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.

Article: Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, April 2020 / Thrill: An Artist's Perspective on Painting Landscapes

Thrill: An Artist’s Perspective on Painting Landscapes. An interview with Ken Elliott

Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine

By Fine Art Today
April 29, 2020

"Gold Progressions" Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches  Private collection, Michigan

On Landscape Paintings / An interview with Ken Elliott

Over 40 years ago I got a job working in a frame shop and for most of the years since then, I’ve been involved in the art business. More frame shops followed and later, working in and managing art galleries. I had an aptitude for it and enjoyed every aspect of the business: finding the artists and acquiring good works to sell. I came up seeing the arts from a business side and I’m very fortunate for the experience.

As an art dealer I was often asked the question, “What should I be painting?”

I remember the answer that popped in my mind and stayed with me ever since: Thrill yourself.

I’ve been working as an artist for over 25 years now and it’s easy to succumb to the confusion of what to do, market forces, etc. It’s a difficult path, learning how to make art and simultaneously run a small business.

What is it that businesses basically provide? This is an oversimplification but businesses either provide a service or sell something we have been persuaded to want. Art is not something we have to have, but for many of us we like the feeling of artwork in the home or public spaces. I would offer that we create a need in the viewer’s mind by making compelling artworks and ideas that go beyond the commercial clichés.

“Saccades I,” Oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches  Private collection, Denver

In my works I’m not trying to project emotions, tell stories, or represent a scene. Certainly I’ve done these things in the past and they are valuable tools to have, but it wasn’t fulfilling for me. Then I remembered my advice: “thrill yourself.” If the artist is thrilled then many viewers will feel the same.

Some time ago I had a brief conversation with the great landscape artist Forrest Moses. He asked me how my work was going. I replied, “I’m sick of the tyranny of making landscapes.” He wanted to know what I meant by that. I added that I was not happy making pictures of places.

“What do you want to do?” He asked. A phrase quickly came to mind and I told him, “I want to make art objects."


So now I am a painter who wants to make thrilling art objects. Think of those impressionist paintings in their decorative frames. Those works are more like art objects than pictures of things. Okay, that’s a simple goal but when I stepped up to that next blank canvas, it made me realize that the bar for making Art had just gone way up.

When I first started to draw, I put together four reasonably good pastels and showed them to a good friend, a respectable artist and art teacher. He gave me the usual positive comments and complimented me on how quickly I was learning. Then he asked me if I wanted a real art critique. I was certainly ready for that because I thought I was doing very well at the time as a newly minted artist.

He said, “Just because you can draw doesn’t mean you can make fine art.”

There’s truth. I got the tattoo and kept going. Looking back, I could have pushed myself harder but that’s okay, that’s the path I took. However, I often criticized myself for a lack of courage. I felt that if I were attempting braver ideas I would get further quicker. That may be so but I learned much later that it wasn’t courage I needed.

“Soft Blue Progression,” Pastel on sanded paper, 14 x 14 inches  Private collection, South Carolina

On Creating Landscape Paintings

Today I don’t have concerns about doing large-scale works and trying out new ideas. Sometimes I appear pretty daring but that’s not what’s going on. I simply have more experience in solving problems. I’m not shy about getting into difficult positions anymore because I have more solutions.

I’m struggling less now but I find that I’m pushing myself harder than ever before to make those fine art objects.

Although I love all types of subject matter it is the landscape that pulls me the most. I’m not working outdoors so photography plays a role. Typically there is something in the landscape that interests me so I’ll get a shot of it and bring it into the studio. I don’t bother trying to represent the scene but rather explore the composition and other elements that intrigued me.

That initial painting is often the beginning of many more on that theme. My real passion is color, so that initial scene becomes a means to try out more color experiments later. I’m reasonably separated from the photograph so another universe opens up with unlimited potential, and so it goes as I continue through more paintings with those motifs of sky, trees, and land.

“Gathering Light II,” Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches  Private collection

In the oil “Gathering Light II” (above), I took a scene that I see every day, all greens and browns, and I pushed it hard. The strategy was to create a powerful, high-color scene. The stronger colors are not diluted, but magnified because they were not repeated elsewhere. It all comes together in a bright, luminous landscape where all of the elements accentuate the others, setting up the glowing red-orange background as a focal point.

The pastel “Wood at the Lake” (below) was a workshop demonstration on painting landscapes. I wanted to get the basics of this scene down and free myself to try out some color combinations. I got into trouble right away with it (how nice to have an audience when you’re scrambling), but it worked out to be a good lesson for all of us. With time running out, solutions had to come quickly. This pastel needed a lot of clarity so I added the aqua and surprisingly, that was a move that helped on a lot of levels. I had been too focused on the colors elsewhere. Once I added the darks and the complexity of those branches the rest was simple and I finished it out with a series of small chromatic moves. The composition was solid enough that the colors hardly mattered at that point—there were so many color options.

“Wood at the Lake,” Pastel on sanded paper, 15 x 14 inches  Private collection, North Carolina

I do far more oil landscape paintings than pastels these days but the pastel Soft Blue Progression is worth mentioning because it was also done under time constraints. My gallery requested something for a small show and since I had a studio full of larger projects on canvas, I had put this off. Now I was down to the day of the deadline, so I quickly sketched in a pattern of treetops, connecting them to a gently arching bit of land. As I began to fill it in, my concern was how to make it compelling. What I had on the paper was a “soft” start so I continued with that poetic vein. I held everything back and focused on making that background glow. That became the prime idea and from there everything else fell into place. I followed that pastel up with new a color combination in the oil painting “Gold Progression.” I’m very happy the gallery pushed me into doing that small pastel.

Earlier I alluded to creative destruction, and offered two examples of this: “Winter’s Morning” and “View to the Foothills, High Contrasts” (both landscape paintings shown below). These oils are the result of my painting over earlier, completed oils that had been in the studio for too long and it showed. I passed by those oils every day and at some point critical mass was reached and they went up on the easel. I had nothing to lose so I went on a fast attack and began to cover up the original oil creatively, letting some of the older work show through.

“Winter’s Morning,” Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches Private collection, Texas

“View to the Foothills, High Contrasts,” Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches Private collection, Colorado

Things were happening quickly and I didn’t stop for a break. I was determined to make a really good start with new color combinations and I would figure out the rest later. To my surprise, each canvas was finished in less than two hours and required just a few minor tweaks the next day.

A Series of Landscape Paintings

OK, there is a trend unspooling here and it doesn’t require endless studio sessions. I decided to pull out a French word I had been saving: saccades. I wanted a new motif where I could endlessly abstract the forest, keep it fresh and produce thoughtful works (art objects) that would thrill me. A French title would be just the right touch, oui?

With this Saccades series, much is abstracted and the forest motif becomes a place of patterns, color, and light effects. These works take on a life of their own quickly and they make a lot of demands: more shadow, color, light, mass, brights, blacks, in an endless dialog until they are finally in balance with all of their complexity. The Saccades works are designed without a singular focal point. This leads the eye to explore the equally engaging parts of the artwork without coming to rest in an obvious place.

About the word saccades: Since the late 19th century, researchers have been aware of the phenomenon of saccades, the rapid movement of the eye as we shift our attention from one thing to another. As a result, vision itself is discontinuous. We construct a “map of reality” from saccades much as a film editor puts together a scene from individual camera takes. (From an article by the film maker Errol Morris, New York Times, April 10, 2008)

I’ve had some nice successes with the two and five foot Saccades and the freedom they brought me. They made me want to try more of the tree forms I like doing but I wanted to keep that fresh look, something the plein air painters do so well. The result was the oil painting “Trees in Half Shade.”

“Trees in Half Shade,” Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches Private collection, Castle Rock, CO

That painting was another demo from a workshop. The entire idea was to make a good start and that was the case here. When I came back to the canvas about a month later, I could clearly see a number of good options going forward and happily, I wasn’t bogged down, trying to undo too many problems. That good start gave me the clarity to proceed. I decided to keep it loose and more color was added very directly with open strokes. There wasn’t enough contrast and the painting looked a bit weak so I grabbed a dark blue-green, adding it to the foliage and where the shapes made contact to the ground. The painting came alive with the new darks and now it required some stronger colors to keep up. Adding the brighter color was pure fun and I was a bit disappointed when the oil declared itself finished.

In the studio there are always a number of landscape paintings in progress — that way I never have to worry about being inspired to work. Plenty of puzzles are presenting themselves and I simply work on what seems solvable at the time. It’s all about making compelling, fine art objects by any means possible.

So back to the commerce side, I asked a businessman what was the secret to his obvious success. He said, “If you do something really well, making money is a side effect.”

Let’s go thrill 'em!

About Ken Elliott

Ken is a colorist with landscape paintings as the focus of that interest. His works are not portraits of places but scenes that are subjected to abstraction – still recognizable but infused with colors and values beyond the normal. For over 25 years he has explored his landscape themes, subjecting them to dramatic extremes of light and color combinations that are richly stimulating and at times poetic. His works are direct, showing the lessons of the Impressionist as well as Modern schools. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily in oils and pastels.

“I am continually drawn to the landscape and its infinite variations. The compositions are a starting point for unexpected things to happen. By pushing what is possible in the scene, new potentials are presented and I’m intrigued to follow. The works never follow a straight or efficient path because I am looking for what is not known and to bring it into form. I am trying to thrill myself and offer something new and precious to the viewer.”

View more landscape paintings by the artist: www.kenelliott.com

Video: Ken reviews and comments on some of his works at the Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT

In the studio with works in progress

Ken reviews and comments on some of his works at the Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT

click to view

It's always an interesting exercise to look back on a body of work and take the time to remember the many paths that brought those works to completion. In the studio, there are times when everything falls away and the artist is left with the paints and artistic problems to solve.

Looking at this video, I'm happy to see that all the puzzles were resolved at last and that the paintings are now out in the world to enjoy. After this little break, there are more canvases to make.

Grateful Notices: Soft Forest Blues, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

Soft Forest Blues, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches
Exhibited: Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT

My thanks to the collector for purchasing my work and to Sorelle Gallery for gracefully making it all possible.

A bit about this oil:

The goal here was to do a forest with blues woven into the composition. I wanted something subtle without the blues being primary. It's easy to use blues to make trees but it's difficult to make them believable.

All of the colors are greyed down, even the darks and lights, allowing the different blues to gently glow in the background. The numerous trunks and branches create a lot of complexity, all to create a veil for the blue hues. The line of trees is bordered with that bit of sky and the muted orange below, a bit of reality to bring it all together.

Finally, the foreground was muted even more, allowing the other subtleties in the painting a chance to be noticed.

Grateful Notices: All Over Sunset, Study, pastel on paper, 13 3/8 x 17 7/8

ALL OVER SUNSET, STUDY
Pastel 13 3/8 x 17 7/8 Private collection, Vancouver, Canada Exhibited: Page Waterman Gallery, Wellesley, MA

A very good friend in Florida sent me a photo of a sunset through the trees while on her walk. I kept coming back to that image and finally, I gave it a shot in pastel. The trees had a nice vertical aspect and they were very close together, a great set up for a more abstracted piece.

As the image progressed it became a playground for different colors. At first, it was all in warm tones and as the pastel moved forward, the blues and reds created more interest and interesting contrasts.

When it was done, I wanted more of that composition so, I started a 4 x 6 canvas and it worked out to be a very successful painting.

My thanks to R. who supplied the inspiration and to the collector in Vancouver that contacted me. It was very satisfying to make the sale and the conversation that followed was remarkable. Many thanks to you as well.

Commissions

Bight Patterns    Oil on canvas, 48 X 60     Collection, Columbine Country Club, Denver

Throughout the year, Ken is involved in a number of commissions for a variety of clients, private and public, across the country.

He was worked on sizes suitable for residences and as large as 6 x 18 feet for public spaces. 

His works have also been used in major motion pictures and TV productions.

Email Ken to begin the conversation or call 303-995-1611

6 x 18 ft continuous canvas commission for a prominent East Coast Hospital

Double commission for Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

For that special and unique artwork, consider Ken for your private and corporate commissions

Collections: partial listing

Hewlett Packard

Coopers and Lybrand                        

Kaiser-Permanente                    

Ritz Hotel, Denver

Four Seasons Hotel, Denver

St. Anthony's Hospital, Denver

Panhandle Eastern                   

National Dairy Board                

Grubb and Ellis, Denver

Marriott Hotels

Holland America Cruise Line

Stanford Cancer Center, Palo Alto

Tufts New England Medical Center

Pinnacol Denver Hospice, CO 

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

Gaylord Rockies Resort & Conference

    Center Aurora, CO

Vail Mountain Club, Vail, CO

Yampa Valley Medical Ctr, Steamboat Springs, CO

Vectra Bank, CO

Blue Shield

Hitachi

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Glenmoor Country Club, Denver

Project Energy

  St. John’s Mercy Medical Center,

    Creve Coeur, MO

Rose Medical Center, Parker, CO

Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital,

     Grand Rapids, MI

Magnet Bank, Atlanta

Ford, Harrison Law, Atlanta

Lowry Medical Center, Denver

Town and Country Hospital, Houston

Jones and Keller, Denver

Raychem

Birch Hill Investment Advisors, Boston

Avista Hospital, CO

Grateful Notices: Turning Autumn, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

Turning Autumn
Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, private collection
Exhibited:   Gallery 89, Steamboat Springs, CO

My sincere thanks to the collector that purchased this oil.

This painting works on numerous levels: the light running in from the right, delicate foliage helping to create depth, the verticals of the tree tops, and the deep blues happily contrasting with the yellow foreground.

That's a lot happening in this canvas, but the 4 foot square format provides plenty of creative room and there is plenty to see. The eye travels from the bright foreground all the way up and back to those atmospheric aquas at the very top. It's a very satisfying slice of the forest.

New Work: Last Sun over the Snow Fields, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

Last Sun over the Snow Fields, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches
Saks Galleries, Denver    $6650 framed

The last light is setting up a very subtle, but colorful effect. When we really examine it, snow on the ground is much more than just white. Besides, there are so many ways to represent a scene like this.

How about a Delft blue in the line of trees and why not create a predominately purple sky with touches of pinks, greens and pale cobalt?

Once it was done, the piece comes off looking simple but that was not the case with this one. Sometimes it's the austere compositions that challenge me further to try out new ideas. The simple composition is very responsive to small or large changes on the canvas and it dares you to keep pushing things around.

After all of the work and the parade of changes, the gentle calm still comes through.

New Work: Rain Moving Across, oil on canvas, 30 x 48 inches

Rain Moving Across, oil on canvas, 30 x 48 inches
Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT   $5400 unframed 

It is fascinating to observe the edges of rain coming to the ground. Once I began to sketch this out on the canvas, there were some gaps in the land patterns and it struck me to turn those gaps into reflective ponds or marsh areas.

The abundance of reflective surfaces opened up the center of the painting, created more depth and made the rain effect even more pronounced. The dark areas at the top and bottom of the oil help to carry the light into the far distance.

And for good measure, the strong diagonal, other cloud forms and the waterways all point to the falling rain. It's theatre - a stage is set for the rain to make an appearance.

Grateful Notices: Waters Edge in Blue, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

Waters Edge in Blue
oil on canvas, 36 x 36   private collection   Exhibited: Arden's Gallery, Houston

My thanks to the purchaser of this oil.

I love these rocky, coastal views and for this painting, the blues after sunset caught my attention. Each of the cascading land forms has a color of its own. Some of the rocks are in an atmospheric glow and the darker rocks express a substantial mass. It's interesting how the reds add the illusion of weight.

All of the elements here, the haze on the land as well as the water and sky are indicating motion. The color combinations flow across the oil with the last light yielding to the encroaching blues. There is a feeling that time is quickly passing and all that is aglow now will soon be gone. It is that perfect, blue moment.

Grateful Notices: Water, Land and Sky in Flow Oil on canvas, 36 X 60

Water, Land and Sky in Flow
Oil on canvas, 36 X 60   Private collection, CT
Exhibited: Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT

The way light plays on the surface of lakes is a constant fascination to me. With this oil the lake is a factor but it is equally weighted with the bright, yellow trees in the distance.

This is likely the 5th or so version of this arrangement. As the painting progressed through the different trials, more glowing colors emerged and the overall look of the oil continued to get brighter. 

Each trial yielded a completed painting but after a few days of viewing what I had, those brighter shapes called out for more to be done. In this final version, there is movement everywhere, carried along by the changes in colors and in the way that the mass of the trees and cloud bank are surrounded by the atmosphere in the upper sky its reflection on the lakes surface. 

As it turns out, the painting titled itself. 

In the Studio, April 19, 2019

Here are some of the oils in progress at the moment.
Back left, 4 x 5
Lower left, 3 x 5
Center, 40 x 50
Back right, 36 x 36

There are a number of puzzles in play here and I'm looking forward to seeing how they all work out. I do like the luxury of having different works to consider rather than bearing down on just one image.

Groups of oils in progress influence one another and better paintings result. It is never a dull day in the studio!

In the Studio, February 4, 2019

In the Studio, February 4, 2019

After a few days making new starts in oil, it's good to look back at that group of paintings and evaluate where things are headed.

Problems abound!

Every oil has its own personality by now and each presents a unique set of obstacles to overcome. At the end of the day today that's exactly why I stopped working on this group. But then there was still some daylight, so a grabbed a pre-stretched 48 x 60 canvas and began another problem child, making 7 canvases now in progress, two that are not in this shot.

Having all of this interesting, raw material around makes me look forward to tomorrows session where I will work on one canvas after another, inching them forward to completion.... or not sometimes.

Its glorious work when it goes well, otherwise those unruly canvases end up in a stack on the floor at the bottom right for another chance or to be painted over. This is not a loss, just a delayed opportunity.

November News:

We are fully in the season here in Colorado and what an inspiring time of year. While in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, I spotted a moose just outside the living room window, apparently taking a little break!



Here is a summary of exhibitions, two new workshops for 2019, and a few of my works exhibiting around the country. I would like to add my many thanks to those that have placed my art in public venues and have added me to their personal collections.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Ken

---

Openings:

Denver, CO
Saks Galleries Winter Fest
Saturday, December 8, 11am-3pm.
A group show with Holiday music and refreshments.

New Canaan, CT
Sorelle Gallery, a 2-person show. Light Effects with Alina B., through Dec 10.
A number of new works with be exhibited, including my 3 x 10 ft. oil, Forest Sequence I.


New works:


Light Coming from the Back
Oil on canvas, 36 X 36  $5100 framed
Saks Galleries, Denver



Color at the Edge of the Lake
Oil on canvas, 30 x 48  $6400 framed
Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
More about this oil on Ken's blog, For the Color



Bright Conversation
Oil on panel, 24 x 24  $2150 unframed
Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT
More about this oil on Ken's blog, For the Color


Currently exhibiting:


Gathering Light II
Oil on canvas, 48 X 48  $8950 framed
Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM



Foothill Glow
Oil on canvas, 40 x 40  $6650 framed
Madelyn Jordan Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY



Lake Palette II
Oil on canvas 36 x 60  $7500 unframed
Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT



Forest Sequence I
Oil on canvas, 48 X 120 inches, on two 48 x 60 inch canvases

$29950 unframed

Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CTMore about this oil on Ken's blog, For the Color
Video / Ken discusses this oil


Grateful notices:


Is This Moonlight?
Oil on panel, 24 x 24  Private collection



Skyline Yellows and Blues
Oil on canvas, 36 x 36  Private collection



Saccades VII
Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches  Private collection


Workshops / Private Sessions /Studio Visits:

Here's a video about what happens in the Group and Private Workshops
Contact Ken to arrange a studio visit or Workshop. It is always a pleasure to meet you.

Castle Rock, Colorado
Sat - Sun, February 23-24
2 1/2 day Workshop, Making it Fine Art: Moving to the Next Level with Ken Elliott
Saturday - Sunday, 9-4pm; Sat evening after break, 4:30 -7, Photoshop Tools and discussions.
Limited to 8 artists, $390 each. More information and registration on the website.

Castle Rock, Colorado, a 4-day Mentoring / Intensive, Fine Art Workshop with myself and Casey Klahn, Thurs - Sun, April 25-28.
Complete info and registration Contact Ken
Limited to 8 artists, (6 openings left) $750 each. We hope to see you there!

Take your work to new heights. These workshops and private sessions will focus on strategies for making better paintings, 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 including Photoshop insights made easy. all workshop info

Hope to see you at these Fine Art Workshops. You will receive information that will last a lifetime.

Publications:

A Survey of Paintings and Prints at the PACE Center
with works in oils, pastels and monotypes. This exhibition catalog can be purchased online here.
30 color pages and text by the artist. $10 plus $4 postage.


Ken Elliott American Landscapes coffee table book:

This large coffee table book reprises 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: $150 or just order the book for $115.

Also available as an iBook / download on Apple devices for $9.99.You can preview the complete book and how to order your electronic or hardback versions from my website.

My Blog, For the Color

Want to follow along in my studio?
Come across some interesting art bits and intriguing posts from elsewhere? Check out my artist's blog: For the Color and on the right of the blog under Followers, click Join this Site. Right now you can view vintage videos of Renoir, Degas, a Piet Mondrian video montage, comments about my works and observations about museum artworks from some recent trips.



View my newest artworks:

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, For the Color. To view the total of my works in all media and in all my galleries, go to www.kenelliott.com

Thank you,
Ken

Grateful Notices: Edge of the Woods, Autumn, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

Edge of the Woods, Autumn, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches
Private collection
Exhibited: Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

This is a canvas demonstration from a workshop I did in Kansas City. I wanted to do a simple, red line of trees, somewhat abstracted and with varying degrees of complexity to make it convincing.

As it turns out, this oil is much more than red trees because the reds are supported and amplified by a variety of other, non-red colors. The orange and pink notes at the base of the trees provide an unexpected light source and interest.

The white clouds on the upper right were accidental. When I was painting in the sky, I left that area open, leaving the white canvas. My intention was to add some kind of tree highlight into that space but the bit of white was much more interesting, so clouds it became with the white contrast helping the reds stand out even more. It was very helpful to have an interesting element on that side of the oil.

The black trunks on the bottom left boost the reds further and add a much needed contrast and definition to the composition. 

Again, this is a simple idea but as the painting progressed in class, it became apparent that it would take additional sessions in the studio back home where I continued my own painting lessons until it was complete.

Grateful Notices: Saccades VII, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

Saccades VII, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

What a surprise and thrill to have a dear friend purchase a large artwork for their home... I felt much honored. I really enjoy the freedom of these somewhat abstracted forest scenes.

The idea of this Saccades series is to create a more abstracted forest scene that works without a singular point of focus. This oil is pattern and color with equal interest everywhere. The greens and yellows are pushed but contained by the irregular verticals and the blues. I found that the more those colors were increased, the more attractive the oil became, creating a greater need for more powerful contrasts.

This cycle carried on for a month until a completed the painting emerged, a window into a forest that is alive with the yellows animating the scene and projecting everything forward in the space.

About the word Saccades:
"Since the late 19th century, researchers have been aware of the phenomenon of saccades, the rapid movement of the eye as we shift our attention from one thing to another. As a result, vision itself is discontinuous. We construct a “map of reality” from saccades much as a film editor puts together a scene from individual camera takes."

From an article by the film maker Earl Morris, NY Times

Exhibiting: Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT, Nov 8 - Dec 10

Forest Sequence I, oil on  two, 48 x 60 inch canvases, total size, 48 x 120 inches  $24000 unframed

I am pleased to announce an upcoming, 2-person show, Light Effects with Alina B. this November 8 at the Sorelle Gallery, New Canaan, CT.
A number of new works with be exhibiting, including my 3 x 10 ft. oil, Forest Sequence I (see below). The show continues through Dec 10.

View my works in the exhibition

LIGHT MOVING ACROSS
Oil on canvas, 36 X 60      $7500 unframed
More about this oil on Ken's blog, For the Color

Big Pond and Sky
oil on canvas, 40 X 60    $9950 unframed

Lake Palette II
oil on canvas 36 x 60   $7500  unframed

New Work: Winter Contrast, pastel on paper, 15 1/4 x 19 inches

Winter Contrast  pastel on paper, 15 1/4 x 19 inches  $2250 framed
Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

In this pastel I've revisited an idea from some years ago. The colors are accentuated except in the middle snow and the foreground trees.

Every part of this pastel has interesting notes and to get there, I kept working the different areas to bring them to life with rich color and soft overlays.

The pastel looks fairly bright but it really is how the richer colors are emerging from the grey tones. It was a bit of an adventure, although on a smaller scale to pull it all together and I can honestly say that it was years in the making.