Peering deep into nature
Kaye Franklin, Early Winter, oil, 11 x 14.
This story was featured in the July 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art July 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
IN THE FIRST few decades of her painting career, plein-air artist Kaye Franklin generally aimed for big-picture views of the landscape—postcard-worthy vistas featuring mountain peaks and cloud-cloaked horizons. Today those “distance scenes,” as Franklin calls them, still have a place in her oeuvre. Far more frequently, however, she enjoys examining intimate scenes in nature and distilling them into rhythm, color, and texture on her canvas, from light-dappled cross sections of the western landscape to portraits of fruits and flower petals. “There’s just something about the way the light works within an intimate scene that I love,” explains the Texas native. “I can grab the intensity of the light in a small scene and hang onto that.”
-
- Kaye Franklin, Fruits of Summer, oil, 12 x 16.
-
- Kaye Franklin, February Snow, oil, 11 x 14.
-
- Kaye Franklin, Falls Creek, oil, 12 x 12.
Take Franklin’s EARLY WINTER, which garnered an Award of Excellence in the American Impressionist Society’s current Small Works Showcase. In this closely cropped segment of a snowy Colorado mountain stream, thick dabs of brilliant gold and rosy touches of pink add bright notes to the deep-purple and smoky-blue shadows, visually conveying the sunlight’s warmth while leading viewers around the composition. “Harmony is so important,” says the artist. “If you throw in a spot of bright red somewhere, that’s all the viewer is going to see. They are not going to travel through the painting.”
Franklin is recognized as a Master Pastelist by the Pastel Society of America, but she primarily works in oils these days. Both on location and in her studio, she paints alla prima, swiftly wielding brushes and palette knives in a style that’s loose and gestural, thanks in part to countless hours spent working en plein air. Eight years of study with Connecticut artist William Henry Earle (1928-1992), who was himself a student of American Impressionist Frank Vincent DuMond (1865-1951), also were influential. “His instruction still comes to me,” she says. “He was a master.”
-
- Kaye Franklin, Spring Garden, oil, 11 x 14.
-
- Kaye Franklin, Snow on Wolf Creek, oil, 12 x 16.
-
- Kaye Franklin, Spring Roses, oil, 12 x 16.
When the weather is nice, Franklin periodically journeys from her home in rural north-central Texas to Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly National Monument and other national parks to paint, and plein-air shows can take her even farther afield. But a local lake, the region’s wildflowers, and her own garden are equally inspiring subjects. In fact, her patio at home offers Franklin as good a spot as any to paint. For the artist, just one small focal point can spark the idea for a painting, “maybe one flower that catches my attention,” she says. —Kim Agricola
representation
Marta Stafford Fine Art, Marble Falls, TX; www.kfranklinstudio.com.
-
- Kaye Franklin, Winter Woods, oil, 6 x 8.
-
- Kaye Franklin, Summer Hollyhocks, oil, 14 x 11.
This story was featured in the July 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art July 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
MORE RESOURCES FOR ART COLLECTORS & ENTHUSIASTS
• Subscribe to Southwest Art magazine
• Learn how to paint & how to draw with downloads, videos & more
• Sign up for your Southwest Art email newsletter & download a FREE ebook