Verity Kent's Art Blog

Sketch of Bort

22May11

This was just a quick pencil sketch of my cat, Bort, on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

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I finished this painting last fall and it is my biggest canvas to date. Love it! I’m dreadfully behind on posting pictures, but I thought I would show a little sneak peek. This was mid-way through the process (still quite unfinished), and was one of my favorite bits:

Stay tuned for the rest.

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Two Houses: One Across the Field, One on a Hill

25Sep10

I’ve recently completed two acrylics that have a house as the subject. The first was a response to a call to artists on the subject of “The cutting edge”. I ended up interpreting it as what is modern, versus something more literal like a knife, or the aspect of cutting something. I thought about the idea for a long time and decided that I wanted to comment on the fact that people experience so much of reality through the internet and via a browser window.

I have been wanting to include a desert landscape into something for a long time, so I explored it with this one. I grew up in Nevada and I miss the beautiful desert scenes.

Here is a mid-stage version of the painting:

I’m really happy with the color palette that I used. It is very light and has a lot of pastel tones which is unusual for me. I used collage to make the browser aspects that frame the landscape (printed some screenshots and then pasted them on the canvas and painted over some elements of the paper).

“The House Across the Field” 18×24, Acrylic on Canvas, 2010

Here is a detail where you can see how the browser parts turned out:

Here is a detail of the little house. The scene reminds me of a field that I used to live across from, which is why I titled it “The House Across the Field”

The second piece, that I just finished today, is meant to be a bit spooky for Halloween. I was trying to speak a little to Norman Bates from Psycho when I titled it “He lives on the Hill” (my favorite movie, BTW). I was also inspired by Edward Hopper’s house paintings.

Here is a mid-stage version:

It is a night scene, and the quality of light was really beautiful. The black background with lots of blue is a color palette that I’ve been using a lot lately and one which I’ve found pretty successful.

I’ve used a bit of dripping technique to create that spooky tone, but I had to scale it back to that it was just a subtle effect in a couple of spots (you can see some drips in the lower left). I thought the tree limb invading into the space from the upper left was eerie and broke the composition up nicely.

“He Lives on the Hill” 18×24, Acrylic on Canvas, 2010

Here is a detail:

I didn’t purposely start painting houses for any reason in particular, and I’m not sure if I will keep it up. The angles are definitely different from the more organic shapes that I usually paint. We will see where inspiration leads me.

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Glimpse of My New Raven

02Sep10

Here’s a photo of Jack helping me wire a new painting for Saturday’s Birds, Bugs & Brews show. Stay tuned for more pics!

Photo courtesy of Justin Spriggs

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Upcoming Fundraiser in Salem

13Jul10

Hey everyone! My work is going to be at a fundraiser (benefiting the Turtle Ridge Wildlife Center) at the Brown’s Towne Lounge in Salem, Oregon starting September 4th! I’m super honored to be showing my work with Kat Houseman. There will also be awesome entertainment opening night (Diatonic with J Weimar and Whiskey Chasers) and beer from my amazing brewstress sister-in-law.

This is going to be an amazing event for sure!

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Upcoming Show at The Pittock Mansion to Feature My Painting

07Jul10

My painting La Bella Sera is going to appear in a juried group show “Uncertain Times: Contemporary Art Views on the Fate of the Newspaper” at the Pittock Mansion here in Portland starting July 17th. The show runs through November 14. I’m putting the finishing touches on the frame tonight and delivering it tomorrow.

I’m excited to see the rest of the work!

You can also see the process of painting “La Bella Sera” here

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Splatter Butterfly

19Jun10

This painting gave me some trouble. I started it a few months ago, and then it just sat. And sat. And sat some more. Finally, I just had to build up the determination to sit down and finish it. I think what was holding me back so much was that I didn’t have the patience to finish the details on the wings. All of the symmetrical lines and shapes were driving me nuts. I decided instead to go super loose with it, and I’m in love with the results!

I’ve used a bunch of splatter again

Here I’ve got a sketch going and am starting to paint the black background:

Getting a bright yellow base for the butterfly wings:

Here is where I got stuck:

And here is where I finished. I let myself be free and expressive and kept the colors really bright:

A detail:

This piece is going to appear in an upcoming show “Birds, Bugs & Brews” in Salem, Oregon. The opening reception is Saturday, September 4th. Stay tuned for more details!

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Red Butterfly on Dark Purple

08Jun10

I painted this little piece a long time ago, but it took forever to dry. The background is a very deep purple but it almost looks black in the photograph. It still doesn’t have a name…

Update: This piece sold at the Birds, Bugs and Brews fundraiser.

Untitled 5×7 Oil on Canvas

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Norwich Cathedral – For Rob

07Jun10

My Cousin Rob and his wife Stephanie recently took a trip to England and one of the places that they visited was a town called Norwich. The Cathedral there is especially beautiful. Rob commissioned both Jack and I to draw/paint it. (Stay tuned for Jack’s piece. I’m speedier then him.)

I was especially drawn (no pun intended) to one of the photos that Rob took: