Brian T. Keller Helps Open the Door to Art as the 20th Annual Golden Fine Arts Festival’s Featured Artist

Colorado artist Brian T. Keller has been selected as the featured artist for the 20th Annual Golden Fine Arts Festival.  His painting, “Hallet’s Peak” won first place in painting at the 2009 festival and is being reproduced for the 2010 festival. 

“We believe “Hallet’s Peak” perfectly captures the spirit of the Golden Fine Arts Festival,” said festival organizer Nancy Mason.  “Brian’s painting conveys a spirit of ‘opening the door to art’ and that’s exactly what the Golden Fine Arts Festival has strived to do for the past twenty years.”

The Festival’s fine art poster features “Hallet’s Peak” and can be purchased for just $20 at the Festival, through the Golden Chamber of Commerce and at many area merchants. 

Hallet’s Peak is a fine representation of Keller’s artwork, which primarily consists of realistic paintings and reproductions of American themes, including Western landscapes, Midwestern shorelines, seascapes, beach themes and still life art from his own unique perspective.

According to Keller, “It's always an honor to be selected as the featured artist at any worthwhile show, and the Golden show is especially fun for me as it is one of my favorite local events.  It brings out a good art buying crowd, and treats the artists very well.  It's very well organized, and most artists feel a little privileged to be able to participate in it at all. Being chosen as the featured artist just makes it that much better.”

Keller has won numerous awards, including Best of Show at Castle Rock Artfest, Scottsdale Artfest and La Quinta Arts Festival, and he was the featured artist for the Downtown Denver Art Festival and the Bayou City Art Festival. 

His early accomplishments include works in graphic design and illustrations, but he was dissatisfied with the constraints of these careers and in 1980, he left commercial art to dedicate his energies to fine art, instead.

During the mid-1980s, Keller encountered Taos, Santa Fe, and the great desert southwest.  The clean, dry air, and clear light of the southwest were a major influence on his understanding of light in his works. Today, this influence is evident as warm colorful glows, reflected light, and deep shadows that dominate his paintings.

In 1991, Keller began work in egg tempera. Tempera paint is a light, delicate paint that dries almost immediately and does not blend or smear. Since his primary goals are to create illusions that capture light and a sense of place which invite the viewer into his paintings, this precise paint is ideally suited to his work. The clarity of this paint allows him to capture the fine detail and bright highlights that complete these illusions. 

Keller will be available at the Golden Fine Arts Festival to meet with visitors and answer questions about his work.  The Festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 and Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010, on 11th Street just west of Washington Avenue in historic downtown Golden.

For more information on Brian Keller, go to his website at: www.btkeller.com

For more information and updates about the Golden Fine Arts Festival and other activities in Golden, visit the Festival website at www.GoldenFineArtsFestival.org or Golden’s visitor website, www.2hourvacation.org.