Ken Elliott / For the Color: April 2015

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

New Work: Fall Imposing, oil on canvas 36 x 60 inches

Fall Imposing

oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches

Total Arts Gallery, Taos, NM

Edge of the Woods

oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

Total Arts Gallery, Taos, NM

This oil developed from a smaller work (above), Edge of the Woods 36 x 36 inches. I wanted to make a more horizontal version and push the reds further. In doing so, I noted some greens on the left portion of the oil while it was in progress. After trying other colors on the left, I kept coming back to the green because it created more impact and the unusual look I wanted.

The painting grew stronger as the brightness of the colors increased. In the end, I kept feeding brighter reds and greens into this scene, merging the two and adding other designs devices until it all came into balance.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Exhibition: One the 5 Best Denver Area Art Shows in 2014

Exhibited: Trees and Slope, monotype on two plates with chine colle, 14 7/8 x 29 7/8 inches

Westword Denver named a group exhibit I was in last year as one of the 5 best Denver area art shows in 2014. Open Press: Celebrating 25 Years of Printmaking at the McNichols Building. Mark Lunning, master printer and owner of Open Press was the curator.

Thank you Mark for including me in your very successful survey exhibit!

Exhibited: Blue Skies III, monotype on two plates with chine colle, 23 1/2 x 17 7/8 inches

**From Westword Magazine**

Open Press: Celebrating 25 Years of Printmaking at the McNichols Building

The McNichols Building is not an ideal place for an art show, despite the generous proportions of the spaces; it has too many windows that eat up the wall space and flood the rooms with too much light. Despite this serious limitation, however, Mark Lunning was able to mount a show that worked well anyway. It was carried by the compelling topic and by Lunning's admirable skill as an exhibition designer. By looking back at his career as a master printer at Open Press, Lunning selected examples by fifty artists who he had worked with over the period. And the revelation of his picks was that apparently nearly every important Denver painter lined up at his door to have him make their prints. This made the show not only an accounting of Open Press, but by extension of the art scene at large in the city over the last quarter century. The show, which ran last spring, was the perfect inaugural event for the Month of Printmaking, or Mo' Prints, which is a biennial event that alternates with the Month of Photography.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Grateful Notices: Light on the Winter Meadow

Light on the Winter Meadow

Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

Sold by Element, Denver, CO Private collection, Denver, CO

I was fairly new to Colorado when I did this oil. The stark bands of trees against the snow caught my attention. As I got into the work, the snow had to take on different looks depending on the light and distance - a new puzzle for someone that hadn't been around snow. Once the green and light-catching trees were put in, the rest of the painting became an interesting place to push the yellows and try the effects of red and mauves.

Looking back, I now remember that I made a great start with this but didn't know what to do next. It sat in the studio, waiting for me to come up with the next moves for over 6 months. I'm very glad I took my time. It's a favorite of mine.

Thanks to Elements and the Denver couple that gave it a good home!