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November 3, 2011 - New York

Our day started out once again at McDonald’s. They have free wi-fi, free re-fills, a clean bathroom and they’re warm. We still haven’t found a generator in this land of the Northeast which just had 3 million people out of electricity so we indulged in Breakfast out. Sitting beside Sterling this morning as he loaded video’s to You Tube, I noticed a picture on the wall which was an old menu board with 1970‘s prices. Since this trip is in many ways all about Nostalgia, I told Sterling about McDonald’s in our family.

I grew up in Melrose, MA in the 1960‘s. My family summered on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro NH and on Friday nights we’d stop at the McDonalds near Pease AFB, in Newington, NH. My Dad would feed our family of 6 on $5.00 and get change. Cup of tea and 2 hash browns was $3.48. here in Kingston, NY this morning. Gas was $3.79 per gallon.

Kingston, NY is a fairly large city which has grown up in the center of an otherwise rural area. This region of NY is known as the Catskills. It was the birthplace of FDR and where his Presidential Library is located. As you drive through Ulster County the countryside is dotted with beautiful, antique, stone homes built by the Dutch who settled the Hudson River Valley during the early to mid18th century.

Set among the bucolic countryside and stone houses we drove down a back country, tree lined, winding road not far from Woodtock New York coming upon Kat O’Sullivan’s house which is situated on 16 acres and sticks out like a bright red, sore thumb among her neighbors who live in their monochromatic stone houses. Kat’s house is exuberant, fresh, exciting and exudes all her creative passion which just can’t be held back. Like the bright gem encrusted star necklace she wears around her neck, she is a brightly shining star.

When you you pull in, the yard, her two, fully decorated, art car, school buses sit. The larger of the two she lived in during her Dead Head period and then when she was in college in Santa Cruz, studying Anthropology. The smaller of the two buses is a shorter version she parks right outside the front door to her house. Her front door is painted bright green with faux oversize grains which are almost Flinstone like. The ceiling is painted in a round rainbow design.

Kat O’Sullivan greeted us at the door with a warm welcome hug and invited us into her inner sanctum. It was such a privilege and a genuine treat going into her environment. The element of surprise just goes on and on. Every surface is covered with chachkas. Her front hall is decorated with framed bug and butterfly specimens. Her refrigerator pantry is plastered with Luis Miguel paintings of Jesus. Her kitchen counters are covered with $100 worth of pennies. The morning glories grow in through her kitchen window which overlooks a pond. Every corner is filled with stained glass and guest beds with brightly colored crazy quilts. Her personal space which is shared with her mate Mason is high energy but she is very calm. She smiles when she shares that Mason indulges her impulses to be creative. The wrought-iron head board turned upside down and painted bright red shines like a masthead on the front of her house.

She developed her aesthic sense while following the Grateful Dead in the early 1990‘s for the 5 years just before Jerry Garcia passed away. Someone had asked her to a concert when she was 14 and she was so turned on by what she saw she decided to triple up on her classes and graduated from high school at 15. The daughter of a Long Island lawyer, she is well heeled and quite articulate.

I found Kat to be wise and compassionate beyond her years. Her sense of community, morality and hard work is well developed. She is very thoughtful and understanding about Outsider Artists and does not consider herself to be one, explaining that Outsider Artists can’t control what they do and don’t care about the “outside machine". She admits to having bought into the system when she and Mason purchased their home 2 years ago and their hard work is very evident at every turn. She did go so far as to admit to being obsessive when she starts a project and that she can’t or won’t let it go until it’s finished.

But all of this aside the most amazing detail about Kat is the totally awesome folk art, sweater coats makes. The are wonderful creations of coats, mittens or scarves made from recycled sweaters. She makes between 30 and 40 coats each month and lists them for sale all at once on the website http://www.etsy.com Search Katwise to see all her new sweaters on November 7th.
Priced between $250 and $400, they sell out within 15 seconds after they’re listed. She also has her own website at http://www.katwise.com/ which is cool but doesn’t provide a place to buy.

I saw a quote someplace I really liked which fits Kat like a glove “I’m an artist, I’m hear to live out-loud!”

For more information on www.Katwise.com and don’t forget to watch the YouTube Video we’re posting.