balloon twister.  Smaller kids stood in line with a parent to have their wishes realized: lots of balloon dogs and star wars headgear and then vivid colors of a kitty face or a unicorn forehead.

School age kids were curious to see how I would portray them.  I never draw children ha-ha-funny.  I want to please them and, knowing that they themselves draw, I hope that my drawing will spark curiosity about how this expressiveness is achieved.

I only got to draw four adults.  You can see that here we get some ha-ha-funny.  Drawing adults is very different from drawing children. I love the psychological nuances of this business. When they see their drawing, adults will laugh out loud. A child will say, “Thank you, I like it.”

It was a wonderful afternoon.  Thank you, Chad!

 

 

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Something About a Tent

I’ve done hundreds of summer parties & picnics. Sometimes I’m out in the open wearing a straw hat to keep cool or I’ve clamped an umbrella to my chair to keep the drawing paper from blinding me in direct sun.  Sometimes a big oak tree will provide shade. But the best is being set up in a tent.  There is something about a tent that elevates the mood of the whole gathering.  You might think it creates a ceremonial atmosphere, but just the opposite, it loosens everybody up.

This was an international pharmaceutical company. I have no idea what they specialize in or even where their headquarters are.  We were out, way North, in some clearing in a forest preserve. The tent was expansive, but not so huge as to feel “corporate.”

I loved the feeling in this event. You can tell by the drawings.  I experimented with poses and ways of letting the hair fall over one eye, for example.  You’ll find my favorite drawings in the larger format at the end of the gallery below. ——————

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Shanna. You really  got the humor in what I do.

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Corporate Picnic in Fernbank Park, Cincinnati

Getting adults to crack up is wonderful, but to see kids lose it when they see the drawing is out of this world. Look at those faces!  This is the moment I work for.

The parents were geologists and environmentalists. I love drawing smart people who have an unshakable sense of humor. Look how relaxed everybody is! They just let me do my thing and, you know, that’s the really the only way to pose for a caricaturist.  Abandon all hope, ye who enter here, hahaha.

This was a company picnic last September, my first gig in Cincinnati after moving to Indiana from Chicago.  Fernbank Park is on the Ohio and it’s glorious.  I’m staying.

Thank you, Chris.

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Beet Street Harvest Festival in Milwaukee

The caption for this drawing could be, “We made up at the Beet Street Fair.”  When they first sat down in front of me they were nasty, nasty-funny.  About nothing in particular, it was a general stand off, as in “are we breaking up or are we getting together again.”  They told me that this on-and-off is how it goes with them, they love each other but always fight.  You can see, I got some of the growl and the I’m-not-talkin’-to-you in the drawing.  By the time the drawing was done, in about eight or ten minutes, their mood had warmed up to something close to happy.   What is it about caricatures?  Or was it the October sweetness in the air?  Or just plain Milwaukee?

In mid-October Goodkind and two other bar/eateries put together this big street fair in the Bayview neighborhood of Milwaukee.  It was a delight!  What is it about Milwaukee?  Every time I drive up there for a gig I come back wondering why I like those people so much.  They’re at ease, funny, self-confident and good-looking.  They can be stylish-edgy; when they show up in un-repentant hippie overalls, they come across as ironic, still stylish-edgy.  Mind you, I’m not fishing for more gigs up in Milwaukee…it’s a long drive.  But still, what is it about Milwaukee?

I enjoyed everyone who sat for me that glowing October afternoon.  I have the pictures to prove that the pleasure was mutual. Here’s documentation of a few of the more riotous moments. More in the next post.

http://goodkindbayview.com/beet-street-harvest-festival/http://goodkindbayview.com/#six

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Victory Center in Melrose Park

At large summer festivities there’s often a face painter. Face painters have become very  skillful and imaginative.  Though I encourage people to get there caricature first before they go over to the face painting table, they often forget or ignore that and then come to my stand with a painted face that looks like a mask.  In that case, as followers of these posts know by now, I draw them in profile.  That way I can at least approximate a likeness.

But when I saw this woman I broke the rule.  She’s obviously an older woman, a resident at the retirement home actually, and her demeanor was gentle and dignified.  But her cat face was so funny and endearing, that I decided to go for it.  I simply drew a cat with her face.  She loved it and said she would send it to her kids.

I did a family day at this retirement home about three years ago  and this year I recognized some of those  faces.  That’s always fun.  One of the residents is Mr. T-Bone, who always wears his black baseball cap with that name on it. He remembered me, too.

The Soul Entertainers Band, led by Carlton Moore, was excellent:   (219) 688-1117.

https://katherinehilden.wordpress.com/2013/12/15/christmas-party-at-the-melrose-park-victory-center/

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Staff Party at Lincolnwood Place

Ajun is a physical therapist with a kind, gentle manner that comes through in the first few minutes of anyone talking with him.  My job is to draw him funny. How can I do that?  Saying something that is obviously the opposite of what you mean is one way to be funny.  So I drew Ajun as assertive and tough, as in “you talkin’ to me!?”

He cracked up.  Everyone got the joke.

Lincolnwood Place is a retirement/assistant living community.  This was an afternoon party for the staff. I’ve done many staff parties in retirement and nursing homes and I’m always amazed at how energetic and cheerful these people are. I can’t imagine that work being easy.  They certainly deserved this afternoon of food, games, music and, ta-tah, my drawings.

Thank you, Lori!

As you can see, some people got into it and let their hair down.

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This gig came through GigMasters, who encourage clients to give feedback and an evaluation of the artist after the event.  Here’s what the Director of Human Resources wrote:

Katherine Hilden was without a doubt 10 STARS!!! She was the highlight of our employee picnic. She was hired as the character artist & the employees loved her. She is great at what she does, very respectful & talented. Very reasonably priced. We want to hire her for every single employee picnic in the future. Its Monday morning & the staff is still talking about how great Katherine was.

Thanks again, Lori!  I loved this party.

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Company Picnic in Lincoln Park

The people who work at this Riverside Plaza computer company took the Metra in from the distant suburbs, like Grayslake.  And then to Lincoln Park for the company picnic last Saturday.  Worth it!  We had a breezy mid-summer day and we did our partying just off Clark Street near Armitage.  As I was setting up I noticed a marker that said the lake came up to this point 8,000 years ago.  This started an interesting conversation with a couple of fifth graders about the beginning of time and space and, like, ahhh, like, the big bang?

I love drawing computer geeks and their kids.  They have no idea what I’m doing but they love the work, every time.

Thank you, Stephanie, for arranging such perfect weather in space/time.

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P.S.  I was so in tune with this crowd—apparently—that I caught this ten-year-old’s hammed up frown before his parents told me that he loves making this face.  After he saw the drawing his freckled face really got into the frowning act.  Very funny!

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The Crown Picnic, June 2016

The Crown Picnic really is the crown of picnics.

I’ve been doing his picnic for many years and have posted about the most recent years. For the low down on my in-group there at the farm in Wauconda, see

https://katherinehilden.wordpress.com/?s=crown+picnic

I draw new people every year.  But the regulars always want one more drawing for their collection: Peter, Carla, Joan, Fred, Sherrie, Susan, Paul and Bridget plus a half dozen whose names I don’t have at my fingertips just now as I’m typing this.  In the sparkling

ambiance—both physical setting and conversations—it’s always interesting to come up with a new way to draw them.  Often they bring new friends. What fun! This is the best.

For Peter, Carla and Fred I had prepared a surprise, but that deserves a separate post.

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High Tech and Drama in Vernon Hills

It was a hot, humid Saturday and they still came out in droves to this company picnic held on the grounds of their automotive technology company in Vernon Hills.
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Among the dozens I drew that afternoon, there were some pretty dramatic people for me to enjoy putting on paper.  Have a look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Crown Picnic

The tent seats 728. That was my calculation this year. Last year Peter also did the math but came up with a different number. Who’s Peter? Peter is one of my regulars at the Crown Picnic on the Wauconda farm. I’ve drawn him every year for the past twelve years, along with the others in my fan club. His wife, Carla, was facing another knee surgery in a couple of days.
That’s how we talk under that big tent, we tease, we joke and we gossip. Let’s gossip some more.
Last year Fred had just been laid off. I drew him, all grubby and raggedy, selling pencils. This year he has a job again. He’s an engineer, kind of on the fact-oriented side, and ahem, need we say more,  not the funniest guy you’ll ever have a drink with. But he’s employed, riding the wave again. So this year I drew him in form, looking suave and classy. Like Michael Caine in “Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels.”

Then there’s darling Brigid, who flies back to county Meath every year, where she owns the house she was born in. Every year, when I see her there at the picnic, I get up to hug her. A couple of years ago she sent me a silver and crystal Waterford mail openers from Ireland. She’s a dear. This year she’d been to Italy with a group, got sick in Rome, and such, but loved it all. Her eyes are fine after the lasik. We talk, I draw, it’s great.

For heart-to-hear talk, there’s Cheryl, whose brother stayed in Vegas this year, but her friend Susan did make it. And Cheryl’s daughter now has a boyfriend and they came to the picnic, sat there and nudged each other and giggled while I was drawing them.————-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Joan also came. She works in a bridal shop and has satirical observations about the illusions involved in that business. I always draw her verrrrry sasssssy.——————————

There are lots of people I remember from previous years and am getting to know better. I remember how I drew them last year and come up with something new this year.
You call this a job? What a privilege. I love every minute at the Crown Picnic. And when the deserts come out, the chocolate-raising-oatmeal cookies are to die for.

https://katherinehilden.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/crown-picnic-in-waukonda/

https://katherinehilden.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/crown-family-picnic-carla-and-peter/

https://katherinehilden.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/the-crown-picnic-2/

https://katherinehilden.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/the-crown-picnic/

https://katherinehilden.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/the-crown-family-picnic/

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