RK Schlueter -oils

Humped Up!

2020-10-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

Spent the morning designing this one. It's definitely scary cat season, indicative of this gesture. The veils are thinning! https://catart.threadless.com Thanks for visiting!

Orange Flo

2020-10-12T20:24:00.003-07:00

Today's inspiration is orange and black. These t's are available in black only! Check out these cool cat designs, created from oil paintings! https://catart.threadless.com Thanks for visiting!

Cat Rao

2020-10-11T10:13:00.001-07:00

T's are $10 at CatArt shop today!

Been having fun digitalizing oil paintings, for cool t shirt designs!

As new designs are added some older ones are eliminated. Keeps things fresh, and I can't get too lazy about making art. As a professional artist I have to provide my own challenges, means finding new inspirational directions, and taking on tough projects that provide a learning curve Here are two current examples: Taking an oil painting course with realist painter Zane York! And participating in CatCon. Both events providing lots of opportunity to know more about art, social media and business.

The thing I love about designing cat art t shirts is people put them on their bodies and to me, that feels like a huge honor. And confirms cats rock our world!

Mailbox

2020-10-04T23:16:00.006-07:00

Mailbox is inspired by a photo I saw at MOMA in NY by Helen Levitt. She was an American photographer, particularly noted for street photography around New York City, and has been called "the most celebrated and least known photographer of her time." Wikipedia

Cat art is everywhere!

George Floyd

2020-05-31T11:38:00.001-07:00

10x12" oil with acrylic stencil
The event that led to this painting is devastating for our entire country, but especially the black community. We need real and swift change in the USA. If Trump is elected again, we may see a whole new level of hate emerge in our country and the world. Please vote Trump out in November and stop the hate.

Marble Makers

2020-05-03T15:41:00.002-07:00

Oil on board 8x10"
I'm so lucky to have the marble garage next door to my studio! They're a constant source of inspiration!

Existential Angst after The Scream

2020-04-24T15:11:00.002-07:00

Lino cut

“One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream.

Edvard Munch

American Scruffy

2020-04-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

oil on 30x40" canvas
I've always aspired to be a expressionist painter. With everything closing down, and art sales at an all time low. It's the perfect time to explore different ideas and possibilities. That's what I'm up to!

African street scene

2020-02-18T11:57:00.002-08:00

11x14” oil on c.
For twenty years I held on to the issue of Aperture where I discovered this image. I finally got around to painting it. I think the hot pink ground is essential to the success of the painting.

Buster

2019-12-10T09:17:00.001-08:00

5x7" oil
Buster is a Christmas commission. Seems every year I get at least one. It's always an honor to do this type of work. Painting a beloved family member who has passed on is an occasion to take pause and reflect on the special qualities that make a pet recognizable, in this case as Buster.

Raven

2019-11-05T07:54:00.003-08:00

Oil on 8x8" canvas
Incase you can't tell, this painting has many layers. The scene's repainted at least four times. The results never felt quite right and then I decided to hell with it and painted over it with black. It sat that way for months until yesterday when I decided to paint a portrait over it. I noticed some cool scratch marks coming thorough, I felt compelled to give it one last try. I began removing paint until I got what you see now. I really like it, and I've decided to keep it in the family. I'm giving it to my husband Stock for his 70th!

Floof

2019-09-24T20:42:00.002-07:00

Oil
Cropped image from a larger painting. I like it as it’s own thing.

Merlot and Mimosa

2019-09-08T20:11:00.001-07:00

Oil on 36x48" canvas
This is a special commission for a beautiful young couple that I met during Arts Alive. They brought their kitties to the studio so I could meet them. Got my black and pink fix.

Rachel with "Paws for Love"

2019-09-02T12:01:00.001-07:00

8x12" acrylic on MDO

Summer has sped by creating enormous change! Artists and the city of Eureka have successfully completed another summer Street Art Fest and we have tons more mural art!

Also, during the month of July, I teamed up with my friends and fellow artists, Linda Mitchell, Kathy O'Leary and Joan Dunning to create an outdoor gallery space at Mendenhall Studios. The project was directed by Kathleen Krauss. Each painting is 8x12', mine is titled: "Paws for Love" they all hang as a permanent installation on 2nd and C, in old town, Eureka.

The really big news is I've moved my studio across the street to the newly established Mendenhall Studios at 215 C. In Studio D2the vision is large and the industrial studio space enormous. It's truly what any hard working artist would dream of, complete with tons of storage space!

Studio D2 is ideal for workshops, events and exhibits. Industrial advantage grants permission to get down and dirty with expansive over the top art projects. Walls measure roughly 60' in length and 16' high. Four large skylights provide excellent natural lighting. Two giant rollup doors open onto the court compound and other studios.

One whole wall has been designated a guest wall and painted a dark rich gray for Arts Alive events. September Arts Alive is my official opening with Linda Mitchell's lavish dancers series,guaranteed to take your breath away! We hope to see you! Coming soon a Studio D2 FB page!

"Paws for Love"

2019-08-13T07:47:00.001-07:00

Acrylic on 8x12' panels
Created for Mendenhall Studios, mounted on 2nd and C in old town Eureka.

The “Second Street Women” project is the brainchild of four local painters - Joan Dunning, Linda Mitchell, Kathy O’Leary and Rachel K Schlueter - who are part of a larger group of female painters in Humboldt County. All professional artists who have known each other for many years. We’ve traveled together, painted together, supported one another’s creative endeavors, and spent countless hours discussing art and life over coffee and martinis.

We’re calling our project Second Street Women because Kathy, Rachel and Linda all have studios on Second Street in Old Town Eureka, and because that’s where our current project is happening. It’s a public art project in which we’ll be creating four large (12’ x 8’) paintings on panels that will be mounted on the north wall of Mendenhall Studios. The panels will be framed and hung with accompanying plaques identifying the artist and describing the concept behind each work of art. Our goal is for this to look like an art exhibit in an outdoor gallery.

Each artist plans to paint a subject that has personally inspired her over the years. Painting something familiar will enable us to focus on the process of working BIG. This is a larger scale than we’re accustomed to and we’ll be using a medium most of us are unfamiliar with - acrylics. Still, we’re all at a point in our lives when we’re looking for new creative challenges and inspiration.

Cat Magic

2019-07-25T14:27:00.001-07:00

36x48" acrylic on canvas
Intended to be developed into an oil painting, but not so fast. Sketches can feel complete in themselves, this is one. I can not make it better than it is. So this effort is called a completed sketch.

My dream is beautiful...

2019-07-04T09:06:00.002-07:00

Acrylic on mbc board 12x8’
What a gift to work large. After being invited to do a large painting for a huge outdoor wall in old town Eureka with a group of women artists who are also my close friends, we were gifted a giant studio space because the previous tenants left. Timing is everything. The space is ours for one month, that’s just enough time to complete our project. The owner of the studio space would love us to stay indefinitely but, it’s very expensive. We all want the space which enables us to work really big. The current mural project could lead to more offers to do large works. To compete in this kind of market we need a space large enough to do all that large scale painting requires. So now we’re trying to figure out how to raise money to fund our new potential future as large scale painters. We may set up a Patreon page which is a crowd funding platform for art projects! We have to figure this out, fast!

What do these two have in common?

2019-06-16T08:44:00.001-07:00

10x10" oil
Both paintings are recycled from old paintings. So many paintings don't work out. They sit gathering dust, piling up in the corner. It takes lots of mediocre works to achieve a level of success. Painting over oldies is a totally different process than normal painting. It requires a sense of adventure and play. For me, this is where I shine. When I'm experimenting it triggers my creative genius. Because the unknown is the most exciting and potentially rewarding place to visit. There's order in chaos.

2019-05-25T13:45:00.002-07:00

Oil on canvas
This series is about spirit. The use of grayscale figures represent the animated spirit. Often something stirs within when visiting a landscape or feature in the landscape that takes us out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary.

Elira

2019-05-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

10x10" oil
Painting a beautiful young woman is challenging, the inspiration is there, but it's a delicate process and a humbling one. The idea is to provide enough information but not too much, so for those who knew her there is space for them to enter with their memory of her and fill in the gaps, which completes the painting.

I'm deeply honored to have painted Elira, as I've come to know her through the untimely event of her passing. God bless Elira and her family who have to continue on without her extraordinary presence in their everyday activities.

Utility Box in Eureka CA, across from Adorni Center

2019-04-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Our utility box is complete. Grateful for Stock making me a scaffold to work from! Also grateful and inspired by the artwork of Inagaki Tomoo b.1902 Japan. Thank you patrons! And thank you City of Eureka Box Art Program! #publicart #ilikeeureka

Dos Gatos the Return

2019-04-26T15:54:00.002-07:00

Inspired by the artwork of Inagaki Tomoo b. 1922 Japan
Again working with the images of Tomoo speaks to me and I'm grateful for the inspiration.
The utility box art program is so beneficial to our community.

This U box had been tagged and then sprayed with the turquoise to cover the tag. I loved the blue so incorporated it in the painting, and it made the work different from the other three sides. Feathers around the cats are stencils. Located in Eureka Ca., at L and 2nd in old town across from the Adorni Center.

Utility box art, Eureka CA "Black Cat" after Inagaki Tomoo

2019-04-24T10:12:00.004-07:00

Seeing public art around town is uplifting, whether I like the image or not isn't important because not everyone is going like it. Public art messages that we care about having art in our everyday lives and it speaks to who we are on the ground level. We're creative tribal beings that like to shake it up and express ourselves! So thank you everyone involved in this awesome project!

Kitty Girls

2019-04-14T20:11:00.004-07:00

Collage and mixed media -sold

Ben

2019-03-31T19:37:00.002-07:00

10x12” oil -sold
Stout! Ben is no longer with us. Commission work of this kind is some of my favorite work because it’s so tied to the heart.