Kelly Sooter's favorite books as a
child were a series of books depicting the scenery of America through
photographs. She poured over those books again and again, and
experiencing the height deficiency of most 5-year-olds, enjoyed them
even more once her mother placed them on the bottom shelf of the
bookshelf.
 |
| Sooter painting in her home studio |
On road trips between home in Spokane
and vacations to the San Juan Islands, Sooter would stay awake the
whole trip, staring at her favorite parts of the landscape flying by
outside the car window. She often wanted to ask her father to stop
to she could examine something more closely, but knew he wouldn't
understand. This early fascination is only
recently finding its way into her long career as a painter, as many
obstacles got in the way.
Being part of a very musical family led
her into singing and piano rather than painting. There were no
visual artists in her family, so no tools or influences were around.
Then in Junior High School, she took an art class that included
painting, and absolutely loved it! Despite more art classes being
unavailable, it always stuck in her mind.
 |
Bled Castle in Slovenia,
by Sooter's mother |
Out of the blue, while in high school,
her mother picked up some canvases, paints and a palette knife and
began painting scenes from National Geographic magazine. Many as
large as 4' high, Sooter enjoyed the thick layers of paint and her
realistic results.
 |
| A Moment in Desert Canyon, by Kelly Sooter. Oil Painting. |
Along comes college, a business degree,
and a husband! Sooter wanted to take art classes as well, but knew
she wanted to learn structure, composition, design and color theory.
Such things were not possible in any art schools with their emphasis
on deconstruction, abstraction and modernism. She knew she wanted
classical European training.
 |
Bookcover of book
by Bjorg Kleivi |
Her persistence paid off when she found
Norwegian traditional folk artist Bjorg Kleivi, with whom she studied
for 10 years. Kleivi would come to Burien every 18 months or so to
work on 96 panels commissioned by a church there. Working in
acrylics, Sooter studied hard, and her drive and focus paid off as
her own panels now hang next the works of this master in the church,
being done with such great skill.
 |
Zhostovo style tray by
Slava Letkov |
After that, she wished to move beyond
that form and sought the tutelage of Russian Zhostovo master Slava
Letkov, who is today the last master of this art form in Russia.
This distinctive style features a group of highly realistic flowers
on a black background, painted onto a tray. Sooter mastered this art
form so well that she became a highly sought after teacher in this
country herself. She continued to paint and sell her own works in
this technique until 2010.
 |
Pair of alder boxes, replicated by Sooter, inspired by
two boxes brought here from Europe |
About two years ago, a
life-altering trip to Laguna Beach brought it all together for Sooter. She'd
been photographing landscapes for many years, but saw it only as a
hobby. Then she began sketching the landscapes as well, with Bend
and Leavenworth being favorite subjects. But it was in Laguna Beach
that she encountered works by landscape masters Scott Christensen,
Shane Townley and (now deceased) Wolfgang Bloch. Sooter knew she
needed to do this herself, and let that 5-year-old who fell in love
with those landscape pictures in the books find her voice.
 |
Photo and initial sketching on left. Final painting on right of
A Plumb Line in La Connor, oil painting by Kelly Sooter |
She studied the works of these 3
painters, who were melding texture with landscapes. “What I needed
to do with my art hit me with full force. It opened my artistic
world to mediums and design that let my real artistic voice come to
the surface.”
 |
In the studio, showing various stages of a painting,
View of studio from corner,
Wet Paint area, waiting for next layers |
 |
Various brushes, and color
blending experiments |
What we see in Sooter's landscapes
today is a culmination of her very early, and lifelong, infatuation
with landscapes, informed by the specific skills and methods learned
from her mentors. This includes things like pushing oneself to
“tone” colors (e.g. add some red to blue to gray it down for a
good sky color, as opposed to simply adding white); applying
composition and design tenets by finding balance between the lightest
and darkest points on the canvas; pushing paint brushes to their
maximum potential by knowing when to apply pressure, how much to
apply, and when to release it. This last aspect is especially
noticeable in the water features of her current landscapes.
 |
Tubes of oil paints
in the Sooter studio |
Having used acrylic paints in her
previous art experience, Sooter also made a move to oil at this
point. “The luminosity is simply not possible in any other
medium.” And luminosity within her landscapes is a major goal for
Sooter. In a 10-day Russian icon painting classes taken some years
ago, she was mesmerized by the application of gold leaf, creating a
fascinating effect. Sooter found a perfect oil to achieve her
desired effect in Chroma's Pale Gold, which she applies as an
undercoat to each canvas, helping achieve the luminous effect.
Early on in her landscape attempts,
Sooter was frustrated with not getting just the right translucence in
her clouds. A friend painter turned her on to Old Holland paint,
which is the paint Vincent Van Gogh used, and is the only oil paint
she has found that gets just the right look for clouds.
 |
Reflections of a Young Heart, oil painting
by Kelly Sooter. Great example of using
Old Holland paint for the clouds. |
She loves to use Vasari paints, which
like Old Holland paints, are made with actual stone-ground pigments.
She also uses Gamblin oils, which are not stone-ground, but of very
high quality. Each type of paint yields a different result, which
her years of skill applies to the canvas to achieve exactly the
result she's after.
Her love of landscapes is evident in
her current paintings, which meld classical and impressionist art
forms, striving to capture the beauty and serenity of the view. The
Pacific Northwest offers a plethora of picturesque views to capture,
and all the works in our current exhibition were inspired by them.
Meet Kelly Sooter in person on
Thursday, September 20, at Manya Vee Selects. Enjoy a large showing
of her work through October 16, as well as a smaller collection
thereafter.
Manya Vee Selects
409 Main St
Edmonds, WA 98020
425-776-3778
