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GALLERY
Hood River Valley
Created on the premiere episode of "Galen's Workshop" Season 6! This image was painted with acrylics on a 12x16 inch canvas, drawn with oil pastel and black marker, and finished with a sealant. Hood River Valley is located in the state of Oregon and is one of Galen's favorite destination spots nearby his homestead.
Metamorphosis
For this artwork, Galen used various materials and old figurines to represent a stage of the "metamorphosis" process. There are 5 different stories and scenes happening at the same time from multiple angles. View close up images on my Instagram account @galenolson
Great Magma River
In an epic double creation round, Galen created this artwork inspired by flowing magma rivers. The intention was to mix the elegance of the landscape against a destructive force of nature. Materials used for this artwork consisted of acrylic paints, fluorescent paints, sequins, and air dry clay.
Western Wildfires
In the 2nd part of the double creation round, Galen created a horror piece inspired by the 2020 Oregon wildfires, using black ink marker, fluorescent paint, charcoal, and spray paint.
Riding The Waves
This artwork was inspired by the overlapping wave patterns of the ocean, practicing a technique of mixing together acrylics and laying the paint on top of the surface.
Waking Nature
For Galen's 6th project, he took inspiration from nature releasing itself from the constraints of our world, painted in black, white, and silver. You can see multiple images, scenes, and characters in silhouette throughout the piece. You can see details in any direction you turn this painting.
Lights In The Sky
In the 2nd double creation round of the season, Galen began the episode creating this artwork inspired by UAP sightings, which are more known and talked about more since the government released footage showing citizens that they do exist. One sighting in Utah was the inspiration for this piece. A reminder to keep your eyes to the skies. This artwork was created with air dry clay to build a textured landscape, then used fluorescent and acrylic paints to bring it to life.
The Devil's Tower
For the 2nd project of the double creation round, Galen wanted to paint the landscape featuring "The Devil's Tower" a real location in Wyoming, best known for its appearance in 'Close Encounter's of the Third Kind.' This project was an experimentation in texture, using air dry clay to bring this tower to life.
Possession
For Galen's 7th episode, he was inspired by the idea of nature taking back possession of a cabin in the woods, as the cabin spouts out tentacle-like roots and starts to transform. This artwork was made with air dry clay and painted with acrylic. The cabin was made for christmas decoration, and was re-painted for this composition.
Galen's Gecko
This artwork was created with air dry clay and multiple layers of acrylic and oil paint. Galen wanted to create his own textured Gecko in the form of a portrait. At the end of the episode, Galen only had one regret with this piece, which was the textured background. You can find this artwork with a black-colored background on Galen's Instagram account and on the products in Galen's shop!
Mind Space
In the 100th episode of the 'Workshop' series, Galen wanted to showcase his mixed media vision through inspiration from a dream he had previously to filming this episode. The composition showcases inside the mind of a robotic character from an alien world.
Crater Lake
This composition was painted after Galen visited Crater Lake, Oregon during the spring of 2022, using acrylic paints and adding textures such as foliage and miniature trees.
Passiflora
Galen wanted to tackle a challenging subject based in nature, so he chose Passiflora as his inspiration (also known as Passion Flowers). Galen initially ran into trouble halfway through production, and had to make the decision to go with shoe laces as a texture, even though it was a much thicker material than he originally wanted. However, Galen wanted to showcase how weird and "alien-like" this flower is visually, and in the end, the artwork came together.
Spider Vision
Based on a memory of being in his early 20s, being drunk and watching two spiders duel each other on his wall, Galen re-creates that scene in over-the-top fashion.
Cakes on a Train
Cakes with a thirst for human flesh....you wouldn't want to be caught in this speeding train from hell! This was the idea behind this composition, drawn with ink marker and painted with acrylic.
Time Travel
Inspired by a dream, Galen attempts to interpret the passage through time and space, as the mind sorts out what is real and what is not. Painted with acrylic and fluorescent paint.
Firefly Temple
Painted with acrylic, drawn with marker and pen, and overlaid with miniature sequins. Galen was not as happy with this piece after it was completed, which is why it was not mentioned in the episode. However, Galen plans to revisit projects from previous seasons some day on his show, and this is one of the projects that Galen would like to return to...
Artificial Invasion
This was one of my favorite projects of the season, as I got to repurpose old electronic cords and broken pieces into these artificial robotic creatures that rise from the sea. The sunset also turned out better than I could have asked for.
The Deep Woods
I also really loved how this turned out. Instead of creating a horizontal landscape featuring the miniature pieces, I wanted to switch it up and try a fisheye perspective. This was a fun experiment and a perfect lead into the big finale project!
Curse of the Dead
The Great Mind Flood
"Mental Reboot"
The inspiration behind this artwork is healing the insecurities within myself through encouragement and will power. Doing so will allow my mind to break free from the routine. This was painted with acrylic paints, and I added a plastic "scarf" hanger to add texture and a new shape to the image.
"Stand Together"
This was a great first challenge for me! Not only was it fun to think of alternative ways to paint an image without normal utensils, but it was also challenging to decide which direction for me to go with the composition. As the background developed over the course of the creation process, it gave me a feeling of a spiritual apocalypse. To complete the image, I had found old drawings of failed attempts at art work during the series.
"City Down Under"
This was a fun project to fully realize. I wanted this composition to feel like a shot directly from a movie. This composition is based on a dream I had where I could only see silhouettes of people traveling below the surface of the Earth to discover an secret ancient city, with a sunset peaking over the opening of the cave above it.
"The Melted Craft"
I did enjoy performing this art challenge, with the extra bonus of having to interpret these given materials into a composition on anything that wasn't a canvas. The only thing I had available was a 2x3 foot cardboard box, and I cut out 1 side of it to use for painting on top of it. Not the most creative use of materials, but it did give me more space to utilize all of my materials. I used the bottle caps and pieces of the facial mask to conceptualize a "UFO." I used the string of the mask to cut out small pieces and shape them into birds in the sky. The bubble wrap was cut into pieces for use of clouds, and I added spray paint to give them texture. Very proud of this piece!
"The Growing Egg"
Inspired by "Jurassic Park" and "Land of the Lost"
"Jungle in the Dark"
This challenge twist was crazy - painting in total darkness! The only light I could see was from the reflection of light against the wall from the camera and it was very minimal! I could not tell what colors I was using, and at times, I completely forgot where the canvas was. However, I am happy that at least a few elements look similar to plant life. That combined with the black and blue background of odd shapes, it gives the feeling of natural vastness, thereby fulfilling the challenge brief.
"Wizard Vs. Wildfire"
This landscape was inspired by the beautiful nature of Central Oregon! A wizard uses his powers to send water through the lands to save his village from wildfires.
"Nauset Lighthouse"
Thank you to Matt & Teresa for this awesome challenge of painting Nauset Lighthouse in Cape Cod. This is the 2nd time I've created an artwork for these two. The 1st time was on Season 2, Episode 7 when I painted Haystack Rock on a big canvas.
"Red Light Towers"
A fun experiment using a cutout cardboard holder repurposed to look like three-dimensional twin towers, with cut outs of drawings and inserted LED red lights underneath to bring out a sinister look to the overall piece at night. A version of these towers were seen in a dream of mine when I was 9 years old.
"Great Horned Owl"
The production of these painting had some bumps along the way, as this was the first time I had to stop painting to completely restart a composition. In this case, I am happy I did! Thank you, Jason, for this fun Portrait challenge!
"Summer's Winter"
Inspired by a random week early in 2023 where there was snow, cold hail, tornadoes, and heat waves happening all at the same time within the USA.
"Cubic Clydesdale"
What started off as a portrait of a Clydesdale horse turned into something more eye-catching by interpreting this animal through the style of Cubism.
"Rain Gods Dance"
One of my favorite projects of the season - a perfect blend of artistry, dance, and mystery!
"The Resurrection"
I desperately wanted to experiment with photography and mixed media in a piece inspired by old school monster movies. It is critical as a creator to know where your own faults are and how to approach it differently next time. On this subject, the one thing I had a struggle with was getting the thickness of the lines perfect to where you can still see detail of the photograph/background. I went heavy handed. However, as a first attempt at a process like this, being imperfect just makes me want to stay this again in a future episode of this series, so stay tuned!
"Cairns Birdwing"
The final "Viewer" challenge of the season was the paint a composition featuring a Cairns Birdwing butterfly! I decided to keep the composition simple, and focused solely on bold neon colors to bring this to life. One of my favorite projects of the season - I loved the process and I was happy with the result.
"Garden of Polaris"
I had a lucid dream and the environment around me was surrounded with weird plants, some with eyeballs and cameras mixed in. I tried my best to capture what I had remembered that night. Journaling immediately as I wake up as helped me revisit dreams easier than in the past.
"Return to Sigiriya"
For the first time on the series, my Instagram audience was tasked to vote between 5 artworks for redemption. While the audience split the vote in the end, John chose wisely and gave me this assignment of Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. This project was painted on my 2nd season of the series, and I was disappointed with my background and details. My objective was to take care of what wasn't working and learn from my mistakes. As with anything, practice creates a better craft and understanding of the subject matter. Thankfully, I was not disappointed after painting this redemption piece.
"Anomaly in the Sky"
This project, while not a re-do of the previous Skinwalker Ranch artwork I did on season 4, is still inspired by the same subject matter. What the scientists currently at Skinwalker Ranch have caught is pretty incredible. One instance really caught my imagination and I had no choice but to follow my creative desire and paint what I saw. A perfect way to close out a strong season of art and creation. Most seasons I only like a few of my designs, but this season, I felt more proud of what I accomplished. There is much more room to grow, and as long as that is the case, I will return with another season of my 'Workshop' series every year! See you all in 2024!!
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