Girl with Finger Waves - sold

Oil on canvas, 12"x9"

This is a portrait of a pale, blue eyed girl with finger waves in her golden hair. This portrait study ended up being oddly timeless, both retro and contemporary at the same time. The vivid, cherubic face and swan like neck have a Baroque, mannerist feel while her style is delicately minimal with a 1920's vibe. I like the bold strokes of the loosely painted lavender blue of the background.  

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. Copyright does not transfer with the purchase of an original painting, print or other merchandise.

Woman with Red Wine - sold

Oil on canvas, 16"x12"

This is an original oil painting with a moody, vintage feel of a beautiful woman holding a glass of wine at a dimly lit bar.  Shrouded in smoke and mystery, she recalls a long ago era. I wanted to evoke a film noir mood and create a world-weary yet seductive femme fatale...particularly beguiling after sunset.

This painting is part of a series of portraits of women of the 1920's and 1930's. From flappers to starlets, I am very inspired by this glamorous and classic era. 

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. 

Nude with Calla Lilies - sold

Oil on canvas, 14"x11"

This is a painting of a beautiful nude woman standing in a lace-draped interior cradling stems of calla lilies in her arms. She evokes a nostalgic, 1920s feel with her finger-waved red hair and delicate profile. She is sultry yet graceful, reminiscent of a Ziegfeld girl in her dressing room enjoying flowers from an admirer. I like the dreamy, romantic feeling of this scene and the unusual tints of green and lavender created in her skin by the moody light. I kept the edges very soft and the background is especially suggested and impressionistic. There is a timeless feeling to this painting and it has an unusual tonalist atmosphere.

Portrait of a Ziegfeld Girl - sold

Oil on canvas 14"x11"

This is a portrait of Mary Nolan, a stage and film actress, singer and dancer who began her career as a popular Ziegfeld Girl in the 1920's. A luminous beauty who had a tumultuous life, I was inspired by her expressive face to create this painting in my version of the dramatic Hollywood illustrations and portrait style of the era. Based loosely on a black and white photo, I created a painterly background of deep peacock blue to offset her golden tones. She is soft and delicate but I am also pleased to have kept the brushwork loose and spontaneous throughout this painting. There is a haunting, soulful quality to this lovely lady that transcends time.

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. 

Flapper in a Pink Cloche Hat - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

There's something springlike about this flapper girl, She's winsome and fetching, long-necked with wide eyes peeking out from under the brim of a cloche hat. I'm pleased to have created a sense of form and very light-filled shadows on her face mostly with delicate shifts in color and tone. There's an Easter vibe...maybe it's the pretty matching pink of her hat and ruffled blouse combined with the pale blue of the background. The pink in her outfit might be displaying a bit more as a lilac shade than it really is. It's a sort of orchid pink, which teeters on the verge of lavender but isn't...and the background is a pale grayish blue.

I enjoy creating these girls from bygone eras, the style of the times adds such a feeling of character. They seem to arrive with their own lives and stories.

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Mood Indigo - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

This is a portrait of a moody flapper, one of those that took on a life of her own as I painted her. There's a feeling of mystery about this girl and she called for an inky blue background from which her pallor faintly emerges. She's a girl of dimly lit speakeasies, cool and self contained. I emphasized this muted tonality with soft, impressionistic brushwork and I'm pleased with the subtle hues I achieved. Her eyes are shadowy but you can detect a glint of emerald in their depths. I named this one "Mood Indigo" after one of my favorite Duke Ellington tunes.

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. 

Portrait of Renée Perle in Black - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

This is a portrait of Renée Perle, inspired by a black and white photo taken by Jacques-Henri Lartigue circa 1930. She was an early muse of his, possibly even something of an obsession during their two year affair. Renée Perle was a model for the couturier Doeuillet at the time of their meeting, remarkable for her exotic beauty and avant-garde style. He shot Renée in countless moods, here in la mode Parisienne. I love her dramatic and distinctive look. 

This is the second portrait that I've done of Renée. My first painting captured her in a St. Tropez look which you can see here.

Portrait of a Pensive Flapper - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

This a portrait of a young woman sporting a version of the Eton Crop, an androgynous hairstyle that gained popularity in the 1920s. Cropped or bobbed hair was a startling departure from the uniformly long hair and elaborate hairdos that women had worn throughout history and a major statement for a rebellious generation. While no doubt many of these women were just following a trend, I like to think of those who were genuinely hoping to break free of gender restrictions and have the same opportunities for self determination and expression as men. I painted this girl in vivid colors to match her bold dreams.

Portrait of a Redheaded Flapper - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

This is a portrait of a lovely redhead flapper girl. She manages the rare feat of being sweet and sultry at the same time. From her finger waved hair and Cupid's Bow lips to her pretty ruffled blouse, she looks elegantly vintage and ready for high tea. As I painted her she seemed so charming and fresh that I used a spring green background to complement her peachy tones.

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Portrait of Renée Perle - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

This is a portrait of Renée Perle, inspired by a black and white photo taken by Jacques-Henri Lartigue in 1930. She was an early muse of his, possibly even something of an obsession during their two year affair. Renée Perle was a model for the couturier Doeuillet at the time of their meeting, remarkable for her exotic beauty and avant-garde style which looks fresh even today. I wanted to give bold color to that sun-soaked, carefree era in the Riviera and capture something of this lovely woman's unique charm so I portrayed her deeply tanned in white and linen against a teal-tinged wall of Mediterranean Blue.

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. 

Blue Moon - sold

Oil on Canvas, 10"x8"

This painting was inspired by loss and memories, grief and ultimately joy. It's a portrait of fragility and strength. In studying faces I have found that there is an odd power in openness and vulnerability. It can connect us to the essence of our humanity. 

Lost Generation - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

Portrait of a moody flapper in a cafe. I experimented with using cooler, bluer colors than usual for the flesh tones in this painting. I wanted to imply her ghostly pallor and the smoky haze of a bar back in the day. 

Perhaps she's waiting for a date who's late or thinking about the boy who never came back from the war. Or maybe she's just wondering what she lost in herself and how she ended up here. I've always been fascinated by the Lost Generation, the seemingly dissolute and world-weary survivors of the Great War who partied their way through Europe in the 1920s. This girl could be Lady Brett Ashley or Nicole Diver, those enigmatic and compelling characters created by Hemingway and Fitzgerald, the feminine personifications of that confused, hedonistic era. These memorable women weren't the most admirable in literature but the flawless seldom haunt.

Flapper in a Cloche Hat - sold

Oil on gessoboard panel, 8"x6"

There is a certain intensity to this girl. She's a bit fierce. This may be a result of the slickness of the board surface that results in the paint strokes keeping a certain edge. This makes for a bold look that's a bit different from my work on canvas. I'm not sure I have complete control of the paint on this surface yet but I like some of the accidental results.

Portrait of a Dance Hall Girl - sold

Oil on hardboard panel, 8"x6"

This painting is another in a series of what I think of as "creative portraits". They aren't any existing person but are usually inspired by old B&W photos and stories of the past. They start to take on a life of their own as I paint and become about an imaginary character and mood.

This girl reminded me of the taxi-dance girls in the dance halls of the 1920s and 30s. Paid a dime a dance, it was a somewhat scandalous yet relatively lucrative profession for young women in an era where opportunities were limited. I think anyone who was able to make a living that way had to be tough yet charming. This girl looks like she's got a lot of spunk and wouldn't take any nonsense from drunken louts.

Portrait of a Blonde Flapper - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

Although she's decidedly a girl of the 1920s, while painting this one she started to remind me a bit of Botticelli's Madonnas. The Cestello Annunciation in particular...maybe something about her golden hair and sweet but uncertain expression. So I went with a hint of Renaissance colors in the coral red of her outfit and the faded blue of the background.