E-mail Niki Gulley for more information.
E-mail Niki Gulley for more information.
Just Sold! Charging down its stone cut course, torrents of water rush through grey boulders past green and gold bracken. Headlong and unrestrained the waters crash downstream, while above they splash into the airy distance a glowing, hazy tiara of misty sunlight. Thick brushstrokes of radiant oils define the powerful landscape carrying your eye through a complex composition of dynamic diagonals cleaved with the vertical cascade, caressed with a delicate crossing of gold dusted branches. A painting of power and energy balanced by graceful strokes of beauty, I wanted “Rushing Desires” to be about texture, movement, mystery and the cathartic feeling in nature.
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.
Gentle hill and valley give way to a view triumphant; a view of steep, purple mountains crusted with snow, the soft morning light diffuses across the valley. A litany of lights and darks, greens and golds cross hatch the foothills below. White barked Aspens, straight and narrow guard the riot of color beneath them as a golden promontory rises up in the east. Tranquility and joy abound, a sense of peace and serenity flows from this one mystical moment captured forever.
To see my aspen paintings and more of my contemporary landscape oil paintings, stop by my booth at the Saint Charles Fine Art Show this weekend in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles. See dtown.org/events/fine_art_show.asp for details.
To see more of Niki Gulley’s landscape paintings, please stop by her booth at the Broad Ripple Art Fair in Indianapolis, IN this weekend – indplsartcenter.org/braf/.
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.
My husband and I absolutely love the scenery in Colorado, so we planned our trip to see the aspens turning color in September, and that just happened to coincide with their earliest snowfall on record! In order to capture both the beautiful foliage and the snow before it melted we hiked as quickly as we could up the mountain, and were rewarded with a gorgeous view. I chose this vantage because I liked how the aspen trees perfectly framed the mill and stream in the distance. Then, the sun emerged and made everything sparkle. The colors came alive and dramatic cool shadows were cast in the snow, and I just had to create the scene in paint.