Ken Marsden Art

"BLUEGILL" The economy is impacting art sales but my affordable ceramic and marble tiles continue to sell well...so I decided to create more of them. Next will be a series of fish paintings. Here is the first one.


Ken

Ken Marsden Art

"Hard Life-10" I must have painted this scene 10 times but I didn't count.

Today, sitting in church(before the service started) my mind was triggered by the individual pieces of glass in a stained glass window. I don't know the connection but I next thought about painting a maple leaf in autumn colors. I realized it would be impossible to get it exact. Later as the service progressed and the pastor preached it occurred to me that we can accept what we do not understand. Somehow this all got connected after I got home and embarked on some art project. So--I can accept absract art 'though I do not understand it. What gets me is the number of people who look at an abstract piece and proclaim they do understand it .

Perhaps it's a matter of intellect. I never claimed to be at the top of that list. So, I go on painting cows, etc., which I continue to portray in a manner not quite exact but far from what anyone would call abstract.


Ken

Ken Marsden Art

"Cheating"

Years ago My family played a card game called Euchre quite regularly, often at my cousin Bob's house. His sister Helen only lived a few doors away and always was Bob's Euchre partner. They were notorious cheaters. They both passed away some years ago but my memories of those card games and the fun we had lives on. Here is a painting of Bob sneaking a glance at my partner's cards. You had better hold the cards close to your chest.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

"Texas"

Well, we're back from our very short trip to Texas. The wind was too strong to permit fishing on Lake Fork but I did come away with a commission to paint this bull. The owner raises stock for rodeo events.

I am always nervous about commissions for owners who are expert in an animal breed. They always know so much about the anatomy that it is easy for an artist to get something not quite right. Wish me luck.

Another thing, painting all black animals is difficult. In order to avoid ending with a black blob the artist must resort to trickery and introduce browns, blues, etc. that may not actually be present. Just plain lightened highlights don't seem to work. Oh well! All painting is a form of trickery anyway. Let me know what you think.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

"Soybean Field"

My fascination with Indian Yellow continues. If I could figure out how to do a winter scene in Indian Yellow I probably would do so.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

"Grandma's Birds"

I did this subject a day after my wife Polly died in 1997. It showed more emotion and was done in quite a different color scheme. Later I decided to do it in just a little bit more precise manner and to give it a new title.

I have been preparing digital images for an upcoming show and decided to include this painting but had no digital record of it. It is a thankless job to remove a painting from the framing but a necessary task to take a photo. I think it was worth the effort.

Ken

Ken Marsden Art

"Chickadee" My wife has been asking me to paint another chickadee for years. A wonderful man, Joe Lopez, who lives rather remotely in the woods up north takes incredible wildlife photos. He gave me permission to paint from several of his pictures. When I saw his chickadee photo I knew I had to do it in watercolor. I simplified the branches a little so the bird would be more dominant. I think I'm going to do this one many times.

Ken