{"id":4,"date":"2015-05-24T01:01:49","date_gmt":"2015-05-24T01:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rainsongdesign.net\/artwp1\/?page_id=4"},"modified":"2021-09-21T18:45:38","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T18:45:38","slug":"about-the-artist","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/about-the-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"About Karen"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>A passion for the magical, dreamtime world.<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pic-of-me.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-488\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-488 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pic-of-me-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Karen Rainsong picture\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pic-of-me-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pic-of-me-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pic-of-me-184x184.jpg 184w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been an artist my whole life, exploring through photography, painting, mixed media assemblage and more. I love to explore consciousness and the inner self\/shadow self\/dream state. Sharing art is a joy, and I love to offer classes in crafting &#8211; bringing people together to create.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In college I wanted to be a writer, and a literature teacher. But I also knew I was an artist, and self-expression brought me joy. I quickly discovered photography, and the wonders of the darkroom, and proceeded to devour hours in the dark, playing with shadow, light, dreamy images of women and surreal figures. I infused my work with poetry and personal meaning. Everything was about self discovery. I was influenced early on by the work of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, and personal teachers and mentors along the way. Museums and galleries were my passion, and I imagined being a curator some day.<\/p>\n<p>While working at the Women&#8217;s Center at my college, Cal State University Northridge, I curated an art show by survivors of domestic violence. Exploring themes of women&#8217;s spirituality and empowerment was important; there was no question- goddess symbology spoke to me and I owned it- in my art and my personal life. I explored myself by becoming an artist&#8217;s muse, a band photographer, a magician&#8217;s sidekick, a nature priestess, a craftsperson, a\u00a0 photography instructor&#8230;you get the idea.<\/p>\n<p>After college I moved to Eugene, started a family and my graphic and website design business, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\">Rainsong Design<\/a>. I continue to create my art with surreal, dreamlike impressions, but now instead of darkroom work I create mixed media assemblage and tinker with found objects. Sometimes my photographs want to be a part of the piece and they make their way into it. These days I am fascinated with storytelling and the art of Faerie Tales. I have set out to read every single one I can get my hands on, from classics to forgotten tomes.<\/p>\n<p>My latest obsession began when I spied a ragged but plain looking book on the shelf at an antique shop in downtown Eugene. It was the story &#8220;Honey Bee&#8221; by Anatole France. I took it home and devoured it- the story and the writing were so poetic they moved me to stop and write down extraordinary passages and to create art about this story. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/treasures-memory-clock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">See the clock with the quote<\/a> on it in the Galleries. Then I was hooked in a big way, and the Faerie Tales are piling up in my\u00a0life.<\/p>\n<p>The magic and wonder of childhood is an integral part of the evolution of my art. I also teach children about art, history and nature&#8230;work which feeds my soul.<\/p>\n<h3>Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/workshops\/\">Studio Classes<\/a> page to see upcoming events at my art studio!<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A passion for the magical, dreamtime world. &nbsp; I&#8217;ve been an artist my whole life, exploring through photography, painting, mixed media assemblage and more. I love to explore consciousness and the inner self\/shadow self\/dream state. Sharing art is a joy, and I love to offer classes in crafting &#8211; bringing people together to create.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":422,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions\/422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainsongdesign.net\/mysticat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}