Kat Powers

On a beautifully overcast and misty Saturday a few weeks ago ago, I was very happy to work with the Friends of the Chicago River for the first time. We pulled up invasive species that had grown up onto the path that runs alongside the river just north of Irving Park, and carefully removed native plants to save for transplanting. Alongside many other volunteers,  I was in good hands working under the guidance of ecologist Pete Leki, who could instantly identify every plant. I just discovered his hand-written vision of restoring nature in our city; a happy life how-to illustrated by Bobby Sutton. This tale can be found by clicking on the image above.

Every Thursday I look forward to seeing the progressions in the paintings of my fellow classmates in Bob Horn’s class at Lill Street. Paul Wanderski’s large and quite intricate bog-scape always amazes me (and I think everyone else, too).. taken from his photographs of Volo Bog, in Ingleside, Illinois. Paint on, Paul!

My classmates have made me promise to stop working on this piece, possibly because they can see that if I attempt to push paint around on it anymore I will truly be driven over the edge, and never return. So, aside from fiddling with the bottom edge (it keeps chipping, showing light blue from previous incarnations of the sea beneath), I will try to keep my word, glaze it and hand it over to the hopefully happy new owners.

Here is a casting of my dad’s left hand, this time using clear Alumilite. I was supposed to use a vacuum or pressurizer to achieve a clear, bubble-free casting, but since I don’t have access to any industrial casting equipment, and I think some of the beauty of a thing lies in its imperfection, I just went ahead without.

I’ve just started a new series of watercolors of non-native, invasive species. Shown here in an early wash phase is the garlic mustard plant, Alliaria petiolata. Heeyoung kindly brought an entire baby plant including the roots into class for me, along with a clipping from which I’ve based this drawing. I’m now seeing garlic mustard everywhere I go, lining alleys and bike paths, and would be tempted to pull it out if it weren’t for the fact it really is growing too rampant… and that it may end world hunger: someone said it’s quite good sauteed!