Cardinals on Gold

'Cardinals on Gold'

Today's piece is titled Cardinals on Gold, and is 18"w x 6"h, acrylic on canvas, and recently brought in to Lizzards Gallery in Duluth. This painting is just a fun take on warm color with the red cardinals and gold background, and the cardinals appear to be in conversation. I'm busy painting several commissions at the moment, but I also make time to share the little paintings I love to paint, I often think that these small scale paintings are insignificant, but they are affordable to paint and collect, and I don't have any plans on stopping creating them anytime soon. Have a great week! -Aaron

Please email me if you'd like more information on commissioning a special painting for your home or office.

Spring Cardinals in the Wood

This piece is titled Spring Cardinals in the Wood and was recently brought in to Lizzards Gallery in downtown Duluth, MN. I've recently enjoyed listening to all the birds around my house, the finches and robins being the most prominent, but I have yet to see the cardinals or hear their song. I'm starting to think the finches have something to do with this, as I have several dozen small brown finches emptying my thistle feeders and making a lot of noise and a big mess, but they are fun to watch with their chatter and jostling for the best perch at the feeder. The cardinals in today's painting are a bit more relaxed, no doubt talking about how the Minnesota Twins aren't doing so well this year haha. TGIF!

Please visit my website for more examples of my work, and feel free to contact me regarding commissioning a custom painting for your home or office space.

Waters Deep and Bright

Here are four new pieces assembled as a collage which are part of Siiviis Gallery's Waters Deep and Bright art show. The opening is today from 1 - 4pm at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth's Canal Park area, please stop by and say hi if you're in the area. The show is an invitational exhibit of selected artists, and all the work is related to water, and sized at 12"w x 12"h. What a fun idea, looking forward to seeing people and viewing the show today.

And the titles of my entries to the show are Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Cardinal Reflections.

Please visit my website for more examples of my work, and feel free to contact me regarding commissioning a custom painting for your home or office space.

Ladies & Gentlemen

Today's post is playful take on a familiar phrase ... these new spring cardinal paintings are titled Ladies & Gentlemen, and there is a total of six originals in this series measuring 4"w x 4"h. I just love the color of these cardinals, so vibrant and full of life ... normally I have a tough time photographing my work and getting color just the way I like it, but these turned out great. Back to the studio now ... many canvases in progress to finish this week. If you're interested in these, please contact Your Art's Desire Gallery in Minnetonka, MN to check on availability. All my best, Aaron

Please email me ... aaronklossartwork [at symbol] gmail.com ... if you're like to commission me for a custom painting, and please visit my website for more examples of my work and to purchase prints.

Winter Morning Music 1-3

Today I'm featuring three new originals titled Winter Morning Music (Numbers 1-3). They are 6"w x 6"h, acrylic on canvas, at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth.

The series includes tiny cardinals on birch, with a distant evergreen ridge and matching sky to anchor the background. The ridge includes expressive dark green brushstrokes visible in the light green sky, and the brushstrokes portray what you would see when looking at backlit trees, there are areas that appear detached from the tree due the brightness of the sky.

These are subtle details that I often include in my work that most people may not notice if I don't mention them. Working in series is a fun challenge. You paint in similar color and composition, so you have to focus a bit more, and in the end you get to make subtle changes with each painting in the series whereas you don't have that luxury when working with just one piece.

So glad it's Friday, been a long week for me as I'm fighting a nasty bug that's sapping my energy, but I'm pressing on, currently working on a couple commissioned paintings and enjoying the last weeks of winter wonderland outside. Have a great weekend! -A

Many other painting options are always being added to my website: http://www.aaronkloss.com
Feel free to contact me for more information ... and I'm also available for commissions if you'd like a special size or subject. 

Winter Cardinaland

"Winter Cardinaland"  24"w x 36"h

What do you get when you combine over 30 cardinals with rich deep blue and purple frozen landscape, rocks, birch, a lake and a moon? Why a Winter Cardinaland, of course. This piece is 24"w x 36"h and was brought into Siiviis Gallery yesterday. This painting follows along a theme of cardinals in coversation, something I've been working with for many years. The red birds sure pop off the cobalt night sky behind them. The eye is drawn down to the many shades of blue and purple in the foreground, along with the lake and foreground shadows, but inevitably the eye is drawn back up with the tall birches and the cardinals perched on them. Anchoring the piece is the moon in the center, radiating across the sky and casting silvery light across everything. This is a view of winter I could get used to.
All my best, 
—A. Kloss
Many other painting options are always being added to my website: http://www.aaronkloss.com
Feel free to contact me for more information ... and I'm also available for commissions if you'd like a special size or subject. 

Frosty Forest Cardinals

"Frosty Forest Cardinals"
6"w x 18"h

Why not kick off a new month with a cardinal painting? Well that's what I'm doing anyway, and this cool blue new painting is titled Frost Forest Cardinals. The cardinals are tiny in this piece, perhaps tricking you into thinking the painting is larger than it's 6"w x 18"h size. This painting to me is kinda like making a favorite meal. You pick your favorite ingredients and don't have to worry about how it will turn out, you know you've made it many times and it's always good. And there's no leftovers. Well, this composition with a bright central moon radiating light across cobalt blue skies, forests, and snowy foreground is a favorite of mine. And cardinals, who can go wrong with them? They're like the cherry on top of the sundae, the finishing touch. The cardinal has been elusive this winter though, appearing only on my canvases as I've searched and not found them. They've probably found a better feeder somewhere else but that's ok, I'll keep painting them, at least for another year. We'll see what 2016 brings, hopefully lots of delicious meals both literally and figuratively.

Please contact Siiviis Gallery for more information on this piece.

Autumn Reprise Nos. 1-3

Featured this Friday are three sweet cardinal landscapes from my St. Luke's show which is displayed in the A building. The show is titled Autumn Encore, and will be up now through the end of 2015. These fun paintings are full of color and playfulness, the cardinals sprinkled throughout, adding their color and intrigue to the compositions. These new acrylics on canvas are titled Autumn Reprise 1 - 3 and measure 5"w x 7"h each. Please contact me for purchase information.

Autumn Sparkle Numbers 1 & 2

"Autumn Sparkle No. 1" 

These fun new acrylics on canvas, titled Autumn Sparkle No. 1 & 2, feature my tiny cardinal series, along with the luscious color of the late autumn landscape: deep golds and browns. Many people travel along the Scenic 61 up the north shore from where I live to view the leaves as they change color. But while I enjoy the blazing colors of the season, I also equally enjoy walking through the woods after the leaves are down and enjoying the crunchy leaves beneath my feet and long shadows cast by barren trees. I can't venture to far out though, as the deer hunters are also out in the woods as we approach winter. Back to these paintings feature today ... they are arriving at Sivertson Gallery this weekend, feel free to contact the gallery for more information on these and other landscapes. Have a great weekend! -Aaron

Leaves in the Wind No. 1 & 2

"Leaves in the Wind No. 1"  10"w x 8"h

"Leaves in the Wind No. 2"

Here's an interesting new original acrylic on canvas painting, titled Leaves in the Wind No. 1, that is available through Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN. I'm really digging the background colors that make the cardinals featured in the piece want to say 'hey, what about us? We're colorful too!' These tiny cardinals are fun to paint and fun to hang in the gallery .. and ultimately in someone's home. Please contact Sivertson Gallery for more information on these paintings.

Snowshowers

"Snowshowers"  20"w x 10"h

On a day which saw snowflakes I thought this piece would be fitting, titled Snowshowers, acrylic on 20"w x 10"h canvas. This piece is part of five new tiny cardinal paintings being shipped to Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN to arrive this weekend. This painting features a limited palette of red, white and blue, which could be viewed in a patriotic sense, but that isn't the intention of the piece. Instead, this birch landscape celebrates the changing seasons and the arrival of snow. The cardinal, ever present in this rugged part of the world called northern Minnesota, is a hardy bird, not phased by the hottest of summer days or dark and coldest nights of the year. Long live the cardinal. Please contact Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, where the cardinals live, for more information on this piece.

Cadmium Cardinal Triptych

Here's a delightful little new acrylic on canvas titled Cadmium Cardinal Triptych which was recently brought in to Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN. In this piece a familiar favorite subject of mine .. tiny cardinals .. are set off by a bright sparkly gold background. This painting may measure in at a mere 12"w x 4"h, but it packs a bright colorful visual punch nonetheless. Also, just finished up my Split Rock painting which will be posted tomorrow. :) Have a great day! -A.Kloss

Cardinal Colors

Featured today is a sweet little 7x5" original on canvas titled Cardinal Colors, available at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN. This is a cheerful piece, the cardinals and bright blues and golds of the background combining for a colorful visual treat. Lots going on ... I'm hard at work on a large piece that features Split Rock Lighthouse that should be finished today.... and thinking ahead to new works next week. Have a great weekend. -A.Kloss

Lavender Lake

This new painting, titled Lavender Lake, is 12"w x 12"h, acrylic on canvas. I recently brought this one in to Siiviis Gallery in Duluth along with other bird themed paintings. The cardinals have been requested by every gallery that represents my work, and their customers love the red birds. I've been painting cardinals for several years now, often wondering if they will ever 'go out of style'. I'll stray from them as a subject matter, only to get pulled back by requests from people who love them. I've been told it has to do with the bright red and crisp birch .. along with complementary colors. While I don't mind painting cardinals, I don't want to duplicate a previous painting and so I often think about how to present the birds in a new way. I've used color, composition, perspective, style, repetition ... many different design aspects to portray the subject matter over the years. In this case, I've brought in some color close to blue on the color wheel ... lavender. When you add red to blue you get purple, and when you add purple to a red and blue landscape you get ... cardinals at a lake. And not just any lake ... a Lavender Lake. :)

Beaky Boys

Here's a sweet little painting for Sunday which is available at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, titled Beaky Boys which measures in at a whopping 4"w x 4"h.

Sweet Spring Songs

"Sweet Spring Songs"

The title of this piece, Sweet Spring Songs, is descriptive of the sound of the cardinal, while the color and composition of these tiny cardinals on birch with an evergreen background is pretty sweet. This piece can be found at Red Mug Coffeehouse in Superior, WI in May, 2015

Spring Cardinal Song

"Spring Cardinal Song"  6"w x 6"h

Here's a sweet little something titled Spring Cardinal Song, which is 6"w x 6"h. I've heard about cardinals singing a particular song when spring is arriving, and by looks of the budding trees and migratory birds in the forest, spring has sprung! We've had some rain here in northern Minnesota, now with the warmer temps next week, we'll finally get some greens in the landscape. And hopefully some spring songs from the cardinals. Please contact Your Art's Desire Gallery for more information on this piece.

The Song of the Season

"The Song of the Season"  36"w x 36"h

This piece, titled The Song of the Season (36"w x 36"h) is one of many new pieces available at Your Art's Desire Gallery in Minnetonka, MN. The gallery is gearing up to celebrate it's tenth anniversary May 2, and I'm thankful to be amongst such great art company at the gallery. This particular painting is about as bright as I've ever painted in terms of the color green. The bright red cardinals complement the color and jump right off the canvas with the reds and greens playing off each other. The rocks and distant evergreen ridges anchor the piece, and provide a deep color punch to highlight the bright background and birch trees. The cardinals steal the show, though, as they always do ... you can never miss a cardinal in their bright red feathers and beautiful song of the season. Please contact Your Art's Desire Gallery in Minnetonka, MN for more information on this piece.

Sing For The Spring

"Sing For The Spring"  24"w x 18"h

I heard a cardinal for the first time this season while on an evening walk. Imagine what these 27 cardinals would sound like! This colorful new piece is part of a new group of work at Lizzards Gallery in Duluth, MN.

Singing Cardinals

"Singing Cardinals"  6"w x 6"h

On a cold rainy December day with a sore throat and fever of 102 degrees, I needed something to cheer me up and this piece is just the ticket. Singing Cardinals, acrylic on 6"w x 6"h canvas, features a familiar theme of mine that makes me smile ... evergreen forests, birch trees and tiny singing cardinals. OK, I'm headed back to bed with a cup of hot tea and lemon. :)