Niki Gulley paintings

“Flowing Symmetry” Palette Knife Tulip Painting by Niki Gulley

March 6, 2015

12″ x 16″ textured oil painting

I painted these flowing tulips with extremely thick oil paint and palette knives to achieve depth and texture. The resulting image comes to life and is loaded with color, energy and movement.

To see more of Niki Gulley’s textured floral paintings, please check out NikiGulley.com,

Or, e-mail Niki Gulley for more information.

“Dancing in the Breeze” Palette Knife Floral Painting by Niki Gulley

March 4, 2015

10″ x 12″ textured oil painting

I created this painting of purple Clematis on location at the Dallas Arboretum with palette knife and thick oil paint. It was so peaceful in the Poetry Garden, that it seemed like a perfect place to set up my easel. I liked the contrast of the cool purple in the flowers against the warm light of the textured wall behind them. Accentuating the circular design they were forming along with forming curving paint strokes, adds to a feeling of movement and energy, almost as if the petals are dancing in the breeze.

E-mail Niki@NikiGulley.com for more information on my palette knife floral paintings.

Or, visit NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape paintings.

Texas Hill Country Bluebonnet Oil Painting by Contemporary Impressionist Niki Gulley

February 27, 2015

SOLD • 36″ x 60″ textured oil painting

Inspired by a trip to the hill country, I wanted you feel the warmth and beauty on this perfect spring day while out for a leisurely drive among the bluebonnets and Texas wildflowers. Painted with thick oil paint and palette knives to achieve extreme texture, the resulting image comes to life and is loaded with color, movement and energy.

Just sold through the Good Art Company Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX (http://www.goodartcompany.com/gac/.)

To see more of my contemporary landscape paintings, please visit nikigulley.com.

For more information on my bluebonnet paintings and Texas landscapes, please e-mail Niki Gulley.

“Embrace” textured birch oil painting by Niki Gulley

February 25, 2015

textured oil painting • 36″ x 36″ on wrap around canvas

I like to play with blurring the lines between realism and abstraction so that some things are left up to the viewer’s imagination. In the case of “Embrace,” I chose this unusual, asymmetrical heart-shaped composition and teased your eye with foreground and background emerging and disappearing to create a more abstract scene. Choosing fiery reds contrasted against turquoise blues cause the colors to dance and vibrate. While diagonal strokes and a circular composition combined with the vibrant hues, create a sense of energy, movement and harmony. Using all of these elements, I wanted to create an uplifting, whimsical, passionate painting filled with youthful hope and discovery.

“Embrace” is available through the Good Art Company Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX (http://www.goodartcompany.com/gac/.)

To see more of my contemporary landscape paintings, please visit nikigulley.com.

For more information on my palette knife birch and aspen tree paintings, please e-mail Niki Gulley.

“Cascading Rhythms” Palette knife oil painting by Niki Gulley

October 31, 2014

12” x 24” textured oil on canvas

Water pounds its way down the falls: cascading, rushing, charging into the riverbed — flowing over rocks, swiftly moving forward. Untamed, the surge finds its way over, under, around the boulder-strewn river. Tumbling waters drive up mists above the falls, the rhythmic sounds create a soothing harmony below. Autumn’s low light casts long lines through the Aspen trees and glowing verge.

E-mail Niki Gulley for more information on her contemporary landscape paintings.

Please visit NikiGulley.com.

“Luminescent Radiance” textured oil painting of Monet’s Garden by Niki Gulley

October 4, 2014

Two 48″ x 18″ canvases with one 48″ x 30″ canvas in the middle to form a 48″ x 66″ triptych

Textured oil painting on wrap around canvas

I decided it would be a fun challenge to create an extremely large painting, and I wanted the final piece to be very uplifting, colorful and full of energy. Opting for warm colors and working with extremely thick paint and palette knives, I chose this lily pond reference from our visit to Monet’s Gardens in Giverny, France. The grounds were breathtaking and I could actually see his paintings come to life. I was drawn to the energetic flow and yet calming serenity in this view, and I positioned the water lilies and my paint strokes in a curving pattern to add to that mood. The morning light peeking through the distant foliage added to a sense of mystery and promise that I wanted to capture in paint, and share with you that feeling of hope.

E-mail Niki Gulley for more information.

Or, stop by the Cottonwood Art Festival this weekend if you are in the Dallas area to see more of my textured oil paintings.

Cottonwood Art Festival

Sat. Oct. 4 • 10am – 7pm

Sun. Oct. 5 • 10am – 5pm

Cottonwood Park (Coit & Beltline) • Richardson, TX

CottonwoodArtFestival.com

Visit NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape paintings.

“Fire and Gold” – Textured Aspen Tree Painting by Niki Gulley

October 1, 2014

Textured oil on canvas • 36″ x 48″

I love the first signs of fall – the crisp feel in the air, the crunching of leaves underfoot, the beautiful autumn colors, and being totally immersed in nature in the middle of a forest without a care in the world. In Fire and Gold I wanted to recreate that joyful feeling, choosing warm reds and yellows of autumn and using energetic strokes with my paint to heighten that mood. Building up first thin transparent layers and then thick textured layers of oil paint also add to a certain glow and magic in the final piece.

E-mail – Niki Gulley for more information.Or, stop by the Cottonwood Art Festival this weekend if you are in the Dallas area to see more of Niki’s work.

Cottonwood Art Festival

Sat. Oct. 4 • 10am – 7pm

Sun. Oct. 5 • 10am – 5pm

Cottonwood Park (Coit & Beltline) • Richardson, TX

CottonwoodArtFestival.com

Please visit NikiGulley.com to see more of her contemporary landscape paintings.

“Purple Irises” pastel by Contemporary Impressionist Niki Gulley

September 26, 2014

White Rock Lake Dallas

Soft cool colors of purple

Irises are just one of the many flowers found at White Rock Lake in Dallas. This group with the diagonal line made the piece. The petals falling right into place as if they were instructed.

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For more information on “Purple Irises,” please e-mail Niki Gulley.

Or, visit NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionistic landscape paintings and pastels.

“Dining al Fresco” Venice pastel by Contemporary Impressionist Niki Gulley

September 10, 2014

A warm evening breeze stirs, caressing your face as you dine. The sights and sounds of Venice mingle before your eyes, an unfolding opera of color and light. A couple strolls, enamored with the beauty that envelopes them, drawn into the Italian night, hand in hand. The love between them is nearly palpable, and as they pass you by, you feel it radiate off of them, just as the light spreads itself against the encroaching night.

The soft touch of the pastels help to capture the calm evening. Venice is filled with the romance and this scene really resonated with me. The warm palette gives one a feeling of calm, a comforting touch, as if by a summer breeze.

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If you’d also like to experience the beauty, history and culture of Venice, join me and travel photographer, Scott Williams, for our Plein Air Painting and Photography Art Trek to Venice during Carnivalé, Feb. 7-14, 2015. We’d love to have you join us! E-mail Niki Gulley for more information or go to nikigulley.com/artreks for more details on France, Greece, or our Italy Art Treks.

For more information on “Dining al Fresco,” please e-mail Niki Gulley nikigulley@sbcglobal.net .

Or, visit NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionistic landscape paintings and pastels.

“A Pause in Time” Venice pastel by Contemporary Impressionist Niki Gulley

September 8, 2014

18” x 24” pastel

Mysterious, enchanted, dreamlike – Venice is a fairytale at night.

Evening has drawn its starry cloak over the city, the crowds and pigeons are gone and three women enjoy the evening at a café in Piazza San Marco.

This changeling city, this artist’s muse now is unhurried, relaxed and romantic

and this one perfect moment in time is held in artful pastels, satiated colors –

rich velvet textures capture ebony/violet chairs that Peggy, Pollock or Cole Porter may have sat in,

paintings of angels from old Venice and three modern women of today complete this delicate balance in a point of time.

This piece won an award at the Southwest Pastel Society’s 31st National Juried Show Exhibit.

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For more information on “Bon Appetito,” please e-mail Niki Gulley.

Or, visit NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary impressionistic landscape paintings and pastels.