Katherine Hocker
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Katherine Hocker, a Juneau native, spent her childhood immersed in the wilderness, fostering a deep love for nature and science. With a passion for art and an insatiable curiosity, she juggles numerous creative projects simultaneously, from book illustrations to commissioned paintings, reflecting her diverse interests and talents.
Katherine Hocker
5M ago
For the month of May, I’ve had a solo show hanging at the Gateway Gallery here in Gustavus. Since I’ve had several individual pieces in group shows—and since many folks here are familiar with my science illustration style work—I wanted this one to share a side of my art that people might not have seen as much.
Half of the show…
In addition to bird portraits and “slice” style landscapes, this show includes a giant sketch-style canvas with the poem that sparked my new children’s book I Was—The Stories of Animal Skulls, plus a series nest-inspired semi-abstract panels.
…and the other half
The sho ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
The star shape on the gnomon casts a shadow allowing us to mark specific points in the yearly solar cycle. I already had a mark for the Summer Solstice solar zenith, and wanted to catch the shadow at Winter Solstice zenith as well.
The day didn’t look promising—lots of rain and low clouds. But just a few minutes past zenith time, the clouds zipped open. Close enough!
I was tickled to see that the yellowlegs (the bird to the right of the shadow) just happens to be pointing its beak directly at Winter Solstice zenith ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
All the hour-birds are now on the back wall; the floor is next. I’m planning to do a kind of pebble-textured surface with lighter and darker stripes for the hour intervals. Wayne created an ornament that attaches to the gnomon; on the summer solstice zenith, it will illuminate a single spot on the floor, and I’ll mark that spot with something special. Not quite settled on what ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
Partially-completed sundial. The oystercatcher’s eye marks the noon line. Can you tell what time this photo was taken?
A couple of years ago, my friends Kim and Wayne asked me to paint a mural on their house. They had built a small greenhouse, then decided they didn’t want it anymore. They disassembled it, leaving an empty roofless alcove on the house’s outside south wall.
They didn’t have any strong feelings about what the mural would consist of, so I spent way too long pondering what to paint. They’re both avid sea kayakers, so I thought it would be nice to include some representation of the ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
The Gustavus Community Center has a nice little gallery space in its foyer, where local artists have been holding monthly themed shows. May’s theme is birds. It is a great opportunity for Steve and me to display some of our recent collaborative bird sculptures (Steve carves them and creates the mounts, and I paint them). This photo shows half of the show. I painted the kingfisher, warblers, and whimbrel. Steve painted the turnstone.
The swan painting on the left is also mine. It took me four years to paint… not because I painted slowly but because I couldn’t decide on an approach for the sky ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
I recently started painting more small landscape studies. In part this is to improve my ability to show the environment for the critters I paint. But the process is also teaching me more about choosing and balancing colors (something I’ve always been a bit shaky at). And it helps me learn to adjust landscape elements—and even create whole new landscapes—while still having the artwork feel true to life ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
Carver friend Steve provided me with two new bird painting “assignments.” First was a kingfisher, which had quite a bit of wood patch-work so I decided to paint it completely rather than try to show the wood grain as I did with the owl last summer.
Then a whimbrel. This one had to show the wood grain—it’s such a natural undercurrent for the feather texture ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
Here’s the last set. As in previous years, this has been challenging, fun, and surprisingly productive—every year, I’ve ended up with at least one or two images that turned into other art projects—from sweatshirt designs to greeting cards. I wonder which of this year’s will inspire a future art piece?
My thanks to the folks at SCBWI and GNSI for creating the prompt lists!
“Whiskered”“Shell.” These are from one of my favorite clam species… the delightfully wonky (and highly talented) piddock (Zirfea pisbryi )“Parasites”
Another fun exploration of negative space: “Dolphin” and “Bees”
“Amphora” a ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
The SCBWI prompt was “Ride,” so of course Banjo Woman was a shoo-in. As for the rest, I’ve been researching dung beetles for a writing project.
“Mushroom.” I loved drawing this one!
“Exoskeleton” made for a cool abstract pattern. It’s a dung beetle, of course ..read more
Katherine Hocker
8M ago
“Root”“Bird” and “Basket.” I want someone to make this!“Plankton” and “Bat.” Of course.“Scales.” This is based on electron micrographs of placoid scales ..read more