Ken Marsden Art

Lately I have been doing watercolors based on old Master works. This one was from Frans Hals Gypsy Girl, 1628-30. Attempts such as this provides lessons in humility as one realizes how great the old Masters really were. Still, much can be learned from these exercises.

As a member of a coop gallery I am expected to decorate the gallery window from time to time. These paintings based on famous works were started as part of my layout for my next window.
Ken

Ken Marsden Art

Marinette County, Wisconsin is noted for it's waterfalls. Naturally I have done paintings of them. I find them to be a difficult subject. This painting is of Dave's Falls and I was almost satisfied with it.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

Different Points of View
This past week we made another delightful visit to Galena, Illinois. On the way home we luckily by chance stopped in an antique store with a 3rd floor art gallery and met Bruce Fortney, a talented oil painter. Go to www.brucefortney.com and you will see I kid you not.

One thing about looking at another artist's work is that it sparks the drive to get to the studio and start painting.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

"Gotcha"

I was introduced to this stretch of stream almost 40 years ago by my friend Ed. It has been the inspiration for a number of paintings. This is my most recent. I think my feeling for the stream comes through in the painting. I will be adding it to my web site soon, along with an accompanying Artist Statement.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

"OUT of MY WAY"
I'm searching for one or two additional galleries to handle my work. Being an old fella (I've cleaned up my language) I'm being told over and over that my work isn't "edgy enough". So, I m looking for non edgy galleries. Any ideas??

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

Has technology changed the artist's studio? I was talking with a group of painters a few days ago and they were considering locations where they could meet to paint together. The topic of natural lighting, preferably north light, came up. It made me wonder. I've been forced to do most of my painting with artificial lighting for sometime now and with modern "daylight" bulbs I seem to get along just fine. Perhaps I'm not critical enough about my own work. There is something wonderful about painting outdoors in wonderful lighting but for studio work I think the times have changed.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

More and more I find myself trying to simplify my paintings. Yet, what seems popular with the public is more and more crammed into the subject matter of the pictures being marketed by the "Fine Art" marketing crowd. I called this one "Down River".

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

One of the ideas I try to get across when teaching watercolor is you don't have to paint everything in the scene you are viewing. These three chickens were a small part of the total number. Not only that, I didn't paint each feather. I had fun with this one.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

These days I do mostly watercolor paintings. This is an oil painting from 1966. It is Smallpox Creek. I was working in Chicago when I found out my mother had cancer. I went to Galena to spend a week with her. I took a break one day and did this painting. I think she liked it.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

I will soon get some of my new paintings on this blog but I just had to put this up. It is from a painting for a little booklet I self published about Galena, Illinois. I wont repeat all of the story here but it was painted from a real Hollyhock that survived deer and storms in our backyard. I once watched a fine lady painter on TV paint a rose as a demonstration. She made the point that one didn't have to paint a flower exactly as it was but rather one should paint the most beautiful flower, in her case rose, that ever existed. That may be but I thought this poor fellow deserved to be painted.

Watercolor Painting

Here is another painting from my web site, www.kenmarsden.com. You can read my Artist Statement about this painting on that site.

Ken Marsden Art

This is the view in front of our home in winter. It has inspired a number of paintings.
Ken

Ken Marsden Art

Our view of the Bay of Green Bay includes a strip of land jutting out into the Bay. It is known as Seagull Bar. There are many seagulls there but it could just as well been called Canada Goose Bar. Yesterday at daylight the guns were popping-must have been opening of hunting season. Autumn is on its way and this painting seems appropriate. The title is "Time to Head South."

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

We had company this week and conversation included "what's the hardest part of what you do?" I answered "Coming up with titles for finished paintings." I paint a lot of dogs. Those titles are easy- just the name of the dog. This is Tucker.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

I did this painting several years ago. We were at a rodeo and I noticed this youngster intently watching a bull riding event. It seemed to me that he must be dreaming in his mind of some day being such a bull rider but in reality he would probably grow up to be something entirely different. I titled the painting "Someday".