Ken Elliott

Softly Lit Veils
Oil
40 x 40 in
$6,650
Inquire

Growing up in Houston, TX. with abundant trees on every block, I didn’t really experience broad horizons until I moved to Colorado many years ago. Along with the expansive sunsets and mountain ranges was the wonderful phenomena of seeing rain emerging from the clouds and coming to the ground in veils. When the rain doesn’t make it to the ground, it’s called a virga.

 

That’s when delicate sheets of rain fall from a cloud and the water evaporates before hitting the ground. In the western, dryer climate it happens quite often, although virgas have been named one of the world's rarest cloud formations by The Weather Channel.

 

I am entranced by that vision and felt compelled to paint them. In this oil, the downward rain is backlit by a late afternoon sun, give me ample opportunity to use those warm colors against the incoming, darker weather.

 

The painting is juxtaposition of masses: the heavy land, background clouds and the moisture laden cloud as an opposite to the delicate curtain of brightly lit rain.

 

As the painting progressed, I added more light – behind the rain cloud and exaggerating the effect even more with the rain falling into the glowing marshes.

 

One of my favorite artists, Nicolas de Staël said, "The pictorial space is a wall but all the birds of the world freely fly through it at different depths." There is a vast and intriguing space for the birds here.

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Breckenridge Gallery is a carefully curated collection of fine art from renown painters and sculptors. Since 1969, we have offered diverse work including abstract, landscape, impressionistic, wildlife, western, nature, contemporary, bronze, mixed media, and more. As the longest-running fine art gallery in Summit County, Colorado, we welcome collectors and visitors to experience our works in person or online. We're accessible, friendly, and can't wait to show you our gallery at 124 South Main Street in historic downtown Breckenridge, Colorado.

Sunday 11am - 5pm

Monday 12pm - 5pm

Tuesday 12pm - 5pm

Wednesday 12pm - 5pm

Thursday 12pm - 5pm

Friday 12pm - 5pm

Saturday 11am - 6pm

Breckenridge Gallery is a carefully curated collection of fine art from renown painters and sculptors. Since 1969, we have offered diverse work including abstract, impressionistic, landscape, wildlife, western, nature, contemporary, bronze, mixed media, and more. As the longest-running fine art gallery in Summit County, Colorado, we welcome collectors and visitors to experience our works in person or online. We're accessible, friendly, and can't wait to show you our gallery at 124 South Main Street in historic downtown Breckenridge, Colorado.

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