Keith Petersen
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keithpetersen.com
Keith Petersen
@keithpetersen.com
78 followers 43 following 40 posts
Oakland, CA based artist and photographer
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Happy Friday! This week my favorite state and my favorite city combined Wonder Twin powers to give a big old middle finger to Droopy McTurdface, and give me a sliver of hope for democracy in this country. I painted this little homage to mark the occasion 🇺🇸🗽🖕
#prop50 #mamdani #newyorkcity #california
Painting of the outline of the state of California with the outline of the Statue of Liberty inside of it Detail photo of painting in studio
November 7, 2025 at 2:42 PM
keithpetersen.com
I painted an ICE recruitment poster 🍆🔬😬

#lineandwash #inkandwash #penandink #inkandwatercolor #inkandwatercolour #ice #iceicebaby #babyitscold
Painting of a recruitment poster for ICE, the text reads Do You “Measure Up”? Join ICE Today! With the suggestive image of an eggplant emoji and a ruler measuring three inches. Picture of the painting in the studio
November 4, 2025 at 3:16 PM
keithpetersen.com
I only managed to snap a few pictures while at rest stops on my whirlwind road trip, but I love this one. The washed out minimalism reminds me of some of the large format color works of the 70s 📷

#colorphotography #70sphotography #convoy #reststop #saltlake #keepontruckin #photography
October 25, 2025 at 11:29 PM
keithpetersen.com
Driving through the Nevada and Utah badlands over the past couple of days inspired the colors in this piece. Would’ve loved to wander into the desert and forage for pigments but I’m on a tight schedule 🚗📆
#patternsinnature #biologicalart #scienceart #sciart #experimentalartist #biomorphicart #art
Abstract photo composition of inks and oils Detail of the first picture Example of piece hanging framed on a wall
October 24, 2025 at 2:33 PM
keithpetersen.com
Be sure to keep it weird this weekend!

#portlandfrogs #nokings #portlandfrog #stayweird
October 18, 2025 at 12:02 AM
keithpetersen.com
I made this painting of my wife based on an amazing photograph that our friend’s son took. It’s for our daughter to hang in her dorm room 🥲

#watercolor #watercolourpainting #watercolours #Oaklandartist #bayareaartist #portraitpainting #watercolorpainting
Watercolor painting depicting a landscape of hills and trees. At the bottom of the painting a woman’s head is barely in view. The original source photograph for the painting
August 20, 2025 at 12:59 PM
keithpetersen.com
I’ve been relearning life drawing and painting over the past few months. I got pretty good at drawing in my youth but always hit a wall with painting, getting frustrated at my efforts and giving up. Apparently the secret is to stop caring and just keep painting, because I’m starting to like these.
Photo of a watercolor painting and the source photograph. The photo is of a store sign that says HELLO, in the painting the O has been omitted. A collection of small watercolor landscape paintings. More small landscape paintings.
August 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
keithpetersen.com
Happy Friday! I’ve been playing with a couple of homemade copper inks with some interesting results 🎨 📸

#patternsinnature #biologicalart #scienceart #sciart #experimentalartist #biomorphicart #experimentalart #experimentalphotography #organicforms #artandscience #abstractphotography #biomorphic
Photograph of ink and other materials on glass, resembling mushrooms or other organic forms detail of first image, highlighting the crystallization image showing the work displayed framed in a home
July 11, 2025 at 4:28 PM
keithpetersen.com
I found the well preserved skull of a lesser goldfinch in my backyard (ID’d by the feathers, and the fact that he was a regular at my feeder 😟) #birds #birding #skull #skeleton #goldfinch
Close-up photograph of a bird skull Close-up photograph of a bird skull with a ruler to show size. Skull is approximately 1 inch.
June 4, 2025 at 9:13 PM
keithpetersen.com
Open Studios time! I’ll be at Norton Factory Studios in Oakland CA all this weekend and next. There's music in the afternoons, and new artists at the space too, so come see some fresh art and say hi 🥳

#bayareaartist #bayareaart #sfart #oaklandart #oaklandartist #openstudio #openstudios
abstract photograph of the morning star flyer advertising the event abstract photo composition of inks and oils abstract photo composition of inks and oils
May 29, 2025 at 1:01 PM
keithpetersen.com
The light changes pretty radically throughout the afternoon
The same composition as the first photo, but with different light and shadows
May 20, 2025 at 11:28 PM
keithpetersen.com
I raided various corners of my garden for this still life. Any thoughts on how to improve it?

#garden #gardening #stilllife #art #drawing #gnomesaying
Various garden sculptures, flowers, and fruit arranged in a still life on a garden bench
May 20, 2025 at 7:39 PM
keithpetersen.com
Mars has been the only planet in the night sky for a few weeks now, but I enjoy 'painting' with it. It has a nice sepia quality, and the color temperature varies as I pull the focus.

Sky 092 (Mars)
Archival Pigment Print, 12x12

#art #photography #fineart #abstractphotography #artist #finearts
Abstract photo composition of long exposure photographs of Mars. Detail image of first photo. Example of work framed on a wall.
May 13, 2025 at 3:21 PM
keithpetersen.com
Here’s a “kitchen sink” piece that I finished last night. Often I’m only able to get a handful of shots of a plane, so I throw them in a folder until I have enough to make a piece.

So yeah, this is hundreds of shots of airplanes over a several week period ✈️ 📸

Sky 090
abstract photo composition of airplane lights at night example of work framed on wall detail shot of piece
May 9, 2025 at 3:15 PM
keithpetersen.com
Jupiter has been low in the sky when the sun sets, but I have a half hour or so to play with it before it dips below the horizon 📷✨🌚

Sky 080
Archival Pigment Print, 22x34

#photoart #sciart #spaceart #outerspace #lightart #jupiter #paintingwithlight
Photographic composition of Jupiter, using motion and long exposures to create movement. Detail of first photograph Example of artwork framed on wall
April 22, 2025 at 11:48 PM
keithpetersen.com
Happy zombie jesus day! Here are a few vaguely egg-shaped works of mine. I suggest you print them, cut them out and hide them around the house 🐣🗿

#bayareaartist #bayareaart #sfart #oaklandart #oaklandartist #bioart #art #photography
#bioarte #abstractart #contemporaryart #mixedmediaartist
Photograph of inks, oils and other materials in abstract compositions. Photograph of inks, oils and other materials in abstract compositions. Photograph of inks, oils and other materials in abstract compositions. Photograph of inks, oils and other materials in abstract compositions.
April 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
keithpetersen.com
this shady character has been lurking about my yard, trying to sell me one of these cheap knockoffs
Picture of a bird at a feeder with his wing outstretched. I photoshopped cheap watches on the wing to make it look like he's selling them.
March 29, 2025 at 2:43 PM
keithpetersen.com
I planted some of these in December, my first time planting bulbs! I think they’re the same flower?
March 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
keithpetersen.com
What, they’ve never had a Vulcan milkshake? 🖖🥤
Image of the NYT Spelling Bee puzzle with the word “mindmalt” being rejected
January 14, 2025 at 8:29 PM
keithpetersen.com
I got a new flight tracking app for my Sky series. I have the slightest urge to run out in my yard and wave and yell "byeee, have fun in Hawaii!!"
Screen capture of flight tracking app showing flight en route to Hawaii
January 2, 2025 at 4:44 PM
keithpetersen.com
Am I crazy or does my dog's paw look like these little weirdos from Alice in Wonderland?
Image of dog's paw on left and image of anthropomorphic flowers from the Walt Disney film Alice in Wonderland on the right
December 4, 2024 at 10:39 PM
keithpetersen.com
Got some nice shades of green and copper in this one 🎨

Study 645
Archival Pigment Print, 24x24

#experimentalartist #biomorphicart #experimentalart #experimentalphotography #organicforms #artandscience #abstractphotography #art #photography
November 24, 2024 at 5:35 PM
keithpetersen.com
March 6, 2024 at 3:10 PM
keithpetersen.com
Hello Bluesky
December 21, 2023 at 4:17 AM