Colors Of Contentment

 

8x10 inches, acrylic on stretched canvas

For many years I've been obsessed with traveling to far away places with 2000 year old structures and cobblestone streets.  To walk places where my ancestors originated from, or where there are cultures and traditions I've never experienced.  Those desires have influenced my paintings lately as I've been experimenting with new techniques and allowing my imagination some breathing room to explore.  This painting started as drips and splatters, then allowed to be taken over by imagination, playing with negative spaces, color and design.  Its a place of contentment, a slower life surrounded and hidden by hills and mountains and amazing color.  Soon I will be traveling to some of those places and it will be interesting to compare my imagination to the reality.  Will I come home contented with my own reality having reached this goal?  Past experience has taught me, theres no place like home.

On another note the screen colors have dulled the yellow sky in this painting.  Unfortunately sometimes it's hard to get completely accurate colors but it's close.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide © 

Festival Time

 

Acrylic on a DaVinci Pro Panel.  This painting is another in my 12x12" series using a palette knife and having fun with abstracted images.  To get away from florals I choose photo references of buildings then abstracted and reworked them.  For some reason it was a lot more challenging working with buildings and took a long time to get something that pleased me.  This one started out a different direction, turning the panel helped me see with new eyes.  My favorite part are the palm trees (I know, weird), they remind me of pinwheels.  It's a joyful bright cheery painting.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Harbor Of Expectations

 

20x20 inches, acrylic on stretched canvas.  This started as another exercise in abstraction and just turned into something, well a little different.  I've longed to travel to faraway places, my dream Italy, so the imagination kicked in with the help of a few photo references.  The houses and the boats were separate images from pixabay.com, the rest was pure imagination and wishful thinking.  I imagine olive trees, vineyards, red roofs, narrow cobblestone roads and a coastline dotted with sails.  It's a happy painting, makes me smile to know what's waiting for me........and you.  The plans are in the works!

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

A Place To Rest

 

Original 8x8 inch acrylic painting on Ampersand Gessobord.  It took me over a year to find the courage to paint this photo reference.  This is one of those places where I long to live or even be able to visit.  I can just imagine sitting by the river with my paint and easel watching the geese with maybe a rowboat passing by.  The photo reference was found on pixabay.com and I should have taken note of the location.  My first attempt at painting this piece was not meeting my expectations.  Using my iPhone and taking a photo of the piece in progress always helps identify issues, so after reworking several areas I'm at peace.  Which is what I want this painting to reflect.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Hangin At The Farm

 

Click Here For More Information - 8x8 inches, Acrylic on Ampersand Gessobord

This is the second painting in my "Hangin" series.  There's a lot of nostalgia with images of clotheslines, I believe that's what drew me in, just a bit of remembering my childhood and happy times.  Its nice to have a safe haven to return to during these uncertain days of the pandemic, riots and elections.  This is a Pixabay image cropped and painted on black gesso.  

My acrylic paintings are protected by an acrylic satin varnish and I use professional acrylic paints: Winsor Newton, Liquitex and Utrecht.  The Ampersand gessobord's are a museum series panel which are acid free, archival.  All my paintings are signed, dated with the paintings information on the back.

Thanks for visiting.  The COVID is not gone yet so stay safe.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide copyright 

 

Our House Journey

I've been in California most of the winter helping my daughter through surgery and recovery.  I returned just as things started heating up regarding the coronavirus then put myself on quarantine which ends this Saturday.  I'm well and planning to use this home time to hunker down in my studio, stay positive and create.  Things have been crazy for my family since last September, I won't bore you with the details only to say that I've not painted or created in a long time.  So looking for inspiration I pulled out some old pieces started for a mixed media class, a large one with a multitude of layers.  I had planned to tear the paper into smaller pieces once I layered it but now I want to work large.  I can't believe I said that!  Out of the blue I've become inspired to do something with houses and windows, I'm going to name it Our House after the song.  The plan is to create more of a collage look, bits and pieces incorporated to create interesting shapes and designs.  How this will work I've no idea, I'm just going to go for it, hope for the best and if it works great, if not there's always gesso or tearing into smaller pieces.  So I will blog this journey as the work grows, my successes, disappointments and failures.  I'm confident that this piece will evolve, change and grow as time goes by.  No hurry, stay well and keep positive!

Background
I'm hoping to leave the background showing through in areas, this will be a huge challenge.

Preliminary Sketch (very rough)
So now I have a plan, Lol, I'm already changing it.

Coffee Stop

Contact the artist if interested in purchasing - Acrylic on gessobord, 9x12 inches

I painted this probably a year ago and never posted it.  I wasn't satisfied with certain areas so I put it away in order to see it with new eyes.  Well life got busy and it was forgotten for a time.  I have a show coming up and wanted to include this piece so with new eyes adjustments were made that finally please me.  Love, Love, Love these umbrellas with the vintage bike, white picket fence and if you look closely you'll see a plastic flamingo.  This is a coffee shop in Colorado that I drove by and had to turn around to get a photo. 

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide (c) 

Mission Color

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100, oil on gessobord, 8x8 inches

I decided to experiment pumping color, in some cases using color straight from the tube so the title is a play on words.  After my Mom passed I stumbled across this photo of hers, she was also a painter and took photos for reference.  I don't believe she ever painted this scene so in tribute to Mom here is my effort (love ya Mom).  I don't think you can ever go wrong painting these old missions, it would be great to take a trip just to paint and photo missions out west.  And it would be a lot cheaper than a trip to Europe, although I would love to do that.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

The Privy

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100, 6x8 inches, oil on canvas board

On our travels to Arizona this past winter we stopped at a ghost town where I saw this little privy.  It was a real true old west ghost town but unfortunately closed at the time we arrived.  It had so many cool buildings that I wanted to photo but couldn't get close enough or the right angle from the protective fence.  But the privy was close enough to photo and had such character.  I love the wood, the only thing missing is the moon on the door but I never thought about adding it.  What can I say, I thought it would be fun to paint and so I did.

Yellow Slice Of Paradise

Click Here to Buy It Now - $50, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches 

On a visit to Florida we stayed at an RV park where all these old vintage trailers were still in use, some as winter homes but some lived in year around.  They were and are some peoples little paradise, with lots of sunshine, shuffle board tournaments, card nights, walking paths and a life of leisure.  I loved the stripped awnings and felt like I had gone back in time.