Blooming Iris paintings

What better way than to end the month of July with some beautiful Iris paintings? These are all 4"w x 4"h, acrylic on deep profile canvas, and are available at Lizzards Gallery in downtown Duluth, and at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth's Canal Park. 

What a month it's been! Vacations, biking, swimming, fishing, hiking, parades, amusement parks ... and oh yes, painting. :) It's hard to say goodbye to July. But I look forward to what's ahead during the next several months, where I'll work towards stocking galleries as the busiest time of year for me in painting continues through the end of the year. 

Happy Friday! -Aaron

"Iris Bloom No. 1" 4"w x 4"h

"Summer Iris No. 1"  4"w x 4"h

"Iris Bloom No. 2" 4"w x 4"h

"Summer Iris No. 2"  4"w x 4"h

"Iris Bloom No. 3" 4"w x 4"h

Tiny Summer Triptych

"Tiny Summer Triptych"  12"w x 4"

It always amazes me that I enjoy working small after working exclusively on large canvases when I first started showing work publicly. There's a certain challenge that makes working small intriguing ... the constraint of the canvas giving every brush stroke more significance and the speed of completion makes for quick decisions. When I work large, I often wait a week or longer to begin to get a feel for how the final piece will look, but there isn't that waiting period with small canvases, and that's what compels me to continue painting them. Some artists call the studies, I don't like referring to my work as a study. Unless a piece absolutely speaks to me and I can't part with it, I offer all my work in all sizes for sale. The little paintings usually sell fast, you have to enjoy them while you can ... just like summer. Ahhhhh summer.
This piece is part of my show at The Art of Hair on First through September 2015.

Summer Breeze & Summer Birches

"Summer Breeze"

"Summer Birches No. 1"

Today's post features three summer themed works titled Summer Breeze, and Summer Birches Numbers 1 & 2. The summer landscape has influenced my work profoundly this year. In viewing leaves fluttering on the summer breeze and sparkles dancing across summer lakes, I've endeavored to capture the effects of these summer themes on canvas. My skies and lakes now feature more distinguished brush strokes, and the leaves on the trees are also more distinct, the black undertones on the canvas showing through giving depth and something else to my work that I like to call visual texture. Visual texture causes someone to view a 2D painting in a new way, looking intently at the work instead of a mere glance. This visual texture thought that I have with my work has been there from the beginning, I've just been able to articulate it more recently.

"Summer Birches No. 2"

As an artist you want to grow every time you work, the last thing you want is to reach a point where you're comfortable with your work and you keep producing the same painting over and over. I've come close to falling into the comfort trap, but I've worked on a theme repetitively as I knew there was something there that I had to grasp and so would keep at it until I achieved whatever it was I had to say visually. These pieces today are simple summer studies to some viewers, but to me, they represent five years of painting, five years of visual soul searching, endless hours of painting ... I hope you enjoy them. But art is subjective in nature, so you may not, and that's ok. I'm off to the easel, to continue my quest for visual texture. Please contact Siiviis Gallery in Duluth for more information on these pieces.

Golden Season

"Golden Season"  12"w x 9"h

Here is a piece titled Golden Season which is 12"w x 9"h ... acrylic on canvas. When you're overly busy such as I've been as of late, you often return to familiar themes, colors, and compositions. Golden birches on a rocky shoreline is a warm, friendly theme that I can paint that gives me the feeling of drinking coffee with old friends. I'm totally relaxed, free to share anything, knowing the time spent will bring a smile to my face. And the end result is always comforting, just like ... golden birches along a rocky shoreline, all decked out in brilliant autumn gold against a crisp blue sky. This piece is part of my show at the Art of Hair in Duluth now through September 2015.

Lavender Sky Iris

"Lavender Sky Iris"  12"w x 12"h

Lavender Sky Iris is a new piece at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN. Continuing on my recent theme in purple iris, this painting uses the color of the iris for the sky, ratcheting up the value of the color until white sparkles finish the negative spaces between the plants. While at first I struggled with this painting to distinguish the flowers from the background, I kept working on it, brightening the sky until it made me smile. :) Please contact Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN for more information.

Golden Land Iris

"Golden Land Iris"  24"w x 12"h

The iris is such a fascinating subject. The shape of the flower is so expressive, it moves and changes color minute by minute. With such a fascinating subject, my endeavor isn't to recreate a masterpiece, but to share my impression of the subject via paint on canvas. In this case, it's purple iris on a radiant gold background. The colors complement each other and intensify each other's hues. Perhaps a subject can do that to an artist ... the subject and the artist intensify each other's strengths and passions bringing a combination that achieves a visual spark. Well, that's all I have to offer on a sultry summer evening. Please contact Lizzards Gallery for more information on this spark titled Golden Land Iris, 24"w x 12"h, acrylic on canvas.

Blooming Iris

"Blooming Iris"  36"w x 24"h, Lizzards Gallery Duluth MN

The iris have been blooming around my home in Duluth MN recently, and I couldn't help but find myself drawn to their color, form, and beauty. Capturing them on canvas is a challenge as the flowers I chose were solid purple with little distinguishing features where the petals overlapped. So I made sure to paint them open so that the negative space around the flowers could be filled with color. I had quite a fun time in this series, and will post new works in an iris theme for the next several days. Please stop back soon .. and take a minute to stop and smell the iris. :) Please contact Lizzards Gallery for more information.

Northern Lights Triptych

"Northern Lights Triptych"  12"w x 4"h

Featured today is a fun little piece titled Northern Lights Triptych. While the subject matter is the night sky filled with the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, there is a playful abstract feel to this painting. From the the three panel format, to the bright green squares dancing across the sky, this painting was a joy to paint. Night paintings are always a joy because there is a mystery to them, and a natural contrast of light and dark ... not to mention endless shades of my favorite color which of course is blue. The northern lights have been brilliant this year, hopefully as we get closer to autumn I can catch some dancing across the night sky. For now,  I'm content to paint the mystery of the aurora borealis in the northern Minnesota night skies. 

Please contact Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN for more information on this piece.

Forest Kaleidoscope

"Forest Kaleidoscope"  40"w x 16"h

Just like a hike through a familiar wood, this piece, titled Forest Kaleidoscope, is a familiar walk through a favorite subject matter. Crisp golden maples against a rich cobalt blue sky, framed by foreground birch trees and ancient gray stones. Watching my kids skip across large stones as we explore the woods is a treat, reminding me of trips I took through familiar forests as a kid. This painting is part of show titled 'Birch Forests' at Vanilla Bean Restaurant in Two Harbors MN, now through the end of July 2015.

Last Leaves of Autumn

"Last Leaves of Autumn"  20"w x 16h

While I'm enjoying the heat and humidity of the summer season, I'm also thinking ahead to my favorite season ... autumn. During the fall, the colorful leaves fill the landscape with warmth and color, but one particular event is a powerful memory over the years. That memory is laying on the grass while the leaves drop off the trees in a gentle wind. One morning I was drinking my coffee on the deck and the leaves were dropping off the maple tree and it was an event I had to be there at that time to experience. Painting from memory can sometimes be more powerful than painting en plein aire, and today's piece titled Last Leaves of Autumn is a friendly reminder of that. Don't forget to visit the Vanilla Bean restaurant in Two Harbors during July to view this piece and my show titled Birch Forests. 

Between The Trees

"Between The Trees"  20"w x 16"h

Today's painting titled Between The Trees is a new 20"w x 16"h acrylic on canvas. The title of this painting reflects one of my earliest endeavors in painting which was to concentrate on the negative spaces of a painting ... such as the spaces between the trees in this piece which is a colorful summer birch lakescape with lush greens, blues, and sunset golds.

Artists are taught in school to paint the background first, and make the background look and feel as though it doesn't compete with the foreground or subject matter. So the background is an afterthought to whatever the subject of the painting is, and this approach never caught on with me when I was in art school. To me, every aspect of the painting is important, and the background and negative spaces of a painting can sometimes even be the subject of a painting. How you say something is just as important, if not more important, that what you say. That needs to get into the minds of art instructors. Perhaps this world would be a better place ...

But I'll stop before I get too carried away on the way art should be to me. For now, I'll enjoy this quiet summer morning, and as I view the landscape, I'll remember who I am and what I'm saying as an artist ... and take time to appreciate the space between the trees. Please contact Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais for more information on this piece.

Aerial Lift Bridge No. 3: Sun Sparkles

"Aerial Lift Bridge No. 3: Sun Sparkles"  24"w x 36"h

This painting is part of an ongoing series that features Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge. This piece is titled Sun Sparkles and was inspired by a recent trip to Duluth's Canal Park where the lift bridge welcomes great lakes travelers to Duluth's beautiful shores. The sun had set and was sparkling off the deep blue waters and the air temp was in the low 80's. There was quite a bit of humidity in the atmosphere, causing the sky to have a misty blue hue. It was a pleasant evening, one you wish could happen more frequently, but it will be remembered in paint on canvas as the evening the sun sparkled. Please contact Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN for more information on this piece.

Aurora On The Lake

"Aurora On The Lake"  20"w x 16"h, Sivertson Gallery

Today's painting, titled Aurora On The Lake, is 20"w x 16"h, acrylic on canvas, and available at Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN. Wow, there was a lot of commas in that last sentence. Anyways, this painting is a playful take on the aurora borealis, otherwise known as the northern lights that are frequently visible here in northern Minnesota. In this piece, the distant rocky shoreline breaks the plane of the sky and water, causing a mirror image of bright green against a ultramarine night sky which is framed by the birches and rocks in the foreground. Who knew the night could be so colorful and full of life? What an amazing subject to paint, the aurora. Please contact Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais for more information on this piece.

Summer Morning & Birch Forests Show at The Vanilla Bean

"Summer Morning"  20"w x 10"h

Getting back in the swing of things is tough after being on vacation especially considering the flurry of activity prior to vacation. New work was delivered to galleries, new shows were hung, and commissions completed. The studio is a mess, there are half a dozen canvases being prepped for new paintings and I'm sitting at the computer sifting through emails and images of paintings created during the last couple weeks of June and early July.

This painting featured today, titled Summer Morning, is 20"w x 10"h and is part of a show titled Birch Forests at The Vanilla Bean Restaurant in Two Harbors, MN. The show is titled appropriately, as there are 21 originals and framed prints available for purchase that feature the birch forests in all their seasonal splendor. Summer Morning is such a calm, peaceful painting, and considering the humid weather this piece really reflects the spirit of the season. Beautiful blue skies and green leaves greet you in the forest, along with the songbirds and the wish that this season could go on forever. Please stop back soon as I'll be posting new works daily ... and enjoying the summer mornings too.