Summer at Split Rock

This new painting is titled Summer at Split Rock, and is 36"w x 36"h on canvas, and was delivered to Lizzards Gallery in Duluth just yesterday. This painting is probably my third effort at painting Split Rock Lighthouse, and I enjoyed painting the rocks, waters and sky of this piece. Here are links to my other paintings of Split Rock from the past:
Why Can't This Night Go On Forever?
Hope Springs Eternal

As you well know, at least you know if you read my blog ... I love painting negative spaces and backgrounds of compositions. The subject is frequently an afterthought, as I work to draw attention to other areas of the painting. In this piece, I focused on the hue of the water first, using blues, purples and teals to give the water a rich color. I then continued that color palette into the stones and sky, increasing the value until I was happy with the contrast between the different elements. The lighthouse perched on top of the rocks is the brightest part of the painting and draws the eye, but I hope the viewer lingers to enjoy the waters and rocks ... at least that's where you'll find me, sitting on the rocks and skipping stones into lake Superior while I listen to the waves crash against the rocky shoreline. That never gets old.

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

Summer Splendor numbers 1 - 3

Summer Splendor No. 1 

Three new paintings featured today titled Summer Splendor Nos. 1-3, 6"w x 6"h, available at Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN. These cardinals are set off by a bright blue/teal colored sky, along with a few sun sparkles thrown in for good measure. Hope you have a great day! I'm off to the easel again ... working on a large summer scene of Split Rock Lighthouse that will be completed in the next day or two.

Chick a Dee Dee Dee Dee Dees

Here's a fun piece titled Chick A Dee Dee Dee Dee Dees (24"w x 12"h) which is currently at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN. The call the chickadee makes inspired the titled of this new acrylic on canvas which is filled with summer's bountiful color and seven happy little chickadees. I love walking in the woods and hearing the call of the chickadee. It's the first bird I was able to identify as a child, and like many people, I find them the friendliest bird in the forest. They're hardy too ... spending the winters here in the great northland. Many birds migrate through the forests and regions, but the chickadee is always there, like an old friend that greets you with a smile when you meet.

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. :)

Three new cardinal paintings at Lizzards Gallery (Golden Curtain Ns. 1-3)

Happy Monday! Mondays are made much better with colorful artwork and coffee. Featured today are three new cardinal paintings at Lizzards Gallery in Duluth. These warm works include bright red cardinals on crisp white birch trees, and the background sparkles with golds and browns. The warmth of these paintings remind me that the autumn season is soon upon us, and I just love hiking through the colorful landscapes that will inspire my work through the long cold winter. But we have some beautiful weather to enjoy in Duluth this week with highs in the mid 80s and sun. I think a trip to lake Superior is in order. Have a great week. -A.Kloss

To view my inventory of current works for sale at Lizzards Gallery, please visit my website: http://www.aaronkloss.com/lizzards-gallery-duluth.html

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.

Autumn Lake Excursion

"Autumn Lake Excursion"  36"w x 12"h

Here is a new piece titled Autumn Lake Excursion which is 36"w x 12"h, acrylic on canvas. This one is part of a group of work recently delivered to Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN. Gold leaves on maples, rich blue waters and skies and random stones scattered about ... sounds like a recipe for a sweet landscape scene to me. :)

Chickadee Blues

Today's paintings are titled Chickadee Blues Nos. 1-3 and is 6"w x 6"h, acrylic on canvas. I've been working in series lately, creating painting similar in theme, composition and color. It's always a fun exercise to work repetitively in a subject matter, exploring the different subtleties only found in more in depth study.

These colorful little blue gems are currently available at Lizzards Gallery in Duluth, MN. Happy Friday!

Birchscapes

Today's painting diary post features four birchscape paintings (blue, brown, gold, green) that were brought in to Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais in July. These may be small at 6"w x 6"h, but pack a visual punch nonetheless. Minimalism has always appealed to me as an artist, and so I often simplify my work if possible to drive home a point or speak more loudly visually. I had a bit of light reflecting off the canvases when I took the photos, but that's ok, as painting is more of expression than perfection, at least from my view. Please contact Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais for more information on these, and other birchscapes.

 

Blue Landscape Triptych

"Blue Landscape Triptych"  12"w x 4"h

There was recently a blue moon over Duluth, MN where I live, and that moon reminded me of this landscape I had painted a couple weeks previous. This piece, titled Blue Landscape Triptych is 12"w x 4"h, acrylic on canvas, and features the color blue. In the foreground, there's the typical stones and birch trees that are so plentiful in my part of the world .. but then there's that blue sky. I just love the color blue. It's fairly common for me to walk into a gallery to deliver new work only to realize the new work is all predominately blue and my work already there is ... blue. So I actually have to put the tubes of ultramarine, cobalt, cerulean, cyan, and windsor blues away to work in warmer tones for a while. But it isn't long before I once again return to the color that soothes my eyes and calms my soul. Ahhh blue. I'm drawn to you like a moth to a ... blue sky. Please contact Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais for more information on this piece.

Mossy Forest Triptych

"Mossy Forest Triptych" 12"w x 4"h

Here is a painting completed in July titled Mossy Forest Triptych which is 12"w x 4"h and acrylic on canvas. I had fun with different greens in this piece, working the greens into both the foreground and background, all around the birches which almost seem like an afterthought. But the birches are enjoying the greens, and so am I lately. The greens in my work remind me of summer hikes into the forest where the pines grow tall and shade everything, causing moss to grow on the trunks of the trees, the rocks and the forest floor. It makes the landscape feel old, almost as if it has a story to tell. When I paint a small painting like this I can't help but think about a similar piece, yet on a grander scale. Perhaps in the future, but for now, this little piece packs quite a punch of green. Please contact Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN for more information on this piece.

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.