“Raising Sunshine” Red Barn oil painting by Niki Gulley

“Raising Sunshine” ©2014 Niki Gulley
18″ x 24” textured oil painting

Full of fun and whimsy, in my next painting from this barn series, I not only wanted to show the personality of this red barn but also make you feel like a kid again, climbing trees, swinging from their branches and returning to a simpler time in your childhood. Hinting that the barn has humanlike features, I feel like it, too, is inviting you to come play inside. Using vivid colors, distorted perspective and energetic thick oil paint strokes, I hope “Raising Sunshine” brings joy to your home and reminds you of the simpler pleasures when you were a kid.

For more information on my textured palette knife oil paintings, please e-mail me at Niki Gulley.

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


New Colorado Aspen Tree Oil Painting by Niki Gulley

“Aspen Concerto” ©2014 Niki Gulley
24” x 18” textured oil painting
Colorado’s celebrated quaking aspen trees stand arrow straight in the valleys and
up and down the hills.
Slim white trunks sing out against the forest background and each leaf provides
a sparkling symphony of notes whispering through the mountains.
Flames of yellow leaves flicker against autumn’s burning reds
and the deep, cool blue mountain streaked with early banks of snow.
This painting captures the breathtaking colors of
Colorado in the fall, the Aspens at their most beautiful, the peaceful snow-banked mountain, the rustling murmur and musical sigh of the fluttering leaves.
E-mail Niki Gulley for more information on her contemporary landscape paintings.

Just Sold! “Snake Crossing” Oil Painting by Texas Artist Niki Gulley

“Snake Crossing” ©2014 Niki Gulley
SOLD • 20″ x 24″ • textured oil on canvas
We spend a lot of time in the car, between driving across country for art shows, exploring new places for inspiration, and traveling while teaching painting and photography workshops, so in this new series I’ve felt compelled to capture my views from the passenger seat. This particular painting was inspired by one of our trips out west. Not only do I love the various rock formations in the distance and the dramatic sunset, but I relish the sense of open space after living in a city. Looking out on the expansive horizon, I get the feeling that anything is possible and a new discovery is just ahead. All lines are designed to beckon you into the distance, and an upcoming snake crossing road sign hints that you have escaped city life and are immersed in a vast unspoiled landscape. This low angle of the road combined with energetic diagonal strokes is designed to give you the feeling of freedom while driving cross country in search for whatever your journey holds next.
To see more of my palette knife contemporary landscape paintings, visit nikigulley.com or if you are in Chicago, IL this weekend, please stop by my booth at the 57th Street Art Fair.

57th Street Art Fair

Sat. June 7 • 11am – 6pm

Sun. June 8 • 10am – 5pm
Booth #706
Chicago, IL • on 57th St.,
between Kenwood and Kimbark Ave.
***

E-mail – Niki Gulley

“Heightened Awareness V” Palette Knife Aspen Tree Painting by Texas Artist Niki Gulley

“Heightened Awareness V” ©2014 Niki Gulley
48” x 30” textured mixed media 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 vivid 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.

If you’re in Chicago this weekend, and you’d like to see more of Niki’s aspen and birch paintings, please visit her booth at the 57th Street Art Fair.

57th Street Art Fair

Sat. June 7 • 11am – 6pm

Sun. June 8 • 10am – 5pm

Booth #706

Chicago, IL • on 57th St.,

between Kenwood and Kimbark Ave.

“Aqua Dreams” Palette Knife Aspen Tree Oil Painting by Contemporary Impressionist Niki Gulley

“Aqua Dreams” ©2014 Niki Gulley
36” x 60” textured oil on canvas

When we arrived at this tranquil spot, the early morning light was very cool in color, but as the sun began to rise from the horizon, it shone this beautiful warm light that shimmered on the water’s surface and cast its hope of what was to come from the brand new day. I remember the peacefulness I felt in that moment, and a sense that anything was possible. In Aqua Dreams, by showing the contrast in the cool aqua/blues in the foreground waters against the warm golden glow on the distant pond’s edge, I wanted to share that feeling of hope and promise communicated by nature.

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

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

Just Sold! “Snake Crossing” Oil Painting by Texas Artist Niki Gulley

“Snake Crossing” ©2014 Niki Gulley
SOLD • 20″ x 24″ • textured oil on canvas
We spend a lot of time in the car, between driving across country for art shows, exploring new places for inspiration, and traveling while teaching painting and photography workshops, so in this new series I’ve felt compelled to capture my views from the passenger seat. This particular painting was inspired by one of our trips out west. Not only do I love the various rock formations in the distance and the dramatic sunset, but I relish the sense of open space after living in a city. Looking out on the expansive horizon, I get the feeling that anything is possible and a new discovery is just ahead. All lines are designed to beckon you into the distance, and an upcoming snake crossing road sign hints that you have escaped city life and are immersed in a vast unspoiled landscape. This low angle of the road combined with energetic diagonal strokes is designed to give you the feeling of freedom while driving cross country in search for whatever your journey holds next.
To see more of my palette knife contemporary landscape paintings, visit nikigulley.com or if you are in Chicago, IL this weekend, please stop by my booth at the 57th Street Art Fair.

57th Street Art Fair

Sat. June 7 • 11am – 6pm

Sun. June 8 • 10am – 5pm
Booth #706
Chicago, IL • on 57th St.,
between Kenwood and Kimbark Ave.
***

E-mail – Niki Gulley

“Heightened Awareness V” Palette Knife Aspen Tree Painting by Texas Artist Niki Gulley

“Heightened Awareness V” ©2014 Niki Gulley
48” x 30” textured mixed media 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 vivid 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.

If you’re in Chicago this weekend, and you’d like to see more of Niki’s aspen and birch paintings, please visit her booth at the 57th Street Art Fair.

57th Street Art Fair

Sat. June 7 • 11am – 6pm

Sun. June 8 • 10am – 5pm

Booth #706

Chicago, IL • on 57th St.,

between Kenwood and Kimbark Ave.

“Aqua Dreams” Palette Knife Aspen Tree Oil Painting by Contemporary Impressionist Niki Gulley

“Aqua Dreams” ©2014 Niki Gulley
36” x 60” textured oil on canvas

When we arrived at this tranquil spot, the early morning light was very cool in color, but as the sun began to rise from the horizon, it shone this beautiful warm light that shimmered on the water’s surface and cast its hope of what was to come from the brand new day. I remember the peacefulness I felt in that moment, and a sense that anything was possible. In Aqua Dreams, by showing the contrast in the cool aqua/blues in the foreground waters against the warm golden glow on the distant pond’s edge, I wanted to share that feeling of hope and promise communicated by nature.

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

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

New Textured Birch Painting by Niki Gulley

“Fire and Gold” ©2014 Niki Gulley
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, please visit NikiGulley.com to see more of her contemporary landscape paintings.

Just Sold! “Autumn Crescendo” Birch Impasto painting by Niki Gulley

“Autumn Crescendo” ©2014 Niki Gulley • SOLD
36″ x 60″ textured oil painting on wrap around canvas

I wanted this painting to be about the power and energy in nature to invigorate your spirit more so than an exact replica of the forest, so I chose to use warm vivid colors and thick staccato strokes to add to that feeling. I placed the foliage in diagonal sweeping shapes to create a sense of movement, so that you can feel the wind gently rustling the leaves and causing them to dance.

To see more of my contemporary landscape paintings, please visit nikigulley.com.
For more information on palette knife birch and aspen tree paintings, please e-mail Niki Gulley.