Skyward

Acrylic on 20"w x 16"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$250.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Yet another in my crab apple series for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery. The sun is the central feature of the composition, and yet the sun is the farthest object. The sun has appeared in many of the paintings in this show, and I'm still working out why. With art, many times deeper inner meaning is found at a much later date, and I have a feeling the reason for the brightness will be illuminated in the future. My first guess is it has to do with lighting dark areas of my life, but I'm not so sure. In my mind I've seen images of the sun consuming the entire composition with golden brilliance. Perhaps such images will appear on canvas, but for now they are etched into my mind and heart. And for now, it's back to prepping, wiring, and signing canvases. The show is coming soon! So are the crab apple buds that will yield to trees loaded with bright red apples ... a feast for the eyes, the birds, and the artists who love the taste of crab apple jelly on toast ... like me :)

Crab Apple Harvest

Acrylic on 8"w x 10"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$65.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Another in my crab apple series for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth. The depth of blues in this crab apple series makes them so visually interesting that after a while I don't focus on the branches or berries ... but on the background. The longer you view my work, I hope you will see the background and it's thousands of shades. The layers provide a glimpse into how I see images. They are comprised of layers of color and texture. There is more than meets the eye. There are more paintings to be completed for my show. Back to the easel I go ...

Crab Apple Cocktail

Acrylic on 8"w x 10"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$65.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Another in my crab apple series for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth. I'm just lovin' how the red and blue compliment each other. I could be wrong, but maybe that's why they are called complimentary colors. I may be going out on a limb by saying that. Anyway, this piece leads your eye from the top left corner down the branch to the right corner, then the apples lead you around and back up to the top left again. A simple little path through the piece that gives it movement and balance. I have a few more crab apple paintings to upload before I switch back to landscapes ... can't wait to share those! Many feature the sun and moon and bright sunrises and sunsets. Life is good. :)

Crab Apple Blast

Acrylic on 10"w x 8"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$65.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Last November I took at least 50 photos of a crab apple tree in Bemidji, MN that had dropped it's leaves but still had the colorful red apples on it's branches. (I'm wrestling with whether or not 'its' should have an apostrophe or not at the moment ... if you are an english lit. teacher please bear with me) :) I've painted several new works along this crab apple theme for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth. My daughter Autumn titled this piece 'Crab Apple Blast' as she viewed it as a blast of wind moving the apple.

This particular painting was inspired by a lone crab apple branch and fruit that was etched into my memory. I was so amazed at the thought of the apple hanging onto the branch while the wind blew hard against it that I just had to paint it. There are times in life when you feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders and all you can do is just hang on ... and I was encouraged by this little guy fighting the odds ... funny how so little an apple can captivate a soul. I went back into my photo collection to find the reference photo long after the painting was signed and completed and I was amazed at how similar the image in my memory was to the reference photo I never looked at when I was painting this piece. The mind and memory can be a powerful thing.

Tremendous Trees

While I haven't been very active on my painting blog as of late, I've been extremely busy preparing for my upcoming show at the Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth's Canal Park. Thirty new paintings will be finished by the end of next week and I'm excited and a little anxious at the same time for the show. My work lately has taken on some very intense vibrant color, coming from a place inside me that longs for warm summer days to replace the gray Spring weather. The work created for this show has a lot of spark, a lot of life, and, of course, a lot of trees. :) Birches, maples, crabapples, evergreens, colorful underbrush and deep blue skies filled with sparkling sun drops and long shadows will fill my exhibition space at the Blue Lake Gallery. Some spunky cardinals will occupy a 6' x 3' birch triptych which is the largest painting I've ever created. A wide range of canvas sizes will be available to meet anyone's size and price range. Please stop by gallery to view the show ... and return often as I'll be posting the paintings on this blog and my website in the coming days and weeks.

Summer is coming soon ... smile!

Cranberry Birchland Triptych

Acrylic on three 11"w x 14"h canvases
Click on image above to enlarge.
$350.00 Please contact Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais to purchase.

When you just let go and paint expressively instead of micro-managing every brushstroke, good things can happen. As is the case with this piece, I found myself just wanting to view this piece for long periods of time when it was finished ... wondering how to recreate the effect and visual impact this piece possesses. From the deep cranberry reds in the foreground to the deeper cobalt blues in the distant background, this piece just has an honesty to it, a rugged presence that I wish could spill out into the rest of my work. Perhaps it will, perhaps this piece marks another milestone in my painting career, defining my style and shaping the body of my work down the road. Time will tell.

Conversing Cardinals

 Acrylic on three 6"w x 12"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
SOLD

This painting was so much fun I had a hard time sending it to the gallery!  I saved the cardinal faces for last, and I laughed as I finished these little guys as it seems as though the cardinal in the middle is agitated about something. I figure the cardinal on the right is making fun of him ... telling the cardinal on the left that the middle cardinal's feathers aren't as red as his... and the cardinal on the left agrees. lol. The cardinals are so striking with their red color, that the composition had to be set before the painting was begun. I originally planned for a solid blue background, but opted to add in some evergreen to the background and I'm really glad I did. The primary colors just pop. I'm planning a large 72"wx36"h triptych featuring cardinals that will take quite a while to finish, but after how this piece turned out, I can't wait to see the large triptych finished ... it will be my largest painting ever!

Through the Birches

Acrylic on 20"w x 16"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$250.00 Please contact Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais to purchase.

I love looking through trees to view landscapes in the distance. Every artists has a certain way they see things ... and I see many fields of color through the trees, and the negative space between the trees becomes the focal point of the composition. This is another theme that runs through my work ... a lot of artists focus on the subject matter of their work and the background is a distant afterthought. In my work, the background is everything, and more often than not the background is the subject of my work. That's just how I see things. Oh, did you see the birch trees in this painting? I've been describing this work and I just noticed them. :) It isn't what you see ... it's how you see it ... see what I mean?

Bluestone Birch Diptych

Acrylic on two 11"w x 14"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$230.00 Please contact Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais to purchase.

A recent theme of mine has been bluestone birches. I gave the title to this theme based on the blue stones along with the deep cobalt blue skies. Bluestone outcroppings are scattered throughout the forests here where I live, and in the past chunks of the stone have broken off and tumbled down the hills to land together in big bluestone bunches. Often, they form little walls in the woods, making the explorer have to decide to climb over them or walk around them. In this piece, the foreground is a simple burnt sienna textured field which gives the composition a grounded feel. Well I suppose it should, being that it's the ground after all. The texture is thick, the brushstrokes are crisp and this bluestone birch theme is very peaceful to work in. I will have some new work along this theme in the coming weeks.

Complementary Colored Cardinal

Acrylic on 12"w x 16"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$165.00 Please contact Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais to purchase.

I just love this painting. I almost held onto this one, hard to let it go. I have a feeling this little gem will complement someone's décor ... complements of the cardinal. Please leave a comment if you'd like to share your compliments. Sorry, it's Friday ... must be a word play day.

Fall Five

Acrylic on 8"w x 10"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
SOLD

Painting a small canvas such as this 8x10" canvas puts the entire composition in the viewing range during painting, as opposed to small sections of a larger painting. Every painting has it's challenges and rewards, and the reward of the smaller scale is the sense of completion when the piece is finished and the thought behind the work is captured on canvas in one session. Larger works will take a week, and many hours are spent viewing an incomplete canvas ... wondering how it will look in the end. This painting features many elements I look for in the forest ... the crisp white birch trees with their signature fall golden leaves, the blue stones scattered about the brown forest floor with it's incredible range of texture and depth. The evening blue skies casting light on the birches as they drop their leaves. Perhaps I need to paint this on a larger scale, we'll see.

The weather is gorgeous now, highs in the upper 60's which is unseasonable, but we'll take it. :) The trees are starting to bud, spring will soon be here.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Maples

Acrylic on 16"w x 20"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$250.00 Please contact Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais. to purchase.

As I was trying to decide what to title this painting I couldn't help but think that it reminded me of chocolate and cherries. I can't imagine why ... must be the color. ;) No, this painting is not edible, but it does feature three red maples against a deep ultramarine background. This delicious composition was inspired by a red maple I came across one day in the fall, and I found the cranberry colored leaves with the delectable brown bark of the tree simply appetizing ... a feast for the eyes. So I captured the red maple on canvas. Bon Appétit!

Golden Birch Ridges

Acrylic on 14"w x 11"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge. 

SOLD

Repetition is an important element to design and composition, and this piece carries a repetition of form, color, texture and technique. It's such a simple concept, yet in this painting I find my eye drawn around the composition in a circular motion. There is a rich depth again which is just happening, something that is emerging as I layer the paint, making it seem as though you are looking through the trees and there is distance between the elements. The golden leaves on the birch trees really bring out this illusion of space and depth ... teasing you to look more carefully to make sure this is not a three dimensional piece. Here I go again writing these deep concepts and ideas when really I just need to enjoy this piece before it finds itself a new home. And I won't repeat myself. ;)

Snowy Birches No. 1

Acrylic on 10"w x 8"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$65.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

The first of two birch compositions, with snow gently falling in the background. I love how the snow and the black bark markings of the birch trees match each other, almost as if the black bark on the birch trees is falling too. 18" of snowfall last week here in Duluth may have influenced me to paint snow ya know. :)

The Stand

Acrylic on 11"w x 14"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$120.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

I've been busy as of late putting finishing touches on several paintings. I had a burst of creativity and started almost a dozen canvases. Something that has never happened to me before, but I'm just rolling with it. This painting ended up with an incredible depth of texture with many transparent layers of color applied. When the depth of color gets this good, I find myself trying to replicate the effect, yet every painting is always different. Perhaps I shouldn't try to replicate but just enjoy the result ... A nice stand of birches basking in the last golden glow of the day.

Please return soon as new works will be uploaded on a regular basis.

What's ahead ...

 The annual Art for Earth Day Gallery Hop will be happening in mid April, along with a separate gallery hop of some new and super cool galleries in the Twin Ports on the same weekend. I'll have more information on these gallery hops as the information becomes available soon, but for now I'll have my hands full (of paint!) getting ready for my next show at the Blue Lake Gallery in Canal Park, Duluth. My work will hang in a space in their beautiful gallery for the Earth Day gallery hop. I have several pieces in mind to paint such as several triptychs and canvases ranging in size from 4"x4" on up to 72"x36". I will be limited in space in the gallery, but I will still plan to have a wide range of sizes and prices for people stopping by, and I plan to fill the space from floor to ceiling with 40-50 paintings. Look for paintings to be posted here in the next several weeks featuring new works for the show. :)