K. J. MAY GALLERY
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  • Home
  • Collages
  • Paintings
  • Collage-Paintings
  • Drawings
  • Works Sold
PAINTINGS
Most of these paintings are of people. The space is completely filled with color and strong line. Most of these images reflect feelings of isolation and they emphasize the differences between the inner and outer life.
Square Paintings
I love the square format because it seems naturally claustrophobic and a perfect venue for a graphic image. These images are all oil paint on board. I don't treat the board beforehand, so it soaks up the paint and I tend to use the board color as part of the painting. It just forces a specific type of painting from me that canvas does not. I actually find it a little more freeing because there aren't acres of white space.

Portraits on Canvas
These aren't pictures of specific people. I was trying to get to an emotional state of mind rather than capturing a certain person. Working on canvas forces me into a different painting technique than when I work on a board. The layers of paint are built up more carefully because of the white canvas. People wandering around are so enmeshed in their digital lives and troubles, which is what I was trying to express here.

Other oil paintings
Picture
This rectangular image is oil paint on board. It was inspired by folk art and by aboriginal paintings. I was trying to represent sleep and memories that are stored up in your subconscious mind. I liked the blend of a more realistic figure and then the dream world as more graphic.
​I used to live in southeastern Pennsylvania where Pennsylvania German folk art is kind of just around everywhere. When I went to college I was really blown away by aboriginal art and the graphic forms that can really dominate the space. I tried to blend those two things here. 

Picture
I was playing around with proportion and it seems to have worked out. The blue could be a dress or ocean or something else entirely. This is oil paint on board. it's quite large for me- maybe 4' tall. This was done early in my career. Things from an earlier time look a little more free to me. I overthink things a bit now.

​I have a tendency toward odd sizes in canvas and board which is wonderfully freeing until I try to frame things and then you have to get custom frames built. This gets expensive and then customers wonder why a painting costs so much. It's the frame! I love a tall painting though. It has such a presence.


Nesting dolls
These were a fun side project. It was enjoyable to move away from a flat canvas and try paint in a 3-dimensional space. Also stretching a theme over 5 dolls was a challenge.
Picture
ELEMENTS (L-S) Water, Plants, Wind, Fire, Human
Picture
OCEAN (L-S) Squid, Lobster, Seahorse, Whale, Coral
Picture
WINTER DAY (L-S) Bundled Outside, Seated With Cocoa, Bathing, In Bed, Moonlight Over the Snow
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