New Work: Trees in Shadow, oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches

In the studio, $8500 framed

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.

New Work: Into the Green Forest, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

New Work: Into the Green Forest, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

Exhibiting: Saks Galleries, Denver, CO

$10500 framed

To purchase 

About this oil:

There are a number of ideas at work in this oil. The first is the scale, the feeling of immersion in this forest. It is certainly the case when I’m creating a 5-foot scene of trees up close and it is all that I can see.

Also, there isn’t a break in the spacing of the trunks. In this arrangement, there is a slight change in density but the overall effect is of being in the forest and surrounded in that calm without an obvious path through. Although, and I just saw this, you could follow the golden path to the right!

There is a great deal of depth set up by the green and orange bands on the forest floor that give way to the glowing yellow-green forest beyond. As the painting developed, I was almost a spectator as the forest continued to expand outward, eventually giving way to the bits of sky at the top.

The colors are subtle, as this is a forest of many greens but the painting it is not really green. There are variations of blues and reds that are woven into the scene and they keep the green tones from shouting.

I will miss it when it leaves the studio.

January Newsletter, 2023

 

January News: “Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” - Salvador Dalí "The perfect is the enemy of the good.” - Voltaire As artists, most of us start out trying very hard to achieve perfection. As a beginning landscaper painter, I was on the path, striving for the unattainable, but much was learned along the way.  One of the foundational discoveries I finally made was that nature is imperfect and in that way, it is absolutely perfect. That's encouraging. To that end, January has been a great month for painting almost every day and two 4 x 5 foot canvases were completed along with numerous starts. It's a joy and the studio is getting a bit crowded, but what a superb way to start the year.

New Works: Found Colors at the Snows Edge II Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches Exhibiting: Madelyn Jordan Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY Framed, $10500 About this oil Gathering Light III Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches $10500 framed In the studio  About this oil Ultramarine Blue Forest Oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches Exhibiting: Madelyn Jordan Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY $2450 framed About this oil Available Works: Brightly Lit Woods Oil on canvas, 48 x 72 inches Exhibiting: Breckenridge Gallery, Breckenridge, CO $10500 framed About this oil Resumed - Blue Conversation, oils on canvas, 48" x 60" each, 48" x 120" total Exhibiting: Breckenridge Gallery, Breckenridge, CO $24,000.00 About this oil 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 $125. 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 Snow in Shadow Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches Exhibiting: Saks Galleries, Denver, CO $5700 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 Contact Ken 303-995-1611 email website Sign up for Ken's blog Sign up for this newsletter Image top: (cropped here) Gathering Light III Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches $10500 framed In the studio  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: "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. "Your painting demonstrations and the information you gave us  was invaluable- no wonder your paintings are so moving. I so enjoyed meeting you. Thank you for coming to Virginia." S. "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 can't thank you enough for coming to Boulder! Thank you for your clear eye, your hard work, your beautiful color and your careful feedback. I'm now a different Painter...maybe a different person? 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.

New Work: Into the Green Forest, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

Into the Green Forest
Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

Exhibiting: Saks Galleries, Denver, CO

 
About this oil:
 There are a number of ideas at work in this oil. The first is the scale, the feeling of immersion in this forest. It is certainly the case when I’m creating a 5-foot scene of trees up close and it is all that I can see.
 
Also, there isn’t a break in the spacing of the trunks. In this arrangement, there is a slight change in density but the overall effect is of being in the forest and surrounded in that calm without an obvious path through. Although, and I just saw this, you could follow the golden path to the right!
 
There is a great deal of depth set up by the green and orange bands on the forest floor that give way to the glowing yellow-green forest beyond. As the painting developed, I was almost a spectator as the forest continued to expand outward, eventually giving way to the bits of sky at the top.
 
The colors are subtle, as this is a forest of many greens but the painting it is not really green. There are variations of blues and reds that are woven into the scene and they keep the green tones from shouting.
 
I will miss it when it leaves the studio.