September 21, 2015

" The sight of a masterpiece checks you in spite of yourself, captivates you in a contemplation to which nothing bids you except an invisible charm." - Eugène Delacroix, Journal, September 23. 1854 ( in Kuspit's "The End Of Art")

Current Work

These spectacular clouds are available for sale at Sophiella Gallery in downtown Mobile-and artwalk is tonight! A little bit of history on this painting: It was created for Courtney Matthews’s “Neu Dawn 6” exhibition last December, where it was paired with Velerie Iliff’s stunning costume design (pictures # 2 and 3). Then it was invited to be a part of the Fifth LaGrange Regional exhibition at the Lagrange Art Museum where it won 4th place in the People’s Choice Award!! (Picture #4) “In Spite of it All”, 48 inches wide by 84 inches high, mixed media on canvas. I named this painting “In Spite of it All” because the theme for the Neu Dawn show was finding your own pathway through life’s red lights to freedom (with “Red Lights” by SAULT as the theme song) and the show date was in the middle of a bunch of other things I had going on- my little brother’s wedding, pharmacy school exams, and getting ready for my own solo show the following month- but it was a show I had dreamed of participating in for almost a year and so I decided to go for it. I knew I would be so sad if I passed up the opportunity to participate. And I’m so glad I did! This is my favorite painting of mine right now. I hope it finds a fantastic home ⛅️

ARTWALK THIS FRIDAY • 6:00-9:00 pm Featuring gallery artists! #seeyouatsophiella #loda #artwalk #downtown #mobilealabama #lodaartwalk #downtonmobile

I’m so excited to have made it to the Nappie finals! Thank you to everyone who voted for me for the nominations, y’all made this possible 🫶 Now comes the final push- Please vote for me once a day, every day, from now until May 26th. You can vote at votenappies.com!

This is the last week to see this painting at the LaGrange Art Museum as part of the Fifth LaGrange Southeast Regional Exhibition 🌞☁️ “Sifting the Sky into Layers” , 40x30 inches, oil on canvas. $1,400. Purchase through the LaGrange Art Museum

This is the last week to see my paintings at the LaGrange Art Museum as part of the Fifth Lagrange Southeast Regional Exhibition ☁️☁️ The exhibition runs through April 20th! “In Spite of it All”, oil on canvas, 48x84 inches, $4,000. Purchase through the LaGrange Art Museum See my next post for my other painting in the exhibition

This is an 8x4 foot commission I just finished for a client. He wanted a painting of him and his son wade fishing together for his office because he and his son had built up the company together and also had this great history of going wade fishing together for years. They even took me fishing with them to experience a little bit of the story I was painting for them! Here are some photos of it installed in the client’s office, along with some detail shots🌞 96x48 inches, oil on wood panel

Here’s my process for this 8x4 foot commission! The client wanted a painting of him and his son wade fishing together for his office because he and his son had built up the company together and also had this great history of going wade fishing together for years. They even took me fishing with them to experience a little bit of the story I was painting for them!

Two of my paintings and their matching prints are now up for sale at the Mobile Museum of Art’s Art Store! In preference to having a gift shop, the Mobile Museum of Art has an “Art Store” that features artwork from local artists. Come by and check it out! From left to right: “When We Miss Our Connections (It Looks Like a Memory)”, 40x30 inches, oil on canvas, $1,400 (framed print $99) “Aerie Prairie (Don’t You Wish We Could Stay)”, 40x30, oil on canvas, $1,400 (framed print $99)

These two paintings are in the Fifth LaGrange Southeast Regional exhibition at @lagrangeartmuseum through April 20th! Swipe to see some pictures of the opening and installation adventures 😁 @oksanab7 made my night by coming out to see me and @anthonyklaas and @gjacksontanner helped me out so much with figuring out how to transport my huge painting there. Jackson has 2 incredible paintings in the exhibition too!

These three paintings of mine are available for sale at @sophiellagallery ! Sophiella is my favorite fine art gallery in this area and I’m so excited to be one of their artists ☺️ They have a great exhibition going on in their main gallery downstairs right now and upstairs there is a loft filled with all kinds of different paintings and ceramics. On your way upstairs, you can see where more paintings are thoughtfully placed in other areas- my favorite is the pairing of a @billie_bourgeois painting with an electric box in the stairwell that compliments the painting’s colors beautifully. Sophiella is open Tuesday-Friday 11-4 and Saturday 11-2 and you can also check them out online at sophiellagallery.com

“Inside the Sound of a Gong”, 40x30 inches, oil on canvas, SOLD. This painting sparked a great conversation between my Aunt and I about sound baths😌 I’ve never gotten to experience one in person, but when I was painting this, I was thinking about going to Compline at Saint Mark’s Cathedral when I used to live in Seattle. It’s a night service where the liturgy is sung and the notes fill and reverberate throughout the building as if slowly ringing an enormous gong. The service is so well-loved that often the seating fills up and people sit or lay on the floor while they listen to the melodies. Candles are lit and placed around the cathedral and their flames reflect off the polished floors, casting a warm glow over the listeners. I would come in often to sit on the floor, watching the distorted reflections of the dancing flames, swept up into a glorious globe of sound waves. Swipe to the end to see this painting hung in its new home!

Today, my Dad and I drove two of my paintings up to the @lagrangeartmuseum to drop them off for the Fifth LaGrange Southeast Regional Exhibition at the LaGrange Art Museum!! I’m super excited to have these paintings be a part of of this upcoming show (swipe to see the two paintings that will be included!) This first one is 7 feet tall, so it hung off the back of my tailgate a bit. @gjacksontanner , an artist and friend I met about a year ago now at another show we were a part of together at @intersectartscenter in Missouri, gave me tons of advice on how to pack it, and it didn’t budge the whole trip up to Georgia from Mobile! (I say “another show we were a part of together” because two of his paintings are also going to be in this show, making this the SECOND group show we are going to be a part of together, which is super cool. ) We all got to meet up again today and get pizza when we dropped off our paintings today😁 The opening gala for the exhibition is February 24th, from 6-9pm, and the show will run through April 20th! Painting information: “In Spite of it All”, 48x84 inches, oil on canvas, $4,000. “Sifting the Sky into Layers”, 40x30 inches, oil on canvas, $1,400. Available for purchase through the LaGrange Art Museum.

✨🌞✨ This show turned out to be such a huge success! I’m so happy to be taking two of its paintings to another show at @lagrangeartmuseum tomorrow and to have dropped three of its paintings at @sophiellagallery today! All the paintings are up on my website, and you can also see more of the show and painting process in the “Sky Looks In” highlight on my profile. Here’s to many more sunray-filled days 🌞🌞

My family came to see my show today and it made for such a lovely last day of the show. My Aunt Aimee wrote these beautiful words about it: “I am in awe of my niece, Annieo Klaas. Her art is not only visually stunning but also thoughtful, reflecting how she lives with such a deep awareness of the beauty that is available to all of us if we choose to linger and be present to each moment. Thank you Annieo Klaas- Paintings.” Thank you so much to everyone who came out all month long to see the show and buy prints (and sell out of prints!), to Syd, Kat, Trina and Lucy at the Mobile Art Center who worked so hard to set it up and made the show look so good🤩, to everyone who couldn’t come but supported me anyways by writing to me via instagram and sending me pictures of my show invites on their fridges or walls, sending me cards (Carol Bornman) or flowers the day of the show 💘(Jayme Eng), and to those of you who could come for the reception, you filled up the whole night and kept me so busy talking to more and more people coming in, it was fantastic 🤩! Vernon, you were a great gallery buddy too 🫶🏻 And a huge thank you to Will Lowe for naming the show so eloquently ✨ I have so many more great photos but can only post 10- I’ll have to make a reel👀

I love the way the rays of sunlight trace their way across the different things in my house- the flowers in the windowsill, the painting I’m working on, my paintbrushes, and everything else in its path 🌞🤩 This is the last painting of the series that is up at my show “When the Sky Looks In”, up now till January 31st at @mobileartscouncil . It’s already been sold, so this week is your last chance to go see it before it goes to its new home 👀 There are also prints of it available at the Mobile Arts Council! Flowers by @pgflowerbar

Finally posting a process reel of this painting! There’s been so much going on with the Artist Reception for this show and school starting back up again that I’ve just now gotten around to it😅 but please enjoy some “behind the scenes” clips of this guy, it’s one of my favorites ✨ “Into the Amber Light”, 40x30 inches, oil on canvas, $1,400. Prints available for $40. This is the final painting I finished for my show, “When the Sky Looks In”, on view at the Mobile Arts Council through the 31st of January.

I am so excited to announce that I am being represented by @sophiellagallery ! I’ve admired this gallery since moving to Mobile and am honored to be a part of it now 🤩 Swipe to see the two paintings available at the gallery right now and then a couple photos of me in my studio 🫶🏻 “Begonia”, 36x36 inches, oil on canvas “Oak (Tissue)”, 30x30 inches, oil on canvas https://sophiellagallery.com/artist/annieo-klaas Photo credit for the photos of me in my studio goes to the lovely @sarahcolemanphoto

This is the second time Auburn has put something like this out about me and I am so honored 🫶🏻 This is what they wrote: Excelling outside the classroom, the artwork of Class of 2025 member Annieo Klaas is currently showcased in an exhibition by the Mobile Arts Council! Check out the link in our story to read more about Annieo and the show.

All of my paintings in my show “When the Sky Looks In” at the Mobile Arts Council (@mobileartscouncil ) have matching signed, limited-edition, giclée prints available for sale!

Sometimes I think my favorite time of day is that afternoon golden hour when the light is two colors at once and everything is rosy and blinding at the same time 😍🌞😍 This is the last painting I finished for my upcoming show at @mobileartscouncil , “When the Sky Looks In” opening on the 5th with an artist reception on the 12th at Artwalk (@lodaartwalk ) I made fridge magnets for the first 40 people that come!😁😆 This is “Into the Amber Light”, 40x30 inches, on canvas, $1,400. Giclée prints available for $40.

Reading/ Process Blog