contemporary floral

SOLD! New Sunflower Palette Knife Painting by Niki Gulley

November 15, 2013

SOLD • 24″ x 12″ textured mixed media on wrap around canvas

Just Sold at the Good Art Company! Inspired by our travels to Provence, this sunflower field is loaded with texture, color and energy. I love how the sunflowers are full of so much joy and vibrant hues, that they seem to always lift your spirits.

If you’d like to join us in Provence next year for our Plein Air Painting / Photography Workshop and Art Trek, June 26th – July 4th, please let me know. We are down to only 2 spots left! For more details, visit nikigulley.com/artreks.

Several of my contemporary impressionistic landscapes are also on display at the Good Art Company Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX. For more information, please contact http://www.goodartcompany.com/gac/.

Or, to see more of my palette knife paintings, please visit nikigulley.com.

For more information on my plein air paintings and workshops in Italy and France, please e-mail Niki Gulley.

“Triple Passion” textured oil rose painting

February 1, 2012

textured oil painting

Can be hung horizontally 24″ x 48″ or vertically 48″ x 24″

I love the passion and energy in the color red, so I thought it would be fun to play with the still life I had set up of roses and make a painting where red was the dominant color. In person, seeing these roses at life size, I wanted the viewer to be swept up in the movement and emotion of this piece. Utilizing flowing spirals, weaving back and forth, playful thick and thin paint in bold, loose strokes, ruby petals emerging and disappearing, all meant to tease and excite your senses.

To see Triple Passion in person, please join Dallas artists, Niki Gulley and Elizabeth Padgett, for an exciting Two Woman Show. “Opposites Attract” will feature their paintings from two different perspectives – realism and abstraction.

Artist Reception is Sun. Feb. 5 from 2 to 4 pm at the Jaycee Center for the Arts,
1975 Puritan Dr. between Story Rd. and MacArthur in Irving, TX.

Exhibit runs Jan. 29 – Feb 23, 2012.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Niki Gulley.

To see more of Niki Gulley’s contemporary floral paintings, visit NikiGulley.com.

Plein Air Painting Workshop at the Dallas Arboretum

November 7, 2011

Purple Clematis, 8″ x 10″ oil painting by Niki Gulley

Morning Location: the Dallas Arboretum, Poetry Garden

On the first morning of the Plein Air Painting Workshop I taught at the Dallas Arboretum last weekend, we found one of the most quiet locations we could on such a busy, beautiful morning at the Arboretum. While a little chilly at the start of the day, it quickly warmed up to a beautiful 68 degrees. The gardens were in full fall bloom, and it was difficult to narrow down just a single subject to paint, but each painter picked out something that spoke to them – from a single flower, to a sun-lit path framed by trees, to the architecture in the private garden or a quiet bench framed by flowering pots.

So that my students wouldn’t miss out on the morning light, I started a quick demo that I had sketched out the previous day of these clematis. To save time, I had also laid out my palette colors, working with water-soluble oil paints, the night before and stored them in the freezer to keep them from drying out. Pre-mixing some of the purple values in the flowers, the greens of the leaves, and the stucco colors in the background so that I could just paint, and not have to stop and mix colors in the process, I quickly laid in a thin coat of the stucco wall and shadow colors so they could be drying.

Then, I established the darks in the flowers with brush and came on top with lighter colors and palette knife to give the flowers dimension. Normally I would work around the whole canvas, but with plein air painting, your time is so short between when your light changes, that at this stage, I went ahead and finish out the details in my focal point, the two main flowers. Lastly, if there is time left, I finish up the painting, in this case adding leaves, vines, and thick painter to the stucco wall to suggest the sun reflecting off its surface. At this point, it’s best to stop and not overwork the spontaneity of the sketch – you can always go back and tweak things back in the studio later.

Check out some of my students’ morning paintings. Even though we were set up within 20 feet of each other, I love how each painter sees things differently.

If you’d like more information about my upcoming workshops in the US and Europe, visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=13.

Or, to see more of my local Dallas and travel paintings, please stop by the Bath House Cultural Center, for my last show of the year, Nov. 18th – 20th. dallasculture.org/bathhouseculturecenter/index.asp

E-mail [email protected].

NikiGulley.com

“Tell Me Your Dreams” oil painting by Niki Gulley

October 24, 2011

SOLD • 11″ x 14″ oil painting

Just sold! I absolutely love poppies and seeing them growing in mass! In this painting I wanted to show them in a different way than we’re used to seeing poppies so I chose a low angle to show off the beauty of their simplified forms and the strength of such a delicate flower, while capturing the azure blue sky behind them.

If you’d like to learn how to paint nature, join us at the Dallas Arboretum and White Rock Lake this weekend for a 2-day painting and or photography workshop. Space if filling up quickly, so e-mail [email protected] for more information and to register or visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=13.

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To see more of my contemporary landscape and poppy paintings, visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=33.

New Bluebonnet & Indian Paintbrush oil painting

December 8, 2010

New Bluebonnet and Indian Paintbrush Oil Painting

by Niki Gulley • 7″ x 5″

These Texas Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush are created with extremely thick oil paint and palette knives so that the final painting is loaded with texture and color.

If you’d like additional information on my bluebonnet paintings, e-mail me at [email protected].

“Tell Me Your Dreams” – Poppy oil painting

November 3, 2010

11″ x 14″ oil painting

I absolutely love poppies and seeing them growing in mass! In this painting I wanted to show them in a different way than we’re used to seeing poppies so I chose a low angle to show off the beauty of their simplified forms and the strength of such a delicate flower, in addition to capturing the sky behind them.

To see more of my poppies and other wildflower paintings from around the US, particularly Texas, stop by the Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas this Saturday for the “Artists of Texas” reception from 1-5. Myself and many of the other talented artists will be there to answer any questions and tell you about our work.

Where Texas Finds Its Color

The Artists of Texas – Second Annual State Show

Artist Reception November 6th, 1:00-5:00 pm

November 2 – December 31, 2010

The Dutch Art Gallery

10233 East Northwest Highway Suite 420

Dallas, Texas 75238

dutchartusa.com

Texas Bluebonnets & Indian Blanket oil painting

October 27, 2010

12″ x 12″ oil painting

These Texas bluebonnets and Indian Blanket are painted with extremely thick oil paint applied with palette knife on wrap around canvas with the painting continuing around the edges. I love how the extreme texture causes the paint and colors to jump off the canvas and come to life.

August 20, 2010

12” x 12” acrylic on canvas

Created with extremely thick paint and mediums, applied with palette knives to achieve extreme texture and vibrant colors filled with life and energy. The image is painted around the sides of the 1.5 inch deep gallery wrap canvas so that it looks three-dimensional and can be hung as is without a frame for a contemporary look or with a floater frame for a more traditional decor. These chunky floral paintings look great in pairs and threes.

To see my “Rhapsody in Bloom” paintings in person, visit my booth #355 at the Gold Coast Art Show in Chicago, IL this weekend. For more information on the show, go to amdurproductions.com/f-goldcoast-public.html.

Or, if you’d like to learn how to paint vibrant florals, join me this fall in my Adult Art Classes. Thanks to the overwhelming response to my Tuesday session, I am adding two more classes on Wednesdays. If you’re interested in joining us, visit my classes & workshops tab for more information, or e-mail me at [email protected].

Westport Fine Arts Festival – this weekend

July 16, 2010

Sunflower Study by Niki Gulley

Acrylic 5” x 7”

I created this sunflower study with palette knife and extremely thick acrylic paint to achieve texture and dimension. I love how the bright colors pop and brighten up any room, and how the strokes contain so much movement and energy.

To see these paintings, stop by my booth at Westport, CT’s Fine Art Festival this weekend, westportartsfestival.com, or e-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Madison, WI – Art Fair on the Square this weekend

July 5, 2010

Poppy study by Niki Gulley

5″ x 7″

I created this second floral study to go with my sunflower painting from Monday. Using palette knives and extremely thick oil paint to achieve texture and dimension. I love the bright, happy colors! To see these floral studies in person, stop by my booth at Madison, Wisconsin’s Art Fair on the Square this weekend. For more details on the show, see mmoca.org.