A Midwinter's Night

"A Midwinter's Night"  18"w x 6"h, Siiviis Gallery, Duluth MN

After taking a blogging break for a few weeks, I'm back with a pretty purple painting titled A Midwinter's Night. This 18"w x 6"h piece features the silver moon casting it's bright light across the frozen birch landscape. The sky is a deep rich purple color, and the undertones of the painting are the same purple. In the deep winter you can find beauty, especially in the colors of the shadows on the snowy landscape. Winter is a time for me to reflect on my accomplishments and plan for a new year. What will 2016 bring? We'll just have to wait and see ... but I have a good feeling about this next year. I've been in a good rhythm lately, painting many large commissions and also a nice selection of small canvases like this one currently at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN. Please stop back soon, and enjoy that midwinter night moonlight.

Light of the World

"Light of the World"  36"w x 24"h

Today's painting, titled Light of the World, is 36"w x 24"h, acrylic on canvas. This painting was commissioned and features Split Rock Lighthouse set in a late summer scene with the sun shining brightly in the sky and reflecting upon the water. This is a bright and cheerful painting and is my fifth attempt at painting this scene. Each time I paint the lighthouse I try a different approach, this particular approach hinting at changing seasons with the green foliage with gold highlights. I also enjoy a challenge, and this piece brought it. And this is also my sixth commissioned painting in a row, wow ... lots of custom work, very enjoyable. Please send me an email if you'd like to commission a special painting. (aaronklossartwork@gmail.com) All my best, Aaron

Where The Moon Dances on the Water - commissioned painting

"Where The Moon Dances on the Water"  60"w x 48"h, Jan. 2016

"We've Been Old Friends All Through
The Years," Feb. 2014

What a joy it is to share a new painting today titled Where The Moon Dances on the Water which is 60"w x 48"h, acrylic on canvas. This piece was commissioned for a special place in a new home being built in the area. The clients looked at several options and decided on a piece was inspired by a canvas I had painting a couple years ago titled We've Been Old Friends All Through The Years. That painting found a home north of Grand Marais, MN, and it's fun to know that this painting will light up a new home with the warmth of a glowing moon and autumn birches at a lake. One additional challenge with this painting was that the clients desired copper colors in the piece. I tried copper colored metallic paint, and to be honest, the copper paint clashed with the golds I wanted to add in and I took a different approach. What I did was take several copper objects and view them by night to see what kind of tonal range the copper had, and used those rich dark copper colors to as a base to build upon. So the underbrush, the distant and foreground birches all have a rich rust color, with the bright coppers painted over that, with the golds increasing in brightness adding the icing on the cake ... or the sparkle on the lake. Have a wonderful weekend!
All my best, — A.Kloss

P.S. Prints of this and hundreds of my paintings are available, as well as special ordered originals to meet space and color choices, please email me if you'd like more information.

When Maples Turn Red

"When Maples Turn Red"  

This piece, along with the one from yesterday's post, were painted together and were both based off red maples in memory of a loved one of the person who commissioned the paintings. The blazing red maple forests were a joy to paint, providing an exciting challenge ... and who doesn't just love a red maple forest? In this piece, titled When Maples Turn Red, complementary blue skies pop the reds off the canvas, and perhaps I'll return to this subject soon, but for now I'm painting other commissioned work and so I'm off to the easel on a snowy day in northern Minnesota.

This piece corresponds to a book I'm reading titled 'When Maples Turn Red,' written by Richard King, here's a link to the book: http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore/details/9781478712282

Red Maples in Memory of Dick

I'm baaaaaack! I just wanted to start the first blog post of 2016 with something cool and I'm baaaaaack! is it. :)  I've taken a blog break as I've been focusing on finishing a list of commissioned paintings the likes of which I haven't ever seen. It's exciting and lots of work all at once, but it's also challenging and has me thinking outside my normal box of artistic inspiration and that's great. Normally this time of year sales are slow and I find myself wallowing in despair wondering if I'll ever paint again until temps warm up and gallery business picks up ... so commissioned work fits well into this time of the year.

Featured today is a painting that was commissioned at the end of 2015, titled Red Maples in Memory of Dick. This piece corresponds to a book I'm reading titled When Maples Turn Red, written by Richard King, here's a link to the book: http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore/details/9781478712282
I enjoyed the reds of this piece as much as I'm enjoying the book. Tomorrow I'll post a corresponding piece to this one ... here's to a new year full of color, inspiration and life.