Ready for Show! Paintings Return to Homeland!

"Homeland- Across the Valley", Pastel, 12 x 13 in.

Yes! My paintings are finished and framed, and ready to travel to eastern PA (Kennett Square) for an exhibition at The Longwood Art Gallery! I'm one of the featured artists at the gallery for the month of September, and will be there in person for the opening reception this coming Friday (9/7), 6 - 9 pm.

This show is especially meaningful for me since I'm returning with my artwork to the area where I grew up, and exhibiting paintings of this homeland which I started during May in a five day painting expedition to the area. I'm really pleased with the works themselves- lots of light and expressive strokes and colors- and there's something very special about my artwork being part of a cycle; this land nurtured me as an artist, and now I return with my artwork to celebrate the land! It would be wonderful to share the work with you if you are able to make it to the show!

My website (www.alicekelsey.com) also has images of works in the show (see 'New Works' section), and a new, improved feature where the image can be enlarged for a better view- just single-click on the thumbnail and see what happens!

Show Coming! Framing flurry!

Framing in-progress!

It's one week to delivery day for my exhibit at Longwood Art Gallery (Kennett Square, PA), and I'm busy framing the newest 'crop' of pastels and oils. Although it's a slow and exacting process (every 1/16" counts, and one smudge on a white mat does it in), I like seeing my paintings through to the final presentation, literally coming off the drawing board, and in to a protected and complimentary frame. Several pieces will be in natural unstained cherry hardwood (custom-made by my husband), and others will appear in a new style gold/ red undertone frame which I recently discovered and like a lot. For more info. about the exhibit in eastern PA (opening reception Friday, Sept. 7, 6- 9 pm), take a look a my website (www.alicekelsey.com)- there's also photos of many of my new works (more coming soon!)

Finishing Day

"Penns Creek in Sun and Shade", Pastel

I've been in the studio lately, completing a series of paintings which were started on location earlier this summer. It seems like I often work this way- explore around outdoors, find places which I resonate with, paint on location searching for the feel and colors of the place, and then bring home the 'starts'. Often I need to 'rest' the painting at this point, until I can see it more as a whole, and know what (usually little) touches it needs to come in to a pleasing balance and clear mood. This part is often the hardest for me, and I'm very pleased that several paintings have 'ripened' this week, and now stand on their own, ready to frame and go out in the world!

Frames: Choices and Construction

Tim making natural cherry frames

Here's a photo of my husband Tim working in his shop, making frames for my upcoming shows.

 I find that the frame is very important in presenting the painting- a final stage in finishing the work, really, since it can help to support the work, or may actually detract from it if doesn't harmonize with the painting. There's so many variables in moulding selection:  finish (wood, gold or silver leaf, shiny or matte), color,  width, texture (distressed or smooth), and shape to mention a few! I often prefer frames with clean and simple lines, and am very fortunate to have a husband who is a woodworker, and creates custom frames that partner beautifully with my work. I like how the grain of the wood, native Pennsylvania hardwoods such as cherry, maple, and walnut, creates gentle motion in the frame where my eye travels and returns to the painting. The natural wood seems especially pleasing with the series of paintings which I'll be exhibiting this fall- landscapes of Chester County, PA and paintings of central PA streams- more about this in upcoming posts! And then there's mat choices- single mat, double mat, color, etc.- sounds like something else to explore in a future entry!

If readers have any thoughts and experiences about framing choices, I'd love to hear your comments!

Many thanks, Tim!

Loss

I feel like a long-time friend once described- tumbled around like "I've just come out of the dryer."  My art-making has been at a standstill as I've been overwhelmed with trying to sort out my mom's health and financial needs.  She became abruptly confused and delusional in mid-May, and has not come back. Her need for constant supervision and care means an end to chapters in her life where she had once found meaning, and struggles for family to put new frameworks in place for her care and stability moving forward.

In the whirlwind of what must go- her art collection, her independence, her house, her recent memories- I reflect on what remains, and glimmers of new unexpected places where love and joy re-seed. She is charismatic and warm, as always. She loves art and music, and hearing about her grandchildren. She believes that she is once again running her art gallery or teaching school. She likes coconut cake quite a bit! My mom wants to go home, yet doesn't quite know where that might be... seems to fluctuate day-to-day, an amalgam of many places where she once lived and called home. Now I am struck with tenderness of both joy and sadness, in distilling values of what really counts in this life down to the immutable elements, what I see is Love and Joy and Peace. May my mom find this kind of home.

I think that I will paint these feelings and reflections, letting the canvas be whatever it needs to be. Maybe not something that ends up in a frame, or on a wall, but is nevertheless important. I thank my mom, along with many others, for affirming my calling as an artist. In her last house I found a book of my artwork in which I had inscribed "For my mom, with thanks for your appreciation, valuation, and affirmation of aesthetics." I also found paintings which she herself had done as a child, and one by my grand-father, and these I keep as deeply valuable in that inward way.

In these experiences, as losses pare away, the tender Joy which shines forth for me is the authenticity and importance of my calling as an artist. Something stirs more powerfully, more freely inside me to create, to do my purpose. I am grateful today to walk on, into my studio, warm up with gestural flashes, and develop works-in progress. I'm in the midst of completing a series of paintings of area streams which will be in a joint exhibit this fall, and to do this work, I myself need to be in the Current. I feel closer to this than ever. How Joyful, Loving, and Peaceful!

Painting Expedition to Rock Run

Alice Kelsey and Jeanne McKinney Painting at Rock Run

What a fine day! Yesterday, I went exploring and painting off the beaten path north of Williamsport. Fellow pastelist Jeanne McKinney, and I found a swift freestone stream, and painted on location throughout the day. My husband Tim helped out by 'testing the waters', flyfishing in pocket water and pools, as well as taking many spectacular photos of the stream, and the artists painting. Thanks, Tim!

I was struck by the tumbling, rumbling, rocky character of this stream, so different from the spring-fed limestone creeks near home. The water pounds over ledges, carves rock as it glides insistently, swirls kettles, and churns channels. The colors are remarkably different as well- pinkish, blueish rocks, and a glowing cool light green at the head of pools. We painted a run in the morning, and a junction pool (where a tributary enters) in the afternoon. Along the way to settling on these sites to paint, we saw a large waterfall (heard it pommeling down even before we could see it), and a little snake- great outdoors! The paintings which I brought home seem to have the colors, and feel of the current, and I'll work on them a bit in the studio as well to balance elements to a satisfying wholeness.

Demo Done!

I enjoyed sharing my artwork, and demonstrating the pastel medium during last weekend's 'Art in the Square' outdoor arts and crafts festival. Many thanks to Longwood Art Gallery for inviting me to do this demonstration!

It was an unusually chilly day, and I definitely felt in touch with the elements as I set my easel and pastels up on the sidewalk outside the gallery! My experience with outdoor painting, and appropriate gear and attire sure came in handy- I was grateful for my windproof pants, vest, and jacket, topped off with a ski cap. I sure hadn't expected to need all these layers in late April in Chester County! I enjoyed talking with passers-by about pastels, art in general, and my in-progress painting, and sense that people were excited about the beauty of the medium. In between talking with interesting people, and rubbing my hands to stay warm, I managed to nearly complete a pastel of a stream close to home. I also appreciated the kind and positive feedback from people about my work. All in all, it was a wonderful day, taking my art out in to the world!