New artwork

Fat mini #2 HERE

I have been spending a ton of time in my studio lately...way more than usual. I thought I'd show off some of my latest pieces. 

I'll start with abstracts and these "fat minis" so called because the thick, impasto oil paint makes these 6 x 6 pieces of paper heavy for their size.

Fat mini #1 HERE

 I had a huge backlog of half finished canvases in my studio and, frankly, I think it was depressing to see all of those incomplete thoughts that stacked up everywhere so I got seriously busy making them done. Once I started, it was truly fun.

"Out is through" HERE

This abstract was one of them. I had thought it was done. maybe even photographed it and for some long forgotten reason, I started adding white and immediately hated it. It was all the way against the wall turned in shame and I pulled it out, quickly finding where I wanted to go with it.

SOLD

I had also been wanting to get a few medium sized nudes done and a few unfinished abstracts were the perfect starting point.

email inquiries to art@kerrysteele.com

A few framed linen pieces happened too.

They seem so vastly different from my other work but my flower paintings are a great visual and cognitive break from my usual.

Sunday Flowers HERE

 Lots of paper pieces are in my Etsy shop too.

This is just a fraction of the work I have done but I often post it on Instagram as I go.

Working with a neutral palette

When I decorate, I prefer color tied together with a neutral as opposed to dominant neutrals with just a speck of color. When it comes to painting, I am open to anything and I have upped my neutrals.

 Working in grays, blacks, beige and white with just a hint of my favorite pinks and blues has been fun and judging by the speed at which they sold, I am onto something.

Available at Anne Neilson fine art Charlotte, NC

Available at Anne Neilson fine art Charlotte, NC

New artwork

Hotel Majestic 30 x 30 mixed media

It dawned on me the other day that I have not posted any artwork in a long time. I have spent as much time in my studio as I can without being a neglectful parent and completely sleep deprived so I have quite a lot of work but I will only show a selection at the moment.

Truth be told, every time I take a photo of a painting I want to cry because my camera darkens things beyond belief and editing can only do so much. Only the sunniest days allow me a decent photo and that just won't do. I just ordered a new Nikon DSLR and a lighting kit so I can manage better photos.

Komorebi 30x30 oil on cnavas

Smolder 48 x 60 oil on canvas

99 miles an hour 48 x 48 oil on canvas

The only bee in your bonnet 24 x 30 oil on canvas

Choux-choux 30 x 40 oil on canvas

I have lots of forthcoming news about my work to share in the coming weeks, so stop back soon.

new artwork

"Resonation" 30 x 40 oil on canvas

I have finished quite a few canvases in the past few weeks and I am very happy with the vast majority of them.

The image above, "Resonation" is the kind of painting that got resolved in my favorite way. That is I painted for a bit and just wasn't all that excited about what I had, in this case, another pink and green painting. I didn't hate it (I occasionally do) but I walked away and tended to other things leaving the canvas on my easel.

It would catch my eye through the open door and one afternoon I said, "big blue!" I knew I wanted to add blue in a large way so out came my new big brush, french blue, white and a healthy dose of turpentine.

Another that that worked the same way was "Piazza Navona"

"Piazza Navona" 36 x 48 oil on canvas

This is named after the famed piazza in Rome with several Bernini fountains, including the Fountain of the Four Rivers. Originally painted heavily in blues and yellowy greens it began to remind me of pollen dripping down the side of a blue car in the rain...not so pretty. I still wanted to keep the sense of water flowing but add a lively atmosphere and this is where that idea took me.

"Just epiphanies" 30 40 oil on canvas

"Just epiphanies" came to be in a more ordinary planned fashion where I selected the color palette in advance (for the most part) and layered the color in the desired composition. Boring but I am thrilled with the result and it might be a little hard to let this one go.

"Sunday suit"

This one, "Sunday suit" is a little 8 x 8 and I am including it because I really don't prefer to paint small. The edges are too close to each other for my animated brushstrokes but I have been working on it. I really loved this because it reminded me of my great-grandmother's Sunday best. She wore dark blue suits (think boxy Chanel type) with netted pillbox hats often with gloves and a Kelly bag and on special occasions was given a lily or orchid corsage.

About a painting

"Prayed for" oil and charcoal on linen by Kerry Steele

Sometimes I like to "cleanse my palette"  (pun intended) with a figural painting. Last week I did just that and my results or rather the response was surprising to me.

I looked for photos with an interesting pose to sketch  and then paint as I reimagined it and came across this...

I only wanted the figure and pose for this as opposed to painting the same thing as in the photo.

My surprise was the number of people on my personal Facebook page and my art Facebook page that liked and commented on the painting. It was far more than usual and I can't help but wonder what aspect of the painting so moved people to tell me how much they liked it.

I will continue with these figural pieces but abstracts will continue to be my main focus. Which do you prefer?

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New artwork and other thoughts

Bramble 2 second in a pair

My Mother's day is being spent leisurely unwinding from the big birthday shindig we had on Saturday that fell closely on the heels of the One Room Challenge link up.

I feel like the train has just pulled away from Crazytown and is headed back to Normalville.

Prom was also Saturday and my 17 year-old whisked in and out in her dress in the space of 5 minutes while my house was jammed with party guests. So much for that special moment.

At this moment my studio is barely accessible from all of the paintings in the works or completed. Good problem to have in my opinion.

Bramble 1 first of a pair

I finished a pair of 24 x 30 canvases entitled "Bramble" that are meant to go together but also stand on their own.

Rapunzel 48 x 60 oil on canvas

"Rapunzel"  is a 48 x 60 oil on canvas and was more of a challenge than smaller canvases because it is hard to back far enough away to see the composition and color balance while painting. It goes more like:choose area to paint, paint, pray that it looks right, back up 6 feet to see if it looks right, correct if necessary, repeat.

It also presents challenges to photograph but I am happy enough with it to have it on my mantel.

The party was for my daughter's 5th birthday.

We basically rent a bounce house for the kids and throw a party for the adults with fancy food. Its always a big hit. It is also an incredible amount of work and little got done in advance this time. As I hit "publish" for the ORC, I was surrounded by a sea of "Frozen" themed party supplies.

This little darling is growing up too fast. We are having a family trip to the zoo today to celebrate.

See you all back in Normalville!

More girls in the studio

"Figure 6"

I am playing hooky from my normal "Room of the week" post today but I will be back with it next week.

A month or so ago, I painted "Figure 6", a 30 x 40 oil and charcoal on linen. It was really popular and is on consignment in a penthouse staged for sale at the Ritz in Baltimore. Ever since I have been really hooked on figural paintings.

"Figure 9"

I had fun with "Figure 9" last weekend. My sketching was much looser than normal and I let that show by adding less paint too.

"Figure 8"

I have never claimed to be a patient girl and I posted this one as finished when it was incomplete and flawed. I finally satisfied myself yesterday and posted it with confidence.

I worked on "Figure 8" alongside a commissioned nude over the weekend and had an "Aha" moment when working on the commission. I discovered that I love the short, squarish strokes gave the figure the edgy quality I was looking for without looking like an outline or sacrificing curves.

That said, I still love flowy brushstrokes.

Small series figural nudes on linen

My small series are built around flowy brushstrokes and those lines are necessary to portray the human figure but I am liking a balance between the two.

This is a classic subject in Western art but not everyone likes it as a subject. I grew up with nudes in my house that were painted by grandmother, like the one below. We are very comfortable with them and I find them very beautiful.

Nude by Elisabeth B. Iddings (my grandmother)

Are you drawn to figural art or other subjects?

New work

"Champagne street cred" 30 x 40 oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

The painting above is something a little different in terms of color for me. It is a commission for a very exciting installation that I will share soon. I started with white and a tiny touch of lavender and then added the "blacks" which are sepia, Payne's gray and Mars black applied mostly with a credit card type hotel key.

They wanted a bit of gold and I decided on an oil stick for that. Oil sticks are like big buttery crayons and really fun to work with.

"Canon in D" 16 x 40 mixed media on canvas

This floral painting was inspired by all of the wedding pins I have been seeing on Pinterest. I am loving these elongated canvases for floral paintings. This is my first 16 x 40 inch canvas and I may be doing more since I liked it so much. I began with acrylic spray paint and finished with oil colors and Conte stick.

small figural series  #7

I am continuing to do more small figures on linen and I now have a commissioned nude that you will be seeing sometime soon.

Stay tuned, I have lots of work in progress!

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Paintings and such

"I miss Thistle" 11 x 14 oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

I finished working on two small canvases this week. I works for me to prop them on the floor while I have a larger canvas on my easel. I add a bit of color to the little ones when I have something right from the big one on my palette and bit by bit they get finished.

The title of the 11 x 14 above is "I miss Thistle". It refers to the long retired Crayola crayon color that was my favorite as a child. Why did they have to do that? I am still annoyed.

"Ghost pear"

You might remember the fun that my friend, Christina Baker and I had a few weeks ago with #bringingbackthepear.

It was joined by quite a few artists and can be searched by the hashtag on Instagram. It spawned a new Etsy shop by the daughter of another artist pal, Sally Kelly. Gabrielle Kelly has been busy painting watercolors for her shop.

My youngest daughter who is just 4 joined in and this melted my heart, so it got a frame. I think it works well with the color story in my larger painting.

I have added a few watercolor pears to my shop too.

On Monday, February 10, Jennifer of The Pink Pagoda will be posting another round of my watercolors in blue and white.

They have been going really fast but if you don't score the one you want you can still special order on.

 

Happy weekend Y'all!

New work

"Lemonade envy" 12x 12 oil on canvas

Last week I was immersed in creating not just watercolor paintings but also canvases for Jennifer of The Pink Pagoda's new shop.

Each of these is created with her look in mind and they should be available later this week.

"If you dance" oil and charcoal on 18 x 18 canvas

I also completed a floral abstract that is headed to Anne Neilson Gallery in Charlotte, N.C.

"Palace garden" 24 x 48 oil on canvas

Some paintings come together so quickly its like they painted themselves. This was not one of those. I tweaked and layered and glazed for what felt like too long but the resultant layers are what I strive for with all of my paintings.

The other two that are headed to Anne Neilson are "Penny Mac" and "Watery"

"Penny Mac" 24 x 48 oil on canvas

"Watery" 24 x 30 oil on canvas

New work

"Thinking on the stairs" oil and charcoal on linen by Kerry Steele

Last week, the mood struck to do another figural piece. I chose linen and began in several pastel colors. It quickly began to resemble one of my blue and white pieces on linen with the pastel colors standing-in for the white.

I have a 48 x 48 canvas with an indentation on the top stretcher bar, nothing huge but I felt wrong to sell it so I painted something for myself. It is another painting that defies photography and won't show all of the subtleties in color.

Instagram filters seemed to be my only help.

 In reality it is somewhere between the two.

I also am trying to do a few smaller canvases.

I picked up two 5 x 7 canvases and decided to give it a whirl.

The one on the left sold very quickly so I think I need to do more.