Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 13

Kelly Birkenruth
"The Light Always Shines Through" by Kelly Birkenruth, Figurative Oil Painting

2024

$5,500
£4,230.97
€4,910.95
CA$7,756.31
A$8,688.38
CHF 4,563.45
MX$105,647.85
NOK 57,788.16
SEK 54,856.50
DKK 36,652.31

About the Item

"The Light Always Shines Through" by Kelly Birkenruth, (2024), is a masterfully executed oil painting on panel, measuring 20 x 16 inches (framed dimensions: 24 x 20 inches). This contemporary figurative work captures a quiet, introspective moment, rendered with meticulous attention to detail and a nuanced interplay of light and shadow. A blonde model is holding a bouquet of colorful, fresh flowers. Birkenruth’s captivating paintings are in the style of contemporary realism while staying firmly grounded in the tradition of the Old Masters. She is able to pull the viewer into her paintings by interweaving emotion with a humanistic quality through her supreme handling of light. Through her portraits and still lifes she is able to evoke sensitivity and empathy, which in turn allows her to create images which transcend mere representation to capture the true essence of her subject. Kelly’s arresting compositions, draftsmanship, use of color and observation of detail allow her to create paintings with a timeless quality. After earning her degree from Pennsylvania State University, Kelly moved to southern California where she began a career as a fashion model. Her agency soon sent her abroad to Paris and Tokyo, where she spent the next several years modeling. When she wasn’t walking the runway, she spent endless hours in the great museums of the world, closely observing and studying the works of the Old Masters. “My time abroad, particularly in Paris, opened my eyes to the vast beauty and power of a great painting. After that I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to the pursuit of Fine Art” said Birkenruth. After returning to the States, Kelly studied at Otis College of Art in Los Angeles, CA. She then continued her studies through workshops and private study with renowned artists such as Daniel Sprick, Steven Assael and Jesus Emmanuel Villarreal. In the spring of 2019 Kelly will be exhibiting 2 paintings at the MEAM Museum in Barcelona, Spain for their Painting Today, International Women Painters Exhibition. Her painting Guarding Her Heart was exhibited at the 2018 Annual National Juried Exhibition at the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art in Wausau, WI. Her painting Homage to New York was exhibited at the American Women Artists 2018 show Perspectives of the American Experience at the Rockwell Museum in Corning, N.Y. Her painting Venus contemplating her adolescence was exhibited at the Poets and Artists show “Visions of Venus/Venus’s Vision in April, 2018 at the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago, IL. Kelly’s painting The City Awaits received the Award of Excellence at the American Women Artists 2017 Exhibition at the Tucson Desert Art Museum. She was also awarded 2 nd place at the Portrait Society of America’s 2015 Juried Exhibition in the Still Life Category and Honorable Mention at the Portrait Society of America’s 2012 Juried Exhibition. She won Best of Show Award in the CT+6 2012 Juried Exhibition at the West Hartford Art League. She was a Finalist in the Art Renewal Center’s International Salon in 2011, 2016 and 2018. Her painting Limes and Laughs has been selected as a finalist in the Still Life/Interior category of The Artist’s Magazine 33 rd Annual Art Competition. Artists Magazine named Kelly as Artist of the month for February 2017 and featured a profile of her for their online publication. Her work has also been featured in American Art Collector magazine.
  • Creator:
    Kelly Birkenruth (1972, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2024
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Denver, CO
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 1stDibs: LU1308215979582

More From This Seller

View All
"Serenity' (2020) By Beth Sistrunk, Original Oil Painting
By Beth Sistrunk
Located in Denver, CO
Beth Sistrunk's "Serenity" is an oil on panel featuring a model with pink petals. About the artist: Beth's interests in painting the figure, women’s fashion, flowers, landscape phot...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"Jules" - Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting by Kelly Birkenruth, 2024
By Kelly Birkenruth
Located in Denver, CO
Kelly Birkenruth’s "Jules" (2024) is a masterfully executed oil painting on panel, measuring 12 x 8 inches (framed dimensions: 13.5 x 9.5 inches). This contemporary figurative work c...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Warm Light
Located in Denver, CO
Kristen Santucci's "Warm Light" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a portrait of a red haired model touching her shoulders as she wears a black and white polka dot sh...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"Lost in Thought" Oil Painting
By Kelly Birkenruth
Located in Denver, CO
Kelly Birkenruth's (US based) "Lost in Thought" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a lone female figure in profile looking towards Japanese blossoms in the background while resting her elbow on her knee. Kelly Birkenruth’s captivating paintings are in the style of contemporary realism while staying firmly grounded in the tradition of the Old Masters. She is able to pull the viewer into her paintings by interweaving emotion with a humanistic quality through her supreme handling of light. Through her portraits and still lifes she is able to evoke sensitivity and empathy, which in turn allows her to create images which transcend mere representation to capture the true essence of her subject. Kelly’s arresting compositions, draftsmanship, use of color and observation of detail allow her to create paintings with a timeless quality. After earning her degree from Pennsylvania State University, Kelly moved to southern California where she began a career as a fashion model. Her agency soon sent her abroad to Paris and Tokyo, where she spent the next several years modeling. When she wasn’t walking the runway, she spent endless hours in the great museums of the world, closely observing and studying the works of the Old Masters. “My time abroad, particularly in Paris, opened my eyes to the vast beauty and power of a great painting. After that I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to the pursuit of Fine Art” said Birkenruth. After returning to the States, Kelly studied at Otis College of Art in Los Angeles, CA. She then continued her studies through workshops and private study with renowned artists such as Daniel Sprick, Steven Assael and Jesus Emmanuel Villarreal. In the spring of 2019 Kelly...
Category

2010s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Reveuse
By Kelly Birkenruth
Located in Denver, CO
Kelly Birkenruth's "Reveuse" is an original, handmade oil painting depicting a female model holding flowers in front of her chest.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Reveuse
$1,680 Sale Price
20% Off
"Luminous, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Sara Scribner's (US based) "Luminous" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a realistic portrait of a feminine form in a white dress with delicate white butterflies drawing near her in the darkness. About the Artist: Sara Scribner (B. 1982 Fremont, California) is a figurative painter living in Oklahoma. She earned a BFA in painting from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She has exhibited in museums and galleries across the US and in Europe, including European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) museum in Barcelona, Spain, Wausau Museum of Art in Wausau, WI, Wally Workman Gallery...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

You May Also Like

Daydreaming, Oil Painting
By Kristen Brown
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Kristen Brown depicts an ambiguous figure of a woman with long hair. The speckled blurs create dynamism and charisma in the dreamy portrait. Overlappin...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Light in Spring, Painting, Oil on Wood Panel
By Marie Alsbrooks
Located in Yardley, PA
Painting accentuates the translucency of the petals and the intensity of the light filtering through the color in the petals, allowing details in the shadows to emerge and dramatical...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Letting the Light In"- oil on linen
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Using the striking imagery that is abundant in the California landscape, queer artist Kory Alexander creates dreamy paintings that are flooded with vibrancy and movement. Kory consid...
Category

2010s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Autumn Light, Oil Painting
By Sherri Aldawood
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Sherri posed her model, Alex, in a wooded area near Sedona, Arizona on an autumn day. The late afternoon sun glows in the trees and silhouettes Alex as she pu...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Expectant, Oil Painting
By Kristen Brown
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
In this painting, artist Kristen Brown paints an ethereal translucent shape of a pregnant woman standing at a window. "Overlapping nature imagery merges with ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Grace, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Zoe Elizabeth Norman
Located in Yardley, PA
Contemporary Impressionism Painted in a loose impressionistic style. Pretty young woman sitting amongst flowers in a summer garden. The artist h...
Category

2010s Impressionist Paintings

Materials

Oil