30 July, 2015

26 July, 2015

No Internet? Paint Lots!

Very recent paintings. That I am doing portraits is news to me! I don't plan ahead.





17 July, 2015

Internet, Shminternet

How important is your ISP (internet service provider)? I am finding out as I suffer from the loss of mine. My home without internet? I feel "homeless!"

The Colorist should be back up soon, dear readers. Thanks for your visits.

Meanwhile, here is some art and a silly shopped pic of moi.




03 June, 2015

29 May, 2015

Blue Nude

Biskra Blue Nude. 2015. Pastel, Charcoal & Graphite. 17" x 14.75." Casey Klahn.



Sketch, White Nude on Blue. 2015. Graphite & Pastel. @6." Casey Klahn.




Blue Nude. Digital Drawing. Large. Casey Klahn.





My inspiration for the blue nudes originates with the 1907 work of the same subject by Henri Matisse, shown below. A disrobed woman in Algeria was his model, and the painting reflects his search for new imagery in north Africa. 

Matisse, in Biskra, Algeria: "I went from one surprise to the next - without being able to tell if my amazement came from the vastness of the country, or the new types of human being I was seeing, or from purely pictorial emotions."


A conversation between Picasso and Walter Pach, while viewing Matisse's Blue Nude: "Does that interest you?" asked Picasso. "In a way, yes...it interests me like a blow between the eyes. I don't know what he is thinking." "Neither do I," said Picasso. "If he wants to make a woman, let him make a woman. If he wants to make a design, let him make a design. This is between the two."

Late in his life, in 1952, Matisse revisited the Blue Nude title with his series of famous cut-outs. 








Henri Matisse, 1907, Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra), Nu bleu: Souvenir de Biskra, oil on canvas, 92.1 x 140.3 cm (36 1/4 x 55 1/4 in.), Cone collection, Baltimore Museum of Art.




26 May, 2015

Good Morning 99




This Day as Memory. 2015. Pastel, Oil, Graphite. 16" x 15." Casey Klahn.

This is #99/100 of my 100 Lives project.








18 May, 2015

Mask


Hush Your Mouth and Hold Your Breath. 2015. Pastel on Paper. 11.5" x 9." Casey Klahn.
















05 May, 2015

No Discord



Colors as Pickets Bouquet. 2015. Pastel. @18" x 13." Casey Klahn.

02 May, 2015

Life Painting



Wanda. 2015. Pastel, Conté Crayon, Charcoal & Graphite.12" x 8.5." All rag brown Stonehenge vellum. Casey Klahn.





27 April, 2015

Sean Scully on Henri Matisse

Moroccan Paintings by Henri Matisse at The State Hermitage Museum, Russia.
Photo: Casey Klahn.



Moroccan Cafe. 1912-13.
o/c, 176x210 cm
Henri Matisse
Four Dimensions



This older, 40 minute video of Sean Scully's commentary on Henri Matisse is well worth seeing. His particular understanding of Matisse's time in Morocco provided brilliant insights for me. I have always been challenged by the paintings done in the North African country, such as Moroccan Café, which Scully takes apart in this video. Remember that Matisse's Blue Nudes were all generated by his North African experiences. Enjoy.


ARTISTS' JOURNEYS: SEAN SCULLY ON HENRI MATISSE


24 April, 2015

More Workshop Photos - Washington State

Casey Klahn - lecture on the Artist's Ideas. I appreciated the attentive artists who were eager to learn.

Demonstration of landscape painting - Skagit Valley area, Washington State.

Floral demo.



Casey Klahn







La Conner, Washington area. 
Dakota Art Center Workshops.
Dakota Pastels.


All Photos: Evelyn Brody.



21 April, 2015

Workshop Washington State


Casey demonstrating landscape painting at the Dakota Workshop Center, Mt Vernon, WA.
Photo: Coizie Bettinger.



18 artists and I enjoyed painting with respect to one's individual voice and ideas in the historic La Conner, Washington area last week. I painted 4 demos and 1 or 2 resolutions of student works. The class was attentive and eager to learn, and I am grateful to Dakota for this first opportunity to teach at a national workshop center located right here in my home state.

My workshop schedule updates. I am dreaming of teaching in Provence, Germany and Italy in upcoming years, as well as NYC and many venues throughout the USA. Dates for those TBA.





Timid Barn on the Slough Shore Road. 2015 9.5" x 16.75." Pastel and Oil. Casey Klahn.





10 April, 2015

Balsamroot



Mountain Sunflowers. 2015. Pastel & Compressed Charcoal. 14" x 14.25." Casey Klahn.

06 April, 2015

Plastic Flowers



Plastic Flowers Electric Boogaloo. 2015. 20" x 12.25." Pastel, Oil & Compressed Charcoal. Casey Klahn.







03 April, 2015

Crown of Thorns



Christ with Crown of Thorns (1450~)
55×39 cm / Tempera on Wood.
Fra Angelico (@1395-1455)
Location: the dome in Leghorn, It.

31 March, 2015

29 March, 2015

The Moonlit Forest


If Moonlight Touched the Forest, Would That Perfect It? 2015.
11.3" x 7"
Pastel & Graphite
Casey Klahn


23 March, 2015

Saint Petersburg


Meeting The Master, with Odd Nerdrum.
The writer Torgrim Eggen interviews Odd Nerdrum at the cultural heart of Russia, visiting the Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum, St. Isaac's cathedral and the Repin Academy.



I toured the same museum and sights in Russia last August. In this video, Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum is paying hommage to Rembrandt, in the same manner that I paid hommage to Matisse when I went to St Petersburg. Read I Ascended Alone, where I recount my own life-changing trip.




22 March, 2015

Red Dirt Twilight



Red Dirt Intimidation, Intimacy and Insouciance. Twilight. 2015. 15.25" x 11.75." Pastel, Oil, Vine Charcoal, and Graphite. Casey Klahn. Demo painted in South Carolina this week.

14 March, 2015

Daisy



1 Piece in the Shape of a Daisy. 6.75" x 12.5" Pastel. Casey Klahn.
Abstract Expressionism, Art Criticism, Artists, Colorist Art, Drawing, History, Impressionism, Modern Art, Painting, Pastel, Post Impressionism