Art for Youth L.A.

I'll have one piece of artwork in this art auction on Saturday November 7th at Bergamot Museum - G1. This charity event starts at 11am and lasts until 6pm. Reception is 2pm-6pm.

Sophia Deutsch and Noah Kennedy are co-hosts for a silent auction featuring both student and professional artwork. All of the proceeds from the event will go to the organization A Sense of Home.

Storm, Eucalyptus Tree Sketch

Storm, Eucalyptus Tree ©2015 Katherine Kean

graphite 10 x 12 inches

I'd like to make this a larger painting. I've been working on small and medium size work the past three months. I work in the smaller space under my house in the summer. It's much cooler! Now that the days are getting shorter and aren't as hot, I've moved back into the larger space, allowing me to scale up. 

 I was pretty happy with this sketch until I decided that the tree is just too static. Considering the wind that's pushing all the clouds around it ought to be moving, or bending. I'm looking at these Burchfield and Hopper paintings for inspiration. I'd be happier if I can get the tree to have the same feeling of wind and energy that I get from these paintings.

 March Winds  Charles Burchfield

Windy Day Edward Hopper

And then, just about the time I was wondering where to turn for inspiration, I got lucky.

The Santa Anas came. Above, a quick video of a neighbor's enormous Eucalyptus in the wind.

And last, a revised windy tree.

A Cool Idea - Lawren Harris, The Idea of North

Mount Lefroy Lawren Harris

I like being reminded of North. Never more so than at the tail end of a late season heat wave while living in a hot, dry, congested city like Los Angeles. Lawren Harris's paintings do a remarkable job of transcending summer at the newly opened exhibition at the Hammer Museum titled, The Idea of North.

Mountains Near Jasper Lawren Harris 

To many of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, the idea of north means cool, cold, snow. It may also mean remote, and isolated.

Isolation Peak Lawren Harris

The blues are strong, the shadows deep. The whites are made of many pale shades of yellow, gray, violet, and even green.

Included among the large paintings were smaller versions; studies and variations. Many of them painted on beaver board; once a trademark, beaver board is a compressed fiberboard.

In Buchanan Bay, Ellsmere Island Lawren Harris

Arctic Sketch XXII Lawren Harris

Harris's paintings admirably restrained, simplify form. These landscapes are refined to essential shapes and subtle palette choices, giving us the peace and space we crave.

This refinement has not reduced the sense of scale and strength. Harris has not left out the sense of awe and sweeping grandeur and immensity these landscapes evoke.

Lawren Harris

Pencil Sketch "Dominion" from Dream Image

Dominion ©2015 Katherine Kean
graphite on paper 4 1/2 x 10 inches

This is an initial sketch from a dream. My idea is to get the image and mood while not fretting too much about detail and accuracy. Later on I'll need to refine the scale of the animals to each other and their environment.

 The dream? I'm on a rocky shore, towing a large, old, wooden boat full of animals, through shallow water. The animals are not all exotic animals. I remember there was a cow and a cat among them.

 Did I mention I've been pet sitting all week?

Sheltering Cloud, Restless Land, Desolate Tree

Sheltering Cloud, Restless Land, Desolate Tree 
©2015Katherine Kean
oil on linen 16 x 16 inches

Driving the Chain of Craters Road, that starts at the volcano and ends at the ocean (for now) is one of my favorite drives of all time. I find it as amazing as driving on Highway 1 heading to Big Sur, but far less crowded.

As you descend you follow the trajectory of past lava flows, and as you go the weather changes. On this trip it was cool and misty at the top, then rainy, then partly cloudy, then sunny and hot and windy, and back to warm and mild.

There are many places along the way to turn off and follow trails, see vistas, explore lava tubes. I love that there are no services of any kind until you go the 18 miles to the bottom. You're on your own here. Just you and the wild.

Pop Up Exhibition at West Elm Thursday

Saatchi Art is celebrating their new partnership with West Elm Los Angeles by presenting a new exhibition of works by Los Angeles artists, curated by Hayley Miner, Director of Art Advisory to the Trade at Saatchi Art. I am honored to have a painting included.

Between the Drops
©2015 Katherine Kean
oil on linen  12 x 16 inches

Join us for a special pop-up on Thursday, September 17th from 5 to 8pm at West Elm, located at 8366 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90048. 

 RSVP here to attend.

PSA Group Exhibition Opens This Weekend in Pasadena

Slow Release of the Day Katherine Kean
oil on linen 18 x 36 inches

I'll have two paintings in a group exhibition at Blinn House in Pasadena opening on Saturday, September 12, 2015. The reception is from 2-5pm. Details below:

Historic Blinn House (Women's City Club of Pasadena)
160 N. Oakland Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101
818-796-0560

Hours: Monday - Friday 9AM - 5PM
1st and 3rd Saturdays 9AM - 3PM
Please call 818-796-0560 for additional opportunities to view the exhibition.

Bird in Brush ©2015 Katherine Kean
oil on linen 8x8 inches

The Pasadena Society of Artists continues celebrating their 90th anniversary. This exhibition will be hanging at Blinn House through Thursday, December 3, 2015.

The Blinn House (Women's City Club) is located at 160 N. Oakland Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101 NOTE: There is ample parking behind the building off Madison St. (between Union and Walnut) across from the Scottish Rite Temple. Look for PSA signs.