Main Street, Rockland

"Main Street, Rockland" 20"x24" ooc © Brian Kliewer

Dusk begins to settle in Rockland, Maine.

I've lived in Rockland for most of my life but only recently have I begun to use it as a subject. As I was working on this piece, I realized that it really is a view that only true natives of the town might appreciate. Rockland's main street has two lanes of traffic - both heading north. The vast majority of people who pass through would never see this view as it's from the sidewalk heading south. The large building in the middle is the site of the former Greyhound Bus Station.

I had to play a little with the truck. At first it was closer to the left and it just kept looking like it was "posed" for optimal viewing. Moving it to the right placed it better on the road...with much more of a feel of its moving forward.

On another note...one artist I have admired for quite some time is Jamie Wyeth, son of Andrew Wyeth. I like how his paintings often pull you into the view. With this painting I have tried to move away from a "left to right" view and pull the viewer more into the scene. To me, this is quite a dynamic view. The distant buildings, road and cloud layer help to pull you into the painting while the vehicles, telephone pole and power lines give a pushing effect. That's just the kind of interplay I wanted.For now I will be posting larger works. I'll try to get back on schedule. I hope to get back to smaller works soon and to a "daily" posting routine at some point. I still want to try that for a month. We'll see.

Life Happens

Here I am. So much for my daily painting idea for June. I do still hope to do a full month yet of more or less "daily" paintings but not now. I will be back here shortly with new artwork. I'm not going to make any specific announcements, however, because it seems like once I do, things happen to thwart them. I do have some surprises in store. I shall return!

Update

Sorry for this unplanned delay in my posting. We've had an emergency here and between getting work catalogued, framed and ready for galleries, working on my larger paintings and other responsibilities, my "studies" had to be temporarily abandoned.

I hope to get back on schedule tomorrow (Thursday) and finish out the rest of the month with daily paintings (a minimum of 5 paintings a week if all goes well.)

Gallery update: Four paintings, "Under Falling Light," "Aldermere's Pride - Grazing study," "Moon Over Pemaquid Point," and "Aldermere Farm" have been shipped to Mast Cove Galleries in Kennebunkport. You can view what they have (or soon will have) of my work here. Click the gallery link below each painting to contact Mast Cove for more information.

Inspired by Sonya Sklaroff

"South End Rooftops 2" 12"x16" o/c
© Brian Kliewer

I take pride in my "cloudscapes." Since I haven't done a full blown "cloudscape" in quite a while, I thought I'd pull my "cloud brushes" out and have at it! The first study, "South End Rooftops" might show a little more drama than this version does thanks to its color arrangement but this one is actually closer to the original scene. I took the original reference photo back in 2003 and promised myself that I would get this painting done someday. Now I'm one step closer! The next version will be 24"x36." Two previous versions failed but I always knew I would travel on this path again.

"South End Rooftops 2" is about one of those days where the clouds have hung heavy for most of the day and then everything begins to break just before the sun sets. All of a sudden, you see a "sunburst" that appears out of nowhere. I like watching the different cloud layers pass at different speeds on these kinds of days as well, with the lower level fog clouds racing by. I tried to capture that in this painting and I think it will work great in a 24"x36" format too...perhaps even better.

Sonya Sklaroff was a further inspiration for this piece. I discovered her work about 12 years ago at the Bayview Gallery in Camden, Maine. She's from NY but sometimes does Maine scenes as well, and Bayview was carrying some at the time. She has since gone on to show in NY, SF, and Paris, France! I love her NYC skyline paintings. She often does the water towers that can be seen throughout the city and presents a completely different view just by looking up. Below is her "11th Floor Panorama at Dusk." Used by permission of the artist. Thank you, Sonya and congrats on your success!

Special note: No post tomorrow as I have errands and other things tying up my day. I'll try to be back Friday.

Not Forgotten - study

"Not Forgotten - study" 6"x8" o/c © Brian Kliewer

When I was fourteen I did a painting of an old house and called it..."Gone, But Not Forgotten." This old truck sat in a field off the Upper Pond Road in Nobleboro, Maine for years. I haven't forgotten it but it is long since gone, I am sorry to say. I hope it went to a good owner who refurbished it well. It was beauty. I've painted it several times before but never in a "green" setting. "Abandoned" is one of those earlier paintings. I'm planning to do this study as a larger painting yet.

Salt Air - study

"Salt Air -study" 6"x8" o/c © Brian Kliewer

To me this has the feel of "salt air." I think another, larger version will come yet. I like to try to capture as much of the essence of a scene as possible. A larger version might show more gradations of light and shadow on the rocks.

I'm sort of bouncing around right now but more of the series paintings will be coming as well.

Spring Colors, Route 9

"Spring Colors, Route 9" 6"x8" o/c © Brian Kliewer

This is from a trip I took with my brother along Route 9 here in Maine. The day was a foggy one here on the coast and we decided to head inland. It was a great and sunny warm spring day...away from the coast!

South End Rooftops (study)

" South End Rooftops - study" 5"x7" oil on linen
© Brian Kliewer

I've had this idea kicking around for quite some time. I've started this painting a couple of times before in larger format - neither version ever being finished. One reason was that I didn't like the proportions of the original version. The second version was on a canvas by a new manufacturer and I couldn't stand the coarseness of it.

I love this scene ... so here I am returning to the subject as I always knew I would. Perhaps in later versions the roofs will be lowered...not sure yet. The sky was what caught my imagination in the first place so I am thinking that I will lower them at least a touch. I want to play with the sky yet and perhaps add some details to the buildings that I'm leaving out of this version. The buildings here are also "squeezed in" a bit from their original proportions to fit this format. They will probably be elongated in later versions. I see this developing as a 24"x36" piece as soon as I can get it done, but I believe another small study or two will come first.

This scene might be familiar to anyone who has visited the Maine Lobster Festival or the North Atlantic Blues Festival here in Rockland. These buildings are across the street from the Public Landing, otherwise known as "Harbor Park."

A New Approach...

Well, I've decided to "bite the bullet" and turn this blog into a "daily painting" blog...more or less, anyway. I'm going to give it my best shot to do a new painting at least 5 days a week (barring any unforeseen circumstances) and post them here. This will be for the month of June and then I'll assess things and see if I care to continue at that level or not.

Unlike other "daily painting" blogs, this will not be a "commercial" venture -- I won't be offering the paintings for sale on eBay. Some may be for sale on my site and many will, no doubt, be shown and made available at my galleries.

The "series paintings" that I have been working on will be continued to some degree and I will add other works in these "series" as I feel the desire to do them. But I have decided that working so much in that format is too confining for me. I would much rather do studies as I feel them and post them as they develop, without "the need to get something done" hanging over my head. I expect new series to be developed as well, but for now I want to expand into other areas.

Lastly, if you like what you see...please forward my blog to your family and friends. It will be appreciated! Comments are welcome as well.