THANK YOU!!!

Thanks to all who have acquired my work online and at The Hudson Sampler in Hudson, Ohio which may be made as gifts for friends and family or maybe just something for yourself. Merry Christmas and again, Thank you! ---KJK

40% discount on prints through 12-24-2010

‎40% discount through December 24.....on prints ordered through the company that produces my work, "Fine Art America". Browsing/ordering can be done via www.kennethkrolikowski.com or www.kenneth-krolikowski.artistwebsites.com ...use DISCOUNT CODE: ZGYUEZ. Discount applied during checkout.

Back from a trip to Disneyworld

Just got back from a trip to Disneyworld in Florida. It wasn't a working trip but I still ended up shooting around 500 pics.

Been Awhile Since I Posted Here...

Summer is just about gone and it'll be time to get back to some serious work as far as creating. Up here in Northeast Ohio wintertime is the time I can create pretty much uninterrupted. I did put together a few images this summer. This one is titled "Hudson Holidays". It's a shot I took in the early morning hours of New Years Day 2010 at the center of town in Hudson, Ohio. A little post processing gave me this final look. This image is available for purchase.

Getting back to work...

I'm getting back to designing and creating new artwork after taking a few weeks off. A trip to Charlotte, N.C. and an illness in the family have pulled me away from creating new work. I'll slowly be getting back into the swing of things. The photo here is a panorama of Charlotte Motor Speedway taken during the Sprint All Star Race on May 22, 2010.

Greeting Card & Illustration

Here's the same design with two variations. One is a greeting card the other is an illustration. Simple, cheery and upbeat was my goal in creating this design. More often then not, simple works quite well. Hope it did here. To see more designs, click on the widgets and links along the right side of this page. Thanks! ---KJK

"Friends" Greeting Card

Finished a design that turned out really well, I think. I also used this design for a Mother's Day card, a "Hope" card and a "Love" card. All have a different color scheme. As of the day of this post, I have about 50 cards available in the online card shop.

Get Well Greeting Card

Here's a really simple design I drew. I like the fact that it's simple and to the point. The inside text reads, "I hope you get to play outside real soon." I'm spending most of my "creative time" now working on greeting card designs in order to get a portfolio together to submit to various companies.

Beginning to design greeting cards

I've submitted my first designs for greeting cards to GreetingCardUniverse.com and I've opened up a shop there... "Across The Board Greetings". My styles of cards are many, thus the name of the shop. I'm having a great deal of fun designing this type of product. It's something quite different and very challenging. Tons of ideas running through my head at this time. Looking forward to the unlimited possibilities here.

"By The Boardwalk" Finished 2-28-2010

This image is from a photograph taken while on vacation last October at Disneyworld. The lighthouse is on Crescent Lake which is in between the Yacht & Beach Club and the Boardwalk. I manipulated the original photo into an HDR image. I am very happy as to how much "pop" the colors have.

"64 1/2 'Stang" Finished 2-13-2010

A trip to Florida will always result in seeing tons of classic cars. A personal favorite of mine is the classic Mustang. This image began as a basic color photo and has ended up as a "high-key" black and white image replicating 1600 speed film. ---KJK

Latest image finished 2-7-1010

This digital photo was sitting in the computer for a few months after a vacation to Disneyworld in October 2009. After looking for an image to work on, this was the choice. This image falls into the HDR category. ---KJK

"A Little Boy, His Dad and Baseball" - A Short Story

Professional baseball in Cleveland, Ohio when I was not even a decade old in the 60's was like watching an accident during a NASCAR race. The results less than stellar. But I couldn't take my eyes or mind off of my favorite sport and the hometown "heroes" that wore the Indian uniform and the Chief Wahoo (some say Chief Boohoo) that came with it.
I believe my dad introduced me to baseball before I was born. I honestly think that even before my birthdate of September 12, 1961 I already knew who Jimmy Dudley, Herb Score, "Sudden" Sam McDowell and Ken Aspromonte (who could very well be who I was named after) were. There are those that claim my mother gave birth to a glove, bat and ball before me.
Back in those days one maybe two games a week were on TV. Almost always on weekends. Sometimes two or three weeks would go by where there were none. When a game was on, I'd park myself in front of the "VHF only: channels 2 to 13" black and white floor model Motorola?, Philco?, Zenith?...I can't remember what model TV it was. All I knew is that while sitting or laying on the floor, if it were to fall on me my parents would have had to file a missing persons report.
Hundreds upon hundreds of hours were spent watching games and film highlights of the Indians in black and white before my four-almost five year old life would be considered complete. My first live game at Old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Built in the 1930's with hopes of hosting the Olympics. Eighty thousand plus capacity. Real live Cleveland Indians in front of my very own eyes!What more could I ask for?
It was a Saturday in the summer of 1966. June 11 to be exact. Sam McDowell took the mound against Frank Howard and the Washington Senators. McDowell was a stud. A southpaw that could have befuddled Ruth and Cobb. The Indians were riding high and in first place. They'd opened the season with a ten game winning streak. Fan interest was at it's peak with 72,000 empty seats filling the Stadium. What? Empty seats? A first place team playing in front of only 8,000 fans? On a Saturday in June? Perhaps people were saving their money for the August 14 Beatles concert at this very Stadium. Those tickets were at a premium. The cheapest seats were $3.00. Most expensive? Five bucks.
Back to important stuff...baseball. The ride to the park was a shortcut my dad came up with that I actually used myself up until the Old Stadium was demolished in 1996. There was no air conditioning in the '63 Impala but it never mattered when you were a little boy that spent every waking hour outdoors playing baseball.
I had known nothing but television in black and white as far as seeing my Cleveland Indians goes. Then I saw it! The Grand, Great Lady On The Lake! Cleveland Municipal Stadium! It was HUGE!!! You could fit a bazillion people in there! It was bland and gray just like on the black and white TV. But I was there! The concourse was also bland and gray. But I was there! Then it happened. The walk from the concourse up the ramp that would lead to our seats. I believe I heard the aaaah, aaaAH, AAAAAAH! of the angels singing in the background!
COLOR! I saw COLOR! Yellow and red seats! Blue rails! And GREEEEEEEEEEEN GRASS! Acres and acres of green grass! Indians uniforms were red and white not gray and white! There were guys playing catch just like me and my dad. There were guys throwing and hitting baseballs just like me and my dad. There were guys that appreciated the fact that they could spend a summer afternoon at a ballpark. Just like me and my dad. There were guys laughing. Just like me and my dad.
The Indians won that day, 6-4 and spent another day in first place. It didn't matter that by September they were in fifth place and eventually finished at 81-81. What did matter is the bond that had been taken to another level between me, my dad and baseball.
Simpler times have resulted in the greatest memories for me. I would never, a million times over ever trade my childhood for anything. There is no price on the relationship between a little boy, his dad and baseball. And even now that my dad has gone to a better place and most assuredly is a member of the Dad's Hall Of Fame, I know that some 40, 50 or 60 years later the following things will never change. On a hot summer night I can still listen to the Indians on a transistor radio, have a can of "Off" close at hand, listen to crickets chirp, watch lightning bugs glow, and hear the sound of my dad's voice say, "We just traded McDowell".

"Sleepy Little Town" Hudson, Ohio - Finished 1-16-2010

The picture postcard town of Hudson, Ohio was once again the subject of my latest image, "Sleepy Little Town". Venturing out into the 20 degree pre-dawn hours on New Years morning, I was all alone in the center of town. I shot about 40 photos and after going through them over and over I found the one that would be my next project. This image began as a photo and was reworked into a digital colored pencil drawing. Hudson is the perfect little town always reminding me of Davidson, North Carolina, another perfect little town just north of Charlotte, the place I called home from 2002-2004.---KJK

Thanks to FineArtAmerica.com

Thank you to FineArtAmerica.com for featuring one of my images "Back In The Day" on their homepage recently. It's a great feeling to see my work on another website. I appreciate greatly those who have viewed my work. A very big THANK YOU!---KJK

Welcome to my blog

Well...here goes. This is my first attempt at a blog so perfection probably should not be expected. I hope to supply readers and followers with updates on my work, thoughts and ideas for future projects and an occasional quote or thought. Thanks so much for viewing my site and/or blog.---KJK