Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Medium: Oil on Wood Panel
Dimensions: 16 x 20 x 2
“Both pieces painted with an (it's the only way I paint oils) on cradled wood panel. "Panorama City" - This painting was done on Van Nuys Blvd. near the Plaza Del Valle shopping center (not to far from my studio). My spot was under the awning of an adult day care center, so I met a number of seniors coming in and out, waiting for rides etc. I picked the spot because it had an interesting blend of density in the top third of the composition - the slight hill compressed the cars and buildings into a tight mesh above the a open swath of curving concrete and asphalt. I forgot to put sunscreen on my ankles and started to get burned on my right leg as the sun shifted, so I packed up and finished the sidewalk in my studio. "Woodland Hills" was painted at the point at which housing butts up against some open-space. A home was being built, encroaching just a bit further into the wilds. You can see the office buildings of Warner Center in the distance. I regularly go jogging in these hills, and I found something about the way they were building the foundation interesting, so I went back with my paints. Very often I choose to paint urban areas that border the wild - there is something of a sense of inevitable future ruin that is palpable for me in those places. There was no one around that day except the builders. It was a cool, overcast day, which let me finish up completely on site.
Plein Air painting was my way back to painting after a decade of creative dormancy post art school. I'd begun a meditation practice, and was drawn to the deep immersion and lack of expectations that is required when creating art this way. Wake up early, scout out a spot, work as fast as you can, persevere through the elements, and hope something comes from it. There is a a fullness of being required to paint outdoors, and reconnecting to art making this way (so present, so body based) shifted my relationship to painting for the better (it had become very "heady" and dry through my school years). Now I don't paint outdoors quite as much, but I have found different ways to cultivate a fullness of presence, a willingness, and that sense of pilgrimage within my studio based work life.”
Susy Keely is a figurative painter living in Los Angeles. Her oil works are often painted from direct observation (figures, landscapes). She also works from imagination via painting processes that are intertwined with her decades long meditation practice. She has BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design ('93). Based in L.A., she also teaches meditation and creative process workshops.
Medium: Oil on Wood Panel
Dimensions: 16 x 20 x 2
“Both pieces painted with an (it's the only way I paint oils) on cradled wood panel. "Panorama City" - This painting was done on Van Nuys Blvd. near the Plaza Del Valle shopping center (not to far from my studio). My spot was under the awning of an adult day care center, so I met a number of seniors coming in and out, waiting for rides etc. I picked the spot because it had an interesting blend of density in the top third of the composition - the slight hill compressed the cars and buildings into a tight mesh above the a open swath of curving concrete and asphalt. I forgot to put sunscreen on my ankles and started to get burned on my right leg as the sun shifted, so I packed up and finished the sidewalk in my studio. "Woodland Hills" was painted at the point at which housing butts up against some open-space. A home was being built, encroaching just a bit further into the wilds. You can see the office buildings of Warner Center in the distance. I regularly go jogging in these hills, and I found something about the way they were building the foundation interesting, so I went back with my paints. Very often I choose to paint urban areas that border the wild - there is something of a sense of inevitable future ruin that is palpable for me in those places. There was no one around that day except the builders. It was a cool, overcast day, which let me finish up completely on site.
Plein Air painting was my way back to painting after a decade of creative dormancy post art school. I'd begun a meditation practice, and was drawn to the deep immersion and lack of expectations that is required when creating art this way. Wake up early, scout out a spot, work as fast as you can, persevere through the elements, and hope something comes from it. There is a a fullness of being required to paint outdoors, and reconnecting to art making this way (so present, so body based) shifted my relationship to painting for the better (it had become very "heady" and dry through my school years). Now I don't paint outdoors quite as much, but I have found different ways to cultivate a fullness of presence, a willingness, and that sense of pilgrimage within my studio based work life.”
Susy Keely is a figurative painter living in Los Angeles. Her oil works are often painted from direct observation (figures, landscapes). She also works from imagination via painting processes that are intertwined with her decades long meditation practice. She has BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design ('93). Based in L.A., she also teaches meditation and creative process workshops.