I knew I wanted to paint some fun, bright, happy florals – especially after such a cold, rainy and even snowy winter – to help lift my spirits, so I chose this boldly colored Bird of Paradise and painted a cheerful lemon yellow background to add to the sense of the painting’s overall warmth. Using extremely thick oil paint and a palette knife, this painting just leaps off the canvas in person.
If you’re in Florida this weekend, stop by my booth at the Bonita Springs National Art Festival, artinusa.com/bonita/.
I wanted this painting to be more about the power of water to uplift your spirits than to be a painting of just another pretty ocean sunset. I was hoping you could feel the ocean tides lapping on the shore and hear the rhythmic, soothing sounds of the waves cresting and falling. Whenever I visit the seashore I always feel rejuvenated, and I hope I’ve translated that onto the canvas for you to experience it, too.
I’ll be showing this painting and several others at the Bonita Springs National Art Festival in Florida this weekend. If you’re fortunate enough to be in the Naples / Bonita Springs area, come on by and say hi.
Bonita Springs National Art Festival
Sat. March 13 & Sun. March 14
10am – 5pm
The Promenade in Bonita Springs, FL (at US 41 & South Bay Dr.)
artinusa.com/bonita/
Thanks to everyone who came out this weekend to the Frisco Art Festival. Saturday turned out to be a lovely day and it was great to see you guys. While Sunday turned out to be a rather rainy day, I received good news that I was chosen for the top award at the show, Juror’s Choice – Best of Show! I feel honored since there were so many talented artists at the event. Also, I wanted to share with you an article on the festival that I was interviewed for (attached below) – it ran in Friday’s Dallas Morning News Neighbor’s section.
If you couldn’t make it this past weekend, I hope you can stop by Artscape at the Dallas Arboretum March 20th and 21st. Going on its 5th year, Artscape showcases 100 talented artists from around the country and coincides with the gardens at their peak during Dallas Blooms. I’d love to see you there!
I wanted this painting to be real loose and fun, so that you could almost feel the breeze blowing across the wildflowers and making the rows of colors dance.
To see more of my paintings, visit the Frisco Art Festival this weekend, friscosquare.com/AITS.
Here is one of the new large pieces I’ve been working on this winter. I wanted to paint something bright and happy that would always cause you to smile when you looked at it. In person the painting really leaps off the canvas both because of its bright colors and also the extremely thick oil paint I used. Working with the paint in more a sculptural-like manner, I was able to develop a sense of three-dimensionality and movement.
Please stop by the Frisco Art Festival this weekend to see and feel this piece in person. I’d love to see you there! Visit friscosquare.com/AITS for more details.
“Afternoon Impressions” by Niki Gulley
14″ x 11″ oil painting
I am so anxious for spring to be here, that I just had to get out of the studio yesterday and paint outdoors. Pretending that winter is actually over, it turned out to be a lovely afternoon for a few hours and I decided to set up at one of my favorite locations in Dallas, Turtle Creek.
While right now it’s still too early for the azaleas to be in bloom, I really love the peacefulness of the trickling water sounds from the creek, the intertwining branches in the tree limbs above, and the dappled shadows created from the sunlight peeking though them. I only had a short time so I had to capture the scene and light quickly!
If you’d also like to paint this beautiful part of Dallas, join me March 27th when I teach my next workshop, “Conquering Cabin Fever: Expand your painting into a whole new world outside the studio,” let me know. For more information, visit nikigulley.com/ng2/?page_id=13
Or e-mail me at Niki@NikiGulley.com.
