The artwork of Kevin D Brown
The night before we scoped out the location of the old sugar factory turned storage for army surplus. We knew we only had about an hour to paint at the end of a fun and challenging week. I was struck by how the light hit the buildings and the mound of random items near them. At the 2025 Bingham Arts Plein Air Paint Out Exhibition “Surplus” received the 2nd place award. In private collection. Gouache on illustration board, 5 x 7 inches.
An army of BASE jumpers were there to memorialize a lost friend. I could hear them every few seconds. The chute crashing open with a bang. The glide of silence. At first, you can’t help but look but then the sound becomes part of the rhythm of the day. The canyon walls in the distance were soft and lit with the pastel colors of spring. Gouache on illustration board, 5 x 7 inches.
I forgot paint. The zip-lock bag of the tubes of paint was at home so I used whatever was still on the palette from the last session. It was a fun challenge and I love the result. I wrote on the back of this when it was painted, “getting cold, hands numb.” Gouache on illustration board, 5 x 7 inches.
Do you put milk or water in your canned tomato soup? Either way, it’s delicious. I thought a lot about Rothko’s red fields as I painted the soup. Although smaller, I hope my red field reaches toward that kind of life. Part of the “Ode to a Sandwich” show. Acrylic and oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches.
The sandwich of my youth, best with homemade jam. Peanut butter, chunky or creamy? Summer days with hardly enough time to sit and eat. After school snacks with Mr. Rogers on. Or yesterday at lunch, it made me happy. Part of the “Ode to a Sandwich” show. Acrylic and oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches.
This piece is the result of participating in a fun show titled “Ode to a Sandwich.” The BLT is classic, perfectly balanced and undoubtedly holy. Rather than a rendering of the sandwich, it need to be treated it like a religious icon with its parts displayed in glory. Memories of Byzantine religious paintings inspired me. In private collection. Oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches.
It was a pleasant morning, cool enough you needed a sweatshirt at first and then it warmed up. I felt like my painting started that way too. It took me a few minutes of sketching this one out to get it set up like I wanted but then the painting was fun. I nearly had a model, a photographer and her subject came for an au naturel session half way up at the mermaid pool. They stayed out of sight. Gouache on illustration board, 7 x 5 inches.
I snuck out of the house before anyone was awake and realized as I got to my car that I had left the keys inside. Despite that, I still made it out on a hot Saturday morning in July to the Snake River Canyon. I love the layers that the lighting created and how they created distance. Gouache on illustration board, 7 x 5 inches.
I snuck out early one hot Saturday morning. I hiked down into the canyon and was punched in the face by this waterfall. It was incredible to be able to watch the sunrise and change the lighting on the canyon wall. The water was a cool counter to the already warming rocks. Gouache on illustration board, 7 x 5 inches.