Dallas artist Niki Gulley

Plein Air Painting Workshops in the Greek Isles

September 24, 2010

Oil painting • 12” x 9”

The crystal-clear turquoise and cobalt waters in Greece are an endless source of inspiration. I felt liked we’d stepped right into the set of Mama Mia and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! It’s hard to believe someplace so beautiful actually exists. We can’t wait to take painters and photographers with us on next year’s workshop to share in the beauty and serenity of the Greek Isles.

Plein Air Painting & Photography Workshop

Tuscany, Italy – September 2010 & 2011

Athens & Santorini, Greece – May 2011

Led by Niki Gulley & Scott Williams

Our trip to Tuscany for this year is full, but please join us next September in Tuscany or May 2011 in Greece.

Visit nikigulley.com/ng2/?page_id=13 for more details.

E-mail me at [email protected].

Tuscany Painting Workshops with Niki Gulley

September 6, 2010

Pastel • 7” x 5”

With our upcoming Plein Air Painting / Photography Workshop that me and my husband, Scott Williams, are teaching in Tuscany, I started thinking about how much I love the region. The rolling countryside is breathtaking, the people are so warm & friendly, the food and wine are to die for, and the architecture and medieval walled cities are filled with history. In this little pastel, I hope you can take a moment to pause and soak in the beautiful Tuscan hillsides bathed in their mysterious soft light.

Our Tuscany workshop is full for this September, but if you would be interested in joining us next September in Tuscany or next May in the gorgeous Greek Isles, visit nikigulley.com/?page_id=13 or e-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Last Chicago art show this weekend

September 3, 2010

Pastel • 10” x 8”

I used to love going for a Sunday drive with my family when I was a kid. Sometimes we’d head to this park, which ran along Lake Michigan on a perfect autumn afternoon. We’d park and walk along the beach until we got to where the boats were docked, and then we’d wander onto the Bahaii Temple, with its amazing architecture and intricate carved ivory details, before we’d double back. In Afternoon Shadows, I wanted to depict a beautiful autumn day when the leaves are turning, there’s a slight chill in the air, the afternoon sun is casting mysterious long shadows and you can just make out the top of the temple in the distance, all while reminiscing about a simpler time and place.

To see “Afternoon Shadows” in person, stop by my booth at the Oakbrook Fine Art Invitational this weekend in Oakbrook, II. For more information on the show, go to oakbrookcenter.com/events/48th-annual-invitational-fine-art-exhibition.

New Lavender Painting

August 16, 2010

20” x 30” acrylic on canvas

My husband and I have an uncanny sense of timing when it comes to the weather. We got married during a hurricane on the coast of Florida, we unknowingly planned our European workshop during the spewing of ash in Iceland, we’ve participated in art shows with 70 mph microbursts that destroyed 50 artist tents, and of course we chose to come home to Dallas after two months on the road during the hottest week of summer. With average temperatures around 103°, it wasn’t quite the home-coming I had in mind.

Making the best of it, I immersed myself in my air-conditioned studio and painted happier places – fantasizing about somewhere cooler, where plants grow profusely rather than wilting and withering in boiling temperatures and a beautiful location completely free of concrete. I remembered the gorgeous, aromatic lavender fields we’d seen in Europe a few years before at this exact time of year and through my painting I was transported back. I hope you experience that same bliss looking at “Summertime Bouquets.”

If you’re in the Chicago area this weekend, you can see “Summertime Bouquets” along with my other recent paintings at my booth #355 at the Gold Coast Art Show. For more information on the show, visit amdurproductions.com/f-goldcoast-public.html.

New Bluebonnet Oil Painting

August 13, 2010

Oil on canvas • 30” x 40”

When I was a teenager my great aunts and grandmother moved to Texas and we would come down to visit them when we got the chance. I remember the first time I saw a massive field of bluebonnets and I was awestruck by the expanse of color and amazed that such tiny flowers when in mass could actually look like a large lake from a distance. I wanted to relive those family memories and recreate the exciting explosion of azure and crimson in Rhapsody in Blue, taking this cool weathered farm house in Marble Falls and painting it engulfed in one of our best bluebonnet and Indian Paintbrush displays.

Rhapsody in Blue has been chosen as the signature painting for my upcoming exhibition at the Frisco Municipal Complex, in honor of winning Best in Show at Frisco’s Arts in the Square. Located at 6101 Frisco Square Blvd., Frisco, TX 75034, I will be exhibiting 20 of my newest oil paintings for the month of September. Here is my interview in Frisco Style Magazine about the upcoming show and some background on myself and my paintings, friscostyle.com/index.php/component/content/article/43/189-august-2010-issue. I hope if you’re near Frisco, you can stop in and see the exhibit!

E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.

Bountiful Bulbs oil painting

August 2, 2010

“Bountiful Bulbs” 2010 Niki Gulley

18” x 48” oil on canvas

Sometimes I like to paint places that I dream about and hope to one day experience, as is the case in “Bountiful Bulbs.” The tulip farms that I’ve seen in photos look so magnificent with their perfect vibrant rows of color combined with hearing my friends’ descriptions of seeing the overwhelming explosion of blooms both inspire me to paint a strawberry-and-lemon-lollipop-dipped world where all of your cares melt away.

E-mail me at [email protected] for more information

Transitional Tones oil painting

July 30, 2010

12” x 12” oil on canvas

I created these birch trees with palette knife and extremely thick oil paint to achieve texture and suggest the energy found in nature. 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. These chunky birch paintings look great in pairs and threes.

Stop by my painting booth this weekend in Chicago at the Lincoln Park Arts & Music Festival to see more of my textured palette knife paintings in person. For more details, go to chicagoevents.com/event.cfm?eid=189.

Or, e-mail me at [email protected] with any questions or comments.

Tomorrow’s Promises oil painting

July 26, 2010

oil on canvas • 48″ x 60″

I wanted you to feel the joy and peacefulness of walking through a protective cathedral of branches on a beautiful autumn day. With the soft light illuminating the walkway and golden skylights above, the only sounds to be heard are the crunching of fallen leaves underfoot and a slight breeze flickering the leaves overhead. What lies ahead? The mysterious glow from beyond beckons you forward. Tomorrow’s promises await.

If you’d like to see “Tomorrow’s Promises” in person, visit me this weekend at the Lincoln Park Arts & Music Festival in Chicago, chicagoevents.com/event.cfm?eid=189, or e-mail me at [email protected].

Queen Ann’s Lace pastel

July 23, 2010

“Queen Ann’s Lace” by Niki Gulley

7” x 5” pastel

My last miniature floral pastel – painted from life.

To see this pastel and several of my other latest paintings, stop by my booth at the Ann Arbor Art Show, booth #B212, a2statestreetartfair.com.

Ann Arbor Art Fair Wed. – Sat.

July 19, 2010

Poppy painting by Niki Gulley

5” x 7”

I created this poppy study with palette knife and extremely thick 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. Pair with one of my other sunflower or poppy studies to hang in a series.

To see these paintings in person, stop by my booth at Ann Arbor, MI’s Art Festival this week, a2statestreetartfair.com, or e-mail me at [email protected] for more information.