On View: Ken Elliott

Beginning August 4th, Sorelle Gallery will showcase Colorado-based landscape painter, Ken Elliott on the main wall of the gallery in Westport, CT. 

Ken Elliott's paintings incorporate bold, vibrant color combinations and energized brush strokes. His color choices are often exaggerated, confronting the viewer not just with the scene itself, but the dramatic warmth or coolness of the space as well - the cool blues of a snow-covered forest floor or the warm oranges of a sunset over rolling hills, for example. Elliott's compositions vary from cropped forest tree trunks to broader views of mountain-scapes, while his style is reminiscent of Wolf Kahn or some of the Impressionist painters who focused on capturing the movement and impact of fleeting, ever-changing light. 

Ken Elliott's work will be on display through August 13th. His entire collection of original paintings and open and limited edition prints can be found in his Artist Collection here. 

About Ken Elliott

Ken Elliott is an abstract landscape artist based in Colorado, whose work is included in private collections internationally.

“My involvement in the art business has now spanned over 40 years. I began as a picture framer, then worked alongside an art restorer, became an art dealer, and about 25 years ago, began to draw and paint.  In my career, I’ve been fortunate to have seen remarkable works of art and met some of the best painters in the field.

"My focus is the landscape and its rich store of ideas and inspiration. I am compelled to work from the trees, skies, lakes and streams in their endless variations. I don’t try to recreate nature (even Monet said he never got it right) or attempt storytelling. Instead, the works are simplifications and exaggerations of nature. There was a time when I felt the tyranny of the landscape. That is, I felt limited by making pictures of a place. Now, instead of making pictures, I am free to make paintings - art that comes from nature but is far more reliant on the strategies of making good art objects.

"Fortunately, I’ve learned that what some would call mistakes are part of the creative process. So, I try to begin boldly, not worrying about mistakes, using more color than might exist in nature, and varying the types of chroma and marks. During the process, I allow my vision and the inevitable missteps to become a part of the emerging image. Some of these missteps will be eliminated and the more delicious ones are incorporated into the process as unintended surprises.

"Painting is not a linear, start to finish process for me. I typically have a number of paintings and pastels in progress in the studio. I welcome interruptions. They are also part of the process. If the phone rings, I’m talking and looking at other paintings, gazing out the window, or at photos in the mail order catalog. Sometimes the very solution I’m seeking is found that way. Otherwise, I might continue to focus on the singular canvas in front of me and miss a chance to make it better. All the paintings and little images in view feed each other, offering solutions and more problems. Those paintings that make it out the door have come to a good but sometimes torturous conclusion.

"When I run out of variations to an idea, I’ll go back to nature where all the inspirations and colors for a lifetime are always waiting.” 

Elliott's painting Light Moving Across is on loan with the Art in Embassies program and is on display in an American Embassy abroad. Read our talk when we went Inside the Studio with Ken to chat about his process and influence.

This On View feature is free and open to the public during gallery hours, Tuesday through Saturday 10:30am - 6:00pm, as well as Sundays noon to 4:00pm during summer months. Street parking is available.