New Abstract Landscapes

Winter Sunlight

This was a painting with the emphasis on high key, change of color temperature without drastic value changes. LOVE winter aspen! Just a small 20x16, but has a very light hearted feeling to it.

The Watcher

This is an ever-evolving painting of deciduous trees with strong sunlight and warms and cools.

The square format has been a challenge of shape placement and still keeping it minimal. The painting source comes from the inlands of New Jersey - love the humid sky!

Small Works

I will be doing quite a few small works in the next upcoming month, picking one from the group for the Western Visions Show at the Jackson Wildlife Museum. The rest will be available through my studio, this blog and the website! Most will range in size from 8x10 through 11x14, a very affordable price point and most times the sources for much larger (expensive) paintings. Here are a few from the last two days!

Also, more news......I was juried into the Saulsalito Art Festival in California with my watercolors. I can't tell you how very excited I am for this! I started my career in watercolors and after ten years of primarily oils, I am very enthusiastic about redefining my career in my first love. It will be so interesting to see how the oils have affected transitions in my watercolors! Stay tuned.....

Legacy Gallery Salon of Fine Art

Here is the piece submitted and accepted into the Salon. It's quite different from my norm, but months ago as I was passing through the Vermillion Cliffs, I made an oath to myself that I would do a series. The passing storm was magnificent, the light shining from the heavy clouds illuminated the cliffs. Well, this is the first of the coming series. A little more color than I had expected, but dramatic nonetheless. Stay tuned for more work!

Eccles Art Auction Pieces

Here are a couple of pieces submitted for the Eccles Art Auction, held March 3, 2012 in Ogden Utah. The Auction is a great event that benefits the many classes, exhibits and collections that are presented to the public, as well as preserve the historical building and landmark! Please support our local community by attending, donating and/or buying art from many local artists willing to donate their valuable time and paintings! Here is the link - http://www.ogden4arts.org/ for more information.

Seared Flat Iron Steak, caramelized onions with Balsamic Reduction

This recipe was a little of one, a little of another and a few other things thrown together, so I need to write it down before I forget! If you are in the mood for beef, this is now on my favorites list!

Caramalized Onions

Two large sweet onions, sliced thin

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp brown sugar

generous salt & pepper

Two Tbsp Olive Oil, two tbsp. Butter

Saute the onions, garlic, brown sugar, S&P in the oil and butter until the onions are rich and golden, at least 30", stirring constantly. The drippings will be used for the reduction.

Flat Iron Steak

Rub with Olive Oil and coat with Montreal Steak Seasoning and let stand while onions are cooking.

Balasamic Reduction

Remove onions from saute pan with slotted spoon, leaving all the drippings and little burnt pieces. Keep the onions warm. Add 1 Cup dark red wine and 1/2 C Balsamic Vinegar, 1 tsp. sugar, generous Salt and Pepper. Cook until sauce reduces to about 1/3 Cup. While cooking, put steak on the grill and sear both sides on very high heat, keeping center medium rare. Slice thinly against the grain of meet, pouring the dripping from the steak into the Balsamic Reduction.

Place 3-5 thin slices of beef on plate, top with Caramalized onions and then drizzle the Reduction over the combination - YUMMY!

I accompanied the beef with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Carrots and Leeks with Pesto as my side dishes.

Served it with a nice Merlot and a candle on the table!

Moran Junction

Rain in Mackey

Emergence

The painting that just keeps changing with the light :)

A New Season

A New Season for a New Year! Welcome to 2012!

Lovett's Gallery Interview

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I haven't blogged in awhile, in fact I haven't done much of anything in awhile! I have been enjoying this Christmas season, buying presents and (over)decorating my house - nesting! I haven't had a relaxing holiday season like this in more years than I can remember. Sure, I have shows coming up I should be painting for, but not the Celebration like the past three years, which happens only weeks after Christmas lending the holidays to much stress and way too much to do. I generally have a show between Christmas and New Years, but not this year. All four were between Sept. and the first of December so the timing for enjoying the holidays has been perfect!

Thank you to all the wonderful friends (clients and otherwise) and family that have supported me throughout the year! It has been a good year, tons of adventures and travels, and we're hanging in there. I am so very grateful for this wonderful job! I get to march down to my studio every morning and turn on my music, dance and paint, create beautiful places and then take them to beautiful places. Though it's not always a bed of roses and making a living at something so very personal often triggers a roller-coaster of emotions, it is the only thing I want to do! Even the days of not painting are filled with looking, looking at art, looking at light, looking at the beautiful mountain outside my window and wondering how I should paint it. Art is not a job, it is all consuming. It's a lifestyle, a way of living a life and seeing the beauty in everything and everyone. I'll take that any day!

Have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends - enjoy every minute of it! And have a wonderful 2012!

Taking orders for 2012 Calendars!

Calendars are available after December 18th, $27 for one or $22 for two or more! It's a great Christmas gift with excellent quality images.

December 2011 newsletter

Putting it all together!

The last day before the road trip! I'm framing and wiring all day today - putting my babies all around me so I can "feel" them before loading them into the truck! Such anticipation (and anxiety) - just about kills me. I do enjoy putting them all around and sitting in the middle of them. I get a good feel about where I'm at in this present moment. I can see where I have grown, which direction I feel is working and what maybe wasn't quite what I expected it to be. I look for consistency in mood, quality, framing.....does it all fit together as a body of work? Is there variety as well? I know I have done my best and given it everything I have! Once they are loaded and we are off, I will quit analyzing and just enjoy the ride :)

Last but not least! - I think

Two days to go before we leave for Tulsa. Just finished up this little 16x20 called Crimson Chorus. I've been working in winter palette's for the last few paintings and it felt good to get the reds out!

Small Works for Tulsa

Winter Meditation

Another winter piece in the latest series! 24x48 oil on canvas

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

I'm wishing you all a beautiful day! I hope you all have great food, great family and great memories to share. I miss you Grandma!

The Definition of a Successful Art Career

A familiar acquaintance spots you across the room at an event and three minutes into a conversation, has told you of every dollar, every contract, every achievement made since the last time you chatted? This person has been there, done that with a mention of another friend’s accomplishments. I am always very happy for this person’s success - I honestly am - but I always seem to walk away questioning my own success, comparing apples to apples and dollars to dollars and not quite measuring up. Another art friend approaches you at an event - an artist that is successful on every level. This artist has been invited to the finest galleries, the best shows, his work is impeccable and you would never hear about a single achievement unless he was prodded into telling. The first thing out of his mouth is “How are YOU doing?”. I realize that these are both extreme hypothetical examples of a successful artist and most of us fall into a middle ground somewhere - confident and enthusiastic about what we do, yet maybe looking for a bit of validation and/or approval to guide us on our path to a successful art career and making our mark!

How does one define a successful art career? Can we simply break it down to a few black and white areas - the quality of our work and respect of our peers, the financial success attained or lack of, and the quality of our whole life. The grey areas are much larger though, and a combination of all the above.

No doubt, everyone has heard the admonishment that an artist should NEVER paint for money, that financial gain corrupts the integrity of the art. While I have a personal list of things that I have vowed I won’t do with my art, I also have the harsh reality that if I want to keep doing what I love to do, I have to pay a few bills (a mortgage) along the way or get a job that takes me away from painting and I get less and less time to pursue my creative passion. How can I truly achieve my potential as an artist without devoting myself to painting? And if I’m making buckets of money (I remain optimistic ☺ LOL) selling my art, does that mean my work is “there” and the struggle goes away? Which brings me to the next grey area - how do I attain my potential and quality in art and what/who defines that quality?

I think we all have a distinguishable innate sense of quality and we have certainly all seen that great art does not always mean great money and vice-versa and all of the combinations. The art world is made of so many genres and it seems divisive at times - contemporary vs traditional, cerebral vs beautiful, self taught vs academically trained, etc. How do we define our personal vision of quality and who are our peers for that particular arena- who we listen to and accept critique from? Is it in awards, shows, articles, recognition from artists we admire? Then what happens when we don’t get in the shows, a critic disses our work, we don’t sell a painting? Does that mean our quality has diminished or suddenly isn’t there after it already was before? If we are staying in our artistic integrity, but the rewards aren’t coming - do we give it all up as a failure? Which again, brings me to the final grey area of living a whole life and finding perspective with our art and career.

How does our art career fit in perspective with our lives? Does it define us as a person? Is it what we do and how well we do it that defines us or is it our spirit, who we are, who we love, how we combine our passion with our relationships that truly make us successful? We are so fortunate to be doing what we love to do, but if the money isn’t flowing or the rewards aren’t coming as quickly as we want, how do we come to terms with these disappointments without allowing them to jeopardize our ‘whole’ life?

Our families, our friendships, our spirituality, our experiences all contribute to the breadth of our art. It is crucial that we balance all of these things in order to attain success. It is equally important that we have our own very individual barometer to gauge what that success is, not based on someone else’s idea. We have no idea of another’s needs, situations, difficulties, talents and strengths. Happiness is not over-rated, it is the goal! Living every day in the moment and being fully present with whatever we do! It is only our job to show up at that easel and do the best work we can do at the time that we do it. Embrace the rest of your life, your “whole” life and define success as all of it’s parts. Its a day to day thing, always learning, re-evaluating, and growing, and best of all - enjoying the journey along the way!

May we all have success in whatever that definition might be!

Winter's Silence

Another piece for Tulsa! This one is 24x48. I simply LOVE winter scenes! I know they are just not for everyone, but I think anyone can pick up that I love snow - I LOVE SNOW! The insulation of the snow quiets everything around it. The contrast and subtle temperature changes in the snow, the contrast of the dark pines - everything about it I just love! I hope you enjoy as well :)

Tulsa Work in Progress!

CLASSES STARTING IN JANUARY 2012

Hello art friends!

I will be starting classes in January 4, 2012. I will be teaching beginning, intermediate and advanced watercolor and an intermediate and advanced oil painting class. The classes will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, morning 10-12 am and evening 7-9 pm. If you are interested, please call me for information and supply lists (801) 389-2369 or (801) 621-0114.

Class size will be held to eight students in each class and cost $60.00 per month. Students will work in class on watercolor painting, demo and lecture on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Due to ventilation and health issues of oil painting, the advanced classes on Thursday will be limited to demo, lecture, art history, critique, business issues and homework. You will have a great time creating beautiful art and pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone and on to the next level of progression!

For my full bio, resume and qualifications, please go to my website shannakunz.com or request via email. I can forward articles about my work from Southwest Art Magazine, American Artist, Western Art Collector and Fine Art Connoisseur as well as shows and awards. Referrals and recommendations upon request.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Shanna

shankunz@earthlink.net

Chasing Shadows

This piece is a 36x24 vertical called "Chasing Shadows" - a piece in the same series as Sunlit Pines. It's all about exploring strong light and cast shadows on a steep hillside dotted with light dancing off the trunks of the pines creating rhythm and movement through strong contrast. This piece is much darker and more dramatic than it's counterpart and I think I still have a very delicate high-key piece in mind as a trio. If you have ever been to Flagstaff in the evening, you might recognize the feel of that unique light. The densely populated Ponderosa Pines just glow as the sun starts it descent into evening!

A Different Style!

Homage to my Tonalist Roots

I've been working on a painting today that I keep coming back to, each time I'm just sure that if I add this or change that, I can make it better. This piece is a tribute back to my more tonalist days of painting - my study of Inness, Tryon and Francis Murphy. It's a very low key, high contrast piece that the trees have changed shape more times than I change my socks in a week! Ok, I'm exaggerating - BUT, they have changed form a few times. It used to be in my painting world that I lived from deadline to deadline and had to have X number of paintings for each show and I just worked my fingers to the bone getting a nice show together. I'm really slowing down more and I want each and every baby that leaves my hands with me giving it everything I can possibly give to make it the best that I know how to do at the present time. Once in awhile, a painting comes back to me because it hasn't found a home yet and I can see that I have progressed enough to know what to do to make it my best NOW. I will rework a painting until I have learned everything I can or feel proud of it for what it is. And sometimes I also realize a piece has a spirit about it that even if it was done at a time not as evolved as the present, it needs to be left as is. The hard part is knowing the difference. When to leave it alone or when to keep working it. Hmmmm, maybe that is a great analogy to life!

Familiar Territory - Watercolor Sundays!

I'm taking a page out of my past for my painting experience today! When my kids were small and it was virtually impossible to get in much alone time, every Sunday I would spread my watercolor palette and board, brushes, towels and water in a great spot on the floor in front of the television and watch NFL football. Noone in my family was much interested in watching with me, but the kids would bring their friends over, eat munchies and hangout playing games and watching me paint. There was always noise and commotion going on, but somehow I could tune it all out and keep painting, taking breaks long enough to let my glazes dry and catch up on the game. I knew where my kids were, who they were with and what they were doing - all while doing what I loved to do! Well, today has been another day like those with a few exceptions - I can't sit on the floor like I used to (I would never get up again)! The kids are gone, except for a short visit today from my grown up son and his dog. I'm no longer watching the games alone because my husband LOVES football. I still can tune out the noise and commotion and paint, I'm just a little a little slower than I used to be, not quite the multi-tasker I used to be. Here is today's work and hopefully there will be another by midnight!

Small Pieces Available!

I'm down in the studio getting small paintings together for a couple of

holiday shows. Lots of work to do and keep me busy down in the studio!

Some large pieces are coming next.....stay tuned!

Work Delivered!

I just left the Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale and am back on the road to Sedona to the Mountain Trails Gallery for my show tonight and tomorrow. I really feel good about the work I left behind - a lot of my heart and soul and hard work coming from the studio. I've left my "children" behind for them to find their way to their new home. I will come home to an empty studio and start the journey all over again. With each body of work completed, I analyze what elements worked for me, what little obsessions were revealed and where I can make changes to go off in a little different direction for the next body of work. We drove through Southern Utah and Northern Arizona through some unbelievable skyscapes, cloud formations and strong sunlit value patterns. The colors were actually quite subdued against a dramatic sky. I think I will start the next series of work with these images burned in my brain. They will be vistas, not as intimate as my normal work, but I think I can really enjoy the experience of simplification and subtlety. I'll leave you with a little visual imagery (photos) to enjoy!

Newsletters

If you are interested in receiving my bi-monthly or so email newsletter, please go to my website shannakunz.com and complete the "email newsletter" section! Your email address will ALWAYS remain private and you won't be bombarded with newsletters as it takes so much work and computer knowledge for me to make them :) Every two to three months! Thanks for your support!

Shanna

October Newsletter

New Work for the Sedona/Scottsdale trip!

This is the newest completed painting off the easel. It's called "Snowmelt" and is 36x36, oil on canvas. I must be getting anxious for winter because I really enjoyed painting snow again. It's coming soon enough! Back to the Aspen painting waiting to be finished.....

Final Touches! My largest painting

30x90! All but the final touches are done. Wow! This is the Chief Joseph River by Wisdom Montana. What do you think?

Progress!

Coming along a little more slowly than I would like, but here's to progress!

Here goes!!!

Well, my largest painting EVER! This piece is 30x90. I have had the canvas with a partial drawing on it for three years - intimidating me into submission. I've finally got the gumption to dive in. I have absolutely NO idea who will have the space for a painting of this size, but I've got a studio wall large enough so it will have a home one way or the other :) Please excuse the messy studio, but I have been working pretty much non-stop and lost my studio helper (Marco) to a job. Maybe by January I can do a little cleaning ! LOL

Endurance, 36x48 oil on canvas

I've been working on this piece this last week. This is another previously thought finished piece, only to really dig in and push it a little further. The palette in this piece is so analogous, so subtle that it was lacking something that gave it "umph". I love the tension of the diagonal, the strong value key contrast between the foreground and the background. Something needed to tie the two together with a common thread. I cut back into the trees a bit more, gave them a little more definition to make the separation even more dramatic. Then I added a highlight of water coming down the diagonal to bring a little sky color into the green and break up the subtle values in the foreground. I also like the thin background layers against the thick foreground texture. I reworked a little brushwork in the distance to give the surface just a little more continuity, but I don't want too much. This painting really emphasizes a minimal composition and that is what gives it strength. It's always a challenge for me to paint this large and keep the quality as strong as I possibly can. It's getting me ready for my 30"x90" piece - WOW, scared to death to do something that big! Stay tuned.....

Sunlit Pines of Flagstaff

New piece off the easel! This piece was inspired by my recent trip to Sun Valley for the Kneeland Plein Air Exhibition. I was painting up by Galena Lodge and the side of the mountain fascinated me with the abstract shapes, shadows and color. I did a small little 6x6 of it which sold at the show, but it haunted me to do a larger one a little less abstract. I think I will do a series of this, maybe a couple more. Square formats fascinate me as well. For my upcoming shows, I plan on using quite a few square compositions, maybe a few more odd sizes as well. I am not quite ready to put my signature on this piece above - not for a day or two so I can live with it, but I'm pretty happy with the feel of it!

July Newsletter

So sorry guys for sending out a duplicate newsletter. I have STILL yet to figure out the size requirements for my website company and the first one was too small for anyone to read. The second one is too big for anyone to see! I'll get there, I promise! I'm just a little computer illiterate!

Eccentric?

I was on the phone with a dear friend, Lori McNee, yesterday commiserating over our tight deadlines and procrastinations. I confessed that it has been a "few" days since I had showered because I just keep rolling out of bed and heading directly down to the studio and painting until it is WAY past time to cook dinner, spend an hour with my honey and get some sleep to do it all over again. This will only last until Saturday because at that time I have to drive the work 4 hours to its destination. I really don't think I've had this tight of a deadline in a very long time. With my confession, Lori said I might be getting a little eccentric! Anyway, I started thinking and analyzing the way I work with the procrastinations and all. I think I truly AM a bit eccentric! I function best when my studio is a mess. I work best in my overalls and a ponytail, which is fine in the studio but NOT in the grocery store - WHEN I get to the grocery store. I have become a bit reclusive over the years when I used to be so outgoing and social. I generally perform best when pushed to the last minute and have no other choices. Any other time, my garden calls me first, a great cookbook catches my attention before the canvas, the damn computer imprisons me (notice I'm blogging this morning when I should be painting) - my lack of focus frustrates me. But in the end, there hasn't been a deadline I haven't lived up to. The paintings always get done and get where they need to be. I am a "functioning" eccentric. Maybe I'm no different than most artists. My family and non-art friends don't believe it but they are tolerant. They love me for my eccentricities, not my discipline. Most understand that there are times (more than I want to admit) that I am a flake. My memory is challenged and blamed on paint fumes. Maybe you can relate to all of this. I know when I hear of similar stories, I am relieved to a degree that this might just be an artists' mind. I love this artist life! We see the beauty in all, the positive in life and what we can create with it. There is never a problem that can't be solved some way. Show me the good and I'll hide from the bad! Yep, that's how I roll - I'm eccentric and quite proud of it!

Well, ??? Another mountain to move....

I have such a tough time being objective about a painting, especially when it is something out of the ordinary for me. I'm generally overly harsh or I get a crush and can't see it for what it really is. Here is the barn, all but finished. The hard lines of the mountains in Sun Valley area are a real challenge to make work in a composition. There is only one place around where mountains are angled so steeply. That's what makes it so beautiful! Still - tough to make work. What do you think?

Ok, it's the next morning and I've decided to take out the left mountain. Stay tuned....

Mountain considerably chopped down. Still having a tough time with this one...

Almost finished!

Working on my very large vertical series, with this new one "Woodriver Storm Rising" It is a 48x30. The other two in the series are Majestic and Queens Court following.

status update :)

Well, the admonishment to myself of FOCUS - didn't work. Went shopping instead. Sometimes burnout can kick your behind! Back at it tomorrow I guess. Will post the painting when it's done. I am so LAME!

Highly Unusual!

Not being one to usually put manmade structures in my work often, this barn painting is quite unusual for me! It's an old family farm and barn outside of Hailey, ID. I have always loved how it sits among the poplars besides the steep hillside. It always tells me I'm close to Ketchum, one of my favorite places in the west. I'm working out a few drawing issues, some shape placement problems and then I will figure out how to make the building feel natural in the environment. I have, as usual, put my largest and most difficult paintings for my show at the Kneeland Gallery off until the last week - so what else is new? I seem to do this to myself almost every time. The show is happening August 3, 4, & 5th, with the reception being August 5 from 5-8. It is my favorite show of the year. The patrons are wonderful! They come back year after year to watch us paint, purchase new pieces for their collections and cheer us on. We have developed such a special friendship with all the artists that have participated through the years. Opening morning is filled with hugs & smiles and catching up. The gallery staff is exceptional and treat us like old friends - very spoiled old friends! And of course, who can beat this landscape? It just doesn't get much better than this. And now, on to finish this "structure"......Focus Shanna - FOCUS!

River Aspens

Here is a small one, 12x9, oil on linen panel called River Aspens. It's headed for the Kneeland Gallery soon!

Violet Waters