New Drawings

"Culdesac" Graphite on Paper, 11x10"
(Untitled) Graphite on Paper, 11x10"
"Development" Graphite on Paper, 11x10"

Two new ones and a better photo of the one from a few days ago. More to come.

Opening at Andenken Gallery, Denver, CO

An overwhelming amount of paintings by Amanda Marie opened tonight at Andenken. Definitely a show worth seeing, here are a few of my favorites:


'Oh, Deer'
Acrylic and Spraypaint on panel

42.25" x 30.25" (in antique frame)

Acrylic and Spraypaint on Canvas
18" x 24"

Acrylic and Spraypaint on Canvas
4' x 5'

Paintings of Melissa Doherty

Vignette No. 6 (seven clearings)

2007

oil on canvas

24 x 48 in.

Vignette No. 15

2007

oil on canvas

20 x 20 in.

Vignette No. 17 ( Lot, Spring )

2007

oil on panel

12 x 12 in.

Beautiful atmospheric aerial paintings by Melissa Doherty.

New Blog Press: Dear Ada

A mention at the blog Dear Ada yesterday.

New Chris Ballantyne Print

Chris Ballantyne - Untitled, Canal (Cut-Off) Giclee Print, 14" x 20", Edition of 20, $350

Of course I love this print/image.

Blurb dot Com

I've recently been informed of Blurb.com - a self-publishing site that allows users to make small run, quality books. Users download their program Booksmart and you can put together a book with little or no experience ever doing so perviously. I'm currently working on a book of aerial photography and one of my portfolio - more news on that coming later this fall/winter. Their website and program are both extremely easy to use, and most examples of photography or portfolios in their bookstore look very professional. I would recommend this process to anyone who may be considering making or writing a book, especially artists. Their book-making software has many layouts that are conducive to artists and/or photographers. Why not? Their pricing is very affordable. Go for it.

Check out this book by Jeff Page - a collage artist based here in Denver.

Photography of Javier Tles

Javier Tles

New Nebraska/Colorado Aerial Photos

Here's a few choice aerial photos I took this morning. North-Eastern Colorado/South-Western Nebraska area. All photos by Nathan Abels - copyright Nathan Abels 2007. More found here.

Found Photo Sunday

I found this photo at a flea market this weekend. I love the cracks in it. It reminded me of a aerial photo I took not too long ago (below).

Fulgurites and Lightning Art

I try to relate this blog to whatever has been notable to me of late - and last night there was a major thunderstorm. So this morning I learned about fulgurites - according to wikipedia - "Fulgurites (from the Latin fulgur meaning thunderbolt) are natural hollow carrot-shaped glass tubes formed in quartzose sand or soil by lightning strikes. In the right kind of sand the extreme heat generated will form silica glass shapes that trace the path of the lightning. These structures are also sometimes referred to as petrified lightning." So keep an eye out for them next time you're hiking a mountainous area or walking the sands of Egypt.

photos from this fulgurite website - click photos for link

Artist Allan McCollum made an installation/conceptual project based in fulgurites, called, "THE EVENT:
Petrified Lightning from Central Florida
(with Supplemental Didactics)"

you can read this very interesting work here.

And just to mix things up - here's a short video I made of lightning I recorded on my little digital camera in Indiana - with an overlay I took of the moon being passed by clouds:

My Watercolors from Yellowstone

I did these watercolors last week in the valley where the Firehole and Gibbon rivers came together near our campground (see above).

Looking East

Looking West

Looking West

Art of Alan Kitchen

I had the great pleasure of attending undergrad with a very talented artist named Alan Kitchen. While in Yellowstone this last week I took the above photo which reminded me of his work and thought I should highlight his art.


Alan made a small drawing last year in which he delicately drew a roadside memorial cross in pale graphite (the kind that are often put up at the scene of a fatal accident). He told me that he had driven by that memorial several times and never stopped to acknowledge it - and the drawing served as his stopping or stillness in that place. I think this act sums up a lot of what I find to be moving in his work - stillness, reflection, and emotional weight. I say 'emotional weight' with hesitation though because I don't mean to imply that the emotion behind all of his work is heavy or difficult - I would compare it more to a quiet Nick Drake song. His drawings and paintings often originate from memory rather than photographic references so they have a different quality than more literal representations might produce. Alan's works also utilize fall/winter Midwestern landscapes that I'll probably always have a soft spot for - here are a couple of his recent works;

Alan Kitchen, "Fairy Tale Moment"
2007

Alan Kitchen, "Are you still there?"
2007 Graphite, gouache on Japanese paper



Keep an eye out for future exhibitions of his in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area.

A Little Nathan Abels Art News

A selection of my artwork will be showcased in the Coastal Living Ideal House (Captain’s House) of the River Dunes Community in Oriental, North Carolina. The grand opening is a private event held on September 14th, but will be open to the public at approximately the end of November. A couple of my patterned/silhouette pieces will be there:

More to come when I get images/more info.

A few photos from Yellowstone

A few of my favorite photos from the trip in no particular order:

photo of me by Lorna Cochrane

In Yellowstone

Currently exploring the wild west - will resume posts after I get back to Denver. I saw lots of Pronghorn like the above pictured one on the way here yesterday. Really amazing animals that don't quite look like they belong in Wyoming.

Paintings and Installations by Chris Ballantyne

Chris Ballantyne, "Sunny Expectancy", 2003, installation view, peres-projects, acrylic on wall, acrylic on panel, and acrylic and watercolor on paper
Chris Ballantyne, (Untitled), Ponds, 2003, acrylic on wood panel, 48” x 36”

Re-Edited my Aerial Photo Set on Flickr

I went through my many aerial photos yesterday and rediscovered several interesting shots. I edited my flickr set of aerial photos to include some new ones and replace some that were not as good. Here's a few examples of some new/old images:

New Press Mention : Denver Westword

Denver Westword Top Picks mentions "Transmute"" at Object+Thought and includes myself as part of "a few new faces". Full article here.

This week's Aerial Photos

More can be found here. Images copyright Nathan Abels, 2007.