Artist Spotlight: Elayne Kuehler

In these days of political and social unrest, foreign wars, and a general sense of angst, Elayne Kuehler’s art transports viewers above the malaise into a more peaceful world. Whether she is painting tranquil scenes from the Louisiana landscape or composing still lifes, her art is an aesthetic tonic that reminds us there is beauty all around us.

“There are two qualities I wish to communicate in my art – serenity and beauty,” says Kuehler. “Serene as in tranquil, peace on earth, orderliness as in easy with no complications. Beauty, abounding endlessly in nature.”

Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Kuehler’s career began early in life with encouragement from her parents and a high school teacher who told her she had talent and should pursue her art. With that advice, she studied art briefly at Southern University in Baton Rouge and then went on to study under such distinguished artists as South Carolina’s Barrie Van Osdell and Louisiana masters Auseklis Ozols and Carol Peebles. As Kuehler says – Osdell helped her “with symmetry in drawing,” Ozols “with color,” and Peebles “with portraiture and the figure.”

Those three influences have come together well in her portraits, still life paintings and romantic outdoor images. For instance, a peaceful sunflower-filled meadow, a radiant sunset on a Louisiana lake, a live oak in warm misty light and egrets at flight are all caught in the natural landscape uncluttered and devoid of human presence. Almost all are painted on location, or “en plein air” as they say in the trade.

“There is a magic quality about paintings that are created from life,” Kuehler once wrote in her statement. “They capture the beauty of nature, with the radiance of her glorious colors, details, textures. The designs they create – the vastness of the sky and the air that surrounds it all. Painting in nature and from the brilliance of life is a very serene and an extremely nourishing place to be and serves as a great inspiration to me.”

When painting on location, Kuehler prefers the warm tones of early mornings or late afternoons when the “light is beautiful” and “long shadows add lovely patterns to the composition.”

A glance at her landscapes reveals the artist’s fascination with ancient live oaks in their natural settings. As she paints, she asks herself, “How many hurricanes have they survived?  If they could talk, think of the history they could tell. Their enormous size and their twisting, gnarled trunks and branches, moss swaying in the wind, are home to how many creatures? They almost can talk.”

Of course, there are problems painting outdoors, says Kuehler. The bugs are a nuisance and the constantly changing light can affect the composition. Therefore, she will often start a painting on location, take numerous photographs of the subject landscape, and then complete the painting back in her studio to the soothing sounds of classical music.

When painting still lifes, which often consist of flower arrangements and other decorative objects, bugs and changing light aren’t a problem. They are done indoors and only from life, no photographs. “If you compare the photograph of a still life to the real still life,” she says, “everything is different, the color and the values. Painting still lifes from life teaches one all about color, values, edges, reflections and beauty.”

During the COVID-19 shutdown, Kuehler did a series of paintings on birds. Considering the circumstances at the time, flying birds seem appropriate. Perhaps to her, they represented an emotional and spiritual freedom and release from the pressures brought about by the pandemic and confinement. They are a beautiful and poetic response to an impossible situation.

“Birds are always near and dear, part of nature,” she says. “Hearing them sing is uplifting. Seeing them fly under a blue beautiful sky is always magnificent.”

Whether Kuehler is painting landscapes, still lifes, portraits or teaching art, she has built an impressive career that has gained her numerous awards and considerable recognition in regional, national and international art competitions. She is a member of several prestigious art organizations, among them the International Guild of Realism, the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in New York, American Women Artists, the Portrait Society of America, and Oil Painters of America. She is represented by the Gallery 600 Julia in New Orleans and occasionally exhibits at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts.

Like most successful artists, Kuehler is driven by her work. Ideas and thoughts about new paintings move endlessly in and out of her imagination.

“I am always inspired to paint,” she says. “I can think of so many things I want to paint that I will never catch up. It is what I do. I have a need to capture the beauty of the story. Whether it’s the color scheme, the perspective or the composition, each painting is a challenge. What could be more interesting than that?”

For more information, visit elaynekuehler.com.

Exhibits

Cajun
IN MEDIAS RES: How One Story Becomes Another
How art inspired Louisiana poet laureate Darrell Bourque, through May 11. Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette. acadianacenterfor-thearts.org

Central
A Graphic Journey:
Etchings, lithographs and linocuts by Picasso, March 15 through June 15. Alexandria Museum of Art. themuseum.org

Plantation
The Art of Looking Up: Following the Stars, from Ancient Cultures to the Webb
Art inspired by space and space exploration, through April 21. Louisiana Art and Science Museum, Baton Rouge. lasm.org

NOLA
Tina Girouard: SIGN-IN
Posthumous retrospective of this Louisiana-born artist, March 16 through July 7. Ogden Museum of Southern Art. ogdenmuseum.org

North
Bloom! Juried Exhibition
Art and the beauty of nature, March 28 through May 12. R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport.
rwnaf.org