Twilight Maples: Loaded Maples No. 2

Acrylic on 8"w x 10"h Canvas
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Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

This painting along with Loaded Maples No. 1 were painted during the time I completed Twilight Maples Diptych. Maple trees have a way of really loading up their leaves. I suppose they don't care for the hot summer sun so they attempt to block it with their leaves. They also keep all of their leaves to themselves in the summer, but they are more than willing to share their leaves in the fall as the leaves fall gracefully to the ground. The leaves provide a colorful textural carpeting for the forest floor and help fertilize the soil and provide shelter for bugs and small fuzzy critters. And a playground for children.

I think the maples smile when they see kids jumping into their leaves. :)

Twilight Maples: Loaded Maples No. 1

Acrylic on 8"w x 10"h Canvas
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Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

This painting along with Loaded Maples No. 2 were painted during the time I completed Twilight Maples Diptych. The vision for these smaller 8x10" canvases was to show a maple tree as I always remember them in the fall ... loaded with blazing leaves. There's nothing like a maple tree in the fall, and Northern Minnesota is covered with these magnificent trees, along with Birch, Aspen, and a host of different pine tree species. I'd like to continue this fall landscape theme, but I do need to pause and complete a few floral landscapes that are in the works in preparation for my upcoming show at the Vanilla Bean in Two Harbors.

Twilight Maples Diptych

Acrylic on 2-12"w x 36"h x 2"d Canvases
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Reserved

This painting marked yet another step in my style progression. I've been working on keeping a consistent color saturation in my paintings, along with consistent brushstrokes .. yet I went off the deep end on this painting. I painted this one entirely in the square brushstroke style on black canvas and I really enjoyed painting this one. I love the negative spaces between the trees, the long shadows and transparency in the orange leaves. If you've ever seen sugar maples in the fall, you know what blazing color these special trees are able to achieve. Perhaps I'll linger a while here in this forest, enjoying the peace that this complete isolation can bring, listening to the leaves and twigs snap beneath my feet and smell the familiar fragrance of Autumn leaves and the changing of the seasons. Like a good book that ends too soon and you have to say goodbye to the characters in the story who have become like friends to you, I need to move on to the next painting. The next painting is calling me, and I think I'll continue in this brushstroke style for a while to see where it leads. Cheers. :)

Lupin Five

Acrylic on 10"w x 8"h Canvas Panel
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SOLD

Last Lupin painting in the series. Lately I've been pulled and tugged between landscapes and florals. The late summer blooms may have something to do with it, as yesterday's family walk down to our neighborhood garden inspired me and I took several reference photos. Next week I'll post the deep woods landscapes I've been working on, they feature deep blues and subdued lighting with sky-high maples in late Autumn color. Can't wait to finish them so people can view them, I might stay in that theme a while longer ... or I may just get pulled and tugged into another floral painting. :)

Lavender Lupins

Acrylic on 10"w x 8"h Canvas Panel
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SOLD

This painting is the second of three. I enjoy working in series, although as of late I've been keeping the series short and exploring different ideas that I have. I'm envisioning a Lupin hillside with birches, water and blue sky in the distance on a larger scale, perhaps 2' x 3'. I'll get right to it ... as soon as I finish the works that are waiting patiently on my easel ... and the several paintings I want to begin.
Maybe I need a larger studio and more easels. :)

Please stop back soon as I'll be uploading four new paintings within the next week.

Lupin Line

Acrylic on 36"w x 12"h x 2"d Canvas
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Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

Lupins bloom in Duluth in the early summer and they are always a joy. They scatter their seeds and spread out, often covering entire hillsides in shades of lavender for several weeks at a time.  My girls really liked this painting (their favorite color is purple so I can't imagine why lol). One of my daughters immediately recognized the lupins as the 'flowers that grow on the hillside by my climbing tree'. My other daughter thought they were purple trees growing in a forest. They could also be cotton candy on a stick (Minnesota State Fair is coming up) or they could simply be ... lupins.

I have a couple more lupin paintings on a smaller scale available which will be uploaded later this week. They may also be viewed on my paintings page on my website. God bless.

Through the Trees

Acrylic on 36"w x 12"h x 2"d Canvas
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Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

I've been working with subjects that are up close recently and I've felt like stepping back to take in the view from a distance. In this painting through the trees you can see the lake with the distant horizon shaded in soft purples. The rocks in the foreground protect the shoreline from rolling waves, but not today as the lake is calm and the trees cast deep shadows on the leaf covered ground.

Twilight Birches

Acrylic on 8"w x 10"h Canvas Panel
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Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

With this painting I worked on capturing the lighting at the end of the day when the sky is filled with blues and purples and the trees cast long dark shadows. I also wanted to incorporate more of a uniform ambient light as opposed to a central bright source such as the setting sun. Tomorrow's painting is an expansion on this theme, it's fun to be painting small again .. almost like a breath of fresh air. :)

Autumn Birches Diptych

Acrylic on Two 2'w x 3'h x 1.5"d Canvases
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Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

I had a lot of fun painting the negative spaces behind the trees in this diptych. As a whole, the two canvases measure 4'w x 3'h in dimension, so they have quite a presence in the room. The blue sky blends into golden fall foliage in this piece, with the cranberry color putting a solid ground in the bottom of the background. The birch trees have a lot of texture in their white and black areas, which is why this piece took me so long to paint. :) I think it was worth it, these will be featured in my upcoming show at The Vanilla Bean in Two Harbors. Now I'm off to stretch some more canvases!

In Progress

 This is a two part painting that I've been working on titled Autumn Birches Diptych. These progress photos are taken with my computer camera, and due to the size of this piece, I had to take a photo at an angle, so the full painting is not in view. This piece consists of two 2w' x 3'h canvases that will depict a stand of Birch trees with Autumn color behind along with a nice complementary blue sky in the background. What's amazing with this painting is how it has affected my mood as I've been painting. The sky left me feeling restful and reflective, while the yellow energized me and brought a smile to my face. So far the Birch trees have a base coat and I'm working on the background, and I need to add more browns in the bottom of the paintings and I'm also leaning towards incorporating some cranberry in the bottom as well. I'm excited to add the black and white to the Birch trees and feel the 'punch' they will give to the piece. I hope to finish this painting and have it posted this weekend. I may get sidetracked by a rummage sale that we're planning, but I'm on a good path now to have my work completed for my next show early. And in case you're wondering what a diptych is, a diptych is an image depicted in two pieces. A triptych would be three. I think you get the idea. :)

Apple Blossoms

24"w x 24"h x 2"d, Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
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Every painting has a story behind it which makes it special and in many cases, memorable. This is the painting I worked on while I was moving to a new house. I've found the many blossoms and leaves in this painting represent everything I had to accomplish during that time. The blossoms featured in this painting are from a Fireside Apple tree, which produced the sweetest apples I've ever tasted. :)
This painting also features many negative spaces in which the blue sky sparkles and dances through as the sky fades from light to dark blue. After you've accomplished a huge task, such as moving, you take time to rest and reflect on what you've managed to achieve. This painting represents the joy of having time to rest.

... But I can't rest too long as I've always thinking on the next painting, and what's currently on my easel is a two-canvas piece featuring fall birches. In total, the piece measures 4'w x 3' tall. I'm excited to be working on a large scale painting, I hope it will sparkle and dance just like the apple blossoms. :)

In Progress

Over the last couple of months most of my time has been spent on packing and unpacking boxes as I've moved and not had too much time for painting. :( Now that we're settling in to our new home, my easel is set up and the brushes are out and fresh canvases are being prepped for painting. This 2' x2' Apple Blossoms painting is in progress and will be finished this week. This photo, taken from my built in camera on my Mac, shows the composition of the work as well as the basecoats. I'm getting close to finishing the flowers, leaves and branches and the majority of the finishing details will be in the background of the painting. (Most artists paint the background first but this painting didn't turn out that way, and I'm excited to see the finished product emerge on the canvas.)

I'm looking forward to getting back in the groove as I have a show coming up in September that I'll be preparing for. I'm thinking the show will focus on seasons and how there is beauty in every season in nature and in our lives. Some people don't deal well with change but I'm dealing better with the change of moving ... now that I have a brush in my hand and a canvas on the easel. :)
Please stop back as new work will be posted weekly. God bless.

Brighten My Day

10"w x 14"h x 2"d, Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
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SOLD

On a cold and rainy day I decided to paint something based on how I wanted to feel, not how I felt at the moment. These three birch trees with bright sunshine yellow leaves emerged on the canvas. The trees are surrounded by a rich blue background that blends to a deep blue on the bottom as the leaves cascade playfully down from the trees. This painting really brightened my day. :)

Fall Wall 3 of 3

10"w x 8"h, Acrylic on Canvas Panel
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Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

Last in a three part series, this painting number three features three birch trees on a leafy hill with the historical brick wall behind them. Rainy day here in Duluth, the painting I was working on earlier today features bright yellow leaves on a rich blue background, I'll see if I can get it posted tomorrow, it really brightened my day today. :)

Fall Wall 2 of 3

10"w x 8"h, Acrylic on Canvas Panel
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Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

I'm wrapping up some fall forest paintings and I'm thinking I'll branch out (no pun intended .. ok, maybe intended) to something more spring themed. Not sure just what yet, but I'll be sure to upload some new paintings as soon as I do! Beautiful sunny day in Duluth today, makes me want to paint outside, after I take the kiddos to the park. :)

Fall Wall 1 of 3

10"w x 8"h, Acrylic on Canvas Panel
Click on image above to enlarge.
Please email me at aaronklossartwork@gmail.com for purchase information.

After a brief break I'm back to painting. I chuckle as I write this because I took a break from painting to paint my house. I've been painting quite a bit, just not on canvas but on walls and wood. But I'll gladly trade a roller for a small paintbrush any day of the week. It's good to be back. Stop back soon for more images as I continue this 'Fall Wall' series of works focusing on historic Duluth bridges and landmarks.