Happy Holidays!

Autumn’s Veil Variation
© 2007 Katherine Kean

Wishing everyone peace and joy for the holidays and the New Year!

Feeling the Heat

"An artist must paint not what he sees in nature, but what is there. To do so, he must invent symbols, which, if properly used, make his work seem even more real than what is in front of him." Charles Burchfield

The exhibit Heat Waves in a Swamp, currently at the Hammer is the largest collection of Burchfield’s work I’ve ever seen together all in one place.

Like Christmastime the trees are alight. There’s as much going on in the spaces between things; dry brushstrokes, transparent patterns overlapping, and lifting of color used all together to ecstatically animate his subjects, portraying mood and feeling as much as form.

Having not realized Burchfield’s technique of piecing smaller pieces together to make larger works I’ve always visualized them as being smaller, no larger than about 40 x 30”. Many of his paintings are much larger than that. Burchfield had a revelation when he reached his 50’s of revisiting his earlier works and using them as the inspiration and the starting points for his later work and then building on them by adding pieces to the sides, top, and bottom. Details of his process are revealed in the video below.

He made many drawings and took copious notes while figuring out how a painting should come together. Samples of these drawings and the extensive notes are part of this exhibit. Also displayed are numerous doodles, a few samples of his wallpaper work, and many journals. The selections from his journals printed beside various paintings are priceless. In one he describes in great detail everything he’s seeing in a cloudy sky, ultimately saying that it is agonizing to watch, while in another he states that there is too much grandeur in a dandelion seed head to take in.

Heat Waves in a Swamp is on view until January 3, 2010.

100 Artists of the West Coast II

I'm pleased to announce that a book that includes my artwork has recently been published. From San Diego to Vancouver, 100 Artists of the West Coast II covers 100 artists with over 400 full color photographs of their work. The collection includes art from private as well as public collections and installations, including the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art New York, and the New York Public Library to name just a few. I'm happy to be included.

TAG Gallery Opening

Sunland Sky 16 x 20" oil on linen
© 2009 Katherine Kean

I had so much fun seeing familiar and new faces at TAG's opening Saturday night. The new gallery space looks great. Plus, I feel that I got wonderful feedback on the piece I exhibited (above). A thank you to everyone who came by!

This exhibit runs through December 26th, at TAG Gallery, Bergamot Station D3, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404. The hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11am - 5pm.

New Place

A Small Look at the Great Marsh -SOLD-6 x 6" oil on linen
© 2009 Katherine Kean

I'm prepping work and updating my portfolio this week. Saturday is TAG's official opening day at the new location and I'll have one small piece as part of a group exhibit that opens December 5th and runs through December 26th.

I went by on Tuesday - which was move in day. The movers happened to have an irresistably adorable little puppy with them that someone had given one of them that morning while they were on the way to our location. Luckily someone had some spare dog supplies in her car and a box with a blanket was prepared. The puppy slept through the morning in her box, but later when she woke up I ran out and got some puppy food. Feeding her and taking her for a little walk was a fun distraction from moving.

When I left the painters were already making good progress even as furniture and office supplies were being moved in. It looks like everything will be all set for the opening on Saturday.

Underpainting

In this post about ways to check your work, the artists responding to the poll were equally divided on two methods to check work. One method is looking at the work through a mirror and the other is looking at it through half closed eyes. I mentioned another method that I use to check and make corrections to work, and I can see from the comments that it is not uncommon to use a digital photograph as part of the process. In this underpainting that I've been developing for a Great Marsh painting I can illustrate how I've been checking and correcting work digitally.

This first image is the very first layer of underpainting.



So far so good. This painting is going to be as much about the clouds as it is about the marsh and I went in to add more detail and depth to the sky, while also adding detail and darks to the ground to balance.



I'm not unhappy with the results, but I can't help wondering if I might like it more with darker tones near the tree line and in the clouds. The surface is not dry enough to add a wash to it so instead I take a digital image and add the changes with Photoshop.



The changes are subtle, but it gives me the information I need and soothes my impatience at the same time.

I use this method frequently, finding that it's especially helpful and time saving on larger work.

Image Requests

Silk Mountain 24 x 28" oil
© 2006 Katherine Kean

Recently someone asked for permission to use an image of one of my paintings. I’m always flattered when someone likes my artwork enough to want to use it in some way. An image is usually requested for book or magazine covers and for websites, although once I received a request for permission to use a painting for a snowboard design. Once the snowboards were manufactured I'd receive a royalty on the sales. After some thought I turned it down. At the time I just couldn’t visualize it, but now I think it might have been kind of cool. These days I generally only grant requests accompanied by compensation – or at the very least an exchange that somehow acknowleges the work that goes into the making of an image. That could be free advertising space or a promotional article. This most recent request to use the painting above was granted free of charge after determining that it was not for profit and that it was for a student. I’ll be credited, and the use is quite limited – only four copies in all. I’m grateful that permission was even requested and not just taken. After all, I might never have known.


I've been giving some thought to posting some guidelines for image use that I can direct people requesting images to and just what I might include as criteria. Perhaps a fee schedule with a smaller fee for charities or causes that I support. I might include a limit to the number of images used and that permission must be granted for use. I might stipulate that the images cannot be altered in any way or used to create derivative works and that where an image is used that I am credited with the year and copyright symbol included, as well as a link back to my website if the image is used on the internet.

How do you handle image requests? Do you feel inclined to say yes or no?

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