Carnelian Art Gallery now represents Madison area artist Kevin Kiley, whose paintings memorialize local landscapes from industrial buildings to rural houses neighboring corn fields and telephone wires.

I got the privilege earlier this week of meeting Kiley at his home studio, which was filled to the brim with his artwork. If it didn’t adorn one wall, canvases and wooden panels were stacked up against another. All of the pieces had a nostalgic, soothing, and even melancholy, vibe to them. Kiley said that was because as early as childhood, he had a penchant for preserving moments in time. Change happens, but his paintings are quietly defiant of it.

I was able to capture Kiley on film as he touched up a painting in his kitchen of his neighbors home at nighttime. He said sometimes he paints using an easel, and other times he’ll touch up a work that’s already hanging up.

“I’m mixing it into the chalk that I sketched this out with,” he said, in between brush strokes. “It’s an ink wash. You really gotta brush through it lightly with a watercolor brush as it dries. This is right here in the neighborhood … a neighbor’s house. I’m going to take this blue from the sky and dilute it a little bit and bring it down into the shadow, basically liquifying this chalk pastel and making it permanent. It’s about floating that water. It’s going to drip a little. That’s okay.

“I used some pencil to sketch (the work) out. I used acrylic paint. Acrylic ink. The chalk pastel … I’ll go in and sketch things out before painting. But sometimes it looks good leaving the chalk pastel on there, too.”

What impressed me the most about Kiley’s art was how, when he works on wooden panels, he uses the natural details of the wood to help his landscape stand out even more than it would on your average canvas. He uses mixed media to achieve this, and sometimes even wood stain.

Kiley’s knowledge of working with wood likely comes from his speciality in residential painting, including plaster/drywall repair, trim, refinishing and color consultations. He also does pressure washing, staining and murals. Kiley paints the exteriors of homes, too. Naturally Refined Painting, Kiley’s residential painting business, has operated for 20 years.

His love for painting and inspirations for art developed in early childhood.

“I grew up in rural Brooklyn which is south of Stoughton,” he said. “My neighbors were farmers, and in the early ’80s, a lot of the small family farms went under. I developed an appreciation for … the work ethic of farmers and blue collar (fields). It’s almost this feeling of loss that to some extent I felt growing up … seeing farmers lose their business and how they would leave old junk vehicles by garages and barns”

And at age 5, Kiley recalled how his mother would read him illustrated stories about dinosaurs.

“The dinosaurs were no longer around, but someone drew these pictures with their imagination,” he said. “I was totally fascinated.”

Throughout his schooling, Kiley quickly became recognized by his teachers for his own imagination and natural artistic talent. Not only was he inspired by old buildings and ancient history, but also nature itself as “I was always out exploring the woods.”

He want on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a degree in fine arts and an emphasis in illustration at the end of 1998.

“My first job out of college was graphic illustration, and it was a real shock,” Kiley said, having moved to Chicago for two years after college. “It was really hard work and competitive and I wasn’t getting paid that much. I started doing apartment turnovers and ther was this guy who had a management company who was flipping and buying old broken buildings.

“I learned a lot by doing the renovations,” he said. “I learned I like being on my feet. When I’m doing art, I’m often standing and moving around.”

When asked about what message Kiley is trying to send with his art, he said “I think it’s up to the viewer.”

Kiley said he is “thrilled” by the prospect of his art being represented by Carnelian Art Gallery.

“I feel lucky and I feel like I didn’t have to sell myself or go out of my way,” he said. “I make a living doing house painting but i would love to switch over to doing more fine art eventually.”