Whiteout (Deer) by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Whiteout (Deer)

8" x 8"

Acrylic on canvas

Available for purchase at Carnation Corners, Carnation, WA


Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com
kjh@kristinjurist-art.com

Whiteout (Bison) by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Whiteout (Bison)

8" x 8"

Acrylic on canvas

Available for purchase at Carnation Corners, Carnation, WA

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kjh@kristinjurist-art.com

"Hunting by Starlight" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Hunting by Starlight

12" x 12"

Acrylic on canvas

Available for purchase at Carnation Corners, Carnation, WA

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kjh@kristinjurist-art.com

"Patience" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Patience

24" x 12"

Acrylic on canvas

Available for purchase at Carnation Corners, Carnation, WA

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kjh@kristinjurist-art.com

"Steady On" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Steady On

Acrylic on canvas

24" x 48"

Available for purchase at Carnation Corners, Carnation, WA

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

"Buffalo Running I, II, & III" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Buffalo Running I, II, & III

acrylic on canvas

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Available for purchase at Revolution Gallery, Issaquah, WA

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Winter Chickadee II" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Winter Chickadee II

6" x 6" x 1.5"

acrylic on canvas

sold

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Self-Reliance"

Self-Reliance
12" x 24" x 1.5"
acrylic on canvas
Available for purchase through Kristin (contact)

The left side of the canvas features the following text:

"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world." 

RALPH WALDO EMERSON: Self-Reliance

...and the right side features this text: 

"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." - Self-Reliance

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"A Moment's Rest" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

A Moment's Rest

acrylic on canvas

24" x 36" x 1.5"

$1100 + $45 shipping (contact)

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Falling Snow" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Falling Snow

acrylic on canvas

24" x 24" x 1.5"

Available for purchase from Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT

This winter, I've been aching for peaceful, snowy days that make the world a lot quieter and hot chocolate all the more delicious.

Since it's mostly just a rainy mess out here in Washington, I found a lot of my atmospheric inspiration from reading a poem by Joanna Klink called "Porch In Snow." It helped to put me in the right mindset for this painting. Originally featured in Klink's amazing book of poetry called Circadian, I first came upon "Porch In Snow" in an absolutely outstanding anthology called Montana Women Writers: A Geography of the Heart (seriously...this is an amazing book. I highly recommend it). Klink is a professor of graduate creative writing at the University of Montana-Missoula.

I just want to share a few lines here to give you an idea of how lovely it is...but you should read the full version via Google Books' preview of Montana Women Writers here. I hate to excerpt from poetry, since the poetry gets so mangled as a result...it's especially hard to share a brief excerpt of Klink's poetry, since every line is so darn good.

"There you are, snow filling the air,

in the midst of silence [...]

Winter, there is no prayer but this,

to hold fast in the time of few choices.

An animal moves through the backyards, its eyes

precise and lit, the premise of everything I believe"

-Joanna Klink, excerpted from "Porch In Snow", from Circadian (Penguin: 2007)

Isn't that just stunning? I hope you'll check out Klink's work and find as much inspiration in her poetry as I have.

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Crossing the Yellowstone" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Crossing the Yellowstone

acrylic on canvas

24" x 36" x 1.5"

RIP - This painting was destroyed by its shipping carrier, UPS, en route to a gallery.

I tried loosening up a bit more for this painting...I wanted to focus on the colors and give a more surreal impression to the landscape.

Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow 

Of crystal, wandering water,

Thou art an emblem of the glow 

Of beauty—the unhidden heart—

The playful maziness of art

In old Alberto's daughter

-Edgar Allen Poe, from "To the River"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Morning Stroll" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Morning Stroll

acrylic on canvas
12" x 12" x 1.5"
sold


I have a soft spot in my heart for chickens. We keep 4 hens in our backyard, and besides the delicious fresh eggs they provide, they also make surprisingly great pets. We've handled them since they were chicks, so they're incredibly tame and like to follow us around the yard when we let them out of their enclosure. David & I have even recently started a blog about our chickens, since we've been getting a surprising number of emails with questions about raising an urban flock.


Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Yellow-Headed Blackbird" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Yellow-Headed Blackbird
acrylic on canvas
12" x 6" x 1.5"
sold
I decided to try something different and paint a small bird rather than the usual four-legged creatures that I focus on.

The beautiful yellow-headed blackbird makes a surprisingly piercing squawk.

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Silent Witness" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

Silent Witness
acrylic on canvas
24" x 12"
$525 + $30 shipping (contact)

This was my first attempt at painting a cougar.  It's amazing how much my own housecats resemble this impressive animal.  Cougars are the largest cats that can purr (to the best of my knowledge...scientists are still debating, apparently).

For my Seattle show in December, we hung this painting right next to Little Bighorns...it was a bit eerie but had a pretty interesting visual effect.

He crouched low and long on the road,
Low and long and golden against
The leaves, watching pensively,
A damp sphinx of the woods. 
-Keith Holyoak, from "The Cougar"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Little Bighorns" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Little Bighorns" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas

18" x 12"

$275 + $20 shipping & handling (contact)

I decided to experiment a bit with this one. I used isopropyl alcohol to dissolve droplets of paint on the canvas; I started by using the alcohol drops just on the rocks, then expanded them to the rest of the canvas.

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Allies for a Season" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Allies for a Season" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on gcanvas

24" x 36" x 1.5"

$1100 + $45 shipping (contact)

The pigments have been mixed with incandescent pearl paint, and I laid the colors on layer by layer. A soft purple/magenta shows through the blue layers, but this unfortunately doesn't show up so well in the photographs.

The snow whispers about me,

And my wooden clogs

Leave holes behind me in the snow.

But no one will pass this way

Seeking my footsteps,

And when the temple bell rings again

They will be covered and gone.

-Amy Lowell, "Falling Snow"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Grazing I" and "Grazing II" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Grazing I" & "Grazing II" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson
acrylic on canvas
8" x 8" x 1.5"
$115 each or $200 for the pair + either $15 or $20 shipping (contact)


I bought some crackle paste awhile ago and finally decided to try it out. I combined it with a light molding paste so that the centers of the canvases wouldn't be as crackly.

These two can be hung individually or as a pair. Grazing I has more of a reddish tint to it, and Grazing II has a lighter tan tint.

I will leave in the hills a bit of myself--
The heat of my eyes which saw them bloom;
And cicadas, nesting on thorny branches,
Will sing out the shrill cry of my desire.
-Anna de Noailles, from "The Imprint"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com
kristinjurist@gmail.com

"The Great Gray Ghost" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"The Great Gray Ghost" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas

14" x 11" x 1.5"

$275 + $20 shipping & handling (contact)

This particular piece is a departure from my usual four-legged subjects...I just had to paint that beautiful eye! That striking yellow-orange color is the actual hue of the owl's eye - I based the whole color scheme of the painting around it, accordingly. Iridescent gold paint is mixed in with the pigments.

The sea, the stars, the winds, the trees,

The stream, the waterfall, the dell,

The bird, the flowers, the meadow-bell--

I felt that all of these

Were but the symbols of a soul

Alive with hope or memory;

The mind's immortal harmony

That through its chambers stole.

And to the spirit's listening ear,

Whilst slept the limbs and senses all,

Made every thing seem musical;

How could I cease to hear?

-Christopher Pearch Cranch, from "The Music of Nature"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson

http://kristinjurist-art.com/

http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/

kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Shy Elk Calf" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Shy Elk Calf" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

acrylic on canvas

11" x 14"

$365 framed

Available for purchase from Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT

I still had wet paint leftover from some recent paintings, so I decided to keep rolling with the elk theme and produced this little guy. I never realized how knobby an elk calf's knees were until I painted them...

April had covered the hills

With flickering yellows and reds,

The sparkle and coolness of snow

Was blown from the mountain beds.

-Amy Lowell, "Azure and Gold"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com/
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/
kristinjurist@gmail.com

"Awakening" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson

"Awakening" by Kristin Jurist Haakenson
acrylic on canvas
18" x 24" x 1.5"
$775 unframed
Available for purchase from Freshwater Studio & Gallery, Dillon, MT


Here's another elk in dawn light with an entirely different color scheme & mood (as compared to Morning's Call). Iridescent copper paint is mixed in with the pigments to give the piece a more subdued glow.

I've been having a lot of fun trying new directions lately - it's far too easy to box oneself in, so I'm working on experimenting more and forcing myself to let go of the attention to composition in my reference photos. Over the past few months, I've been focusing more on the portraying the form of a subject (I waxed philosophical on that in July) - I'm trying to convey the "elk-iness" of an elk, the "morning-ness" of morning, etc. I have a lot of work to do, but it's an exciting journey:)


How fair it comes, the wonderful hour
When nature from sleep awakes,
And over the face of the earth at last
A newborn gladness breaks!
The stars grow pale in the shadowy sky,
And over the mountains creep
The mists that are part of the waking world,
And part of the earth's sweet sleep.
The restless birds in the tree-tops high
Are shaking their wings at last,
And chirp, and twitter their songs of praise,
As the dawn comes on so fast.
But who can tell of the wondrous charm,
When over the distant hills
The day's bright king in his glory comes
And the earth with radiance fills?
Now scatter, ye mists, from the mountain-side,
And die in the sky's soft blue;
For the dawn has passed, and the day is here,
With its light and joy so true.
-Mary Dowe Brine, "The Awakening"

Kristin Jurist Haakenson
http://kristinjurist-art.com/
http://kristinjuristart.blogspot.com/
kristinjurist@gmail.com