Michael Kessler - Artist: 2014

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Kessler > On Paper

Being a painter is really like being an alchemist. Alchemy is transforming lead into gold and painting is transforming base materials into art. The key word is transformation. The obvious starting point for this process of transformation is to take inventory and ascertain the inherent properties of the material you are working with. Unlocking the hidden potential is the challenge. I see many artists forcing their materials to do things that are not natural for those materials. For a painter a simple example would be the ground one is working on and the most important question is to what degree does that ground resist or absorb paint. These are the kinds of fundamental questions one begins with. In order to end up with paintings that seem natural one needs to work with the inherent properties. Recently I have embraced the idea of beginning the paintings on an absorbent paper surface. There is no substitute for this and there is no equivalency in any medium. Paper absorbs paint in a very specific way that no other surface does. The images that result are therefor specific and unique to that particular ground. This is a small but very important example of working with the inherent properties of the material.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Aspen Commission via Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt, Colorado

Here is the finished painting for my commission in Aspen, Colorado via Ann Korologos Gallery. It is nearly 4 feet high by 8 feet long and acrylic on a single wooden panel. Thank you Ann Korologos and Julia Cochran Novy I am most grateful for this lovely project!

Resolving a big Commission via NuArt Gallery, New Mexico

Saturday, January 11, 2014

KESSLER UPDATE > NEW YEAR > NEW WORK

It's a new year and I've tapped into a nice new vein of work here. These paintings are comprised of 5 panels each measuring 60" x 10" with overall dimensions of 60" x 50". I like the new format and it is generating lots of new and exciting compositions. My Son is producing the panels and he is getting very good. He is sanding the edges smooth and even so it is easy to "mend" the panels together with bolts. I found these really wonderful plastic wing-nuts on Amazon and also a neat little right-angle drill for drilling the holes in these tight spots. These works bolt together quickly and easily and they break down fast too so the shipping is a breeze and the cost is a fraction of the normal full-panel-cost.