21 June, 2011

Buttes Are My Next Subject


Up Country Pines
11" x 17.9"
Pastel
Casey Klahn


Smaller than a mesa and bigger than a berm.

13 comments:

Stinson Fine Art / John W. Stinson said...

Nicely done!

Casey Klahn said...

Thank you, John. I know you like these up country buttes in eastern Washington, too.

Sonya Johnson said...

Really nice, Casey. Nice simple composition, but made unique by your use of color.

Casey Klahn said...

Thank you, Sonya.

William Cook said...

What a butte!

Somebody had to say it.

On another matter, I just saw that two part interview on Wolf Kahn (2008), an artist I'd never heard of before discovering your blog. I think I'm finally getting him, and am becoming a devotee of his ideas. I really admire his working attitude especially concerning the importance of the moment. There is something so authentic about his work that we would all do well to emulate. By extension, I'm also appreciating your compositions and color usage even more than previously--one can see Kahn's influence, and admire that sense of play and freedom to let the materials do what they do without excessive over-thinking. Great work, Casey--more buttes.

Casey Klahn said...

Bill breaks the ice so thinly laid out by myself. Nicely done. I couldn't get the Sir Mix A Lot song out of my head, but maybe now that will subside.

Glad you found WK, whose work you are summing up quite well. Innovation is the one word I would use to sum up things after the Modern era, and so the value of authenticity has risen. My big challenge has been to break away from influences, even including my own.

graziano tessarolo said...

very nice with a big energy inside

Casey Klahn said...

Thank you, Graziano. Very nice comment!

SamArtDog said...

Casey, this painting beautifully shows how pastel is not only color, but light as well.

Your conversation here with Bill is very thought-provoking. As you know, I'm always interested in anything WK, and hearing both of your comments adds a lot.

Interesting remark about breaking away from one's own influences. So true and so hard. Isn't there a whole field of psychiatry about breaking from oneself? Hell, I always thought artists are much better at being crazy than shrinx anyway.

Casey Klahn said...

I don't know, Sam. I worked at a psych hospital, and some of those shrinks were the poster children for the DSM III.

But, we try.

I find the comments area to be the seasoning on the steak of a meaty post, don't you?

Celeste Bergin said...

your butte is a beaut. Majorly beautiful

Casey Klahn said...

Your vernacular is spectacular, Celeste. Thanks.

William Cook said...

Your comment on breaking away from influences including your own, is haunting me. That's exactly what I've actually been trying to do! You mention of it spotlights the issue. The difficulty always is cutting through the thousands of preconceived notions and other influences to get back to the creative moment, always innocent of this extra baggage. It's like one has to paint to clear the head. Thanks for the insight.

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