Commissioning artwork is an exciting and rewarding process in which the patron and the artist join together in creating a one-of-a-kind piece of art.

Please e-mail me with your ideas and budget. I will ask about the size of the painting, the color scheme, the mood, intensity, and the purpose. Even within these constraints, the abstract possibilities are endless. I hope you will be as excited as I am to see where the muse takes us.

Browse Gallery

I am experimenting a bit more with fluid acrylics and layering. This painting consists of multiple layers of shimmering metallic paint with a rich and varied 3-dimensional texture. Medium gloss professional finish. No need to frame, the painted canvas wraps around all sides. Ready to hang on your wall.

Color scheme: blue, aqua, green, red, orange, gray, gold, silver.

Original abstract acrylic painting on stretched canvas. 20 x 20 x 0.75 in (51 x 51 x 2 cm) . Buy artwork

Dosia McKay

Original abstract acrylic painting on stretched canvas. 20 x 24 x 0.75 in (50 x 61 x 2 cm). Buy artwork

The dominant hues in this painting are white, cream, gray, and black. Visit my online gallery to view more original abstract and expressionist paintings.

Dosia McKay

Original abstract acrylic painting on stretched canvas. 16 x 20 x 0.75 in (40 x 50 x 2 cm) . Buy artwork

The dominant hues in this painting are burgundy, red, salmon, green, and white. Multiple layers create a vibrant and energetic composition. Visit my online gallery to view more original abstract and expressionist paintings.

Dosia McKay

A new Ebay auction featuring my original painting – acrylics on stretched canvas. 26 x 20 x 0.75 in
(66 x 51 x 2 cm). Dominant colors: blue, aqua, silver, black. View listing

©2011 Dosia McKay

A new Ebay auction featuring my original painting – acrylics on stretched canvas. 24 x 36 x 0.75 in
(61 x 91 x 2 cm). View listing

©2010 Dosia McKay

Suddenly something caught my eye to the side of the stairs. It was the building adjacent to them. I had a direct access to the windows of the first floor and then the second, as I ascended, what now seemed like, a scaffolding. This was interesting. I looked at the arches of the window openings, the cornices, the connecting plates ornate with reliefs of animals and mythical figures. The wall of the building was covered with dirt, dust, and mold, but at the same time exuded certain elegance and stateliness. So much attention to detail and a good old-world craftsmanship.

And then I realized that the ornamentation could only be witnessed from this temporary scaffolding. If I were to walk on the street level, and even raise my head to look toward the second story, I would have never seen it!

Being an artist, and a practical one at that, I began to think about the artisans who created the reliefs. Were they proud that their work was featured on a prominent building in New York City? Were they aware that the pedestrians beneath would never see their artwork? What about the architect who designed the building? Why did he choose to ornament the higher floors if no one could really benefit from the design? Was it frivolous, superfluous, wasteful?

I choose to believe that it was neither. I think that true artists create out of love and respect of art itself. They pursue excellence and perfection in every detail not merely to receive accolades of the audience, but to fulfill an inner calling. The architect added the intricate ornaments to the façade on upper floors because only in this way the building would be whole. It wouldn’t make any difference to the pedestrians, or the occupants, but it would make every difference to the legacy of the designer.

I think about how our contemporary society urges us to immediately display everything of ourselves for the inspection of public opinion, and how dangerous it is for myself and my colleagues in creative fields to always feel the pressure that we must perform, prove, dazzle, entertain, justify, and monetize. Yes, I am very aware that money must be earned, bread must be put on the table, subscribers must be alerted, and investors must be reassured. Yet it is wonderfully refreshing to stumble from time to time on a hidden, unassuming gem that gives meaning and inspiration to a narrow circle of friends, one person, or perhaps only ourselves.

©2011 Dosia McKay

Original abstract acrylic painting on stretched canvas. 24 x 36 x 0.75 in (60 x 91 x 2 cm). Buy artwork

The dominant hues in this painting are aqua blue, beige, sand, and brown. Multiple layers create a 3-dimensional imaginary landscape of vivid and vibrant colors. Visit my online gallery to view more original abstract and expressionist paintings.

Dosia McKay

Sun’s Trail – this is my last giclee available for sale. Life, fire, energy, harmony.

Digital art – giclee on canvas. 32 x 24 x 0.75 in (81 x 60 x 2 cm). Buy artwork

©2007 Dosia McKay

Original painting – acrylics on stretched canvas. 24 x 36 x 0.75 in
(61 x 91 x 2 cm). Buy artwork

©2010 Dosia McKay

Many layers and textures intertwine in this acrylic painting. I think that the combination of red and pink is one of the most outrageous color statements. For an added drama, before the paint dried, I sprinkled certain areas with coarse and finely ground salt. It added a rough texture to otherwise smooth surface.

Original painting – acrylics and ink on stretched canvas. 24 x 36 x 0.75 in
(61 x 91 x 2 cm). Buy artwork

©2010 Dosia McKay

This painting is a bit different from all the others I have done so far in that it incorporates words. I layered random strings of disjointed thoughts in between strata of reflective surfaces and opaque shadows. (No profanity).

What draws me to each one of them is the freedom of their artistic expression tempered by the principles of classic form resulting in some uniquely beautiful works of art. It seems to me that even after the horrors of World War I, as the artists pushed the boundaries of conservative expectations, there was a certain excitement and optimism in the air, as the expressionist movement in music paralleled its influence on paintings, reaching deeper into the personal expression, the spiritual, and the transcendent (lookup Scriabin’s Prometheus and synesthesia to fuel your thoughts). This trajectory was clearly seen in the Kandinsky exhibit, as the chronological sequence of artwork followed his earlier representative paintings gradually giving way to more figurative, and finally to full abstraction.

To Kandinsky abstraction was the holy grail of the artist. He argued that the abstraction (absolute, nonrepresentational art) is not counterintuitive to the natural order, but rather that it is the very essence of reality, as everything in nature is original and not derivative or representational of something else.

When I look at Kandinsky’s paintings, I don’t feel that I am deprived of seeing a landscape, or an inanimate object, or someone’s portrait. Instead, I see a thirst for life, beauty, spirituality. I sense excitement or repose. Sometimes I hear music or simply become overwhelmed to the point of tears when a verbal expression seems futile.

Kandinsky’s principles of proportion and design are a refreshing mix of order and disarray. His color palette is bursting with passion and energy. His pairing of fully saturated orange and blue with purples is unlike anything I have ever seen before. No computer monitor and no book reproduction can ever replace seeing these color combinations in person.

Speaking of loss again, I thought today about the fate of many artists who found themselves in Germany as Adolf Hitler came to power. His dictatorship stretched not only to enforcing his vision of the new Germany as it related to his political, economical, and ethnic ideas, but he also took it upon himself to decide what artistic expressions would be favored and which would be eradicated. The famous Bauhaus school of design, of which Kandinsky was a part at the time, was labeled as “un-German” and was forced to close, causing many influential artists to flee Germany.

I wondered what trajectory would the European art have followed if it were allowed to thrive in Germany as it had for centuries before. What other artistic trends would have sprung out of expressionism? What artists would have worked together and influenced one another?

Art is a dangerous business to be in. You only paint, or write a symphony, or a poem, or design a building, but in reality you create the world around you.

What planets are colliding in your cosmos?

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Paintings: Vasily Kandinsky – Angel of the Last Judgment, Composition V
Article ©2010 Dosia McKay

Original painting: acrylics on stretched canvas. 18 x 36 x 0.75 in (46 x 91 x 2 cm). Buy artwork

©2009 Dosia McKay

“Color is the power which directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with the strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.” – Vasily Kandinsky


Original painting: watercolors and pencil on paper. 3.75 in x 5.75 (9.5 cm x 14.5 cm). Buy artwork

©2009 Dosia McKay

Original painting: watercolors and pencil on paper. 5.75 x 3.75 in (14.5 x 9.5 cm). Buy artwork

©2009 Dosia McKay

Original painting – acrylics and ink on stretched canvas. 26 x 20 x 0.75 in (66 x 51 x 2 cm). Buy artwork

©2009 Dosia McKay

Original painting: acrylics and ink on paper. 5.75 x 3.75 in (14.5 x 9.5 cm). Buy artwork

©2009 Dosia McKay

Original painting: acrylics and ink on paper. 5.75 x 3.75 in (14.5 x 9.5 cm). Buy artwork

Has it really been almost a year since I painted? I missed my brushes and my paints. I have been extremely busy writing music and poetry but I plan to devote some time this summer to painting. For now I am only posting couple of postcards I did today. Nothing earth shattering – I am merely warming up and hope to return to large scale canvas soon.

©2009 Dosia McKay