Elaine Kehew News

Woodcut Printing- Exhibit at Seven Opening April 4

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 02:13:15 CDT

The art of Japanese woodblock printing. This somewhat esoteric area of relief printmaking has captured my imagination, and I can't stop carving! The results are striking- somewhat primitive, and always a bit of surprise!

So- what is it? Well, I have taken pieces of Shia plywood, linoleum, and birch panels, and have carved reverse images of fishes and fowl, seascapes and skeletons. Then, I ink up the design with an oil-based, very tacky printer's ink. Finally, i press the image with a spoon on heavy paper, to make the image. The result- a limited edition, hand-printed image.

I am doing series of 10 or 5 for this first effort. The prints will be exhibited for the first time at Seven from April 1-30, with the opening on April 4 (Thursday) from 7-9. Seven is located in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wyaki Way, at ABC Place at the intersection of James Gichuru Road.

A Working Artist: It's All Part of the Process.

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:01:16 CST

Re-published from ArtLife magazine, Nairobi.

As a visual artist, it was tempting to write a “Contrast” piece that talked about the definition of contrast in painting. After all, contrast is the exact thing that makes a painting work, or not work. Formal paintings have, as their focal point, the highest contrast section of the work of art. The lightest light (usually white) juxtaposed against the darkest dark (black). For example, sharp contrast draws our attention to the eyes of the girl in Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, or the black-and-white attire of the Dutch noblemen in “The Night Watch”. Even modernists like Picasso use the high-contrast technique, and abstract expressionists could not escape its power to attract attention. My own paintings sell best when there is a focal point of high contrast, as in “Bringing in the Catch” with the gold beach set off by the dark aubergine shadows of the fresh sailfish on the line.

But actually, I wanted to enter into a non-technical discussion of contrast: that of the working artist who is inspired, and the would-be artist who waits for inspiration that never seems to come. Friends and clients and patrons ask me all the time, “What is your inspiration for that piece? How do you get ideas of what to paint? Are you ever blocked or afraid to work?”

I feel like I have to tell them a rather soft version of the truth: the ideas just come to me. They suddenly appear, as though from the ether, when I sit down to the canvas. But that is not really the whole truth. Successful artists will probably agree with me when I say that, actually, the work comes first, and the inspiration follows. It follows usually like a high-speed Matatu careening out of control, and without its lights on, but it always follows.

The thing that has to come first, and this is the contrast bit: I have to stand at the canvas to paint and get ready. Seriously, if I don’t stretch some canvas, squirt great generous gobs of paint onto a palette or my worktable, and start painting: the ideas may never come at all. I have to try a starting point- maybe totally simple and random: a vase of flowers, my son’s infant face, or a series of squares or triangles, and from that a fully-formed notion develops, and much quicker than I would have feared.

I spent about ten years in the East Village in the 1990s, and I did a lot of drinking in a lot of very cool watering-holes with a lot of artists and would-be artists. You can always tell the difference. Would-be artists talk ad nauseum about the book they want to write, about the series of paintings they would do, and about the sculpture that they should build, if only they had the money, time, space, etc. The actual artists don’t really ever make excuses for their planned work,: they just work. They will socialize when the work is done, to drink afterwards, to soak up other ideas, inspiration, and magic for their next project.

If you have that fire in you, and you truly want to make something creative and artistic, I think you should get to it, with all the energy you have. .I don’t believe that everyone can be an artist, or a writer, or a musician; not because all people aren’t creative and gifted, but because some potentially gifted souls are afraid of working hard and failing. What if that novel, much to their distress, doesn’t read like Ernest Hemingway or N’gugi Wa Thiong’o on the first draft?

Does reading great writers, looking at great paintings, and listening to excellent music help your art? Yes, indeed. I’ve have been inspired by many artists and writers, but a few stand out who definitely need credit here: Grace Hartigan, Stephen Pressfield, and Tom Waits have all inspired me. But you can get lost in those awesome influences, which at some point you have to abandon so that you can walk the path alone.

The contrast between the artist and the would-be artist, is the fearlessness of doing the work, and the persistence to finish the piece that he or she started. Now, would-be-artist, get to work!

Lamu House, Lamu Kenya

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:53:58 CST

The exhibition has left the station, and is headed to the beautiful Lamu House in Lamu, on Coastal Kenya. This boutique hotel is one of the finest in Kenya, and certainly tops in Lamu, with a plunging pool, coffee shop, and located in the central Lamu town.

The exhibit will run from November 13 2012-January 20, 2013

Off to Lamu!

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 01:29:06 CST

So I am packing up what's left of the Village Market exhibit to show at Lamu House, a guest house in Lamu, on the northern coast of Kenya. There aren't very many paintings left, but it should still be a nice small display, and I am including some prints.

It's great to have the problem of too many shows and not enough work- so I am headed back to the studio to make some more. Can't wait to see what comes out!

More Coast Paintings

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 08:06:40 CDT

While hard at work on a number of commissions, including some very fine children's portraits, I am planning to continue with boats, fish, seascapes and beach scenes for my next body of work. I think it will be more of a natural segue, and I am definitely not finished with the Kenyan Coast. Stay tuned for sketches, photos, and print ideas as we bring the Lamu coastal theme to Mombasa.....