The start of "Salute"

Finally getting a chance to start blogging again. I've been exceedingly busy the last couple of months. Parklane Gallery in Kirkland, (www.parklanegallery.com) where I hang my work announced that in January they would be hanging "salon" style. Which means artwork floor to ceiling. I thought instead of hanging a lot of different pieces, would it be fun to hang floor to ceiling, one image made up of many different canvases.

What a project it turned out to be. I had never tackled anything like that before. I knew in my mind what I wanted to do. I had a eight foot high by four foot wide area to work with and I wanted to do a horse and rider. My first thought was a jumping image, but the width made me think of a horse and rider more from the front doing a dressage halt and salute. My next problem was I was really short on time to try to get out and take a reference photo. I really prefer to take my own, and of course I'm very careful about copyright. I saw a photo I was interested in taken by a wonderful equine photographer named Karen Lietz (karenlietz.com). We came to an arrangement and the photograph was mine to use as a reference for my Salute painting.

Next was to divide up the image into the different canvas sizes. I started figuring it out using different standard gallery wrapped canvas sizes, with 1 1/2 inches between the canvases. Having done that (it was either 10 or ll canvaes, I made my trip to the art supply store. Well they didn't have all the sizes I wanted in stock. And because I was working up against the clock I didn't have time to special order the canvases. So I started redesigning my layout in the store, pulling canvases off the shelf. I ended up working it out and it turned out to be 14 canvases.

Back to the computer to lay out the image some more. Making it very accurate with the canvas size and the 1 1/2 spacing. After that the next stage was drawing the image onto the canvas. Now I had planned to do some photographing for my blog as this project went along. Since I'd never tackled anything like this before. That went down the road of "best laid plans". When I'm working I just never think to stop and take photos. Plus the fact that I would forget to take my camera to my studio.

My next step was to gesso the fourteen canvases to get them ready for painting. Obviously the finished paintings were to be hung without frames, as they would ruin the image, which is why I chose the deep gallery wrapped canvas.

Then I made a step that is not normally done until after the painting is complete. I wired the backs of the canvas for hanging. And actually hung them unpaintined, getting that 1 1/2 spacing correct on the wall in my gallery.

Next was to start the painting, but I'm going to save that for my next blog entry. At the top of this entry you will see the finish "Salute" as it is currently hanging in Parklane Gallery (size 3 1/2 ft wide, 7 ft. high, price $3,900), and I'll post how it got to that stage in my next entry. Bye for now, Karen

The latest Malamute

As the title says, here is the most recent of my Alaskan Malamute paintings. It is an oil on canvas and will be for sale. The painting is either 16" x 16" or 18" x 18" (I need to double check). I just recently sent a query out to Malamute folks with my question regarding the curve of the tail, which is why I'm quickly getting the image up on my blog -- so they can give me some feedback. I look forward to your comments.

This painting is currently untitled, so if anyone has any name suggestions I'd love to hear those suggestions also.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to help out.

Karen

English Square

16" x 16" framed original oil on canvas $650.00

Close cropping -- I love it -- the feeling of intimacy. Just capturing the moment with movement and color. This still untitled oil painting (suggestions welcome) is 16" x 16". It is not a commission piece and is therefore available for an investment of $650.00, which as usual includes a beautiful custom wood frame, so all you need to do is hang it on your wall. I took the photo reference for this painting at the 2008 Evergreen Classic hunter/jumper show.

This is the last of my "Equine Lifestyles" for a short bit. I'm back to painting snow and Alaskan Malamutes for their national in November.

Cowgirl X

Cowgirl X oil on board 20" x 16"

Another of the western equine lifestyle paintings. While not having all the bling of a western pleasure shirt, this more casual working shirt still shows the fun western gals can have with their wardrobe. If you wish to invest in this oil painting (or any other painting, if still available) the size is 20" x 16" and the price is $800.00. The price includes a beautiful custom wood frame. My studio contact number is 425-330-8879.

Buckskin Bend

I've been working on several of my "Equine lifestyles" paintings recently. This is a framed oil on canvas, 24" x 12" and it is for sale. Drop me a line if you are interested. klm@kmdogart.com. I'll try to get the other two (one western, one english) onto my blog in the next couple of days.

I had planned on painting on Wednesday, and bought a yummy little dessert to do a still life of (as I've mentioned since I do a lot of paintings from photo reference I like to do some small still lifes to keep myself loose). I ended up running around and not making it to the studio. Poor little dessert, I had to eat it to keep it from going bad. LOL. I hope to get to my studio today, but instead of a perishable dessert, I think I'll just grab one of my grandmothers cups out of the china cabinet to paint. But I'll get to on of those desserts sometime.

Cheers,

Karen

Neil's Team

Untitled 20" x 16" oil on canvas For Sale $900.00

The Lhasas are finally all finished, and I can move onto other things. Here's an Alaskan Malamute painting I'm very pleased with. Until I get a title I'm just calling them Neil's team. As I painted to a new Neil Diamond CD this time around.

As some of you know when I'm painting I play music, and it is almost always the same CD over and over during a painting. Therefore the paintings kind of get there own theme music. I stand when I paint, which if the painting is going well usually evolves into dancing while I'm painting. This time to America and Brother Love's Traveling Salvation show among the other Neil Diamond hits.

I will be doing a couple of other Malamute paintings in the next month or so,

Out for a Walk

11" x 14" oil on board NFS Lhasa Apso Walking

At 11" x 14" this is the third of the three larger Lhasa paintings I'm doing. I find I'm losing my oriental momentum. And actually reaching a "Lhasaed out" point, but luckily only have a couple of the smaller ones do go.

That being said . . . I love this painting! It is so me in color, drama, movement, subject, light, etc. I like it so much I have contemplated not letting the Lhasa folks have it by painting another 11 x 14 for it's place. Then the piece can go a more traditional gallery route. Or my most recent thought as I gazed at it last night (I brought it home from my studio to my living room), is that maybe it can go to the Lhasa folks, and I'll paint another . . . similar, but not the same, and larger at 16 x 20 . . . hmm that maybe the way to go.

Either way, this will probably be the last of the Lhasa series that I post on my blog, since I want to keep some variety going for the non-Lhasa readers. But it probably won't be the last time my daughters feet make an appearance. I purchased the gold shoes a couple of weeks ago, and haven't worn them yet, but feeling they were a look I wanted had my daughter wear them and walk back and forth on the porch, as I stood below taking the shots. So I do feel walking feet will make another appearance in my work.

As I've mentioned before I listen to music in my studio when I paint, (actually it's about the only time I listen to music) it helps me to disengage part of my brain from painting. As I play the same CD over, and over, and over, my pieces often end up having theme music, -- especially these smaller paintings -- that I associate with them. I can say when I painted that I was listening to . . .

This Lhasa walking painting broke in a new CD, by Bobby Darin. So I went beyond the sea with mack the knife and then up a lazy river with my dream lover LOL. Dancing around my studio in between strokes at the end of the painting. Although I love painting in the public eye as an artist in action, that's something I have to be careful of -- painting with my mp3 on and not getting carried away and waving my tush around!

Odds are good that I will have prints made of this painting. Cheers.