Kayla Koeune of Inferno Art Studio

Labor Day Weekend at the Museum It has been a few years since I have shown art at the Harley Museum so when I found out Heyltje Rose was going this year I jumped on the chance to share a booth with her. Our hand crafted motorcycle goods have a tendency to compliment each other rather well and, with the added bonus of seeing her face for a week, it made the prospect of the journey irresistible. So with quite a bit of preparation I loaded up the Art mobile and drove to Milwaukee to Hustle Art during the 115th Anniversary party. A few things changed this time around. Firstly, the museum extended the hours of operation so we had to be present from 9-9. Pretty long days, which denied us the opportunity to visit friends, but at least we got to spend a lot of time together to catch up and developed some pretty stellar ideas. I would tell you about our magic brain children but sometimes the million dollar ideas needs to be kept secret. Haha...  Secondly and most imp...

 Just rounding the corner is the 1st Friday in Denver (6 July 2018). If you are unfamiliar with the first Friday let me enlighten you. 1 night a month all the galleries in Denver open there doors for an art walk. From Traditional to pop-up gallery’s, art floods the streets giving you the perfect opportunity to adorn your walls with something unique and hand crafted. A far superior alternative to the time a dozen, mass produced, walmart special. What I am trying to get at is if you are out and about in the Sante Fe Art District add the Boxcar Gallery to your list of shows to see. This show features the art of motorcycle from artists all over the country and including yours truly. I will be showing 3 Original paintings featuring motorcycle adventure. There is also a vast selection of motorcycle photography that will be on display for your viewing pleasure! Although I wasn’t able to make it to the first showing, I will be there all night this time around with an assortment of p...

100 Colorado Landscapes A Collection of Watercolors by Artist: Kayla Koeune Now available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble Paperback Hardcover Starting a new series is like taking that first step up the side of a mountain. You know what general outcome you would like to see and I suppose you also know the general direction you are headed to, but there is a lot of uncertainty. Question that popped up in my head where to start, how to start, how many in the series, how big should the art be, who cares if I paint them, and who am I trying to reach and why. I must say this is a series I did for myself and my personal exploration of the new surroundings of living in Colorado. I wanted to challenge myself so I choose a number that was large enough to take dedication but not too substantial that I would quit before the journey began. I have a love of the great outdoors so a series of landscapes seemed like a pretty natural subject, plus in a state full of dynamic lan...

This is a brief st ep by step instructional on creating an ink drawing done with a method that I have enjoyed since college. I used stained paper because I feel it add a depth that brings the drawing to life. It also adds a subtle movement to the piece that allows the eye to travel through the piece by the organic shapes. So let’s get to it. First I lay out several pieces of paper on a surface that I don’t mind getting dirty or that has an easy clean up. Here are 6 sheets of paper on my garage floor. Only about 3 or 4 pieces of this paper will be able to be used as the method is pretty random and the pattern in which the stain is laid down may not meld to the subject. Next I grab some cold coffee and go Jackson Pollock on the pieces. This is the funnest part all the splattering and flicking and rolling. I also press the pieces together to flatten out some of the splatter. After the pieces have fully dried it is time to line the the drawing platform and sketch o...

The Art of the Portrait  One of the most challenging subject matters, in my opinion, is the human face. The multitude of colors found in the flesh is as diverse as all the colors found in this world. Combine that with the tiny details of wrinkles and freckle and the intricacy of the major features and you have a feat that can have you lost for years. I fine myself asking on several occasions through the process... is it done yet, or shall I go further? How realistic do I want to go? Should it look like paint or should it look photorealistic? If its going to push photorealism why not just take a picture and print it. So yes I fine portraits to be a challenge... but a challenge well rewarded when I feel I have gotten it right. I typically start my paintings by laying an under painting that is either a neutral ground or something that is bright and opposite of what I am painting. I suppose the base of my paintings depends on my mood or I discovered a color that gives a ...

100 Colorado Landscapes    This  project is a collection of watercolors inspired by my desire to get to know the natural world that surrounds me. This Series is dedicated to the great outdoors of colorful Colorado. 100 scenic views from all over the region have been chosen. Special attention had been taken to explore the rural and hard to reach corners of this rugged state. From mountains and forests to lakes and grasslands these landscapes explore the possibilities of a medium that is new to me. I have spent my art career up to this point working predominately in ink and oil painting and decided it is time to master a paint that is conducive to travel.  The watercolors in this series are each 4 inches by 6 inches on watercolor paper. The pieces are numbered in order of their production and were started on 20 January 2018. Each Piece will be available for  purchase once the series is complete but I will take early reservations if there is one that st...

 It's always fun to bring a new challenge and goal into your work. The Motor Mural I painted in Loveland Colorado was the most fun I've had painting in a long time. Although this image was a commission and heavily influence by David Mann at the patrons request, it was a pleasure to be challenged to make art from a ladder. I have wanted to break into the mural world for some time now and have been working up to larger public works. I have done large scale paintings and a few installations murals but this was my 2nd true mural and I must admit I'm addicted.   You spend most of your time designing the image on a screen in your studio knowing you will be making the image on scaffolding and ladders with limited amounts of time. The temperature is out of your control and once the painted is cracked you know you will be working around the clock in order to get it done in a timely fashion. When someone watches your process it can be nerve wracking because lets face it some of t...

The History Corner bars, tattoo parlors, motorcycle exhaust, and the greased up bolt of her M4 provide the elements that tend to drive the passionate work behind Kayla Koeune’s artistic creations. Koeune grew up in small-town Wisconsin where she found a love for art at a very young age. And like most of Wisconsin youth, she spent much of hers in taverns; only she was busy drawing the bar flies from a fort she’d construct out of stools. Her passion to create never ceasing, Koeune decided to expand her knowledge and attended the Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts where she earned her BA in Fine Arts with a minor in Art History. She gravitated toward the challenge of the nude human form and capturing the raw emotion of everyday life. Following college, she did what a lot of kids with degrees in Art did…joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard.  Almost immediately after training, she deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, where she developed new connections and friendships that s...