April 2024 Fine Art Newsletter

April News:   “There is always color, it has yet to become light.” Pierre Bonnard The Workshop with Mimosa, 1935 Bonnard was a remarkable colorist and considered one of the key painters that moved painting beyond what Monet and his circle, the Impressionists, had been doing. A generation younger than Monet, Bonnard lived close by and visited Monet in his final years.  I am looking in on Bonnard at times, working to illuminate and animate what begins as flat planes of color. It's problematical but when successful, it's very satisfying to watch the painting come alive with its own glow.   I am excited to announce that beginning Friday, May 10, I will be represented by Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, 621 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM. They are inaugurating a new space with current and new artists and I am honored to be included. Just announcing my 3-Day Intensive Advanced Strategies Workshops June, 7-9, 2024. Information is posted on the Workshop and Mentoring pages. It's a very personalized, maximum class of 6 and I hope you will join us in my Castle Rock (metro Denver) studio for great information and fun! New artworks and 3 commissions are emerging in the studios right now, a place of constant surprises. Ken

New Works: Bright Flow II Oil on canvas, 24 x 48 inches $4,750 framed Exhibiting: Breckenridge Gallery, Breckenridge, Colorado About this oil Green and Yellow Encounter Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches $6,750 framed Exhibiting: Breckenridge Gallery, Breckenridge, Colorado About this oil   Available Works: Golds Descending Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches Exhibiting: Saks Galleries, Denver CO, framed $4400 About this oil In the Forest Surround Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches Exhibiting: Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM $9250 framed About this oil Autumn Arrayed Pastel on sanded paper, 12x 16 inches Exhibiting: Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM Framed $1,750 About this pastel 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 Ken Elliott American Landscapes coffee table book: This large coffee table book reprises over 25 years of my works in oil, pastel, monotype, etching and collage. Large, coffee table hardback version, 11 x 13 inches, 94 color pages with essays. Book and a signed giclee print of the cover image: $160 or just order the book for $129. eBook versions available for Amazon Kindle Fire®, Apple iOS devices, and macOS computers for $14.99.You can preview the complete book and how to order your electronic or hardback versions from my website. View my newest artworks sign up for this newsletter here Saccades XIII Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches Exhibiting: Sorelle Gallery, Westport, Connecticut 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 Contact Ken 303-995-1611 email website Sign up for Ken's blog Sign up for this newsletter Image top: (cropped here) Bright Flow II Oil on canvas, 24 x 48 inches $4,750 framed Exhibiting: Breckenridge Gallery, Breckenridge, Colorado About this oil American Art Collector Magazine: "Elliott's canvases display the strikingly vivid modern hues in which he chooses to render his contemporary landscapes."  Southwest Art Magazine: Although his paintings loosely reference photographs and plein-air sketches, they refuse to exist within the confines of already-prescribed images. Rather, they stand independent of any specific place or time, the fulfilled pursuits of the artist’s visual and intellectual explorations. Elliott wields color boldly, creating sizzling, vibrant shapes that are at once kinetic and placid, grounded in unifying illumination, and focused compositions. He has a fascination with line structure as well, believing that “edges empower colors.”  Private Lessons and studio visits: I have really enjoyed giving private lessons individually or with groups over the years. It is casual, focused and fun. It is always a pleasure welcoming collectors into my studio, please email me a call to arrange a time. The workshops are very stimulating and you will see a big result in your approach to making fine art and clarity on your career strategies. Let's discuss what works best for you. What they are saying: One of the best artists and teachers I know. S. "I had a clue what might be in store for my friends, but it went WAY beyond. You have a real gift. What a FANTASTIC couple of days!!!’ L. "Thank you so much for the wonderful, thought compelling workshop. You rekindled my love for making art. Your enthusiasm is contagious and felt throughout the room. You set up a stimulating environment that provided continuous visual images and your generosity in sharing those photos was much appreciated. I found you to be humorous, supportive and kind. I would recommend you as an instructor to anyone who would like to take their art to the next level." I loved the weekend. And I can't wait until we get to soak up your love for the work, for Wolf Kahn, for COLOR -- yet again (note that I'm greedy).You are an amazing addition to our lives." M. "Thank you so much for lighting up our lives and our paintings at this past weekend’s workshop! I loved hearing about your time with Wolf Kahn, your thoughts on painting, the beautiful demo, and of course the great feedback you provided us on our own paintings." "You really reignited my desire to paint freely. Thanks also for your generosity in sharing the numerous links." "I hope to spend another weekend painting with you sometime soon." B.H. "Thank you for the workshop! It was a great two days. You are an amazing host and instructor, (two things that don’t always work together). "You pulled something from each of us and it was wonderful to be a part of it. Thanks to the moon and back," V. "Thank you Ken. It was a wonderment! I learned so much." Kathy "I so enjoyed meeting you and being part of the workshop. You got me on fire!!!!!" Ed "Wow! My weekend of private lessons was fabulous! While I was there I stepped into a whole new world that my soul was calling for." "Wonderful conversations, a beautiful time with great art everywhere and artistic success!" K. "Thanks SO VERY MUCH, Ken, for such a fun, informative, and energetic workshop. Your enthusiasm is contagious. What a wonderful weekend!!" C. "When I signed up for a painting workshop, who knew that it would be so much more.Thank you Ken. For your kindness, generosity of spirit, and sharing your knowledge and skill of painting with us." "Love the class, you are a great teacher!" B.

New Work: Bright Flow II, oil on canvas, 24 x 48 inches

 

Bright Flow II, oil on canvas, 24 x 48 inches
$4750 framed
 
 
About this oil:
I was very intrigued by the idea of a stand of bright, yellow trees fading into the shadows. Moving from bright to dark is also an opportunity to use an array of colors to make it happen and I looked forward to watching it play out.
 
The accuracy of the tree forms is secondary to the color and possible combinations. It’s all about making that yellow form glow and move. The tree on the right creates a stage of sorts and the stream below is useful to amplify the yellows and to provide the surprising reds on the lower left.
 
It all sounds simple enough but I started on this oil about a year ago, working on it on and off during that time. Sometimes the simple must have its season.

New Work: Yellow Day, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches

Exhibiting: Saks Galleries
$5250. framed
 
One of the joys of being an artist, particularly one that loves color, is the freedom to make chromatic arrangements and let the colors go where they lead.
 
I do like this line of trees and the arrangement is very useful for a variety of color experiments. For this oil, the idea was to create a yellow line of trees, but what of the other elements and  their contribution to the finished work? 
 
As this piece evolved, I put in hints of blues behind the trees to make something happen. It  created an immediate statement and it was as if the blues were insisting on more. So to make a more interesting subject, I laid in purples on the right and to create an interesting flow and separation, aquas were added at the center.
 
After a break of a couple of days, I was considering the idea of making this a soft, poetic piece but I pushed on with a stronger yellow for the field. Once everything was in place, it was a matter of how bright to make the oil. With each successive studio session, small accidents were added, with the sky as a combination of very pale colors. The idea was to turn the yellows loose against that bright sky and wedge the blues in between the trees and field. With that, all the colors would be at their maximum intensity, but somehow making a believable forest. 
 
In the end, it was a happy, yellow day in the studio.