30 August, 2015

Portrait

Untitled. 2015. Pastel. @11" x 7." Casey Klahn.

29 August, 2015

This is my calendar of workshops scheduled to date. I also will add those planned but with roughed-in dates.

Sept. 12-13, 2015. DC Area / Gainesville. VA. Openings.
Oct. 7-21, 2015. Umbria, Italy.
Apr. 6-8, 2016. Albuquerque, NM.
Apr. 29-May 1, 2016. Norcross, GA (near Atlanta).
May 12-21, 2016 (proposed dates). Florence, Italy.
Mid Summer, 2016. Proposed Washington State. 3-5 days.
Mid Summer, 2016. Proposed Seattle. 5 days.
Sept., 2016 (proposed dates). Provence, France. 6 days.
Oct. @9-15., 2016. Portland, Maine.
2017. Proposed NYC at PSA. 3 days.
2017. Croatia.

27 August, 2015

Back Online!

After 2 months without internet, The Colorist blog is back in action. Posts to follow!

18 August, 2015

La Romita is in Umbria

Riva Sole Reviso

8" x 9.75"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

In October I will be going to Italy to teach a 14-day workshop at La Romita. I first heard about this wonderful art workshop center from a local artist and friend. La Romita was established in 1548 as a monastery. Workshops are housed and catered on site, and logistics for painting forays are supported by the staff.

Here is a blurb from their website:

La Romita School of Art first opened in 1966, under the guidance of Enza Quargnali, as the summer art program of Rockford College in Illinois. For over 50 years people have stayed at La Romita, painting the landscape, people, and towns in the beautiful Umbrian hill country, whose radiant golden light has charmed artists since the days of Perugino and his famous pupil, Rafael.

La Romita.

October 7-21, 2015. Contact me.

30 July, 2015

Italy in October!

There is room for you in Italy this October.

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

Self Portrait

Colorist Solution. 2015. Pastel. 16" x 14." Casey Klahn.

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.

Dakota Pastels / Workshop Center.