Ken Lund | Live Event Artist
"You have given us a priceless gift, a tangible artifact of our memories, and we will always thank you for that."
-Hugh and Cassie Carspecken
"Everyone in attendance commented on how unique and exquisite your painting was. We now have it hanging proudly above our fireplace at home so anyone who comes over can see it!"
-Blair and Terrell Miller
"Wow, how unique. Not only did he provide entertainment for the guests, we have a beautiful representation of our wedding. Displayed in a predominant place in our home, Ken's painting allows us to relive our wedding day, every day."
-Erik and Jen Bloomstrand
WELCOME
Personalize and commerate your next event with a one of a kind work of art from artist, Ken Lund.
In a matter of hours , Ken will capture your special day as it unfolds with his unique perspective of color, texture and light..
Please click here for booking information.
Event Art
Oil 30" x 40" Fogarty Winery, Woodside CA August 2008
Oil 30" x 40" Chaminade Resort, Santa Cruz CA June 2009
Oil 30" x 40" Viansa Winery, Sonoma, CA August 2005
Oil 36" x 48" San Francisco, CA Feb 2006
Oil 30" x 40" The Corinthian, Houston, TX July 2008
Oil 30" x 40" Country Essences, Wattsonville CA May 2005
Oil 30" x 40" Olympic Club, San Francisco CA May 2007
Oil 36" x 48" Trump National Golf Course, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA August 2005
Oil 30" x 40" Leigon of Honor, San Francisco, CA October 2005
Oil 30" x 40" deYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA December 2007
Oil 30" x 40" Trump National Golf Course, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA June 2006
Oil 30" x 40" Santa Cruz, CA May 2005
Studio Art
2007 Oil 30" x 40"
2010 Oil 24" x 48"
2009 Oil 30" x 40"
2006 Oil 30" x 40"
2001 Oil 30" x 40"
2003 Oil 30" x 40"
2009 Oil 3
2010 Oil 30" x 48"
2010 Oil 40" x 30"
2004 Oil 36" x 40"
2003 Oil 18" x 28"
2003 Oil 24" x 36"
2003 Oil 30" x 40 "
2003 Oil 36" x 48"
2006 Oil 36" x 48"
2005 Oil 30" x 30"
2004 Oil 30" x 40"
2002 Oil 24" x 36"
2003 Oil 24" x 30"
2003 Oil 30" x 36"
2002 Oil 36" x 48"
1999 Oil 48" x 36"
PRICING
Packages start at $1,600
PAINTING SIZES OFFERED
24" x 36"
30" x 40"
30" x 48"
36" x 48"
For more infomation on Event Bookings and availibility or Studio commissioned work please contact Ken at...
Ken Lund
520 Spruce St
Aptos, CA 95003
p 831-708-2721
c 831-464-3403
info_kenlund.com
Artist, Ken Lund in the news... (click on text for full article)
Good Times
Jan 25-31, 2007
Ken Lund, Artist
by Alastair Bland
Nothing quite captures the essence of a wedding for years afterward like a quality set of photographs. But an impressionistic painting can produce lasting memories, too. For more than two years, Ken Lund, a 30 year old local artist originally from Maine, has been attending weddings, setting up his easel and transforming blank canvases into beautiful oil paintings of the events in the space of three to four hours.
Lund will generally paint the reception of a wedding, where simply his presence may serve as a boost to the spirited occasion. I prefer to wait until most of the people arrive so they can see that it was a blank piece of canvas in the beginning, he says. Its a real conversation starter that way and its a good way to break the ice in a social situation.
Wedding ceremonies usually dont last long enough to be painted, but if asked Lund will do it. He must arrive early to paint the background scenery before adding in the family, friends, wedding commissioner, bride and groom and any other characters of significance while the vows take place. Very commonly, the bride and groom request beforehand that Lund pay extra attention to the details of the landscape.
Capturing the location: Thats the special part. Where they get married is predominate in telling a little about who they are as people. The location is special to them and I very much want to expand on that through painting.
While working, Lund keeps his back to the crowd and turns around regularly to view the scene. He employs this tactic not in the interest of his own convenience, but rather to give observers a full view of the image as it develops. Thus, the very act of painting becomes a show in itself, and while the finished piece is destined for the bride and grooms wall, Lunds presence at the wedding is a form of performance art for everyone to enjoy.
As an artist I love painting by myself, but at weddings the biggest jazz I get out of it is the people coming up to me and talking about it. In a way, all weddings are similar on one level, Its the same process every time, but the people really make it interesting. I like it when people are proactive and want to be in the painting. Ill wave and give them the thumbs up once Ive captured them in the work.
Oil paint takes days to fully dry, and so the wedding artist who must bring together a brilliant scene in the space of 200 minutes has no choice but to paint wet on wet. The result is colors bleeding together, edges getting a little muddled, and faces that go unrecognizable. But its no problem for Lund, who uses what might seem like a handicap to his artistic advantage; the color blending, the luminosity and the thick texture all complement his training in abstracts and landscape painting, and each effect adds a unique perspective to the often formal imagery of a wedding.
At the weddings end the piece is not yet ready. It goes home with Lund, who, in the days following, adds the finishing touches, paints the edges, signs the back, writes in a brief synopsis of the event details, and finally drops it in the mail. Actually, it goes first class and usually doesnt have far to travel, anyway. Lund has primarily covered weddings in the Santa Cruz area, with a few jaunts to the distant corners of the state, plus two trips to Texas.
As an event painter, he stands in a niche virtually his own and with scant competition. But heres a question: In the age of high resolution digital photography, why pay for an impressionists image of ones wedding, which will at best be a fantastically bright portrayal of streaky backgrounds, fuzzy outlines and faceless people?
its a very different look in capturing their big day, say Lund. Its really special for people to have the image captured that way and when placed in predominant place in the house it can always be a great centerpiece. Photos are usually put away in the drawer.
But not wedding paintings. Go figure.
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Mar 3, 2009
"Wedding Paintings - Painter records wedding memories on cavas"
by Ramona Turner
Santa Cruz When planning a wedding, brides and grooms usually want to capture their important day on film and video.
Now, artist Ken Lund of Santa Cruz is offering them another option a wedding painting.
By using oils and canvas to capture the event as it transpires, the result brings a whole new dynamic to documenting a special event, said the native of Maine. The guests at the event are always exited to see the painting progress and watch as they are captured on canvas.
Lund set up shop in Santa Cruz in 2004. He travels all over the country leaving his clients and their guests with memories theyll never forget.
Watching Lund work was the talk of her wedding reception, said Laura Messerschmitt of San Carlos. He painted the scene around him. she said of her reception on the deck at the Thomas Fogarty Winery in Woodside. He was doing that for four hours during the reception. People were watching him paint. It was one of the biggest attractions at the wedding.
Not only were guests captivated, but so were her hired photographer and videographer.
It was pretty neat, she said. In the video and the photographs, you can see the progression of the painting.
It was fascinating to watch Lunds creation come together and to see the various elements he captured in it, Messerschmitt said.
It was like it was a cocktail party, she said of the painting that depicts herself, the groom, a few of the groomsman and guests, and her mother on the deck. He even captured the fog as it was rolling in that night.
After about six weeks to dry at Lunds 16th Avenue studio, the painting now hangs over her bed, Messerschmitt said.
Real Maine Weddings - 2010
"Love's Palette"
(Section of article)
by Clare Marcussen
The couple also wanted their ceremony to feel casual. They walked down the aisle together, rather than with their parents, and wrote their own vows. One of Shane's best friends from childhood, Ken Lund, painted their ceremony as it took place.
"Ken decided to start doing oil wedding paintings of ceremonies as wedding gifts for newlywed friends," Shane says. "We were really pleased when he offered to fly across the country with his supplies and paint for our wedding." Lund has since turned his idea into a business - and Shane and Jayson's wedding painting is now the centerpiece in their living room.
Kenneth C Lund
Born Oct 6 1976 Presque Isle, ME
BFA University of Maine at Presque Isle
Permanent Collections
"The Earth Moved"
University of Maine at Presque Isle, Chan Center
Vagadia Wedding - St. Regis Hotel, Dana Point, CA
Krueger Wedding - Olympic Club, San Francisco, CA
Holguin Wedding - Trump National Golf Course, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Miller Wediing - The Corinthian, Houston, TX
Benedicto Wedding - Trump National Golf Course, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Bennett Wedding - Thomas Fogarty Winery, Woodside, CA
Boston Properties Christmas Party - The deYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA
Carspecken Wedding - Viansa Winery, Sonoma, CA
DeGraff Wedding - Leigon of Honor, San Francisco, CA
Genny Fund 2006 - Fort Mason Officers Club, San Francisco, CA
Lilley Wedding - Wichita Falls Country Club - Wichita Falls, TX
Lokey Wedding - Country Essences, Wattsonville, CA
Shipman Wedding - Bonna Della Vinyards, Napa, CA
Sychr Wedding - Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Velez Wedding - Purple Orchid Inn, Livermore, CA
McGuire Wedding - Lover's Point Park, Monterey, CA
Johnson Wedding - Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Napa, CA
Russell Wedding - The Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Exhibitions
Summer Exhibition Group Show | Reed Art Gallery
University of Maine at Presque Isle
Summer 1999
"The Next Generation" Group Show | Maine Coast Artists
Rockport, ME
Mar 4th - Apr 3 1999
Solo Exhibition | The Kitchen
Portland, ME
Apr 2000
"In the Mind's Eye" Solo Exhibition | Reed Art Gallery
Feb 25th - Apr 10th 2002
"Local Abstraction" Group Show | ? Gallery
Santa Cruz, CA
July 2004
Solo Exhibition | Michaels on Main
Soquel, CA
Oct & Nov 2005
