Ken Marsden Art

In my blog two days ago I complained about the weather. Today East Ludington Gallery in Escanaba, MI participated in an Art Walk. The weather was beautiful and we had a great turnout. Perhaps I should complain about the weather more often.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

We have had a crappy autumn. Usually October is really nice. Not so this year. I can still heat my tiny studio with its small propane heater but when I do, as I did this morning, I just don't seem to be inspired to paint. My solution was to force myself to do some framing projects. Somehow that got the painting mood started and I began routing through CD's of earlier paintings. I think the painting shown here was done perhaps 30 years ago. It was titled simply "Shade".

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

Opposite Points of View

I have always had mixed thoughts about having reproductions of my paintings. I know others have written extensively about the subject but it hasn't helped clear my mind. Generally I have avoided it but occasionally have some done in a much smaller size than the original. Somehow that seems OK. Yesterday I had Graphic Impressions, Wausaukeee, WI make some that will be used for display at City Hall in Menominee, MI. On short notice they wanted paintings of "Winter" and although I have done many, the originals have been sold or are out in galleries so I opted to show reproductions. I seem OK with that. Do other artists struggle with those decisions?

Ken Marsden Art

Sometimes in order to get to one of the trout streams I have to trudge through fields or swamps or... Sometimes the scenery is spectacular and sometimes it's just a nice day. This painting resulted from one such outing. The scene is a meadow with an old abandoned saw mill , now buried in a woods. I don't remember how the trout behaved that day but I do remember the weather was enjoyable.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

Its been awhile. I just got back from a short trip to Taos, NM. I can understand why artists have flocked there, the light is intense and the surrounding country side is beautiful. I even got in one day of mountain trout fishing with my favorite 4wt. fly rod.

I didn't like the hectic nature of the traffic in the shopping area but there were some nice galleries. I talked with several gallery owners and a very workable, nice gallery space runs about $1,700 / month. Volume and pricing seem to make it work. One gallery wanted $200 / month for a relatively small wall space. He had 5 current artists and 5 more waiting. If I was young I'd be tempted to buy a place there- but then I'd want the wall space for my own art.

A lot of the art is "Edgy" and modern but I saw some with which I could relate. Perhaps the best part was visiting the surrounding areas, especially the Pueblo nearby. I shot pictures to serve as inspiration for "back home paintings." Some of the shots were of the more interesting Native Americans who agreed to the photo- not all do.

I haven't been putting many paintings on the blog or web site because I have it on good source that they are being stolen faster than I can paint them so I guess I'll rely on gallery sales pretty much from now on.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

I apologize for the gap in my Blog entries but here is an announcement: I have been notified by the Wisconsin Arts Board that I have been selected to exhibit utilizing 55 linear feet of wall space at their Madison building. The exhibit will not be until 2010 but I need every bit of that time to assemble a collection of my very best paintings.

As for the gap in blog entries, one of the main reasons has been computer difficulties which have taxed both brain and energy. A new motherboard installation seemed like the way to go but now I realize for the small difference in cost I should have gone to Wal Mart and purchased a new computer. Fortunately all digital images survived. Now that the Christmas and New Years holidays are past I can get back to some serious (well not too serious) painting and I hope you will come to this site frequently as I promise to do better - a New Years Resolution? I will try!

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

This "Aunt Emma" wasn't really my Aunt Emma, but I did have several Aunt Emmas. There were so many Emmas in my relations that the family referred to them as "Fred's Emma or Charlie's Emma or Art's Emma, etc. I did this one for display purposes to encourage commissions for ancestoral portraits. Portrait anyone?

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