Daily INDULGENCE in color

The Challenge:  20 DAYS of COLOR....20 days, 20 small studies.


The Rational:  
There are plenty of gray days in the heart of Wisconsin's winter.  With my last skyscape painting, I added a few new colors in palette, and loved it!  To stretch myself, I've decided to experiment with color.  Each of these small studies is like candy to to me.  I've simplified my landscape compositions to indulge in my obsession with color.  I draw color combinations from various places and things in my immediate surroundings. 

WEEK 1:

Day 7- "QUIET SCREAM" 6x6, oil on cradled canvas board

Day 6- "RING OF FIRE"- 6x6 in, oil on cradled canvasboard

Day 5- "ON THE MAPS ITS A RED DOT", 6x6 in, oil on canvas board

Day 4- "RYAN SAYS GREEN/TAN" 6x6 in, oil on canvas board

Day 2- "SOMETHING is SURFACING", 5 x7, oil on hardboard

Day 2- "SEEING RED." 5 x7 in, oil on hardboard

Day 1- "TURQUOISE and RED", 5 x 7, oil on hardboard

Turquoise- my new "color crush"

Oil on canvas board, 16 x 20 in- Jan. 2012

This painting is pivotal to a recent transition in my work.  Yes, my palette is changing, and I'm excited to share some color studies with you soon!

Thank you!

I had so much fun sharing my work at Gallery Night & Day this past weekend at Gallery 326/Swig in Milwaukee.  The cold temps and the snow only added to a memorable evening of art sharing and surprise guests!

Thank you to Flux Design for greeting people at the door in your "work-man" kilts & knightly armor and to Swig for the wall space and welcome!

It was great to see so many friends and colleagues, as well as meet some new art-loving friends!  I'm also very excited that some of my paintings found new homes.  
If you missed it, check out the below photos!

Narrows  paintings

Surprise guests from MN & CO!  Love you girls!

BWCA paintings 

Sneak Peek!- Gallery 326/Swig

 I thought I would share a few pics from this past Sunday morning, when we installed my work for this weekend's Gallery Night & Day!!! It took us just over an hour to hang the 25 pieces.  I am grateful to Emily & Julie who helped me tote my art to the 3rd Ward, and to the guys from Flux Design, Adam & Troy, who made the install so easy!

I am super excited to have this opportunity to share my art with my Milwaukee peeps!  This body of work is all from 2011...come and check it out.

Friday, January 20th 

5-11 p.m.

Gallery 326/ Swig

217 N. Broadway, 2nd Floor 

Milwaukee, WI

Reasons to attend:

1.  To say you were at my first art show!

I want to see you!  If you can't make it Friday, visit me on Saturday, January 21st between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

2.  The art, snacks, and cash bar....Thank you Flux Design & Swig for this opportunity!

3.  This is part of Milwaukee's Gallery Night and Day, so you won't want to miss the    sculptures on ice...also visit my colleague, Rebecca Hoeppner, at Sparrow Collective (2224 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.) this friday from 6 to 9 p.m. and her "Body Image" photography.

4. You are awesome and already "like" my fb page...seriously though, thank you to all of 

you who have supported me and listened to my adventures on canvas, in the classroom, 

and out in the wilderness!  http://www.facebook.com/jenniferkleckerart

First comes twilight, then dusk

Light at the end of the day is only constant in that is fleeting and ever changing.  When I initially approached this painting I was focused on the subtleties found minutes after the sun disappears below the horizon.  I wanted to capture that period of time where your eye adjusts to the shadows and a new sense of depth is found.


When I am camping, its amazing how much the eye can perceive without the headlamp or light of the campfire.   However, as fascinated as I might be with this lack of light, I realized that this painting wouldn't been seen in the dark.  During the evolution of this painting, I added more highlights to achieve visual interest.  I almost stopped painting with the second image, but I was unsatisfied with the lines in the water.  This painting caused me to study color found after the sun sets.  For the past few weeks, I've been noticing sunset differently, I discovered dark greens and flickers of peach in the Milwaukee sky...as well as the first star of the evening.

This is another paintings inspired from the Boundary Waters Canoe area in Minnesota.  Its about that time of year, when we start making plans for our canoeing adventures for 2012!

DUSK, Oil on canvas, 16 x 40 in

Cairn #3

Oil on canvas,  12 x 24 in

Its been 6 months since I've encountered one of these cairns in the desert...its now January, and I'm already longing for my next big hike in the warmer months ahead.

After looking at the painting for awhile, I realized that the oval shaped rock in the foreground reminds me of an egg.  This is my first completed painting of 2012...so perhaps the egg symbolizes the surprises and good things I'm eagerly anticipating in the year ahead!

I love applying the creamy highlights of paint like frosting to the canvas.  I tried to capture the light and shadows of an early morning outside Moab, UT.  Its very cold in desert at this time of day, but the growing sunlight cuts through the frost and long shadows.

Its feels good to return to my palette after the holidays and time in Italy.  I wish you all the best in 2012!  Buon Anno!

Sunrise, BWCA

Oil on canvas, 16 x 40 in

This painting was inspired by an early morning at our campsite on lake #2 in the Boundary Waters.  The shoreline you see on the horizon, was affected by the Pagami Creek Fire that consumed parts of the BWCA just weeks after our trip in August and September.

I am drawn to the play of light and the reflection on the water's surface, creating some interesting horizontal shapes.  This piece has inspired me to work on simplifying some of the abstract shape in my works.

The Wedge

This is the first painting that entered my subconscious and haunted my sleep.  The night I started painting this piece I had a dream I was trying frantically to seek shelter from a looming tornado...okay, so maybe it was more of a nightmare:)

This is the second painting in my skyscape series inspired by one of the storm chasing logs from my cousin and meteorologist, Brad Nelson.  To learn more about this wedge tornado from 2010 near Bowdle, South Dakota go to Eye on the Twister!  I continue to be drawn to the dynamic movement of the clouds fueling the storm and the abstract forms they create.    

Oil on cradled canvas panel, 16 x 20 in

The Forecast

Oil on canvas panel, 16 x 20 in.

We talk about it daily with strangers, we dress and make plans around it, we are happier when its good, yet we know the devastation it can cause....the weather.  

I remember as a kid, I'd stay up just long enough to watch the forecast on the local news station before going to bed.  I just needed to know the weather forecast in order to fall asleep...and now as an adult, I plan my camping and hiking trips around it.  Today, checking the weather is probably the most used app on my phone.  Its true, I have always had a small fear for what that summer storm is capable of given the right conditions...yet I always desire to watch it. 

My cousin is a meteorologist who not only covers the weather but seeks to experience it up close.  He spends his spare time chasing storms with his wife.  He shares his adventures via facebook, and I am always in awe of the storms they capture in photo and video.  Its pretty impressive to watch the home video of a tornado forming, with MaryLynn asking Brad in the background,  "Should we pull over here?"

This piece is inspired by and in respect for the volatile and sometimes beautiful storm.  It is the backside of wall cloud as it reflects the light of the sun setting.  Thank you Brad for the photo references!  

I recommend checking out Brad's website of his storm chase logs and photos! 

Eye on the Twister

But be of good cheer

On my first day back from summer vacation, I was asked to create some artwork for this year's scriptural theme for the school.  I worked out two different images using india ink, pen, and acrylic paint on watercolor paper.  These two pieces are different from my usual artistic pursuits, however I really enjoyed working on this assignment.  It also helped me to get refocused as I return to the art room!

"These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer.  I have overcome the world."  
John 16:33

I reflected quite a bit on these three sentences, and I like promising and positive message it holds.  I think the school will go with the tree image...which is fitting as the tree can be considered a symbol of the cross.  The words come from Jesus as he tries to comfort his disciples in the days leading to the Passion.  I see the tree as withstanding the storm and tribulations of life to bloom in a place of peace and calm.