Sunday, July 08, 2007
Friday, July 06, 2007
Updated Biography
Inspired by the native wildflowers of the rolling flint hills of Kansas, Michelle Leivan has expanded her exploration to the floral form. Hiking in the luscious meadows and along the rustic roadsides Michelle delights in photographing each floral sighting with anticipation of interpreting each with her expressive and distinctive impressionistic style. Her bold pallet and energetic paintings weave philosophical and intuitive compositions for modern contemplation of nature. Several of these new pieces have been honored by being selected to hang in the Kansas capital building, including Governor Sebelius’ conference room.
Educated at Fort Hays State University, Michelle Leivan has been distinguished as the featured visual artist at the Kansas River Valley Art Fair, Topeka Jazz Festival and has been nominated for the Kansas Governor’s Artist Award. Michelle has participated in one person shows and exhibits at the Manhattan Arts Center, Art Council of Topeka, True Art Gallery and Topeka Performing Arts Center. She has also exhibited in several juried competitions on the internet and in Soho New York. Her work is represented in the Ellis County Historical Archives as well as in several corporate and private collections.
Educated at Fort Hays State University, Michelle Leivan has been distinguished as the featured visual artist at the Kansas River Valley Art Fair, Topeka Jazz Festival and has been nominated for the Kansas Governor’s Artist Award. Michelle has participated in one person shows and exhibits at the Manhattan Arts Center, Art Council of Topeka, True Art Gallery and Topeka Performing Arts Center. She has also exhibited in several juried competitions on the internet and in Soho New York. Her work is represented in the Ellis County Historical Archives as well as in several corporate and private collections.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Prints available at Artist Rising.
Follow the link to get prints of my artwork ranging from $12.99 to 29.99. 8"x10, 16"x20" and 20"x24" on most images.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Faded Glory
Faded Glory, 24"x30" acrylic on canvas
On one of our trips out to the fishing lake we spotted a ditch full of purple cone flowers. I ended up going out last Monday to take some reference photos. It is late in the season for these beauties so much of the glorious purple color had been bleached away from the sun. I found this intriguing. As I walked along the ditch paying special attention to the details of my find I discovered that the volunteers went on for nearly a half a mile. I took as many pictures as I could get over the next hour until my battery ran out of my camera.
Once home and able to analyze the results, I discovered one very over exposed and slightly out of focus picture that just sang. This is my inspiration for this piece. At first I thought I could just edit the colors to suit my typical pallet, but as I started to work on it, I discovered I was loosing the integrety of what made the picture so great. One of my theories is that you have to start from good reference material, it's kinda like a computer, crap in, crap out. This new direction caused me to shift my pallet from my normal intensity and I enjoyed the challenge.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Painting While The Boys Fish
My husband Chuck and my son Dillon love to fish. This year my husband dicovered a quaint fishing spot at the Osage County State Fishing Lake. Not much more than a typical Kansas pasture pond but I guess it's stocked regularly. We have been out there to "fish" a few times this summer as a family. I personally can not stand fishing. Don't enjoy eating them and I certainly don't like to touch any slimmy worms... ok that is my one "girly" thing. They don't scare me, it's a texture thing. Anyway, so that we can spend some quality family time I have be accompanying them out to the lake and I have been taking my easle and paints. As I mentioned last fall, I am not much of a plein aire painter but I thought this would give me the perfect opportunity to paint with nature as an inspiration. Also, I could get a much needed piece done for the up coming Arron Douglas Art Fair.
"Sunflower at the Lake", 16"x20", acrylic on canvas.
So the first time we went out we arrived with only about 2 hours of light left. I also took my lap top. I started the background of my piece allowing myself to be inspired by the blues and greens of the serene environment. Then I turned to the photos I took of sunflowers last fall. I discovered that the dual, technology and nature gave a wonderful blend of inspiration. Also, with the time limit on the light I ended up working well into the dusk which seemed to be a struggle at the time. I dreaded to look at it in the light when I got home, so I stuck it in my studio and let it cure for a little while.
When I work at home, I regularly paint outside on our back deck, sometimes using a printed copy of my photos for reference. I have powerful spot lights available to paint by and if that isn't enough I have some tungsten work lights that I can set up.
The change in environment and working into duck made a difference. The pallet that evolved through this unlikely mix was bold yet distinctly more subtle than my previous pieces done at home.
"Where the Tiny Fish are Biting", 20"x16", acrylic on canvas.
On my second trip out, we got an early start. It was a Sunday afternoon rather than trying to capture the evening. We also came provisioned with cook out goodies. It was almost a festive event.
The guys had much better luck on this trip but the disappointment was that every fish they caught was not much bigger than a grown man's hand. Catch and release was the drill for the day. This never keeps them from continuing to hope for the next "big" one.
With more time available I decided to give actual plein air painting a whirl. It was so peaceful out there. The clouds were coming in from the south and the mood was happy.
I started off blocking off an area on the canvas and immediately decided I wanted the 1/3 bottom to be the lake and allow the sky to rule the piece. I knew by the formation of the clouds there was a promise of a beautiful sunset and some wonderful color. The water intimidated me a lot. It was a little choppy and I had never attempted painting water not to metion a bunch of little waves.
At first, I worked on the sky to get the initial fluffyness with the lower flat clouds. Then blocked it a purple line of trees and turned to tackle the water challenge. I knew if I could get that right, the rest would fall into place. I worked and worked on the water and finally allowed myself the more subtle wakes rather than the choppiness of the real deal. It captured the mood I wanted. As the evening drew nearer, I was rewarded with the promised sunset color. As the light changed and colored the clouds I was able to mimic it in the clouds I had previously blocked in. I was very fortuneate that the cloud formation changed very little in the 3 hours that I sat and was inspired by nature. I ended up working on this piece well into dusk as well. But was much more confident as the work done in poor lighting was minimal.
These painting adventures are only the first of what I hope many of my plein aire attempts.
"Sunflower at the Lake", 16"x20", acrylic on canvas.
So the first time we went out we arrived with only about 2 hours of light left. I also took my lap top. I started the background of my piece allowing myself to be inspired by the blues and greens of the serene environment. Then I turned to the photos I took of sunflowers last fall. I discovered that the dual, technology and nature gave a wonderful blend of inspiration. Also, with the time limit on the light I ended up working well into the dusk which seemed to be a struggle at the time. I dreaded to look at it in the light when I got home, so I stuck it in my studio and let it cure for a little while.
When I work at home, I regularly paint outside on our back deck, sometimes using a printed copy of my photos for reference. I have powerful spot lights available to paint by and if that isn't enough I have some tungsten work lights that I can set up.
The change in environment and working into duck made a difference. The pallet that evolved through this unlikely mix was bold yet distinctly more subtle than my previous pieces done at home.
"Where the Tiny Fish are Biting", 20"x16", acrylic on canvas.
On my second trip out, we got an early start. It was a Sunday afternoon rather than trying to capture the evening. We also came provisioned with cook out goodies. It was almost a festive event.The guys had much better luck on this trip but the disappointment was that every fish they caught was not much bigger than a grown man's hand. Catch and release was the drill for the day. This never keeps them from continuing to hope for the next "big" one.
With more time available I decided to give actual plein air painting a whirl. It was so peaceful out there. The clouds were coming in from the south and the mood was happy.
I started off blocking off an area on the canvas and immediately decided I wanted the 1/3 bottom to be the lake and allow the sky to rule the piece. I knew by the formation of the clouds there was a promise of a beautiful sunset and some wonderful color. The water intimidated me a lot. It was a little choppy and I had never attempted painting water not to metion a bunch of little waves.
At first, I worked on the sky to get the initial fluffyness with the lower flat clouds. Then blocked it a purple line of trees and turned to tackle the water challenge. I knew if I could get that right, the rest would fall into place. I worked and worked on the water and finally allowed myself the more subtle wakes rather than the choppiness of the real deal. It captured the mood I wanted. As the evening drew nearer, I was rewarded with the promised sunset color. As the light changed and colored the clouds I was able to mimic it in the clouds I had previously blocked in. I was very fortuneate that the cloud formation changed very little in the 3 hours that I sat and was inspired by nature. I ended up working on this piece well into dusk as well. But was much more confident as the work done in poor lighting was minimal.
These painting adventures are only the first of what I hope many of my plein aire attempts.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Aaron Douglas Art Fair Announces 2007 Art Fair's Featured Artist: Michelle Leivan
The Aaron Douglas Art Fair Committee has chosen Topeka artist Michelle Leivan as the featured artist of the 2007 Aaron Douglas Art Fair: A Celebration of Community. Her painting, Windswept, features a stylized sunflower and will be the image used on all promotions for the 2007 art fair.
Michelle is a notable artist from Topeka Kansas who has shown her work across the nation, including the Agora Gallery in Soho, New York, Governor Sebelius’ Conference Room, and SouthWind Gallery at Framewoods of Topeka. Michelle was also the featured artist for the Topeka Jazz Festival in 2005. Many people who are not just from Kansas own her work, including individuals from Turkey and Spain. Michelle grew up in Beloit, Kansas who then went to Fort Hays State University to obtain her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting.
The fair is scheduled for September 8, 2007 from 11am to 4pm in the Aaron Douglas Art Park at 12th and Lane in Topeka, KS. More information can be found at http://www.turnaroundteam.org/art. If you have questions about exhibiting at the art fair, please contact Lyn Weichert at artdirector@turnaroundteam.org. Artists’ submissions will be accepted until July 25, 2007. Those interested volunteering for the Art Fair, assisting in youth activities, or donating money for the 2nd Annual Aaron Douglas Art Fair, should please contact Lacey Keller immediately at lacey.keller@washburn.edu or (785) 233-2224. The Aaron Douglas Art Fair is a project of the Central Topeka Turn Around Team.
Michelle is a notable artist from Topeka Kansas who has shown her work across the nation, including the Agora Gallery in Soho, New York, Governor Sebelius’ Conference Room, and SouthWind Gallery at Framewoods of Topeka. Michelle was also the featured artist for the Topeka Jazz Festival in 2005. Many people who are not just from Kansas own her work, including individuals from Turkey and Spain. Michelle grew up in Beloit, Kansas who then went to Fort Hays State University to obtain her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting.
The fair is scheduled for September 8, 2007 from 11am to 4pm in the Aaron Douglas Art Park at 12th and Lane in Topeka, KS. More information can be found at http://www.turnaroundteam.org/art. If you have questions about exhibiting at the art fair, please contact Lyn Weichert at artdirector@turnaroundteam.org. Artists’ submissions will be accepted until July 25, 2007. Those interested volunteering for the Art Fair, assisting in youth activities, or donating money for the 2nd Annual Aaron Douglas Art Fair, should please contact Lacey Keller immediately at lacey.keller@washburn.edu or (785) 233-2224. The Aaron Douglas Art Fair is a project of the Central Topeka Turn Around Team.
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I would like to thank everyone on the Central Topeka Turn Around Team for honoring me with the selection of my work for the featured art. The Topeka community has been working hard to elevate our culture in the arts over the last few years and this art fair is an important contribution towards the goal of Topeka becoming one of the Top 100 Art Cities in the United States. I look forward to seeing you all at the Aarron Douglas Art Fair and sharing with you many of my new paintings.
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