They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I’d say that is very true, and I’d also say that little ditty can be ascribed to many things, including art. Let’s keep that in mind as we look at today’s art presentation. What do you sense, or feel, with each piece? What emotions, if any, do you feel as you view each piece and read about their creation, or this artist’s interpretation.
I often screen capture or photograph art that I find inspiring, and I save it for a time when what it has presented spurs me on to create something new. Today, I was looking through my recent saves and decided that I would create a color palette based on the image below. It is something I had seen on the internet and then decided to see if I could come up with something as interesting and artistically appealing. As a side note, I think the image below would make a great distressed sign background, just needs some matching distressed text. What do you think it could say? Maybe it could read Campbell’s Soup, since the image and color scheme is quite reminiscent of an old and beat up soup can label. Can you picture it?
Freestyler Painting – Enric Alberti – Spain
Acrylic Paint on Canvas
Here is the color palette created through my photo editing app.
Color Palette from Image – Affinity Photo – Screen Capture by Don Cheke
This first image below is what I came up with. I created this using pastel paints and randomly selected brushes. I added a “Color Burn” blended mode cardboard image to add some texture. For some reason, the corrugated look, the bright sunrise, or sunset, and the abstract palm tree fronds, reminded me of Cuba. Having never been to Cuba, I can’t really say why. I was so pleased with the overall look that just seemed to come to life.
Welcome to Cuba 1 – Created by Don Cheke
With Cuba in mind, I added some elements – welcome to Cuba text and a landmass silhouette of Cuba.
Welcome to Cuba 2 – Created by Don Cheke
In the third version, I added a couple of ship silhouettes. I liked the addition, my wife, not so much. With the ships, it reminded me of the Cuban missile crisis in the early 60’s. I was still a bit too young to remember it personally, but I remember it from history lessons.
Welcome to Cuba 3 – Created by Don Cheke
You will have noticed the feature image, seen again here, where I created a 3D bowl/vase and image wrapped the Welcome to Cuba 3 painting around it.
Welcome to Cuba Vase – Modeled & Rendered by Don Cheke
Knowing how we humans like to apply our artwork to many of the things we use in daily life, I thought that this would not go amiss. I added a reflective surface to reflect the surrounding environment in the scene. I really like how this turned out. 👍
Aurora Borealis – Created by Don Cheke
A couple of days after creating the Welcome to Cuba series, while listening to the Electric Light Orchestra’s 1981 album Time, I created this piece. As this piece started to come to life, I could clearly see something that looked like the Aurora Borealis. Once I hit this stage, I tweaked it a bit more to ensure that it idealized that vision even more. Adding the image title, I assumed all viewers might see it too. Here in Saskatchewan (central Canada), we typically call them the Northern Lights, how about where you live?
Someone on the artist’s forum that I participate in mentioned that she had been enlisted to create a 13’ x 37’ wall mural for a company that produces and sells semiconductors. That is a type of computer chip, in case the term is unfamiliar to you. I had posted a couple of my own images from years past, thinking they might provide some inspiration. Others offered some suggestions as well. During that discussion I decided I would try and come up with something new that she might like or be inspired by. I knew that it had to be something that could be painted by hand, and in a reasonable time frame. Below is what I came up with. I’m not sure it is something I would use, but it was a simple stab at something basic.
Circuit Paths & Chip Sets – Created by Don Cheke
Some folks suggested that she create something digitally and have it large-format-printed and applied like wallpaper. Doing it this way, one is not so limited in how detailed the final result can be. I knew from other interactions from the artist that the company wanted her to hand paint something, because that is what she is known for. I get that!
During this discussion, I was reminded of a local artist who had painted wall murals at the Intercon meat packing plant in Saskatoon. Many years later, before the destruction of the plant, the wall murals were removed and sent to the local art gallery, thus preserving them. Copy and paste the address below in your browser for that story: Fine Art on the Kill Floor: the Perehudoff Murals.
https://saskwatchers2019.blogspot.com/2019/01/fine-art-on-kill-floor-perehudoff-murals.html
A little history note. When I was a young boy, my family and I lived about 10 houses down the alley from the Perehuoff’s. I remember seeing his backyard studio from the alley as we played. Sadly, I never got to see inside the studio.
As I continued to ponder the mural project, I decided to come up with something different using the same components of my original piece. I knew that this one would have proved very difficult to paint in real life, so I just made an 8” x 10” print of it. The blend modes in digital work make for some great colors, so I just experimented like crazy and added a few other components. I hope that you like it.
Circuit Paths & Chip Sets Alternate – Created by Don Cheke
Next to come was the piece below.
The Watchers – Created by Don Cheke
The Watchers was inspired by an art project of the same name by Canadian artist Peter von Tiesenhausen. He has many art pieces, or projects, that I just love, but especially The Watchers.
Check out Peter’s art: https://www.tiesenhausen.net/the-watchers
Peter’s watchers are hauntingly beautiful in their essence, and I wanted to capture that in my painting. The rectangles that shrink in size to represent distance, along with the “light” at the end of the tunnel, speak of that mystery. The four watchers gaze up at the distant light looking for a sign. The tree silhouette adds a hint of nature and our connection to it. Note that the tree was transformed from a photo I took on one of my past journeys, and it is the same tree I used on my Threads of the Spirit book cover. Here, it represents the many branches in our collective lives. All a bit mysterious, as intended.
Snakeskin – Created by Don Cheke
Snakeskin was another experiment with color and texture. I initially came up with the “leather” abstract background and decided later that it needed something else. I tried a few different things but finally decided to draw and add the snake. Perhaps it alludes to snakeskin boots, or something more mysterious. Did you know that the snake is a symbol of our dark side. Add wings and you have a dragon, which symbolizes the good and bad, or the dual nature of the human being. Or so I’ve heard.
Does seeing someone else’s art inspire you to create art of your own?
Donald B. Cheke – March 31, 2025
You have a very creative mind. Always impressed with what you come up with.
Thanks for the kind reply, Michael!
This article and others like it is are some of the most persuasive arguments that I’ve come across that keep me motivated to do more.
Well done indeed Don Cheke, and fwiw we share so much in common.
Thanks Darryl, for taking time to read the blog post and for the nice comments.