New Work: Bright Stand, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

In the studio, $5700 framed

About this oil:

This oil began as a demonstration in my recent art class. The idea was to create a colorful forest scene, but in an abstracted way. It began with this simple compositional idea and from there I filled the canvas with a wall of color and in the front, a cacophony of brush strokes.

There were a lot of puzzles to solve at that point, but working through the chaos, I pushed forward with color… a lot of color. By doing so, I was actually adding to the chaos but regardless, the oil was becoming much more expressive and interesting.

At the start, the background tree wall was created in blues and pale reds but it needed more, so I made all of it brighter, removed some of the foliage and then the composition began to drive the oil. The bright wall in the back encouraged brighter colors everywhere and I was happy go along.

The painting came to a nice conclusion, fulfilling what I had set out to do with an abundance of color and expressiveness.

Opening at Saks Galleries, Denver: November 17 and 18, 2023

More about Winters Evening and Golds Descending Oils on canvas, $4400 framed each.Visit Ken's website

I hope to see you there!

Exhibiting at Saks Galleries, Denver

Gallery Group Show, "A World of Thanks," Opening Reception Friday, Nov. 17, 5 - 7 pm, and Open House, Saturday Nov.18,10 - 4 pm.

In Cherry Creek 3019 E 2nd Ave, Denver, CO 80206

Phone: 303-333-4144

 

Just announced

3-Day Intensive Workshop with Ken Elliott

Castle Rock, CO Denver Metro, Fri - Sun, September 20 - 22, 2023

This is the last Workshop of 2023 

Workshop flyer

Open to 5 artists $590

3 spots left

Fri - Sun, 9:30 - 4 pm

Sunday evening after break, Photoshop Tools 4:30 - 6 pm

Conversations will continue after hours with those that want to stay for dinner.

Open to artists at all skill levels and media

An indoor, fully immersive, three-day workshop.

Open to 6 artists, $590.

Airport transportation and some lodging is available. 

​

To Register

Questions? Contact Ken

303-995-1611  email

View the workshop video

Ken will discuss strategies for creating better artworks with a variety of common and creative tools. The workshop will focus on concepts for making better starts, compelling artworks, going to new places in your work, and how to make fine art. They will use informative videos and pass on strategies, some not the literature, but handed down from the very best teachers.

You will be going deeper into the how-to of making more appealing artworks. ​After the day's sessions, the group is invited to further discussions and dinner. After the Sunday session, Ken will present Photoshop techniques for taking your works to the next level and creating better pathways for finishing your artworks. You will be given a simplified Photoshop guide and have access to a large photo file of over 2000 inspiring artworks.

Ken will demonstrate painting using oil and pastels, if requested. In addition to making art works, Ken will talk about business and promotion, necessary tools for success in the marketplace.

​There will be serious discussions, laughs, and your questions with more continuing after class hours. We will all come away with new tools to take your art to the next level.

Ample time will be given to live problem solving, daily critiques and creative options.

​3 immersive days / $590 per person. 

Please note that Ken is available for group Workshops in your area or individually or groups up to three for the remainder of 2022.

​Contact Ken to schedule a workshop in your area.​

Please inquire by email or 303-995-1611

3-Day Intensive Workshop with Ken Elliott, Denver, Fri-Sun, September 8-10, 2023

3-Day Intensive Workshop with Ken Elliott

Castle Rock, CO Denver Metro, Fri-Sun, September 8-10, 2023 

Workshop flyer

Open to 5 artists $590

Sold out

Fri - Sun, 9:30 - 4 pm

Sunday evening after break, Photoshop Tools 4:30 - 6 pm

Conversations will continue after hours with those that want to stay for dinner.

Open to artists at all skill levels and media

An indoor, fully immersive, three-day workshop.

Open to 6 artists, $590.

Airport transportation and some lodging is available. 

​

To Register

Questions? Contact Ken

303-995-1611  email

View the workshop video

Ken will discuss strategies for creating better artworks with a variety of common and creative tools. The workshop will focus on concepts for making better starts, compelling artworks, going to new places in your work, and how to make fine art. They will use informative videos and pass on strategies, some not the literature, but handed down from the very best teachers.

You will be going deeper into the how-to of making more appealing artworks. ​After the day's sessions, the group is invited to further discussions and dinner. After the Sunday session, Ken will present Photoshop techniques for taking your works to the next level and creating better pathways for finishing your artworks. You will be given a simplified Photoshop guide and have access to a large photo file of over 2000 inspiring artworks.

Ken will demonstrate painting using oil and pastels, if requested. In addition to making art works, Ken will talk about business and promotion, necessary tools for success in the marketplace.

​There will be serious discussions, laughs, and your questions with more continuing after class hours. We will all come away with new tools to take your art to the next level.

Ample time will be given to live problem solving, daily critiques and creative options.

​3 immersive days / $590 per person. 

Please note that Ken is available for group Workshops in your area or individually or groups up to three for the remainder of 2022.

​Contact Ken to schedule a workshop in your area.​

Please inquire by email or 303-995-1611

​Next 3-Day Intensive Workshop with Ken Elliott / July 21-23, 2023

3-Day Intensive Workshop with Ken Elliott

Castle Rock, CO Denver Metro, Fri-Sun, July 21-23, 2023 

Workshop flyer

Open to 6 artists $590

Sold out / next workshop Sept or Oct TBA

Fri - Sun, 9:30 - 4 pm

Sunday evening after break, Photoshop Tools 4:30 - 6 pm

Conversations will continue after hours with those that want to stay for dinner.

Open to artists at all skill levels and media

An indoor, fully immersive, three-day workshop.

Open to 6 artists, $590.

Airport transportation and some lodging is available. 

​

To Register

Questions? Contact Ken

303-995-1611  email

View the workshop video

Ken will discuss strategies for creating better artworks with a variety of common and creative tools. The workshop will focus on concepts for making better starts, compelling artworks, going to new places in your work, and how to make fine art. They will use informative videos and pass on strategies, some not the literature, but handed down from the very best teachers.

You will be going deeper into the how-to of making more appealing artworks. ​After the day's sessions, the group is invited to further discussions and dinner. After the Sunday session, Ken will present Photoshop techniques for taking your works to the next level and creating better pathways for finishing your artworks. You will be given a simplified Photoshop guide and have access to a large photo file of over 2000 inspiring artworks.

Ken will demonstrate painting using oil and pastels, if requested. In addition to making art works, Ken will talk about business and promotion, necessary tools for success in the marketplace.

​There will be serious discussions, laughs, and your questions with more continuing after class hours. We will all come away with new tools to take your art to the next level.

Ample time will be given to live problem solving, daily critiques and creative options.

​3 immersive days / $590 per person. 

Please note that Ken is available for group Workshops in your area or individually or groups up to three for the remainder of 2022.

​Contact Ken to schedule a workshop in your area.​

Please inquire by email or 303-995-1611

Next 3-Day Intensive Workshop with Ken Elliott Castle Rock, CO Denver Metro, May. 5-7, 2023

Open to artists at all skill levels and media
An indoor, fully immersive, three-day workshop

Workshop flyer
​To Register

Open to 6 artists $590  2 spots left
​
May 5-7:

Fri - Sat, 9:30 - 4 pm
Sunday evening after break, Photoshop Tools 4:30 - 6 pm
​
Airport transportation and some lodging is available. 
​
​Questions? Contact Ken
303-995-1611  email
 
View the workshop video
 
Ken will discuss strategies for creating better artworks with a variety of common and creative tools. The workshop will focus on concepts for making better starts, compelling artworks, going to new places in your work, and how to make fine art. They will use informative videos and pass on strategies, some not the literature, but handed down from the very best teachers.

Grateful Notices: Trees in Shadow, oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches

My sincere thanks to the collectors that purchased this oil.

About this artwork:
This painting came from a previous and smaller oil, Winters Evening, a 30 x 30 canvas.
 
I was very intrigued by the upper part of the earlier oil and wanted to do a larger, wider version while pushing the colors further. Starting with the deep purple, it was quickly apparent that this would be a bolder oil and the strong blue overlay made that happen.
 
It’s an unusual composition with the trees emerging from a dark hillside and upward to the iridescent sky, creating a powerful contrast all along the tree-sky edge.
 
This is a high-key color work and this oil was like a horse that wanted to run! I took my time and in the space of a month, a number of subtleties were added a bit at a time, adding interest and complexity.
 
It is one of those simple looking works that has hundreds of moves in it and somewhere in that scene is the tightrope that I was walking the entire time.

New Work: Color in Motion, oil canvas, 30 x 30 in.

 

Color in Motion

Oil canvas, 30 x 30 in.
Private Collection

 
About this oil:
I set out to do a painting with this palette in mind and after considering different landscapes, the idea of clouds was the most appealing choice and it offered the most flexibility.
 
The oil was first laid out with tangerine and yellow and once the shapes were roughly in place, then the fun began. What colors are needed to make the tangerine and yellow more interesting? The best way to find out is by trying out various combinations.
 
The exciting part is when something good and unexpected happens. Once that combination takes a spot on in the composition, it sends out a ripple, raising the bar across the canvas.
 
There were a number of those surprises and it resulted in the addition of layered of blues and purples at the top of the piece. Not only did they provide a nice counterpoint to the warmer colors but they also indicated atmosphere, a big improvement to the piece and something I love to do.
 
Creating paintings is a delightful experience, setting off on a creative journey to what often ends up being an unknown destination. If all goes well, someone will take it home and it begins another life, another journey.

February Newsletter 2023

February News: "Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is." — Jackson Pollock A lot of what I do has been described as powerful and calm, colorful and poetic, simple and complicated. Apparently, and like so many of us, we are full of contradictions and difficult to describe.  It's nice not to have too many limits! A number of new oils have been started this month and there is the usual crowd of existing canvases in progress, insistently waiting their turn. Two finished oils follow below. It has been a pleasurable month of friends, artists and tasks completed. The world can be a difficult place, but I am fortunate to be able to create a measure of calm in the studio and put it out into the world for you.

New Works: Into the Green Forest Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches Exhibiting: Exhibiting: Saks Galleries, Denver, CO $10500 framed About this oil Winters Evening Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches $4400 framed In the studio  About this oil Available Works: Purple Woods Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches Exhibiting: Boston Art, Boston, MA $6650 framed About this oil Sunset Impression, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches Exhibiting: Page + Waterman Gallery, Wellesley, MA $5350 framed About this oil Red Stand Oil on canvas, 40 X 40 inches $6650 framed Currently in the U.S. Art for Embassies program, installed in the Ambassadors Residence, Dushanbe, Tajikistan Workshops and Mentoring Sessions: Take your work to new heights. My Workshops and Mentoring Sessions will focus on strategies for making better paintings, colorist tools, going to new places in your work and making fine art. We will be going deeper into making better and more appealing artworks with a variety of strategies and in some sessions, there will be time for Photoshop insights made easy. all workshop info Here's a video about what happens in the Group and Private Workshops View my newest artworks sign up for this newsletter here Winter Light II Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches Exhibiting: Bill Hester Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico $8200 framed About this oil This monthly newsletter is the best way to stay up to date with my new works and events. You can also follow me on Facebook and go more in depth with my blog. To view the total of my works in all media and in all my galleries, go to www.kenelliott.com Pass this onto a friend and they can sign up for this newsletter here. Thank you, Ken

New Work: Winters Evening, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches

 New Work: Winters Evening, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches

In the studio, $4400 framed

To purchase

About this oil:

This painting was full of surprises, twists and turns, but throughout, I insisted on that blue tree line in shadow. This was one of over a dozen other works currently in progress and it gave me the luxury of taking my time with each one, including a larger variation of this completed one still in the works.

As I was painting this oil, there was a calm that continued to come through. Despite my multiple experiments with the tree shapes and different skies, that serenity persisted.

As the painting evolved, the land and sky forms became more simplified and inversely, more powerful. After many changes and sessions, it all came together chromatically with every element finding the optimal placement.