birch art – Page 2

Painting the Aspen Trail

August 27, 2012

SANTA FE ART TREK: Plein Air Painting / Photography Workshop with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

Day 2, afternoon location – Aspen Trail

9″ x 12″ textured oil by Niki Gulley

On day 2 of our Santa Fe Art Trek, the temperature started rising in the afternoon, so we headed up into the mountains for cooler breezes to paint the beautiful aspen trees. We were attracted to the brilliant white trunks with their unique peeling bark and dark protruding knots. I liked how the soft dappled light came through the trees and illuminated the path, leading into the distance. Becoming totally lost in the moment, we set out to capture the peacefulness and contentment we felt that afternoon.

Above: Some of our students painting in the aspen grove, listening to the sounds of the babbling brook nearby. A perfect day!

Visit nikigulley.com/artreks/ for upcoming Art Treks and Workshops or

E-mail Niki Gulley for more information.For new classes and workshops in Texas this fall, see nikigulley.com/art-classes.

“Heightened Awareness” textured aspen painting

May 18, 2012

48” x 36” textured oil on canvas

In this painting I wanted you to feel that child-like wonder of staring up in into the treetops and the heavens above. Choosing vibrant, cheerful yellows contrasted against a crystal blue sky and arranging the aspens in a circular pattern heightened by thick, curving paint strokes, both add to that joyful, playful feeling of hope and discovery.

This painting, along with several more of Gulley’s textured aspen and birch tree paintings are hanging at the Good Art Company in Fredericksburg, TX. Visit goodartcompany.com/gac/ for more details.

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Web – NikiGulley.com • E-mail – Niki Gulley

Aspen Oil Painting commission

March 23, 2012

SOLD • 30″ x 48″ textured oil on canvas

This commissioned painting was based on an earlier painting that I’d created of this aspen forest, but my new collectors needed a larger, narrower painting to fit their space. They fell in love with the thick texture of the aspen bark and the vibrant color in the fall foliage that I recreated with extremely thick oil paint and palette knives. The completed painting shimmers with gentle autumn breezes and a quiet energy of change coming. Crisp fall mountain air, clean bright skies overhead, a band of slender straight trunks cut bright strokes of white against a dazzling tumble of green, crimson and gold.

E-mail Niki Gulley for more information on her textured aspen and birch oil paintings.

Or, to see more of her work, stop by Art@the Domain in Austin, TX this weekend.

NikiGulley.com

thegoodartco.com/gac/

“Muted Hues” aspen tree oil painting

December 8, 2011

“Muted Hues” ©2011 Niki Gulley
36″ x 36″ oil on canvas

I paint a lot of bold fall foliage scenes from Colorado and farther north, but I wanted this aspen painting to have a more peaceful feel so I used much softer, more muted color palette to add to that mood.

E-mail Niki Gulley for more information on my birch and aspen tree oil paintings.

“Deep in the Woods” – Textured aspen tree oil painting

December 5, 2011

oil on canvas • 36″ x 36″

I am absolutely crazy about aspen trees. I love their textured peeling bark, the sound of their tinkling leaves blowing in the breeze, the way the light illuminates their yellow leaves and makes them glow, and the repetition of the trunks packed so tightly together. The first time I saw them was on a trip with my family to Colorado and I fell in love with the beautiful scenery and peacefulness I found immersed in the forest and surrounded by mountains. I wanted to share my love of nature in “Deep in the Woods” so that you, too, could enjoy that calm and the beauty of the aspens.

E-mail Niki@NikiGulley.com for more information on my contemporary landscape paintings.

Just Sold – “Autumn Splendor” textured oil painting

October 19, 2011

36” x 48” textured oil on wrap around canvas • Sold

Just sold! Shimmering colors of autumn: Aspen trees quiver, their light graceful leaves tremble and quake, silver and gold, silver and gold with each light breeze.

There is the quiet energy of change coming and vibrant color charges the woods. Crisp fall mountain air, clean bright skies overhead, a band of slender straight trucks cut bright strokes of white against a dazzling tumble of green, crimson and gold.

E-mail Niki Gulley for more information on my textured oil aspen and birch tree paintings.

“Autumn Splendor” textured aspen oil painting

September 16, 2011

36” x 48” textured oil on wrap around canvas

Shimmering colors of autumn: Aspen trees quiver, their light graceful leaves tremble and quake, silver and gold, silver and gold with each light breeze.

E-mail Niki Gulley for more information on my textured oil aspen and birch tree paintings.

“Vertical Prism” aspen tree oil painting

January 28, 2011

SOLD • 30″ x 40″ oil on canvas

Sold to a collector in Madison, WI. These playful aspen trees were created with palette knife and gallons of oil paint to achieve texture, movement and colors that explode off the canvas, all while capturing the childlike wonder of staring into the treetops.