Rooftops in Passy

Oil on canvas, 14"x11"

This painting is a view of Parisian rooftops in the elegant neighborhood of Passy in the 16th arrondisement. In this painting I wanted to capture the exquisite details of these Beaux-Arts buildings with an impressionistic feeling. I painted this on a reddish ground which I allowed to peek through and between painterly brushstrokes creating a warm glow and unifying tone between the buildings and sky. I was very pleased to achieve great impasto textures in the clouds.

I adore the visual feast which is Paris with its distinctive historic architecture and atmosphere. While painting this I imagined all the gorgeous apartments contained within these buildings with their quintessential mansard roofs and balconies. I was inspired by all the Impressionist painters but in particular Gustave Caillebotte whose wonderful cityscapes captured the energy and architecture of his era. I've always been a fan of Caillebotte and I previously painted an homage to his great work "Paris Street, Rainy Afternoon" which can be seen here.

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. 

Contemplation - sold

Graphite on paper, 11"x8.5"

This is a drawing of a handsome man in jeans relaxing on a sofa. It's a combination of portrait and figurative study of my favorite model. Somehow, even when I set out to do a figure study it becomes a portrait of that person. I like the open, lounging quality of his pose. It's so typical of the comfortably confident way men sit. There is an interesting combination of the classical and contemporary in this piece. While pondering his gentle, thoughtful expression I realized that this piece is about both my contemplation of him and his own inward contemplation.

I am a big fan of John Singer Sargent's superb male figure drawings and I've been inspired to explore drawing again after a long period of almost exclusively painting. It has been fun to focus on line and tone. I'm enjoying the spontaneity and expressive quality of these drawings.

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