Greetings from Hillsborough!

I've had so much fun in the studio these past few weeks, and I've got tons to share with you. My print release this month is a freshly carved pair of great blue herons.  I know many of you have been waiting for these, so scroll below to find out how to preorder. We're also trying out some shows in new locations in the next few weeks-- one in Blowing Rock NC, and one in Black Mountain, NC.  If you have friends in either of those places that would love these block prints, I'd so appreciate you helping to spread the word!

Finally, I'm excited to tell you about an amazing wildlife encounter I had recently, and share some insight into a day in the life at the New South Pattern House Studio and how my woodland adventures influence the work I'm creating. 

Read on for all of it, 

Katie 

Left ("Heron and Lily") Right ("The Heron and the Frog") 

Last month I introduced you to a new staff member, Emily Cowan.   Some of you have already met Emily at shows and given her a warm welcome-- thank you so much!  Having staff that can work art shows helps me find balance between time with my family and time to create art, while still trying to provide great customer service by getting out there and bringing this work to y'all. I am so appreciative of Dhara and Emily, and of our customers for welcoming them at these events!

Left to right (Katie, Dhara, Emily) 

River Otter at the NC Zoo 

The New South Pattern House studio is located at my home, in a lowland hardwood forest just outside of Hillsborough, NC.  The first thing we did when moving here 6 years ago was build a network of trails across the land, and especially going down to the creek that runs through the property. 

Great Blue Heron and White tailed deer, hanging out in the creek

I walk these trails almost every day with my dog, always on the lookout for wildlife sightings. I often have a camera with me, taking reference photos for future block prints. Though we've seen muskrats, beaver, wood ducks, herons, turtles, and many other species, one thing I've never seen down at the creek was river otters. I just assumed the creek was too small to attract them. 

Last week, I was prepping to be a vendor at Enofest, an awesome music festival that serves as a fundraiser for our local state park on the Eno River.  I was working on a new river otter print, and I really wanted to surprise everybody by having it ready in time for the festival.  I completed the prints below, and had them drying in the studio.  The next morning, I was walking the trails as usual when I saw something amazing.  Three wild river otters, swimming in my creek. I've often seen otters in zoos and aquariums, but I've never seen them in the wild. It was one of the best wildlife expereinces of my life, and I took it as a blessing for these newest prints: 

Otter Dive, 8x10, $29

Here's a video I captured of the experience.  It's a little shaky because I'm trying to film with one hand, and hold my dog with the other. I didn't want her to make these visitors feel unwelcome in our woods! 

I don't know if these otters will be back-- I'll keep y'all posted if they do. In the meantime, I'm holding onto this experience, and pulling a fresh batch of river otter prints, because the folks at Eno Fest completely sold me out of the first print run!  If you want to order one, you can buy online here, and I'll ship them out when the ink is dry--probably next week.