(18×36, canvas. a collaborative painting by me and
mati)
during mati’s visit, i was telling her how i wanted to paint a large canvas to go on the wall over our bed – not a figurative painting, but rather something a bit more abstract that had the word ‘love’ incorporated in it (it would be for our bedroom, afterall). truly, deeply, i’ve been inspired by this for a long time and have been wanting to put my spin on it. so when mati suggested we get busy painting a large piece together for the wall, part of me jumped for joy, and another part of me resisted and hesitated: you mean you want to do it now? today? but it’s been so long since i’ve painted and i’ve never even painted this large of a canvas before (although it’s been a dream of mine to paint big for some time). the gremlins were big, insisting my creative flow was rusty and cracked.
but mati gently pushed me and we went for it, making large giant messes on the
studio floor and creating this beautiful, beautiful canvas together in about one hour flat. i noticed that as soon as we started getting our hands messy with paint, my mood lifted. i was excited, whistling to the music, and generally being a dork. we joked about our dynamic together – how we may as well been playing barbies. it was that seamless. that fun. that silly. what i learned in those moments was that sometimes we need a friend to pull us out of our creative silence. to hold the space and to hold our hands as we jump back in. i really needed it (thank you, mati).
after we finished the first piece, we were on fire to do more. and this is what came next:
(12×36, canvas. a collaborative painting by me and
mati)
totally loving the anthropologie inspired feel of this one. very, very messy. lots of drippy paints and ink. drawings by mati. vintage wall paper. vintage stamps. handwriting. i can see a bit of sabrina inspiration in this one, too. and lots of mati, too. this was likely the biggest departure for me, style wise. and i loved it! i was reminded that it’s important to try new things, to get messy in new ways, to dream outside the creative box we are accustomed to being in.
this one came next:
(18×25, canvas. a collaborative painting by me and
mati)
another anthro inspired feel. again, really simple. but very cool and fun and easy. just fingers in paint and in glue and then on the canvas. we practiced restraint both in this one and the one above and i think it worked. they look really great next to one another 🙂
and last but not least, this was our final collaboration together:
(15×20, canvas. a collaborative painting by me and
mati)
this was the hardest to complete. we were a little tired (4 paintings in less than 4 hours) and we had to push ourselves to finish, but it was well worth it. it’s so funny to see one of my faces topped off with a mati hair-do, but i really love it. it’s another love inspired piece, hence more love writing. and isn’t mati’s birdie adorable? i especially love the vibrancy of the background in this one. we also thought it was interesting how our styles merged in this particular piece seemed to birth an anahata feel (which i love).
so there you have it. collaborative paintings. i say give it a try. you will be surprised at how groundbreaking it is for your creative soul. seriously, i mean it.
ps – i wanted to mention that we used claudine hellmuth’s
line of acrylic paints for every single one of these paintings. and oh my, i LOVED these paints. loved them. the colors are awesome and i can’t wait to get more.
(we interrupt this blog post because the orange crush wanted to say hello)
pps – also, i so wish i could have figured out how to upload the time-lapsed video of the first painting in progress, but i’m having major tech difficulties over here (i’ll have it up eventually).
ppps – heading to
artnest! i’ll be back early next week with stories and photos!
Hello….just stumbled upon your blog…via Tim…your work is so amazing. Last weekend when I ventured out into the real world…I bought your book…Taking Flight…what an inspiration!!!! Thank you!!
oh my God! These painting are wonderful! So fresh 🙂 I like what you two came up with. And the orange crush is just to die for, of course. Happy to see your smiley faces xo
That is just awesome and inspirational for me. Thank you!!
LOVE the paintings!
love love love the art- makes me want to make a mess in my studio!
I am just loving those large canvases! The colors are wonderful also. You girls did an amazing job!
to kelly rae and mati from kelly ann. wow! the last one inspired me to work with my daughter(9) to do one similar because we always joke in the morning about her hair being a birds nest!!hehehe. all jokes aside, your book has inspired me deeply kelly!! thank you for being you and i am in love with orange crush! keep it up girlz inspiration station!! loves kelly ann
Hi darling,just a quick visit to see whats being created before I go back to hospital to have a kidney removed,hope all is well with y’all.xxoo
All I can say is wow. I will pay and fly you both to my house so that you can have a painting party with me too… Just amazing work. You guys are great- I feel so inspired. Thanks.
oh my sweet heavens … these are fantabulous!! I LOVE LOVE that messy anthropologie look!! So, any hope of you guys making some prints of those? 🙂
What beautiful paintings – you inspire ME to get the paints out and play, play, play. I have a couple of large canvases that I want to get after now. Thanks!
Cindy
The paintings are so incredable. I love every aspect of them. I think it so interesting to see how they come out with not just one set magical hands but two.
I’ll have to look at Claudine’s paint.
Have a great time at Art Nest!!
Love Smiles and Hugs,
~Jill
Kelly,you are so fortunate to have had this day to be with Mati and express yourselves in a joint project. What a wonderful memory captured in a canvas…I hope to do the same thing with a friend of mine. Lucky you.
You do inspire me with your positive thoughts. thank you for that.
Thanks so much for sharing. LOVE them all!
Love all those paintings, can’t believe you got them all done in 4 hours!! Nuts! Sounds like a ton of fun. That photo of you two in the van is soo cute.
i have so loved your blog for some time…and just couldn’t help but jump in on this one…what an amazing post…the sharing of hearts, spirits, hands, ideas, inspiration…all in love and friendship just brings tears to my eyes…and your paintings just reflect the magic of your time together….
so much talent, so much love, so much inspiration…thank you for sharing…and i have so loved your home photos too…just beautiful…
these are beautiful and fun. and i can feel the inspiration all the way over here!! thank you for that 🙂 i look forward to the video. thank you for sharing & inspiring! xx suz
LOVE them all!!
I love, love, love your “love paintints”! great collaboration, and the colors are so very happy! i was needing inspiration…thanks!
so pretty! I love it:)
LOVE this! So vibrant and fun! What a great idea~
I love these pieces! Especially the first and last ones. Well done!
You and Mati do beautiful work together. I love all the pieces. I’ve also been feeling boxed in lately in my art, so I decided that 09 was the year for me to step out of the box and try new things. New paints, new ways of applying them, colors that I wouldn’t normally use. Don’t be afraid to try a really large canvas. When I finished my first 48×60, I thought to myself-“wow, I did that?” It’s very freeing!! Thanks for sharing all the wonderful paintings.
Beautiful stuff….you must have had such fun doing these!!
gorgeous paintings! what a beautiful collaboration. i love the second and third ones especially.
Just wow!!! Every piece is amazing beautiful! Colors are delighful!
And the idea is very interesting!!
You had a lot of fun and that shows. The paintings are more than just beautiful. Great collaboration!!!
Gah! I'm so jealous. I'd love to have a big spontaneous creative binge like this. I'm so gutless though. I tried making jewellry with my friend recently and I just felt shy & embarassed about what Iwas doing. :-/
Absolutely beautiful! They must make you feel so light and happy each time you look at them! Before I read the text, I also thought the last one reminded me of an Anahata – funny! But I was also thinking how lucky you must feel to have Mati as a friend and creative soulmate – I would love to find one too!
WOW. Seriously you are so inspiring. I used to paint a lot, than became a scrapbooker and now there are large empty canvases waiting for me for years now on my attic. I am so going to give this a go!
corinnexxx
Its funny how you can feel down in the dumps in life and creatively and then you pop over to someones blog and you see this wonderful set of fantastic paintings and some new ideas. Now I wish I could stay up all night and paint. What fun. Thanks for sharing this!!!!
kate
So glad you stuck it out for that last one–it’s definitely my favorite. Love the swirly cheeks, the collage on the side, and that perfect, yellow bird.
They are so wonderful, and such a fun idea. I think my soul is in need of some collaborative painting right at this minute.
oh, wowee, wow, wow. that first painting in particular is just stunning. my favourite of yours. and collaborative painting just sounds like tons of fun. Thanks for the inspiration.
how did you possibly decide who would keep which painting? they are all so beautiful and filled with love. thank you for sharing your wonderful collaboration.
GORGEOUS paintings! Really yummy to look at!!! Yay for collaborations!
Oh Kelly – these are gorge! It is fun to see how well your style melds with mati’s. All four of them are wonderful!
You two should get together and do this more often 🙂
How can I NOT comment on this post. The paintings are beautiful and inspiring…..do you have ANY idea of how many people out here you are inspiring to dive in and make art?!
love love love and love.:))
glorious work
Ngaire in Brisbane
I love them all! You two made some beautiful pieces of timeless art. Have fun at artfest.
Teresa
Oh. My. Goodness! Those are unbelievably beautiful! You two rock, truly. 🙂
What fun painting with a friend. I will definitely do that. Good luck with the video. I’m trying the same thing. At least you figured out the time lapse thing. That is what I want to do but the program I’m using doesn’t have that feature.
I love all four of your paintings. I know one will live in your bedroom but will they all live at your new home?
The paintings are wonderful, I love them. I am so excited to meet both you and Mati at the Art Nest. I think it is going to be a wonderful and inspirational experience. I posted a picture of my favorite print I purchased from you and also your amazing book. I feel really blessed that I will be at this amazing retreat. See you soon amazing Kelly Rae!
thanks for using my paints! so thrilled that you liked them. these paintings are AMAZING!!
So much fun! The first and last are my favorites, but they are all great. So impressed you did four…I’m lucky to get one done. Ha!
I LOVE your work Kelly!! And these four paintings are no exception. The colors are amazing!! I want to pull out a canvas (I just happen to have one) and paint something! And I don’t even paint! But I’m feeling very inspired by you.
Thanks for sharing,
Debi
Just gorgeous! I love the idea of collaborative painting. Blending two perspectives – two spirits – so cool. Love them.
that sounds like such a fun collaboration 🙂 i love the pieces that cane out of it. i totally agree about the anthropologie feel to it and its really lovely.
the very last piece reminded me of anahata katkin!
Wow. x4! 🙂 They’re SO beautiful. I’m glad you pushed through. They’re really stunning.
I love that last one! I mean, they are all amazing, but something about that last one. I can really see you coming through. Thank you so much for sharing.