My body of work spans midcentury style abstract expressionism, geometry, watercolors, collage, and Sumi-e ink painting. I like the rustic, organic, metallic, and weathered look as well as the mystical and ethereal. I'm constantly exploring new designs, materials, and methods. My yoga, meditation practice, and love of Nature influence my art style, through which I hope to impart simplicity, beauty, and peace. Approximately two hundred of my paintings have been sold to people across the U.S., Britain, and Canada. My work has been exhibited in galleries in Colorado and Nebraska.

I am mostly self-taught as an artist. In college I took an abstract expressionist painting elective class. This gave me a lifelong desire to be an artist, and I knew I'd be an artist when I retired. I have spent many hours studying great artists from the past, and have visited many art museums and galleries. By observing, I have learned and been inspired by the greats. I live in a midcentury era house and my favorite art is that from the last midcentury. Some of my favorite artists are Rothko, Diebenkorn, Klee, Picasso, Mondrian, Avery, Monet, and Kahn.

On some days I am a minimalist and simplicity fascinates me. Beauty and minimalism become synthesized through the use of color. Einstein, Jack Kerouac, and Zen philosophy have all pined for the elegance of simplicity. The 1950's color field movement of abstract expressionism guides me and challenges me. Details seem messy and unnecessary. Saint Thomas Aquinas said late in life that for what had recently been revealed to him, his previous writings all seemed like straw. For me, this thought applies to busy art. Instead, I like to see art that makes one feel expansive, open, and still inside. Simple art helps focus and declutter the mind in this age of too many distractions. It helps us slow down, pause, and wonder. It can provide a visual portal to inner peace.

I am a lover of design and architecture. When I create art, I like to imagine how it could look inside a room. If you purchase art from me, I’d love to see a photo of it in its new home.

Thank-you for visiting my shop on Artfinder and have a good day!

FAVORITE QUOTES:

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” ~ Hans Hoffman

"In art, and in the higher ranges of science, there is a feeling of harmony which underlies all endeavor. There is no true greatness in art or science without that sense of harmony.” ~ Albert Einstein

“There is more power in telling little than in telling all.” ~ Mark Rothko

EXHIBITIONS:

51st Annual Rocky Mountain National Watermedia exhibition, September 19 – October 26, 2024. Juror, Mary Whyte, selected 50 pieces out of almost 500 submissions. At the Center for the Arts Evergreen, Colorado gallery. Artwork: The Golden Triangle.

Contributor to Lion’s Roar Auction with two pieces each year from 2018-2022 with ensōs and other zen style paintings and collages.

Boulder’s Open Studios.

Boulder’s Pop Gallery, Pearl Street.

Grace Gallery, Denver.

Main Navigation

Artworks by Kay MacDonald

Shop section

Options

Stripes on Lime by Kay MacDonald

Acrylic painting