Sara R here, welcoming you to Gallery Kos! Tonight we are showing the paintings of boran2. Works are for sale -- just message the artist if you see a piece that simply must come home with you.
Patric Juillet (armed with platoons of canapés) will be catering tonight's affair and ulookarmless will be providing the music selections. Please come in, have a good look around, and enjoy the party! Below the orange squiggle, boran2 will talk a bit about his work and his process. He's around, so feel free to ask questions!
Works from our last show, David Woodward, are still available, also. Click the link to have a look and please contact him if you see a canvas you can't live without or if you would like to commission a portrait of a person or pet.
Back in the early 1990's Michael Jackson reminded us of something we all need to remember these days. And it's great music as well:
Enjoy the show! But first, let's have a bite of this yummy smoked salmon "amuse gueule" before marveling at boran2's amazing art!
Thanks SaraR, ulookarmless and Patric Juillet! Welcome all to the gallery!
I've actually been posting the weekly progress of my paintings on dkos for many years at the same time as Frankenoid's Garden Blog and claude's Home Repair Blog. (9:00 eastern) I've been painting mostly landscapes for many years, almost exclusively in acrylics. Once upon a time I was lucky to complete two in a year's time. Having a weekly post has given a little pressure to do at least some weekly work on the current piece. My output has gone up accordingly.
I can't remember exactly when I started painting but it first became a regular activity when I was a teenager. (My parents dabbled for a time but gave up long ago.) Somehow, I've managed to continue with it through the years of college, law school, marriage and parenthood. With time and experience I've gained more skill and confidence. 2011 marked my first participation in a juried art show.
I find my inspiration in the drama of a scene. That isn't to say that the scene needs to be a particularly impressive vista, it may just be a mundane hill and trees. It's usually the lighting that makes me want to paint the scene. And that means heavy shadows. I like to see a strong contrast between lit and shadowed areas. I find such scenes interesting to paint, with a more interesting result. Even lighting, with limited shadows or no shadows, actually makes it more difficult to produce an interesting painting. And it's more difficult to maintain my interest. You will see this clearly illustrated in the paintings here. Now that isn't to say that I don't have favorite subjects. I have found much inspiration in the Victorian homes of Cape May, New Jersey. I've actually painted many of these houses. In fact, the current subject of my Saturday series is a well known Cape May mansion.
Other favorite subjects include scenes of the southwest. The boran clan resides in New York's Hudson Valley but has been fortunate enough to travel to the four corners area a number of times. (Suffice it to say that I've likely got more shots of southwestern scenery in my camera than those of the boran2 boy.) The Sedona, Arizona area has provided many of those photos. I actually attempted a plein air scene on one trip to Sedona. madame boran snapped photos while I worked, putting my paints and supplies on the hood of our rental car. Those photos were posted on dkos and resulted in an interesting post. Unfortunately, the actual painting did not turn out as well. Temperatures in the 90s meant that the paint was dry as soon as it was applied to the canvas. I'll have to try again some day.
You might say, with results like this:
Finally, the other major subject area of my work has been American cars of the late 40s. Even here I look for those deep shadows. I've always had an interest in cars and have done many related paintings. My recent pieces have attempted to show the subject cars in interesting ways. I've got a few of those below.
One last thing. You'll notice that my colors tend toward the primary shades. There is often limited subtlety. That is because I am partly color blind. While I have little trouble with the bright colors seen on toddlers' toys, subtle colors give me all kinds of trouble. Greens and browns often look the same to me. Sometimes I need to hold purple against blue to tell them apart. Needless to say clothes shopping is an adventure. Many of my clothes are black and grey. I could probably pull clothes from my closet while blindfolded and still end up with a matching outfit. But I digress.
Directly below is my 1949 Packard. It was done a few years ago as part of the dkos Saturday Painting Palooza series. This was done from a photo taken from an ebay auction, believe it or not. Not having one of these cars handy, I was happy to find a high quality image on ebay. I cropped it a bit to the image depicted in the piece. It is 8 x 10 inches on canvas. The price is $200.00
1. 8" x 10", $200 - SOLD
Below are two of my southwestern scenes. The first is an organ cactus from the Sonoran desert area. It is 8 x 10 inches and priced at $125.00. Below that is a gallery-wrapped 5 x 5 inch canvas depicting saguaro cacti. Blue dominates in this end-of-the-day scene. There is a second shot showing the side of the gallery-wrap. It is priced at $45.00.
2. 8" x 10", $125
3. 5" x 5", $45
side view of 3. 5" x 5", $45
Here are two Cape May Victorian houses. I posted these two together as they stand across the street from each other in West Cape May. The photos I used were taken at the same time. The first has some interesting shadows from the unseen house to the right. The house in the painting has now become a bit of a wreck since my piece was done. In the second one I was attempting to evoke an image of an earlier time with the vintage car in the driveway. The blue and green seem to play nicely together in this piece. Both pieces are 8 x 10. The fenced Victorian (on top) is $150.00, the vintage scene below is $125.00.
4. 8" x 10", $150
5. 8" x 10", $125
Much more successful than Talking Heads attempt:
Below is another one of my Cape May Victorian houses. This one was a bit of an experiment. I've never done one before or since in these colors. Most of my houses have a significant amount of blue. I don't recall but it must have been hard to keep the tube of blue paint away from my brush. ;-) It is 6 x 6 inches and priced at $50.00.
6. 6" x 6", $50
This Cape May Victorian was done in limited colors. It is a house that I have painted on 3 separate occasions. This version is the most successful of the 3. I try to go by that street when I'm in the area. I always see something new in the architecture. It is 8 x 8 inches and priced at $125.00. (Note that the photo has darkened the painting a bit. The blue is much brighter.)
7. 8" x 8", $125
Below are two more vintage car scenes. The first of these is an early 50s stepdown Hudson, the same generation of Hudson seen in the movie Cars. Getting all the linear moldings and seams to line up was quite a challenge but I did enjoy painting the large chunk of chrome seen in the foreground. Below that is another Hudson seen head on in a garage. This car is of a similar vintage. This car was a little down on its heals with areas of faded paint and light corrosion. Note that only the front tip of the car is lit, the remainder resting in the shadow of the garage. The side view (above) is 9 x 12 inches and priced at $150.00. The head on view below is 8 x 10 inches and priced at $100.00.
8. 9" x 12", $150
9. 8" x 10", $100
Below is Windward House, one of the guest houses in Cape May. It is also an 8 x 8 inch gallery-wrap canvas. This is one of my favorites. It has some nice details including those steps and second story railings. I fussed over both elements. It is priced at $125.00.
10. 8" x 8", $125
Here is another one from a number of years ago. It's a rather abstracted view of the Grand Canyon done on an 8 x 16 inch canvas. It even has a handmade frame. The highlights and shadows make for an almost uniform pattern of red and blue. It is $100.00.
11. 8" x 16", $100
Finally, here is a small painting done in my Sedona, Arizona hotel room in 2006. It is the view seen across the parking lot toward highway 89. It was fun to do. This one is very small, 4 x 5 inches. This is actually the photo used in the Saturday Painting Palooza post. This small painting is priced at $25.00.
12. 4" x 5", $25
Your music director thinks these pieces deserve to hit the big time:
Thanks again to SaraR, ulookarmless and Patric Juillet for making this possible and giving me this opportunity. And thanks to all for participating.
While you're selecting your next art purchase, we'll have a wee duck canapé and a glass of Pinot Grigio....
7:09 PM PT (boran2): boran2's contact e-mail: blogistan@yahoo.com