Gorge Shadows

Gorge Shadows

Pastel
Small
Casey Klahn

My Thanks

...to the following comment givers on my last post.

Jean
Don
Brian
Irina
Kathy
Joni
Lisa
John
Jen
Robin
Sara

This blog community keeps me going!

gif credit: wolfman.

First Place Award

Casey Klahn

Artist Casey Klahn, of Davenport, Washington, received the First Place Award in the Drawing category, at the Sausalito Art Festival, September 4-6, 2010. Klahn won this award for the whole body of work presented in his outdoor booth, which this year featured The Prairie Series of pastel landscapes.

The Sausalito Art Festival enjoys national and international prominence as one of the best fine art and craft venues. Established in 1952, it has become a premier annual destination event for collectors and art patrons.

Casey Klahn received the same award in 2009: First Place in Drawing, Sausalito Art Festival. His other awards include the Making a Mark Award for the Best Picture of a Place posted on an artist blog in 2009, and two Juror's Choice Awards, 2005 and 2007, in Fine Art from the Spokane ArtFest, jurist Michael Monroe.


The Prairie Series.
Sausalito Art Festival.
2010 Awards List.


Photo Credit: Lorie Klahn

Note to my readers: Regulars at The Colorist already know about my new award, but since I only snuck the news in as a photo caption I now have to provide this formal release to appease the self promotion troll. Thanks for your forbearance!

The Tinman Too

Showing in October at the Tinman Gallery in Spokane are mixed media works by Harold Balazs, and at the Tinman Too (next door) I will be exhibiting 15 - 20 pastel landscapes, including images from The River Series and The Prairie Series.

My one man show is to be scheduled in the next year at the Tinman Gallery. Also next year I will be showing in the City of Hoquiam, and at the Sausalito Art Festival.

Harold Balazs.
Northwest MAC, Harold Balazs.

Running on Fumes

I am still running on empty. What a season!

Also, I am happy to have readers visit from Katherine Tyrrell, and I hope she'll give us some of the attention that London has been getting. We've missed her regular posts over the summer.

I am getting ready for an exhibition in Spokane in October, and I'll tell you more about that soon. Also on the front burner will be getting back to daily posts at The Colorist Daily. I need to make sure what my inventory is, and do everything right more than immediately, if that makes sense.

See you soon.

Back Home Okay

Here is a note to let everyone know that I made it home from California well and fast. Too fast for comfort's sake, but the family needs me at home, since I missed the first day of school last week for my children. I'm exhausted, not only from the trip, but from the whole season. Time to switch gears and get into a new routine.

I hope to write some posts like last year where I describe to you my methods for creating prize winning work. I have some different ideas, so you can look forward to some interesting posts.

Sausalito - A Photo Report

A special welcome to my new readers from the Sausalito and Bay areas. The past four days at the famous Sausalito Art Festival have been both fun and rewarding for me. Thanks to the artist awards committee, the event staff and volunteers, and the patrons who come from far and wide to see this premier event. Fifteen original pastels are in new homes, and not a few new readers (my highest stats ever were reported for today) have found The Colorist.

Sausalito Picture Update

Casey Klahn, Goin' Uptown
Friday Gala Opening Sausalito Art Festival




Sunday, Klahn Receives First Place Award in the Drawing Category, Sausalito

There's Good News, and There's Bad News

Road Trip

Not about the show! That news is all good - I had a wonderful day in sunny Sausalito. The art festival had great "gate" today, and I expect the same for the next couple of days.

The good news/bad news is about the camera issues I have been having. I forgot my cable for downloading images, so today I was trying to borrow one from some neighboring artists and a 10 year-old kid overheard my dilemma, and suggested that I just stick the SD card from my camera directly into my laptop. Tonight I looked, and there is the SD port right in front. Doh. No, double-doh!! Now I have forgotten my camera at the booth! I promise pics tomorrow, since I should have the technology, and the parts, all together by then.

Organization skills are a critical issue when you are doing an outdoor fair. I do fairly well, but something will always slip through the cracks.

Gala Opening at the Sausalito Art Festival

Tonight's gala opening was an event to behold. Locals come to see the art and stay to party the night away with live bands and fine cuisine. I did sell a small work, which is better than last year's Friday opening, so there you have it. Perhaps the flood gates are opening, and if not, we are all having fun.

Rumor has it that there is a guy in a turban who annually visits the fair, and picks one artist's booth to buy completely out. Urban myths, art fair style.

My booth looks nice, and the tux wore wonderfully. I did get the pictures, but somehow cannot find the download cable! You'll have to wait until I get home to see the evidence. I guess you'll have to trust my word pictures for the time being. If you must know now, consider me in a tux as somewhere between the fellow in the first video and the guy in the second.

I Suppose You'd Like To Know About Set-Up Day at Sausalito?

I Woke up at 5:15 AM today, because I couldn't sleep any longer. Too keyed up, I guess. My appointment to load in at the venue was at 8:30, and all you need to know about the experience can be inferred from the following video clip.

Except, it wasn't all that bad. I did enjoy seeing my pastel chums, including Victoria Ryan, whose help with my hanging problems is much appreciated. And late in the day I saw Susan Ogilvie and Teresa Saia - both from Washington. Together with Sheila M. Evans, we constitute the Washington State cabal of pastel artists at the Sausalito. Mess with one, and you got us all.

Tomorrow: the final set-up and the Gala opening. Yes, I will be wearing my tuxedo.

Road Trip - An Artist's Reality Blog

Celeste Bergin and Casey Klahn
Photo Credit: David Burbach

The open road part of my road trip is over for now, and I am in Marin County. If you've never been to Marin, I will tell you that it is just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Fransisco, and one of the beautiful places in California. I am glad to be here.

On the way, I enjoyed stopping in Hood River, Oregon, which I blogged about the other day. The "When Bloggers Meet" photo of Celeste Bergin and I is posted above. Her post about the meeting is here. Then, I continued down the 5 through the great Willamette Valley. I couldn't help thinking about an artist friend whose landscapes define the Willamette for me, Marla Baggetta. It just so happens that Loriann Signori is interviewing Marla at her blog.

How can I get through Oregon without thinking about two master pastel painters, Kitty Wallis and Richard McKinley?

Further south along the 5 one travels through northern California. I well remember my climb of Mt Shasta many years ago. Today, she frowns at me as I pass by. Speaking of California mountains, blogger artist Terry Miura is posting his series about his annual plein air back country trip to the Sierras.

Tomorrow I drive onto the venue early in the morning and set up my booth. I hope to have pictures of that process for you as I continue this art fair reality series.

On The Road - Song Dedication

I don't know what Willie is singing about, but the music sounds nice. This one goes out to my wife, Lorie. I miss you and the kids, especially since they started school while I'm on the road.

On The Road Again - An Artist's Reality Blog

I Should Have Been a Country & Western Singer, Instead of a Painter...

To borrow the phrase from Willie Nelson, I am on the road again...to Sausalito. I intend to live blog the Sausalito Art Festival, which means I will try to write you a post a day. This year, the festival has cranked back the schedule, allowing me some breathing room to post. Artists sometimes spend 12 hours in their booths during event days, and that doesn't count the set-up day or days, which are brutal. Sounds like a reality show premise, huh?

Today I left home in eastern Washington, and traveled through the Columbia River Gorge. Since I follow Celeste Bergin's blog, I knew she would be at the Columbia Center in Hood River, Oregon and I made it a point to stop by. They are receiving paintings created en pein air - many during this week's plein air event in the gorge. I also got to meet Celeste's husband, David, who is the photographing this event. I enjoyed picking his brain about digital tasks. They will probably post the pictures taken of Celeste and I, to prove that bloggers do meet sometimes in real life.

The four or five oil paintings that Celeste will show make this exhibit well worth your visit. Her works are very uninhibited, and make me want to take up the oil medium.

I met an artist at the gallery of whom I am a big fan: Eric Bowman. He is humble, and I really admire his ease of expression in the landscape. He is very talented: Eric Bowman.

Cathleen Rehfeld is a friend of Celeste's. Her plein air oils of the gorge are inspiring, and they earned my "blue ribbon" rating. Judges take notice. She blogs here.

I am on the 5 in Oregon, and am taking a few days to get to the bay area and Sausalito. Stay tuned for more updates as I live blog on the road. Preview: you might get to see your author in his tuxedo on Friday. Woo hooo.

Need more country music for the road trip? I thought so. The Highwaymen Live.

Why Ask Questions?

Aperture Bright
@11" x 14"
Charcoal & Pastel
Casey Klahn

When will the wheat be ready for harvest? Which path should I walk? What will today bring?

Subdued Light

Washed Light
5.6" x 12.75"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

Eastern Washington has tremendous beauty. Much of it is on the grand scale typical of the American west. Here is where immense dry coulees (cliff-rich basalt formations that bookmark dry valleys), deserts, the irrigated Columbia Basin, the Columbia River Gorge, vast orchards, and some of the richest wheat lands anywhere, all take your breath away.

This image isn't of the grand scale, or the Hudson River School genre, as Deborah Paris likes to say. But it hints of that. What peeks through those trees? What will I find in the next field over? What events await tomorrow? These are some questions I think of when I look at this painting.

The Cremation of Sam McGee

Let Zane regale you again, this time with a frightening pyre. He is my school chum from long ago.

Zane - The Quantum Poetizer.

Zane Carriker is Zane The Fabulist

I'll be camping out for the next few days. Here is a campfire tale for you. A classic, to be sure.

The Quantum Poetizer.
Zane The Fabulist.

Fan Mail

This is my opportunity to share the fan mail that has graced my e-mail in box and the comments at this blog recently. Here is where I give public thanks for these, and for all of the readers of The Colorist. I only mention the names of those I feel won't mind.

At the risk of embarrassing myself, I share these kind words.

"I don't know you, and it's been YEARS since I had any lesson in art. I just wanted to say I read and view your blog and art daily and am truly thankful for all that you do. You keep me going. Thank you, Casey."

"Thanks for all the inspiration and sharing thoughts about your creative process on your blog, it's a treat to read!"

"I love your Winter Light! Good luck with the exhibition."

"(...)liked your blog, and love your work. Such beautiful color and abstractions."

"Dear Mr. Klahn,

Thank you for your link to Roger Scruton's video on Beauty. I am currently drafting a catalog essay on the nature of joy and it is refreshing and delightful to hear how clearly he frames his argument.

By the way I have enjoyed your work & blogs for some time now. Please keep up the good work.

All the best..."

A comment from Katherine A. Cartwright to 100 Things I Love About Art: "101. Casey Klahn!"

"Congratulations Casey on your new blog. I have been following both (T)he Colorist and your Pastel blog for a number of years now and wanted to thank you for the incredible amount of information you offer up to your readers. It was your blogs that inspired me to fan the flame of my passion for the pastel medium and colorist painting. I was able to use much of the information for the creation of Canada's first and only pastel specialty shop, Pastel Studio Canada. In the spring I met Diane Townsend at her home in PA, and this November Isabelle Roche will be visiting the shop. Our future looks bright and I wish the same for you.

Warmest regards from Canada.

Edward Hanson

www.pastelstudio.ca"







Photo Credit:  Lorie Klahn

Red Sub-Text

Sub Text Red

6.25" x 8.25"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

This image has been updated, which means that it is the formal, high quality photo of this original pastel. I go into this detail, because there are, believe it or not, people who don't discriminate between photos and paintings. Example: the lady who walked into my art fair booth this summer and declared, "you've been hitting the Photoshop pretty hard on these!"

No, steam did not come from my ears, but I did laugh to myself. As long as we persevere with painting, we will have to continue educating the public on what we are doing.