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.
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.
Growing up in the midwest, I loved the first snowfall of the year when everything would get a beautiful dusting of pristine white powder, including even the tiniest of branches in the treetops above. If you caught that moment early enough in the morning before anything had disturbed the intricate frosted web, it was just magical. Then the sun would start rising and peeking through the limbs, and everything would sparkle like diamonds. In Climbing Trees, I wanted to capture that brief beautiful moment when the sunlight dances through the icing on the treetops and you can feel yourself looking up in wonderment just like you did when you were a kid.
Scrolling bark peels back like white washed parchment revealing secrets in the deeply textured wood below. A painting of grace and beauty, it’s verticality offset by embracing branches wound round as a sheltering arm. Each stroke is crisp, vivid, defined by thick textured oil, rich colors strike a reververberating chord – purple and the compliment of gold create a visual vibration that resonates in an optical song.
To see more of my aspen and birch tree oil paintings, please visit my website at nikigulley.com/?page_id=1343.
E-mail Niki Gulley for more information.
Follow the deep wood’s path and wander under a canopy of sheltering leaves, light shifts through each branch and twig. Long, late rays of sunlight pierce the dreaming autumn forest, as you enter shadows dapple your journey. You are walking down a loamy path, filled with color-drenched leaves that invite you into the purple shadows where you may seek your dreams. This oil painting of a tranquil wood’s trail inspires your journey and your dreams with lush colors and rich images of beauty ahead.
Painted with extremely thick oil paint and palette knife, my hope is that these sunflowers bursting with color and texture, will put a smile on your face and brighten up a little spot in your home.
the Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas, TX, where it will be on display from Nov. 4th through Dec. 31st.
In this painting I wanted you to feel that child-like wonder of staring up in into the treetops and the heavens above. Choosing calming greens against a lavender-blue peaceful sky and arranging the two main aspens so that they meet in the middle, suggests a feeling of togetherness. While organizing the outlying trees in a circular pattern and using thick, curving, bold orange brushstrokes, creates a joyful, playful mood.
I love it when we are driving leisurely through the countryside and we come across a gorgeous field of wildflowers. The sudden burst of color thrills your senses! Playing with color and texture, I feel like this poppy painting radiates with energy and captures the joy you feel on one of the first beautiful days of spring.
With this series, you can purchase either the left or the right painting to hang alone or display both side by side to form a panorama diptych.
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.