Geraniums and Friends

Geraniums and Friends, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

I started this painting the other day after attempting 3 others and completely wiping the paint off of the gessobord. Yes, there are (many) days that I cannot get it together. Actually, I can get it together it's just an incredibly busy time of the year, both mentally and physically for all, me included and other things are taking up my time. I was almost to the point where I was going to stop painting this particular night and chalk it up as a loss for the evening, and then this little one appeared from somewhere. It's wispy and light, and reflects my fatigue in some ways. That's not always a bad thing considering what preceded it. All in all it's a happy one :-)

Blue Soul

Blue Soul, Oil on Gessobord, 6x8 inches

I bought a beautiful blue tube of paint over the weekend and wanted to try it out.  I have finally mixed the blue that I envisioned.  This fork leads to the Ohio River on the Indiana side of the bridge, in my neck of the woods.  The forest sat in the middle of winter last year amongst a patch of still-not melted snow.  Because the sun was setting and casting immense light on the white beech trees, they looked like they were coated in snow. It was just their beautiful, natural color.

Sets of Two

Sets of Two, Oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I found some lovely leftover fall color while walking about the other day. These sets of benches seemed to be peacefully waiting for occupants.  These days I have had to brave the cold to go out and walk, but it always ends up being worth it.  

On another note, starting Saturday I won't be posting until after the New Year.  I need time off for Christmas shopping for my children, and I will also be traveling to California.  With the New Year, I will be participating in a challenge from Leslie Saeta's blog Artist Helping Artist, called Thirty in Thirty, painting 30 paintings in 30 days. I am looking forward to the challenge, since I have been painting almost everyday and blogging most days.  Hopefully I will complete it :-)

Through the Light

Through the Light, oil on gessobord, 6x6inches

Sometimes when you least expect it you can find a beautiful little scene that is full of color amidst a mostly colorless landscape.  I love painting trees. My goal this winter is to actually get outside and paint en plein air. I have just bought myself an early Christmas present; a setup for onsite painting and I am itching to use it. Polar vortex or not, I just want to be outside on these short days. Unfortunately because I work full-time, I am limited to the weekends because of the short winter days.  

Industrial Wasteland

Industrial Wasteland, Oil on Canvas, 10x20 inches

All towns have scenes like this.  Desolate, eery, isolated areas that give off a vibe of wanting to be far, far away.  Except to me and my son who love to go traipsing down railroad tracks in industrial areas to see how much rust we can photograph.  I loved how the silos almost disappeared into the grey sky. The lone train seemed to be without purpose. The empty tracks continued on the horizon visually through the power lines. I worked on a long canvas to change up the feel, which in turn, slowed me down allowing me to work in-depth with the details this painting needed.

Snow on the Bullock-Clifton House

Snow on the Bullock-Clifton House, oil on gessobord, 

6x8 inches

The day of our first (and unusually early) snow, I walked around taking pictures in the quiet cold.  There is a house around the corner that is the oldest wood frame house in the County of Jefferson.  It has an unusual 4th story cupola that makes the house stand out, as well as its different architectural style from the neighborhood. It was an original farm house owned by two different, yet significant gentlemen, one who secured funding for the School for the Blind, and one who was a Steamboat Captain, which is significant for the Ohio river town in which I live and love.  

I loved the shadows on the decorative features this particular day. While I normally don't get so detailed, this painting was fun to work on, and I am pleased with the results.  On a side note, I was listening to Dvorak's New World Symphony while working on it, which gave me a level of energy I needed. Dvorak was the same age as I am now when he composed this work, which ended up being his last Symphony.  I am hoping my best days are ahead :-)

Unlimited Fog

Unlimited Fog, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

We have many bridges in Louisville, due to bordering the Ohio river.  On this day the other side of the bridge faded away into the fog. It was quite beautiful.  As much as I want to complain about lack of color associated with winter, I appreciate a good grey scale landscape such as this one. And, it was calming to paint which I always appreciate.

Rows Unbounded

Rows Unbounded, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I had been painting all day, scenes where light and color are becoming scarce. I'll post those later this week.  Today I need stillness and color.  Winter, though not officially here, seems to be taking its toll on my mood. I had to tell my son today, as he continues to work on his AP Portfolio in Painting, not to let the weather affect how he is thinking while painting.  Easier said than done. I go back to my favorite subject; there's always comfort in familiarity.  This painting does seem to reflect subconsciously, my reaction to winter.  I loved pairing up the various greens with the purples and gold. Basic moodiness at its best.

Brunelleschi's Dome, through the Geraniums

Brunelleschi's Dome, through the Geranium's

oil on gessobord, 9x12 inches

Everything around Florence can be viewed through geraniums because geraniums are everywhere! And one can almost see the Dome of the Florence Cathedral from anywhere. It appears at the end of many nook-and-cranny walking streets at every turn, floating above it's octagonal drum. It is an engineering feat (it is said Fillipo Brunelleschi watered down the lunchtime wine of his workers while construction of the dome took place, as a "safety first" procedure). The problem solver extraordinaire and first engineer of the Renaissance is buried within the Cathedral.

The city of Florence is such a vivid place. Full of artisans and artists and overall cool folks. If you are ever there, look up the little outdoor restaurant of Francesco Vini with the beautiful Roman face. He will sing on the sidewalk to lure you in. 

                             

   

Deep, Dark Woods

Deep Dark Woods, Oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

There were very few leaves on these trees but the ones still hanging on for dear life, were caught in the sunlight. Winter is early this year and due to this, my color palette is changing.  This just means having different colors to play around with. Life as an artist is never boring :-)

Highway Blur

Highway Blur, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I drove to Cincinnati on Saturday. The weather made it enjoyable all around. I took some photos of barns on the highway; there are so many beautiful farms along the way that I am always happy to see still exist, as difficult as it is to be a farmer these days. I painted this from one of the photos;  tranquil barns captured in a fast, fleeting moment.

In Cincy, I visited the Taft museum which currently has an exhibit called "Paris: Night and Day" . It features photos of Eugène Atget, Man Ray, Dora Maar to name a few. The photos themselves were of Paris from the 20s and were incredibly moving....simple, impromptu city scenes taken during a time when cameras were becoming portable and faster at capturing "the now".   It reminded me of what I have been trying to do with painting:  capture the moment, the now, the overlooked. 

Stillness about it

Stillness about it, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

There really is something beautiful about a semi-empty field with a black tobacco barn in the middle of it.  I love how kind of sad this old boy looks in the painting; alone but not forgotten.

Many Paths

"Converging" oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I love how the multi-colored horizontals turned out with this painting. Despite it's busy-ness it still evokes a sense of calm. 

First Snow

First Snow, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

The first snow is always so beautiful to me. I have to get out of the house to cross-country ski, walk, or in days of yore, I would go for a run. This particular day my hands were almost completely frozen and not for the lack of my oversized ski gIoves.  I took a photo looking straight up to capture the day; leafless trees replaced with cold snow, clean, blue sky and rapidly moving clouds which resulted in this colorful, soothing painting.

On a different note....the good news is I just bought a pochade box and utility tray to mount on a tripod to paint en plein air. I am excited about how an entirely  new dimension(s) could be brought to my work, by painting outside. The bad news is we are supposedly in round two of the polar vortex winter from hell. Uhg!

Hidden Dandalion

Hidden Dandelion, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I look down a lot when I walk.  I am deep in thought most of the time and looking at people during these times would be a distraction, not anti-social :-) And because I look down just as much as look up (sky high), I see a lot of treasures like this. I would never have thought a dandelion could be found still growing after a freeze, but here she was, all bundled up in her blanket of various wild grasses.   

Van Gogh and Friends

Van Gogh and Friends, oil on gessobord, 6x8 inches

My dear friend Lori is so enthusiastic about my painting, and she is also the owner of one of my works. She loves to travel to see her adult children. They recently took a trip to the Nation's Capitol and visited one of my favorite museums, the National Gallery. She took some great pictures of her family and I loved this one so much I asked for her permission to paint it. It has two of her three children in it, and of course Vincent. He seems to be looking at them as much as they are looking at him.

From Mary's Garden

From Mary's Garden, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

sold 

My friend Mary grows these beautiful Japanese eggplants in the summer. After she bought one of my paintings earlier this  month, I couldn't resist doing this commission for her.

Eggplants are such a beautiful vegetable, have gorgeous whimsical leaves, and the color is rich, like none other. The only problem I had when painting these handsome creatures was trepidation that it might not turn out to her liking. But she loves it, as do I, so all is well :-) 

Row of Trees

Row of Trees, oil on gessobord, 6x8 inches

I painted this yesterday as I was coming to grips with the fact that the picturesque part of fall was sadly over. Most of the leaves are now gone in Louisville, and those leaves still hanging by a thread are dull brown. And as I type, a few days ahead of this actually posting, snow is in the forecast. Um, yay....not! Have a look, one more time at the beautiful, colorful aspects that we all look forward to each year's near-end.

The Three Graces

The Three Graces, oil on gessobord, 6x8 inches

Oh Sunflowers on a cold, cold day; what could be better? I painted these graces from a photo that my sister sent me last summer as she was traveling around France.  I have looked at the photo almost everyday since I received it. I finally decided to paint it, with cold hands, in my cold house, to radiate a little warmth for my soul.

Pawns

Pawns, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

NFS

I felt like I was a piece on a chessboard when I was traipsing through this set of cedars. I truly love the way this one turned out. The sunny day just presented itself in my painting.  Because of this I am keeping this one myself :-)

Fallen

Fallen, Oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

Time for a closeup, of Fall that is.  I was given two little burning bush leaves a few days ago and I sat them on my nightstand to admire. As the trees started losing their leaves during the rapid stage, I took a closer look and decided they were an appropriate subject matter. I tried to convey the individuality and differences of the leaves even though they came from the same bush.   I don't do too many still life, but this was definitely a nice change.

Footbridge

Footbridge, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

This is another angle of the little footbridge that I posted on Friday.  The real focus of this scene was the ginormous birch tree. Big birch trees are very majestic when the sky is blue and the leaves are gone. The trees are just as lovely bare as they are full of fall color.  There was a lot of fall color this particular day, that now seems short lived. It feels like old man winter is making his presence known way too early this year.

End of the Line

End of the Line, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I found this little footbridge on a public golf course in Louisville. It crosses a creek that spreads its forks and tendrils all around  Louisville. It's an abandoned bridge for the golf course, and it has two boulders at the end to signal its non-use.  Sledders still cross it in the winter to head to the nearby hills.

The creek and bank were dark this particular day, with the bowing red tree equally bright.  So many other trees were bare.  I noticed as I was painting this scene that the bareness in the landscape started affected my normal brushstrokes.  Chunky changed to thin interestingly enough. I let it be because it was a reflection of my subconscious interpretation. It's all good!

Pickin' Corn

Pickin' Corn, oil on gessobord, 6x8 inches

I have a few photos left over from my local Farmer's Market that I put aside for later. This is one of them.  The scene just screamed of color and I'm pleased with my results conveying this as well.  It was fun to photo and fun to paint.  I always find, I might add, that my paintings turn out better when I'm attached somehow to the event or people I photograph, and this was no exception. I love the relaxed atmosphere of the Market, the ability for local venders to showcase and sell their products and to know the quality of what you are buying is at it's best.  

The Cheese Stands Alone

The Cheese Stands Alone, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches 

I went out over the beautiful weekend that Louisville brought to the table and traversed the local parks shooting a nice batch of photos.  There was a lovely path that had this last gorgeous yellow maple blazing in the sun, showing off, so I took advantage.  It was so dynamic, thus I tried to convey this by changing up my brush strokes a bit more. The color was definitely fun to work with. 

Bernheim 1, again

Bernheim 1 again, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I am so happy to present my 100th post!  I painted this about 3 weeks ago, and showed it to my ever-wise son. He immediately recognized it as the same image from my first-ever painting that I did after picking the brushes up and dusting off my hands after 25 years. It was Hugh's suggestion that I save it for monumental 100, and I'm glad I did! It's meaningful to me that I came back around to this image and that I can recognize such a breadth of improvement.  Take a look for yourself:

Bernheim series 1, oil on canvas, 10x14"

The poster that I put together for yesterday's post was a celebration of sorts, and now onto the next 100 paintings and more!

100 day collage

Celia Kelly Painter celebrating 100 paintings

I am so excited. I have made this collage because tomorrow is my 100th painting post. I have a surprise painting for this milestone...Hint: it will take you all the way back to the beginning of my blog, day numero uno.  
Thanks everyone for your continued  "likes", invites to friends, daily inspiration, daily pep talks, and for purchasing my work.  I can only use this foundation to grow. Please water daily :-)

thanks to Leslie Saeta for her wonderful radio show Artist helping Artists and her idea for the collage

Oddities

Oddities, 6x6 inches, oil on gessobord

The title of this painting comes from me seeing this scene and all of a sudden finding it so peculiar that everything, just like in my painting Orderly, http://celiakelly.blogspot.com/2014/10/orderly.html, in tamer parts of nature somehow became so symmetrical for aesthetically purposes. When really, almost everything in nature is aesthetically beautiful in its own way. Alas, who am I to preach, since as I have said many times these types of trees are one of my favorite subject matter. And there is a very lovable geometric element to them. They also seem to catch the light on only one half, and cast the greatest shadows. Ah, shadows!

Pumpkins in the Straw

Pumpkins in the Straw, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 

6x6 inches

I took this photo on a field trip with my class to a pumpkin patch.  I loved painting it from start to finish. Beautiful color and fun, fat, fast brushstrokes made it "easy" to work on. The quotation marks are only there because nothing is really easy, and that's just part of the process. 

Bungalow 4

Bungalow 4, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 5x7 inches

This is the last in my Bungalow series. As far as the style of the house, this is my favorite.  Chunky and subtle are what I see within this humble home.  I've always looked at old buildings and houses as having a soul, so I can only hope this one has been well taken care of. From the outside it appears this way. Maybe the curve of the roof is a hint of a smile :-)

Red Hot Maple

Red Hot Maple, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 6x6 inches

The photo of this painting has a bit of glare, that no matter how many times I tried to photograph it in various non-direct light, the paint still absorbed too much light. I left it alone for now only because it became symbolic with each photo attempt of the bright sun lately on these Fall days.  I'm not complaining.

At its Best

At its Best, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 6x6 inches

We interrupt this Bungalow series to bring you a bit of Fall color.  I couldn't resist.  I've had a quiet weekend with the teenagers gone to Chicago to tour the school of the Art Institute of Chicago, so what's an artist to do but paint. Fall is all around and it made it's way here. 

I have been chosen as the Louisville Visual Art Association's Artebella Artist of the Day. Happy, Happy!!

http://www.artebelladaily.org/artists/celia-kelly/

Bungalow 3

Bungalow 3, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 5x7 inches

This bungalow caught my eye because of it's craftsman details. This style always reminds me of the beautiful architecture that you see throughout Bavaria, minus the extreme pitched roofs. I had to tweak the color because the 21 century owners were not kind to it with their color choices, unfortunately. The landscape was interestingly shadow striped the day I took the photo. Busy, busy.

Bungalow 2

Bungalow 2, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 5x7 inches

Here is the second painting in my bungalow series.  This is a stucco covered white bungalow that has been the apple of my eye for a while now. I walk or ride my bike by it quite often.  I love the pillars that resemble sturdy tree trunks, larger at the base than the top, holding a roof that provides an extra living space to the house.  As I mentioned yesterday, I love the simple esthetic of the bungalow home. They have stood the test of time and patiently protected their residents for over 100 years.

Bungalow 1

Bungalow 1, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

I am a lover of the bungalow, whether from the Arts and Craft movement or the more readily available Builder bungalows.  It was a style started by the Greene brothers in California, emphasizing simple, yet well-crafted features like butler's pantries, dormer windows, large front porches for additional living space, and beautiful natural floors and woodwork throughout the house. They were usually two bedrooms and one bathroom, served medium to large families; small by today's McMansion standards. And entire neighborhoods of them are beautiful! I have lived in one for 17 years. Now they make great subject matter for painting, so for today and the next 3 postings, be looking for my small bungalow series.

Sky High

Sky High, Oil on Ampersand gessobord, 6x6 inches

sold

With all the color on the trees currently, does it seem strange to see my painting of bare winter?  It was the sky in this photo that I wanted to paint, and I think it unintentionally ended up looking like one of David Hockney's swimming pool painting from the 70s. Not a bad comparison :-)

A River Runs Through It

A River Runs Through It, Oil on Canvas, 10"x20"

I decided a few weeks ago to incrementally work on a "bigger" canvas, while simultaneously continuing my daily painting in smaller scale;  and 10x20 is huge to me right now!  This painting, of the waterfront park in Louisville, was painted from a photo taken on a cold, bare day.  I do believe I bestowed much more color and life onto the scene than existed on this particular New Year's Day.  It was much more difficult to paint this scale again than I expected.  I became overly conscientious of scale and I tightened back up with the brush, painting very slowly and in layers. This just tells me to keep working both big and little, as there is value as a painter in both. And...despite not feeling completely satisfied with it, I decided to post it.

House Behind There

House Behind There, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 

6x6 inches

A fun and quick painting I did of one of my favorite subjects, conical cedars. I used this as a warm-up and am happy with the loose quality it has. This is also the "sister" painting to Orderly, from October 13.  The trees had brilliant light the day I was out walking and the leaves had just started to fall.  

Reflections

Reflections, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 6x6 inches

I wanted to try to paint a scene of rocks and reflections in water. I've been looking at some work of such scenes by other artists lately, and I am apt to say things like "I would never be able to do that" or "that looks so hard".  I decided to jump in with two feet (no pun intended) and do it anyway. I  am happy with the albeit abstract results, but you get the gist. Let me know what you think.

Autumn Embers

Autumn Embers, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 6x8 inches

Louisville has an incredible park system that was designed by the great Frederick Law Olmstead. The individual parks were named for tribes of Native Americans.  Large tracts of land were designated over 100 years ago to be developed  and were connected by a Parkway system.  When I returned to the 'ville after living in Chicago 25 years ago, I made a silent declaration to myself that I would never live more that 2 miles from an Olmstead park (that was a 4 mile+ run total) and to this day I've kept my promise.  The parks are the best place to watch the leaves as they begin performing. I took the photo for this painting rounding an uphill bend. The leaves were on fire.  They seem to be turning fast this year, so give yourself a gift and go watch the leaves turn :-)

Rainy Day Outing

Rainy Day Outing, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 6x6 inches
SOLD

I was on my lunch break heading back to work in my car when I drove by this spot of color amid a sea of grey.  I had to drive around the block 3 times before I found her and parked to take a quick snapshot.  I did this painting on Sunday, when my room was actually filled with light for the first time in about 5 days.  I think because of that, it doesn't really look like a rainy day. 

Striations

Striations, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

I talked to a very interesting painter recently whom I met  at a regional art show.  He is from farmville midwestern town USA, that I will leave nameless.  He paints en plein air and his primary subject matter was the farm, which, despite being cliqued for anyone in academia, (I once had an art professor tell our class "NO BARNS") he paints to bring attention to the ever-dying landscape of american life.  His paintings were very Rothko-like....colors moody, abstract-like forms representing flat plains.  He himself, a former professor had left academia, unsatisfied with where it was taking him.  But he had his painting, and he was happy. I snapped a few highway shots on the way to Nashville last weekend and lo and behold, a barn!  I have a different perspective on painting in academia too, but it's come from years on the other side.  And now I too am just happy to paint.

Happy Old Soul

Happy Old Soul, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 5x7 inches

I went to a wonderful artist's lecture by Ying Kit Chan last night, the chairman of the Art Department at University of Louisville.  He was presenting a new body of work that has taken him to China, the Gulf of Mexico (due to the oil disaster of '10) and back to Louisville.  His show contains themes of sustainability, anthropological concepts, Buddhist ideas amongst many. It was a very thoughtful body of work.  I had come in contact with the work of Ying Kit when I was taking post-bacaulareate painting classes at U of L about 25 years ago. Although I never took his classes I was very familiar with his work at the time, and it had a profound  influence on my drawings.  
This painting coincidently reminds me of my work  I was doing at the time, in my painting class. So my universes just re-collided in a happy sort of way :-).  The building itself has been meticulously maintained during it's life and looked very handsome with the setting sun giving it a hint of pastel color on the day it posed for me.

Under the Wire

Under the Wire, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 5x7 inches

When I'm the passenger in a car, as I was this past weekend when my son drove to Nashville, I get to daydream and watch the swoop or line pattern of the telephone wires. Can you imagine if all the wires on the globe were strung together how far they would travel? My guess is Pluto...

Glenn Campbell sang that beautiful song written by the great Jimmy Webb, "Wichita Lineman" that depicted such a lonely haunting soul, searching for any connection through those wires.  In some strange, inanimate way I've always found them a beautiful addition to our vast American landscape.

Site Seer

Site Seer, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 5x7 inches

I was lamenting to my son the other day that I feel like my momentum has been declining. I'm not sure if it's lack of energy because of putting more hours in at work (probably)  or the lack of daylight (definitely).  Anyway, I definitely have been feeling like a (concrete) block has descended upon me. My son gave me some simple but helpful advice...change up on what you are painting...grab some fruit, paint a random still  life, etc.  I did shift focus and paint a scene of something that is near and dear to my heart, spending time in a museum, taking it all in, slowing down, calming your brain.  I believe this is the first interior I have posted.
Luckily for my mental state, I will be traveling to Chicago at the end of the month to visit the School of the Art Institute with my two teen artists, and I will schedule time to see my favorite Chagall and Van Gogh's bedroom.  Food for the soul.

Au Cep de Vigne

Au Cep de Vigne, oil on Ampersand gessobord, 5x7 inches

The translation of "au cep de Vigne" is simply "vine" by most translation apps, but it is really more like "from the vine" or "vine stock".  I choose to add my own interpretation and imagine it being a roundabout way of getting to the end result - "wine" :-).   This was painted from another photo of my sister's farewell tour of Europe before returning to the U.S.   The building is a hotel/restaurant near Stasbourg, France in the Alsace grape growing region, near the German border.  Natural window decorations are common throughout Europe in the old old cities and easy to miss if you are used to looking down. So, when you go to Europe get used to looking up!

I had multiple problems with this one including straight lines!  Also,  the colors I painted with are true to the historic structure, thus making the photo of the painting run very hot. I rarely manipulate the images I take, but this one had to be cooled down.