Oil Painting by John Kelley

Tuscaloosa News Article

Daniel Garber, Tanis, June-July-August 1915. Oil on canvas, 60 x 46-1/4 inches. From the Warner Collection of the Westervelt Warner Company, displayed in the Westervelt Warner Museum of American Art, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

On the 23rd and 24th of November I taught an introductory course in pastel painting at the newly formed Jack Warner Art Institute, a division of the Warner Westervelt Museum of Art here in Tuscaloosa Alabama. The course was a survey of the use of pastel and was a preview of the upcoming six-week classes that I will be teaching at the institute. Jack Warner has put together one of the largest collections of American art in the country and it was an incredible experience teaching in a room filled with paintings by Sargent, Whistler, Chase, Casssatt, Innes, Henri and others. Information on the upcoming classes taught by Caleb O’Conner, Danny Rountree, Maureen Shots and Ruth O’Conner can be found by contacting the Westervelt Warner Museum.

The highlight of the first introductory session was the purchase of my demo painting by Mr. Warner. I cannot think of a higher honor and I am humbled to be recognized by such a knowledgeable art collector and art historian. His contribution to American art is unmatchable and I hope that when you visit Tuscaloosa you will take the time to come and enjoy his incomparable collection of art. You can also see a VIRTUAL TOUR of the museum on the website.

Over the years, several home school families have asked me for recommendations for art education. I have always appreciated their desire to ensure that their children have a well rounded education that includes a basic knowledge and understanding of the skills needed to create top quality art. I am hoping that sometime this year I will be able to do a weeklong workshop covering the basics. This of course sometimes becomes difficult due to the wide variety of ages that an average family has. So until I figure that out I have provided a category on my “On The Easel Store” that provides some solid suggestions of books that would be helpful in home schooling. Due to issues of modesty, I have only included titles that would be non-offensive to all ages. There are books at the “On The Easel Store” that are more in depth but must be used with more discernment. I have not listed these in the home school section. I hope you find this helpful.

On day 3 of my painting trip to Grayton Beach it rained. I did get several photographs early in the day before the clouds rolled in. So hopefully I will be able to do some paintings at home from these shots. The best part of the day was hanging out with my friend Chris shouting the breeze and eating good food.

Today I had enough time before we packed up to do one more painting. I wasn’t very pleased with it so it will most likely get painted over if I can not improve it here at home. Sorry there have not been more paintings to post but as with most painting trips you just have to roll with the weather punches!

6″ x 8″ Dune Study

Here is the little painting I did this morning out at Grayton Beach State Park. This park is a painters paradise with the contrast of the dunes, the colors in the grasses and the lake on the north side of the dunes. Just over the dunes is the beach.

I started with the shadows on this one because they were the only area that I was fairly confident of the color (blueish-purple) and it turned out to be fairly effective. One of the struggles of painting on location is that you must always leave out the majority of what you see and stick to the main values shapes and colors that drew you to the motif. Toward the end of this painting it was very tempting to start painting in all the individual pieces of grass but I made myself stop and I’m glad that I did.

I will be going back to the park late this afternoon to try and do two more studies.

Is blogging a painting trip interesting? I’m not sure but writing a blog entry is much more interesting than planting myself in front of the T.V.

After arriving here in Grayton Beach I spent most of the afternoon searching out places to paint the rest of the week.  There are some really beautiful spots but none of the places I have found have easy access parking.  so it looks like wherever I paint tomorrow will involve a hike.  Two of the state parks which are close by may be my best bet and I will be checking them out tomorrow.

Here is the wonderful bed and breakfast.

You can find out more about the bed and breakfast HERE.

My next book is going to be on ‘How Not To Paint’. I know most artists are brilliant and never turn out poor paintings but my trashcan is full of them this week. Of course my family is outraged. That’s the price I pay for a little bit of integrity. By the way there is no previous book. I just have previous books that I wanted to write such as: ‘Ten reasons golf is easier than painting’.

I have a show here in town at the end of the week so it is doubtful much painting will get done.  I’ll have to put on my “framer” hat and get things ready for display.  Since the paintings I did last week are all going to the show they will not be available for sale but I will post the images once I get them photographed.  For those of you who have been here before you might want to take a look at my new page over on the left that shows my studio space.  Have a great week!

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