My Life As A Painter

The Building Of A Painting

2012-01-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

This past week I've been working on a studio piece that was inspired from a field study (plein air Piece) done last summer in, yes, once again, Door County. In the photo above you can see my set up and how I often times work in the studio. To the right of my easel I've got my 'study' done in the field with pretty good color reference to work from. To the left is my Mac set up with a photo image I took the day I was in the field painting. Although I had good references to work from, it's important to have a strong concept and structural idea for a large painting to work out and become it's own painting, not just a large field study. The foundation of this painting in my mind was a path to lead you into the painting and carry you through. I love the idea of walking through a painting and it continues to be a great source of inspiration for me in much of my work, it's so poetic. So with that said, an idea is one thing and making it happen is another.

The passion and inspiration of the artist is what makes a piece original and authentic but in order for this passion to be properly supported, the painting must be grounded with the foundation to support of the original and authentic idea.

When I start laying in my paint, I start with a fairly thing layer and think of the big 'sweep' I want going through the painting. In other words, the design of painting. I lay in the large shapes of darks that connect throughout the piece, leaving the light shapes open with a warm wash underneath. At this very beginning stage of the painting, I can already see if I'm going to like the painting and the direction it is going, off to a good start. If you don't like the painting at this stage, you should WIPE IT OUT and start again! Very little time has been spent at this point. From here on out it's simply building paint texture and color until you have what you need to say what you want to say.

"Into The Color"

24x24 oil on linen

The finished painting.

There is an interesting juxtaposition of thin and thick paint going on in this painting. If you click on the image it will enlarge so you can see the texture of the paint. For me one of the most challenging parts of painting is knowing when to stop. I could have painted notes of flower colors all day long but needed to decide if it would help or hurt the overall harmony of the piece. Too much can just be too much! This is when I decided the piece is finished.

In The Studio Today. . . .

2012-01-10T17:44:00.000-08:00

"County Road"

8x10 oil on linen

Hard to believe I was in the studio today when it was 52 degrees and sunny here in MN in January, but I was! I had this painting in my head and needed to paint it today regardless of the unseasonably warm weather outside. I DID take advantage after I was finished though and took a good long walk, what a treat! :)

Although this small painting resembles most of my 'plein air' work, it's a studio piece done from a photo, and once again, I use the photos as memory triggers, not a literal interpretation. If I didn't have the experience I have from painting from life, I don't think I would be able to do this. I can't stress enough the importance of working from life. When I work like this in the studio on smaller pieces, it's a goal of mine to keep the paint fresh and clean, as if I were painting from life. In order to do this, I limit my time. This piece was done in about 2 hours.

Since I've taken the month of January off of teaching, it's my goal to paint as much as possible on a variety of different subjects. I'll probably do another small piece tomorrow and then start a larger one towards the end of the week. I find after doing a piece like my last 20x16 where there was a lot of subtle quiet work and many hours, it's nice to push the paint around on smaller pieces and start and finish in one sitting.

Into The Reflection

2012-01-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

"Into The Reflection"

20x16 oil on linen

I hope this post finds everyone well and happily and creatively entering the new year ahead! "Into The Reflection" is my first painting of 2012, just finished today. I started the new year off in the studio on Sunday with a solid 8 hours in this painting. I then took 3 more days with a couple hours each to complete what you see here. The scene you see is a place I love to escape to in Door County during the Plein Air Festival I've participated in the past 3 years. (This year I'll be teaching a plein air workshop in July there) If you know anything about being a featured artist in the plein festivals, you know that they can be intense and somewhat demanding at times with many many events and locations you are to be featured through out the week where lots of people come to see you paint! It's all good and I'm not complaining but as much as I paint in public for my classes, demos etc, I am a quiet painter. I need my own space and time to connect with my subject, and to emotionally respond to the time and place, usually being Nature to truly feel in 'the zone'. This little place is way off the beaten path and it would be rare for someone to find you painting there, it's one of those places that feels like it's there 'just for me'. :) I know that's not true, but it feels like a place I connect to on a deeper sensitive level. I know I did at least 3 plein pieces here over the past few years, maybe more. . . . this year I took a number of photographs and found this angel the other day and knew it was what I wanted to paint!
Truly, I composed the photo quite well, I didn't have to change much as far as composition. However, each time I use a photo as a reference, it's usually always a place I feel I know quite well from painting it from life. I always feel the photos I take are cold and my memory recalls the warmth of the day and warmth of the colors in the water. All the photo does for me is triggers these memories so I can bring myself there in order to paint it again. No matter how many times I paint the same place, each painting is it's own painting.
Looking into the reflection was an after thought once I started the painting. Day one, I truly didn't even consider this element in the painting, and by day two it was in. I wanted to be able to paint the effect of this incredible little piece of water in all it's richness yet complete clarity as you could see the bottom in the reflection. The most difficult part was stopping and not putting TOO much in. I think I painted just enough although it was so tempting to put a little trout twirling and glistening around the bottom, just teasing. . . :)

So, painting number one of the year, done! Happy Painting and Happy New Year!

December Reds

2011-12-04T15:18:00.000-08:00

"December Reds"

12x12 oil on linen board

This is my latest piece, just finished. Discovery, reds are difficult! So much warmth needs to be balanced by cool vibration, this is where the magenta vibration comes in. There's a LOT of paint on this canvas, so it was even more difficult than normal for me to photograph, lots of glare. I think the painting is probably more subtle than shows in the photo but I got to the point that I thought I'd just get it up and posted. But you get the idea, hope you enjoy!

Late November Subtleties

2011-11-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

"Late November Subtleties"

8x10 oil on linen

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there! So much to be thankful for. There is the obvious, my children, friends, family, students, health, and believe me, I am SO grateful for all! As an artist, I'd like to extend my gratitude to the gift of vision through my eyes. What an amazing gift everyday to be able to see the incredible colors that exist in Nature, that so Many forget to stop and absorb. Yesterday was the day after Thanksgiving, my son Nick and I spent the day out at my Dad's enjoying just being outside. It's unusually warm here in MN for late November (50 degrees today), we had a small snow fall last week that has since melted, leaving the ground wet and saturated with rich but subtle color. My eyes almost can't believe what I see in the grasses these past few days. "Late November Subtleties" was my yesterday's attempt at capturing what I believe to be some of the most difficult but most inspirational scenes to paint. VERY flat light we had, but so SO beautiful. This piece was done at about noon and I could hardly see my palette, it was so dark, very strange. The green in the pond which was a thin layer of ice under the melting water top was very interesting to me since I don't usually get to see this color was fun to study. It's a short lived effect.

Happy Painting to those who paint. I hope you enjoy what you see today! It truly is a great gift!

Morning Fire - Heavenly Day

2011-10-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

"Morning Fire - Heavenly Day"

12x12 oil on linen panel

This is a piece I did last week and will be in my show opening one week from Friday (Friday November 4th, 6:30-8:30) at The Phipps in Hudson WI. I woke early this day, it was quiet as the kids were still sleeping, walked into the kitchen, looked out the window and saw THIS. Truly amazing the colors that exist in Nature. I stood there in wonder as I watched the fleeting effect, making mental notes of this moment as I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the intensity of the color would fade. This was one of those moments that nothing else existed and the connection between me and the light I was absorbing was completely inspiring and moving. I see lots of sunsets and sunrises but this one and I had a connection which is why I painted it, and is why it came to me with great ease when I did paint it later on that week with the image vividly planted in my head.

Contstanly Curious!

2011-10-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

"Along The Pumpkin Patch"

11x14 oil on linen panel

I've been really busy lately teaching and preparing for my show that opens November 4th at the Phipps Center in Hudson WI and runs through Dec. 12. Between all the teaching and painting I've had little time to post new paintings, it's such a balancing act at times but there are times when we need to just leave the computer and all of life's 'little daily duties' alone and just paint! This is why I'm so excited to have the week ahead of me with 5 days of blocked out time in the studio to do just that! Even taking the week off from teaching.

This piece is one I did a couple of weeks ago and am just posting now. It was a beautiful day and I was eager to get out and paint but once I got set up and started I began to paint 'stuff' and it was going downhill quickly, instead of painting my impression of the day and all it's beauty in color. I was about an hour into the painting and decided it would be better to save the panel and scrape the painting out. So, I did. Started cleaning up (about as cranky as I can get when I painting goes wrong. . . .) when I looked out at the landscape I was standing in and had the breath taken from me for a moment with the beauty of the day and the color! My spark was back, I slapped myself for forgetting for that hour what I was doing here, capturing color and atmosphere with my impression of this moment. I started and finished my painting entirely painted with the palette knife in under an hour and absolutely love the honesty of what I captured. As I grow, I'm becoming more and more interested in quality of paint and what I can do with the paint. I've been thinking and experimenting more with than any other element lately and am so captivated by the endless possibilities of what can be done by being constantly curious!

Corner Of Nason

2011-09-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

"Corner Of Nason"

11x14 oil on linen

What a beautiful fall day! I just got in from painting one of my favorite places in Washington County, close to Marine of the St Croix. I spent some time painting this great little road last year about this time. I'm in love with the color of the bean fields right now, so warm! Usually farmers switch from corn to beans from year to year. Personally I'd rather paint the bean fields than corn so this was good! Painting outside was a refreshing break from being in the studio this past week, I really needed to get out and paint directly from Nature. I'm now renewed for teaching this week in the studio again.

I do have to say, I'm not thrilled with the photos I've been taking of my paintings lately. They look a bit harsh in the photos compared to the originals. Eventually I'll take the time to figure out this problem but for now, you get the idea!

More Door County Work . . .

2011-09-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

"Bailey's Harbor"

14x11 sold

"Bailey's Harbor" is featured in this month's Southwest Art Magazine!

"Edgewood Orchards"

14x14 sold

"Door County Lily Pads"

14x11 available

"Sister Bay Sunset"

8x10 available

"Moonlight Bay"

8x10 sold

Today, I'm working in the studio on a 24x36 landscape and am getting to a point where I'm almost done but not quite. . . and not sure what the painting needs . . . a good time to take a break and post some paintings from the summer. The pieces here are again from the door County festival. I thought posting them now would be timely since I just finalized details with the Peninsula School of Art in Door County where I'll be teaching a 3 day plein air workshop in July of 2012. If you're interested in taking the workshop you will be able to register through the school soon! Okay, back to the easel!

Door County House and Sweet Peas

2011-09-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

"Door County House and Sweet Peas"

11x14 oil on linen ~sold~

Oh yes, finally unloading photos I took of my paintings from the summer! Back in the studio, back to the computer. I took somewhat of a break from most computer work this summer. . . . but it's nice to be back! This is one of many many paintings I have NOT posted from the summer but will! This painting is one I did at the Door County Plein Air Festival in July, more to come!

Late August Light!

2011-08-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

"Late August Early Morning Light"

10x8 oil on linen

"River Trees"

8x10 oil on linen

I was out early yesterday morning on the river, what a beautiful morning! The top piece was done at first light, very early and the second mid morning into noon. It felt great to be out on the river painting again. The river's been so high this year that it's been difficult to find a piece of shore line to stand on, it's now finally going down and is lovely!

Where Has Time Gone? And a Lovely Tribute!

2011-08-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

THAT is the question! It's been a while since I've made a post. Although, I have not in any way, shape, or form taken a break from living or painting or teaching! I've been eating up the summer and all that comes with this very busy time of year. Each spring I have the sense that THIS summer I'm going to 'relax', 'take a break', have some 'time off' . . . .ha! That's not how it goes. All the normal things in life still keep on rolling but the days are longer and I for one take full advantage of every minute! Since checking in last, I've spent 2 weeks in Door County for my 3rd consecutive year as a featured artist for the Peninsula School Plein Air Festival, came back, had a studio open house which turned out to be a wonderful success on many levels, taught part 2 of my summer plein air workshop, and today I had the great honor of spending the day at the Russian Museum and The MIA in MPLS with Painters Camille Przwodek and her incredible and talented husband Dale. They flew in last night to teach a week long workshop here which starts Monday - Saturday. The workshop will be based out of my studio and on my favorite stompin' grounds along the St Croix. I'm really looking forward to the week with them and being completely engrossed in the process of learning and painting!

As for my studio open house: I'd like to share with you a story that was written about my painting "A Walk In Queen Anne's Lace". Please take the time to visit this blog by a very inspiring and inspired writer who took my painting home with him the night of the opening. I'll let him tell his story since I'm much better with paint than I am words. But I'd just like to say, what an honor to be a part of the inspiration for this piece of writing. We all serve a purpose with the craft we have devoted our lives to. This is why I paint!

Once you go to his blog, click on "Queen Anne's Lace" to find this story, not that you should stop there, there are many wonderful stories, enjoy! oh, and I'd love to hear what you think!

http://steverobert.wordpress.com

"A Walk In Queen Anne's Lace"

12x12 sold

Lyrical Beauties!

2011-06-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

"Lyrical Beauties"

20x16 oil on stretched linen

It's 11:00 pm and I JUST finished this painting and thought I might as well post it now, who needs sleep right?? Each year I do what ever it takes to paint my peonies who's lives are oh so short! With my last weekend's plein air workshop and my peonies deciding to open while I was off teaching, by the time I got to paint them they were getting pretty droopy. However, their heavy droopiness provided a nice "lyrical" composition for me, hence it's name "Lyrical Beauties!" I did photograph process of this piece but will post that at a later time. For now, I hope you enjoy my latest piece!

3 Day Plein Air Workshop

2011-06-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend teaching the first half of my annual 3 day plein air workshop. This is a consecutive workshop with the second half in August. We start in June by building on our foundation skills of plein air painting. The students then have the chance to apply the skills during summer and continue on in August. It's a very beneficial way to teach and for students to apply what they're learned and hone in on those skills, then come back and move further. The progress I see is truly remarkable! The group was a hard working bunch of painters! I was fun to see all their growth in such a short period of time. Below is one of my demos and pictures of the gang painting.

Thanks to all those who attended, I had a great time!

"Sunday Serenity"

8x10 oil on linen panel -sold-

This is my demo from Sunday morning.

We decided Sunday Serenity would be the perfect title for this painting!

Here's most of the 'gang', 16 total watching my Sunday morning demo. It was a bit chilly, 53 degrees, so we were all pretty layered in attempt to keep the damp chill out. They (weather peeps) kept promising sun but we didn't see much of that all weekend, at least we dodged the rain!

Here's the gang working hard on value structure!

A peek over Doug and Angie's should of what we were painting. Lake Elmo Park Reserve is really a perfect place to paint!

Painting Spring!

2011-05-27T11:24:00.000-07:00

Spring has arrived a bit slow here in Minnesota this year, but it's here and there's way too much to paint! The Crab Apple trees have already come and gone, the lilacs are going crazy and the green is electric! This new green of spring for the most part is a bit tough to paint and can be somewhat unpleasing to end up with, however it is what it is and the fact that it's green and not white is a very good thing! Last week I spent the week painting outside on location at the farm where I grew up. The little stream piece was done in about an hour and a half in the evening. I stood on the bridge crossing over the water looking North. I had my daughter and my dog along with so there were a few distractions but it's life and the fact I was painting 'from life' it seemed pretty fitting! The added bonus to bringing along a 12 year old and a 6 month old black lab puppy is there is no time to spare! It forces one to put it down and put it down right!

Lilacs, gotta love 'em! And 'gotta paint 'em FAST'! They don't stay perky for long once cut. I did this piece in one full day and decided to be finished. My goal was to use natural light so it would be a bit softer and cooler than the controlled warm lighting I often use in my still lifes. I like that the shadows are so warm and soft. There are lots of little temperature notes in the whites that I'm afraid is difficult to view their subtleties due to my horrible photography skills. The tiny little notes of differences are quite beautiful in their purity. These delicate degrees of differences are what drive and inspire me to paint flowers from life. It's absolutely incredible the colors that exist!

"Fresh Cut Lilacs"

14x14 oil on linen panel

"Stream In Spring"

10x8 oil on linen panel

Paint The Hills Of Tuscany With Kami Polzin

2011-05-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Who Wants To Go To Italy?!!!! Raise your hand!!!

I will be returning to Tuscany Italy in May of 2012 to teach a workshop and mentoring program in
May of 2012.
For details and registration info visit the link below. I can't wait to paint the hills of Tuscany again!

http://www.ilchiostro.com/index.php?action=workshop-details&item=200

Blue Hydrangeas

2011-05-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

"Blue Hydrangeas"

16x20 oil on linen

This is my latest studio piece just finished a few days ago. It was so refreshing to paint live hydrangeas this time of year around here! I grow hydrangeas in my garden at home but they're not ready until mid summer to paint so this was a real treat to be able to paint one of my favorite flowers in the first week of May. I found a potted plant of Endless Summer Hydrangeas in the garden center at Home Depot a few weeks ago that were in FULL beautiful bloom and thought they'd be perfect for painting and better yet after painting I can put the plant in the ground and paint them again and again!

I painting a lot of flowers from life, and I have to say for ME hydrangeas and peonies (lilacs too) are some of the most difficult flower to paint. I think it's because each flower has thousands of little petals in each head which makes it easy to get overwhelmed by the 'millions' of sweet little petals in this flower. I find it crucial when painting these to keep the lights and darks separate and only paint the darks compared to the light, not what the darks look like when you look INTO the darks. The darks have to be painted in relation to the lights to pull off the correct value and temperature relationship to achieve the saturation of the lights.

In composing this painting, I was thinking about all the texture in the flowers and the play of the soft elegance of the round glass vase. I like how it almost disappears into the background. And then the few little crisp notes in the 3 little fallen petals on the table top!

Harmony Side by Side!

2011-04-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

"In The Meadow"

24x24 oil on linen

"A Walk In The Queen Anne's Lace"

24x24 oil on linen

It all started with a few little panels, some paint, and an idea which led me to paint these 2 @ 24x24s, that as I see it belong together, side by side!

Sometimes I seriously wonder, 'where do paintings come from?' It really is a mystery, a beautiful one, but a mystery just the same. I think that's what I especially love about the landscape, it's the little bit of unknown and all the beautiful layers of depth and subtlety that are provided for us. I recently read a quote that said something like this . . . "don't be humble, you're not that great". Kind of makes me laugh at the truth of that statement but I can't think of a better word for the way I feel standing in Nature than 'humbled' each and EVERY SINGLE time! It's kind of like being a "Mom":)

The two paintings above are my take on all the feelings that I have in response to Nature at this point.

They are my quiet take on the peacefulness I feel and respect I have of the Natural world.

Early Spring Bunch

2011-04-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

"Early Spring Bunch"

14x11 oil on linen panel

It's been a busy couple of weeks in and around the studio! Since my last post, I've taught several classes and have been painting as much as possible in between. Last weekend I was down in Zumbrota Minnesota at Crossings Art Center teaching a 2 day color temperature workshop using the still life as our resource to study from. It was seriously a dedicated group of painters. I've said it before, and I'm sure will say it again, but it's SO inspiring and rewarding to work with such great people and also to watch their growth and discoveries with their painting! We painted from fresh flower arrangements like this one I painted here. Only this piece I did at my studio a couple of days before the workshop to get my head where it needed to be. (I also did a full demo at the workshop that I will post later.)

Hope you enjoy the piece!

24x24 "Harmony Of The Meadow" (demo)

2011-04-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

This is my latest studio memory piece. My plan is do 2 more pieces in this 24x24 format of the same meadow area with different moods and light. I am using my little 6"x6"pieces I did for the 6" Squared Exhibition in California. I've got those 3 pieces posted below and they are currently somewhere between here and there on their way to the show, I'd like to be going with my little paintings!

But, oh well. . . . :)

When starting this piece, I had every good intention of photographing the process in it's important developing stages, but once really getting in to the painting I was so zoned that I forgot to keep up the shooting of this piece. So here's what I had!

When I'm beginning a painting, either small or larger, I'm always thinking of the placement of the large abstract shapes that will construct the composition. Believe me, I LOVE this tree and all it's character but I'm seeing and thinking of it's shape and the fact that it is a form. Same goes with the background mass of trees and the meadow area. I paint landscape because of my love for it but I don't get caught up in the little details of it's complexity. I believe in painting with great reservation to show these beautiful little exceptions at the end of the piece. (such as the flowers in this piece) The tiny notes of purity in the end of a painting are what people and comment on see but it's the underlying structure of these shapes that gives a painting it's 'bones'.

So, that's what I was thinking at this stage. Starting with my shapes of darks and working the lines of the composition. I usually start with a wash of some sort. I probably used a transparent oxide red in this one. . . ?

At this stage I'm pretty happy with the feel and composition so I start to work the form by developing what is going on within the big shapes.

I begin to 'work up' or 'build up' the paint a bit. I always start my painting pretty thin and 'work up' the paint, meaning start to work a bit thicker as the painting develops. If I work too thick in the beginning stages of a painting, I can completely lose it! I think paint quality has a lot to do with paint consistency. I don't usually use any mediums, for the most part anyway, but I do use mineral spirits to thin my paint and get the consistency I like. Paint consistency is very personal and it's difficult for anyone to tell a student painter exactly how their paint should feel to them but I do think you have to paint a LOT before you know what works best for you. I'm always exploring this as I work, and really it's feeling of the paint under the brush that I crave the most about painting.

As you can see here I start adding some color in the foreground grasses. But it was not until the very end stages of the painting that I even thought about adding the bits of colors in the flowers.

A note about painting grasses: it's important to search for and find the shapes, even in a subject (like grasses in a meadow) that provides a less than obvious structure, and contains much more of a subtle separation of lights and darks. Connect your lights and connect your darks to begin. Realize that under all the lush color is the warmth of the earth that vibrates through on a very subtle level. Build from there and even in the most busy field of wild flowers, nature gracefully connects these dancing notes of color. It's up to us as artists to find the connection and sweep of these notes to serve the area as a one unified and cohesive statement, the whole.

"Harmony Of The Meadow"

24x24 oil on linen panel

Painting Last Bits Of Winter

2011-03-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

I Got out and painted what we in Minnesota HOPE is possibly the last bits winter. I love the contrast of the ground with the snow this time of year and the beautiful patterns it leaves as the snow slowly melts. My plan was to get out and paint the flood but it was pretty tough since the water was so high (floods do that you know. . . :) It was a beautiful day and I was happy just being by the river. The trumpeter swans and Canadian geese were plenty noisy, and hearing the ice shift as it forced it way to thaw was very powerful company, humbling to say the least. Besides one lone hiker (who took these photos of me on his iphone) I was the only one out enjoying the day.

What is the rest of the world thinking missing this stuff???

I fell in love with this tree and little patch of snow cradling around it's base so decided this would be the painting. Initially I started out painting the light and shadows casting on the sandstone behind but ended up taking that out to support the design of the snow and the blue cast shadows raking across it. Not to mention I was out so long my light drastically changed before I was finished! All and all a good day!

this is a photo the friendly hiker took of my hand. . . .

just getting my darks massed. . . .

"Last Bits Of Winter"

14x11 oil on linen panel

P.S. this photo looks a bit warmer than the original . . . .

Small Paintings, Big Ideas

2011-03-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

"Queen Anne's Dance"

6"x6" oil on linen

"Impossible Glow"

6"x6" oil on linen

"In The Meadow"

6"x6" oil on linen

These small paintings are pieces that I did to stir up some ideas, or maybe I should say bring them to the surface! I'm very drawn to painting the fields and meadows of the midwest area. One of my favorite wild flowers are the Queen Anne's Lace. I love the rhythm of design they create as they sway through the meadows, it's almost as if they dance in the grasses. One of my favorite lights to try and capture is a soft moody light. So, the combination of these two elements were the inspiration for these ideas. Although I used no reference for any of the 3 paintings here, I have a visual memory of these moments in my mind. "Queen Anne's Dance" is a distinct place on the farm where I grew up and the other 2 are a place we painted in Door County last summer in the rain.

When structuring each of these paintings, I was primarily concerned with the large shapes in the initial lay in (even though in this 'tiny' case, the large shapes were small) and used the strength of their dark values to support the sweep of the flowers through the field. I've since, started a larger version of each of these paintings, although they are certainly taking on a life of their own! Hopefully they'll be finished in the next week and I can post them soon. . . . .fingers are crossed!!

Moonlight Bay Memory

2011-03-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

"Moonlight Bay Memory" 11x14 oil on linen panel

Last week I painted for a local television channel for a show called 'Local Artisans'. I've done this several times over the past few years and its always fun and a good experience. This piece is what I did as my demonstration painting. I have one hour unedited to start and finish a painting during the filming so I usually and chose to paint something with strong shapes to keep the structure simplified. Even with a good plan prepared an hour is still pretty fast for me to paint an 11x14. I used a photo I had taken of the original plein air piece that I did in Door County last summer. The painting sold at the event so the best I had was my memory and a photo of the painting. Here is the end result!

Radish Still Life Demo

2011-02-16T04:57:00.000-08:00

I promised my classes I would post my process of the radish painting so here it is!

The reason I think it's important to see where a painting like this starts is to understand that there is structure underlying all the fresh paint and notes of color.

It can be somewhat overwhelming at first glance when you first step up to the easel and see all the color in something like these radishes, not to mention the fact that the foliage starts wilting the second the light hits them. . . . I start by drawing my shapes, then separating lights and darks in the masses, ignoring all the reflected light within the radishes 'till later. Getting the darks established right away freezes the light effect, even when the leaves decide to melt!

At this point my leaves were down but I had my darks in so I was ok. I then get all my lights covered, keeping them warmer since they were in a warm light. I was mostly concerned with my averages. Not caring too much about the subtleties within the masses at this point with the exception of a few prominent plane changes.

At this point in the painting I'm refining drawing and noting plane changes in each form not forgetting that each radish is a form but just as important the entire bundle is a form as well. It has it's own comings and goings to it's shape. Always think of serving the whole and try not to get too caught up in breaking up the 'stuff' within a mass. In a painting like this working from life, I like to keep my strokes clean and fresh to emphasize all the beauty in color. It's all about color temperature relationship to see the color. Also, keep lights in light and darks in dark, it's crucial to keep your light effect!

To see the final painting, scroll down to last week's Radish post. Hope that was helpful and happy painting!

Conceptual Pieces Of Harmony

2011-02-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

"Pieces Of Harmony"

20x24 oil on stretched linen

I've been thinking a lot about conceptual painting lately and just what the word conceptual means to me and my art. I think of concept or theme, as the artist's idea, the vision, the birth of the painting. As painters, we work very hard for years in the beginning of our study at trying to master the tools and elements of building a painting. It's our goal and hope to learn and know these tools so well, that it is no longer conscious but subconscious for the most part when we're working. We have all these incredible epiphanies from bursts of growth that keep us engaged and coming back for more. In this process we soon find that the more we know the more we know we don't know and so the growth continues.

We learn in the beginning, that concept is the start of a painting, and is an essential part of a painting, but we work so hard at just learning and practicing the elements that concept often times, and sometimes necessarily gets pushed under the rug in these building years. Until one day, when we realize that there was a reason we started this in the first place, and it's because we have vision and a voice, and painting is our means of communication and expression. This is when advancing in our work comes right back to the beginning, to concept!

Often times in my work, my 'initial' concept develops during the process of my painting, as if the painting is leading the way. But it all started with an idea, which in my mind is the concept.

The painting posted here is one that I feel was very conceptual for me. I thought a lot about this piece before painting it. The 'things' in this piece are meaningful pieces of my life which made me care enough to spend as much time as I did painting them. I went into this painting with the mind frame that I was going to slow down and take as long as it would take to get what I wanted in the work. Most subjects I paint are very fleeting moments and subjects, so I typically paint pretty quickly, often times Alla Prima. So with this piece my goal was to really study and observe all the little subtleties that make up the whole of this piece. The challenge and danger of taking so long to work on a piece is not destroying the integrity of the whole, the harmony.

At first it was a symbolic painting for me, almost a portrait of my life this far, and the pieces in the painting are symbols of things and people I love. The trigger point for this painting was the treble clef that I had found, and the rest developed from there. Artistically, painting these 'things' was a nice challenge which I always thrive on.

Little Bunch Of Radishes

2011-02-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

"Little Bunch Of Radishes"

8x10 oil on linen

This is a little study of some radishes I fell in love with at the grocery store the other day. How does one fall in love with radishes?? I don't know, I suppose the color! They were so tightly bundled, I hesitated to paint them that way but at the same time it was part of their charm. :)

Painting red in light is always a bit of a challenge and a challenge I thrive off of. It's always interesting to me how many cool notes are vibrating on top of red in the light. If you click on the image you can see all the subtle temperature notes. The hard part was stopping and not destroying the integrity of the whole.

Ray Mar Art Competition

2011-01-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

"Peonies From Mary's Garden"

20x16 oil on linen

I'm excited to announce my painting "Peonies From Mary's Garden" was selected as a finalist by juror Susan Lyon in Ray Mar's Art competition for December!

Happy New Year and Happy Painting!

2011-01-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit quiet lately, taking some off for the holidays and be home with my kids. As an artist, I always take this time of year to read and RE read my art books, organize my studio and work on 'art goals' for the year ahead. Kids went back to school after break last week and I was overly eager to get back to painting! I started and almost finished an interesting still life that I'll be sharing in the next week. . . .

December I was scheduled to teach a one day color temperature workshop at Crossings (an excellent and ambitious art center in Southern MN) however, we had the blizzard of the century and the entire state was shut down! The First day in years I did not leave my house for an entire day and a half, AND my 10 year old was snowed in at his friends!! :):) There was just nothin' I could do about it! ;) So, yesterday was the makeup day for that workshop! I had a blast meeting and teaching new and old friends, an excellent group of hard working painters! It was really an inspiring well charged day!

Here are some pictures I took with my iphone of the workshop, they're busy mixing color temps!

I've just posted 2 new workshops on my web site if you're interested check it out!

www.kamipolzin.com

I'm back in the painting saddle again and it feels great!

Happy New Year to you and Happy Painting!

Just Before The Opening 'night' . . . .

2010-12-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

Last night was the opening of our 2nd annual holiday show in Marine on The St Croix, my home town where I grew up. Now, do understand that Marine on The St Croix's 'downtown' area is a total of 2 blocks long. . . Marine is a charming little Valley village nestled along the bluffs of the St Croix River (MN, in case you are not aware) Just 10 miles north of Stillwater, where I now live with my 2 children and have my studio and school. The reason I share this is because there was something really sentimental for me to have a large body of my work here so close to home, it's been a while since I've seen all my work in one place like this and most of the pieces for this show have been painted along this this Valley. With all the shows we painters do that require us to ship our paintings out (many shows of which we don't even physically attend because of the inconvenience of distance) this was a real treat. You know that night after an opening and you can't sleep because your buzzing from adrenalin, well, it's 9:30 am and I'm clutching my coffee . . . :) from lack of zzzz's last night but reflecting the evening with gratitude and grateful I am spending my life as a painter.

The show continues this weekend through Sunday noon till 5:00 daily. Hope to see you there!

Fresh From the Easel

2010-11-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

"Current Of The 'Croix"

20x30 oil on linen

I just finished this painting in my studio and will be going to my show Dec. 4th in Marine on The St Croix, home. If you've followed my work, you've probably noticed I have a profound love for this river I've grown up near and am constantly curious to paint and try to understand. As I paint the river, I become more and more amazed at it's energy and power - yet peaceful and calming manner. This particular view is from a dear friends house nestled up in the bluffs and pines, this is literally her back yard! Just incredible! I used a small study I did a year ago to work from for this piece. I've painted this view in the past but until this piece, have not yet painted in the one last Great White Pine that does in fact still stand on the WI side of the river, so it's kinda fun to see it there standing so proud above the tree tops. I often times imagine what this valley was like when the White Pines were untouched . . .I'm sure it was an incredible sight!

"Spoon Lake"

16x20 oil on canvas

A sweet little connection of lakes 15 miles from my home is where I painted this charming little pond this October. I used my field study (8x10) to paint this studio piece. It's astounding how much information you can get not only in your painting but in your head from working from life. I had forgotten to take a photo when I was out this day so completely relied on my study to paint this piece. I was too busy visiting my new little friends who were spending the day catching supper for their families. :) 3 young boys hung out with me for a few hours while they pulled in one fish after another. It made me happy to see them doing JUST what kids should be doing on a day like that, enjoying being a kid!

Holiday Exhibition December 2-5, 2010

2010-11-21T16:39:00.000-08:00

"Boom Site Winter Light"

16x20 oil on panel

2nd Annual Holiday Exhibition

December 2 - 5 , 2010

Opening Reception: Thursday December 2, 5:00pm - 9:00pm

Location: Marine On The St Croix MN

101 Judd St Marine on St Croix MN 55047

Please join us for a show of paintings by

Kami Polzin and Tom Maakestad

Crimson Dahlias

2010-11-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

"Crimson Dahlias"

14x11 oil on linen panel

This painting is a demo I did for my 2 day color temp workshop a couple of weeks ago. I'm just finally getting around to posting it! The dahlias painted here are from my yard since we've had a very warm fall, plants are lasting longer than usual, a treat for us here in Minnesota!

I used quite a bit of palette knife work in the beginning of this painting and ended up using the brush by the end breaking in subtle temperature notes.

Summer Memories. . .from the studio

2010-11-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

This week in the studio.

I teach 2 studio classes every Monday. The paintings below are pieces I did as demos for my classes Monday. The top piece I did from an image I took with my son Nick this summer when we were taking a ride on the 4 wheeler, he insisted that "you should paint this Mom". He was right, I should, so I did! Fond memories of moments like this and painting them keeps them very alive. The bottom piece is a piece similar to one I did at the Door County plein Air invitational this summer. The piece I did in the field sold, I always wanted to explore this painting a little further so I used the memory and did it again. A pretty special moment painting in the rain! I'm thinking of doing that one on a large scale. . . we'll see! :)

"A Late Summer Moment"

11x14 oil on linen

"Standing In Queen Anne's Lace"

11x14 oil on linen

Last Light On The Dam

2010-10-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

"Last Light On The Dam"

12x16 oil on linen

Once again, the beaver dam where I grew up has been another source of inspiration for me and here is the result of that inspiration. I do have to say the shadows are a bit cooler and more filled with air than you see here, I'm having photographing issues but am sure I'll figure it out eventually. . . . hoping. . . anyway, I'm sure you can get the gist of it!

This pond is so thick with lily pads and all the other beautifully colored gunk that grows upon the top, especially by the end of the summer, I love all that thick stuff to paint. It's almost like you could walk across the water, it's so dense, I'm assuming that wouldn't work well though. . . .

I used a photo reference for this piece, although I don't do that too often. Since I've painted it enough from life I could simply use the photo as a source of inspiration. The foreground took me a bit to figure out since that part of the photo was virtually no help, it was thick with pads so my goal was to portray that with out over painting them so the eye would pass over them and trail up to the light. Just a few actually lilies were popping out but were positively glowing from the light, really a lovely thing to see. :)

I'm having a show in December with Tom Makestaad in Marine on The St Croix so I plan to have this painting there.

A Walk Along The River

2010-10-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

"A Walk Along The River"

24x30 oil on linen panel

I was recently commissioned to do this painting of the St Croix at the boat launch on the WI side of the Interstate Park, a place I have painted frequently in the past in all seasons. On this painting I used my field study that I painted a few years back. I've had many opportunities to sell this particular piece but there are some paintings that are much more valuable to keep. I've ended up using this study for many larger versions of this place, each painting always ends up having a life of it's own.

In the beginning stage of each making a painting, I think it's crucial to have first a good concept and second a good composition of strong shapes that support the idea or concept.

Here I show my 'wash' of my composition using transparent oxide red and mineral spirits, there might be a little ultra marine adding in the cast shadows along the shore. . . . . .

. . .developing my darks a bit more. . .

at this point in the painting I like to start working in large masses

There gets to be a point that once you get a mass massed in, you really need to work into another mass connected to the one you were working on for relativeness. I do not ever finish an area entirely until I have the shapes at least massed in since they are all relative, especially when you are working on subtlety. In my masses I'm always thinking of developing the form of the shapes.

Time to get the sky started. I usually start with a cooler pool of color like in the image above and then mix a pool of warmer color to break in on top of the cool. It helps to create vibration in an area.

My study is to the right. I 'use' my studies for information, I don't copy them. I wanted the large piece to be softer and warmer than the study was.

Cast shadows are starting to appear on the shore line. I usually spend quite a bit of time working on the design of these. I always think of the fact that shadows tell the tale of form.

One of my favorite parts of painting the banks of the St Croix is the sweep of the shore line and the warm rich color of the sand when it's sun lit. Here I started getting that in along with the water. The St Croix has a unique color due to the Tamarack roots up north affecting the color of the water. It's warm and rich colored like root beer. I don't ever use any white in these areas as it would cool the color too much. I use yellow to lighten it if I need and try and stick with transparent colors such as transparent oxide, ultra marine, and aliz and thin it with mineral spirits.

here comes the wind sheer and sky reflections

at this stage the little subtle exceptions come in.

Note the color of the finish piece and this last one are a bit off. I'm working on color with my new computer, it's actually somewhere in between the two but you get the idea. . .:)

Glitter Lit

2010-10-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

"Glitter Lit"

11x14 oil on linen panel

The St Croix October, 2010 painted from William OBrien State Park, just north of Stillwater and Marine during the flood. The water is unusually high, especially for this time of year. The water in front of the tree is actually the parking lot, the water behind the tree is the river, two totally separate waters in the same painting. This back lit situation with two separate bodies of water - moving water, calm water, high glare from the sun and reflection from the tree was an interesting challenge to paint.

The Planes of Pears

2010-10-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

"Pears"

6x8 oil on linen

In my classes we have been using the pear to study plane changes and develop a clear understanding of form. This is a little piece I did for my classes last week. I love painting pears!

Things Change . . . .

2010-10-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

"Washington County Farmland"

11x14 oil on linen panel

This is a piece I did in the field about a month ago, painted near the Nason Hill piece I posted earlier. Washington County is where I grew up, my family farmed and my kids and I still live. This scene is what we used to see much more of when I was younger but things change, as do our surrounding landscape. As the barns fall, most people replace them with something new or just simply completely let them go because of the great expense it costs to repair and restore these old structures.

This barn is an original that still stands nestled into the land as if it were a part of the land that holds it, and only a slight sway back, unlike many of the others still holding on.

So, this painting is to remember the beauty of the old and never ending change ahead!

Outdoor Painters Of Minnesota

2010-10-05T19:47:00.001-07:00

I am honored to be teaching a workshop for OPM this October the 23rd. OPM is an group for outdoor painters to get together and paint monthly around our state. This workshop I will be teaching is being sponsored by OPM and members are able to sign up for FREE through the OPM website. To see details click on the image above and it will enlarge it.

Thanks OPM, I'm really looking forward to being the first to teach this workshop! Hope to see some of you there, happy painting!

True Colors

2010-09-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

"Mr Murphy's Dahlias"

20x16 oil on linen

I got a new mac! I've been spending the week trying to figure out how to use my new computer and having just a bit of 'getting used to' editing photos. (LOVE the mac by the way!) I need to get Photoshop, this picture is not great but you get the idea and I thought I'd better get it posted before I get too far behind. . . .

The story behind this painting is about to begin! My 10th grade english teacher Mr Murphy now retired and seemingly pretty happy about that, grows the most lovely dahlias. I've been seeing Mr Murphy at the local farmers market every Saturday for years, but since the flowers don't last long and I wanted to do a somewhat larger piece of the flowers I knew I'd need a full weekend planned out to do this painting. Finally last Saturday was the day! Now, to add to the story, my Grandma and aunts and I have been religiously planting and digging up our red dahlias that go all the way back to my great Grandma in South Dakota for as long as I can remember now, and I couldn't imagine not including my Great Grandma's too! As lovely and Mr Murphys are, ours are special to me for so many reasons and they seem to have a mind of their own in the funky way they like to grow. This is the reason for the 'character like' one on the left reaching out and saying hello.

Compositionally speaking I was thinking of how I could possibly make such an idea work. Not to assume that it does, feels like a bit of a risk but I like it! With all this hot red in a painting I knew I would need something to balance and cool this piece a bit, hence the blue cloth on the table. Red and blue is a nice color scheme. I think of the sweep of red traveling through the painting as a large s shape and I placed the 2 little pedals on the table to lay the surface flat and also to help carry the eye around again. Lots of red for this painter but that's what they're all about, their True Colors!

Wisdom Tree

2010-09-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

"Wisdom Tree"

11x14 oil on linen panel

This painting was commissioned to me through St Croix Prep school this summer and I chose to paint this old tree that was left on the school grounds. I feel that trees are so metaphorical in so many ways from their roots to their branches and all they've seen and been through and survived. There is something very intriguing and strong to me about an old tree and all it's character, especially when it stands alone. I think about of those who have chosen to leave it for the future and how easy it would have been to cut down. The school was built only over a year ago and at one time the grounds were farmed. Lucky for us there were Ones along the way that decided the tree should stay.

Isn't she beautiful and alive!

Some September Plein Air!

2010-09-22T05:48:00.001-07:00

"Just Off Nason Hill"

11x14 oil on linen

September painting is awesome! The colors are rich and usually, the weather is pretty comfortable. This is a piece I painted specifically for someone who just graduated law school, is an avid biker, and spent many of his days biking this route. Nason hill is one of the most challenging around for bikers and this special biker has fond memories of this route. I, the painter on the other hand chose this composition because I was totally intrigued and inspired by the beautiful sweep of this road and the sharp tension of the telephone wires. I've always loved to paint telephone wires, in fact I once turned down a large commission because I insisted the telephone wires belong and the collectors did not agree. :) And at THAT time I could not afford to turn commissions down! Stubborn artist huh? :)

A Meaningful Concept and Process

2010-09-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

"Hydrangeas And Cool Light"

12x16 oil on linen

I'm finding lately that I'm interested in painting art that tells some kind of a story. Whether the viewer is aware of the story or not, it's important to me, and makes the process of creating art more interesting and important in my mind.
In this piece, like most of my floral pieces, the flowers are from my garden. Growing and cutting the flowers are a part the process of making many of my works. I've had the green clippers you see on the right of the canvas since I was 19 years old and I've used them in every floral piece I've done since. Usually I take the clippers out of the scene when I start the painting but in this painting I was inspired by the story they told and thought all the leaves I had clipped off to design the composition of the hydrangeas were definitely part of the story and should stay as well.

I painted this piece using natural cool light. It was a bit more difficult since my time was limited so I came back to work on this 3 different morings. Unfortenetely I do not have north light in my studio, my windows face the west, so time is an issue

- but a good and challenging one!

Floating Over the St Croix Valley

2010-09-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't painted in one full week!

This last Saturday, just minutes before I was about to walk down the isle as my sisters Maid of Honor in her wedding, my friends Scott and Kimberly called to let me know they had a couple of openings on their balloon for a sunRISE ride in their balloon. Not wanting to pass this opportunity by, I took them up on their offer after only sleeping 3 1/2 hours the night before. I'm sharing this 'non-painting' experience with you because it was truly one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had! I hope you enjoy.

the fog in the Valley is often times thick along the river, quite stunning
filling up with 'hot air' :)
and the beautiful lift. I like the human figure next to the balloon, it gives one perspective on the grandness of the balloon
just above the clouds!

looking over the St Croix

touching down on the water reflecting us in the balloon

Love this perspective on the poplars

Aamodt's website http://www.aamodtsballoons.com/

August Light

2010-08-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

It was good to get out painting the August light this weekend!

"Early Morning On the River"

10x8 oil on linen panel

This painting was done Saturday morning at William OBrien State Park. It's hard to believe the summer is already coming to an end. I never feel I painted it enough. In this piece I was completely drawn to the reflections and the incredible back light of this little tree, such a pretty little tree, and naturally the movement of the water on the river. The water is unusually high on the St Croix right now. The movement and energy of the current is intense!

"Old Cow Pasture"

8x10 oil on linen panel

An old oak in a pasture where the cows once grazed.

The golden rod is thick and prime here in Minnesota. Beautiful to paint, horrible on the allergies! The light Saturday evening was truly golden. I love this little pasture, it's so meandering. I'm sure this old oak was a nice place for the cattle to hang out at one time. . .

"Warm August Light"

11x14 oil on linen panel

Now this crazy warm piece was a surprise to me when I brought it into the studio. I was painting into the light and had some reflection bouncing off me onto my canvas which made it a bit difficult to see my color, I had thought I painted it a bit cooler. . . .this was painted Sunday morning. We got out early since it was going to be 90 degrees by noon. It feels so good to have a painting under your belt by lunch time, it's kind like if you accomplish nothing else in a day, it doesn't matter, you painted! This was just 50 yards East of the smaller painting done the night before.

I told myself my goal on this 11x14 was to represent the day with as few strokes possible and getting in the strong shapes of the trees. Oh, and to finish in 2 hours! I don't always set these kind of goals but once in a while it's good for me to do this in order to stay on track with my initial idea and inspiration. Plus it was HOT! So this is what I ended up with, then we wrapped it up for the weekend and went to get some lunch and a cold beer! It felt very deserved. :)

White Hydrangeas

2010-08-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

"White Hydrangeas"

24x20

This is my latest studio still life piece done from life. When I work from live flowers on a painting that is larger than 16x20 I am pushing myself to get the canvas covered as quickly and accurately as possible before they die. Especially hydrangeas and lilacs, they're cut time is only a day or two. This painting holds some of my favorite things to paint, reflections and white flowers. I like the hydrangeas in their early stage when they are still white. It was a goal of mine this year to get them before they turned colors. I love lighting up hydrangeas, they radiate such an internal glow, I love that!

My idea for this painting was to have the colors be rich and more on the warm side of the scale. It's easy with whites for me to make everything too cool since the shadows of white read very cool to me. I used the dark background to help set off the light valued flower heads.

An added thought. I've started painting my larger still life pieces using a stretched linen and I'm really liking the paint quality I'm getting versus the mounted hard panels. I've been struggling with my surfaces lately but the stretched is taking the paint better for still life work. . . hmmm.. .

Summer Colors

2010-08-23T12:39:00.001-07:00

"August Fields"

11x14 oil on linen panel

This is the demo piece I did for my workshop a couple of weeks ago, I'm just a bit behind on photographing my work. I've painted this place where I grew up many times. This little rolling hill across the stream is where I used to spin in circles as a little girl until I'd fall over. Why is that so fun for kids?? :)

It never stops amazing me the ever changing colors from season to season and year to year. I've always been drawn to the vibration of the grasses and wild growth against the warmth of the earth below. There's almost a warmth in color that radiates up into the colors of grasses and flowers. It's fun to study and attempt to capture this on canvas.

3 Day Plein Air Workshop

2010-08-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

2 posts in one day, a new record for me! :)
This past week I taught part 2 of my 2 @ 3 Day workshop. I started in June with 3 days, and continued part 2 this past week with 3 more days. Once again, I'm amazed and humbled by the inspiration my students pass on to me. I love to see how others see the world through paint, especially when pushed to paint out of their own element and comfort zone. Painters always want to improve and grow and share the world through their eyes and that is inspiring to me and other painters. The energy was beautiful and the painters worked hard. Friday we ended up starting an hour early and ended over an hour late. I started Friday off by doing a full demo.

Day one was along the banks of the St Croix. Day two and three we were out at my Dad's farm where I grew up. The fields are gorgeous out there right now with all the wild flowers. My 10 year old kiddo and his little friend hung out at with us the entire 2 days as well, kind of special! He told me Thursday night after class that he was going to paint the next day and that "Momma, I can see it in my head already what I'm gonna paint" I said "You CAN? What do you see?" He says "I can see the BIG shapes, they're the MOST important thing at first! I'm going to put all my tree into one BIG shape in the right value that I see the MOST, and then I'm going to put the field in front like another shape, and the sky is going to be another shape!" "I'll show 'em how it's done Mamma!"

From the mouths of babes! THAT'S how ya paint! :)

I feel full of gratitude on this day for those few lines, and for the opportunity to have worked with such gracious people in the field sharing art!

A Few More Paintings From Door County

2010-08-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

In such a rush last week to post my Door County work, I forgot about these guys! Here they are. "The Gallery Window" piece was painted in the rain at a demo on Thursday At EdgeWood Orchards Gallery. I LOVE that gallery, such beautiful grounds!

"Jacksonport Sundown"

8x10 oil on linen

" The Gallery Window"
8x10 oil

"Blue Sun"

8x10 oil on linen

Door County Plein Air 2010

2010-08-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

"Queen Anne's Lace"

11x14 oil on linen
We painted this painting on the first day in the rain, a soft warm rain. The rain is great for rich saturated colors. And one of my favorites at this time of year, the Queen Anne's Lace. I was in heaven!
"Door County Prairie Fields"
11x14 oil on linen
more Queen Anne's lace along with some black eyed susans and other wild flowers, I was REALLY in heaven!

"Cave Point"

11x14 oil on linen

this was a piece I did before the festival started so I didn't get to use it in the show, also the piece I showed in progress in an earlier post

"View From Bailey's Harbor"

11x14 oil on linen

We painted as a demo day in Bailey's Harbor. It was hot! There was a great little fish market/restaurant there with this amazing garden and the view of the lake. I had started out this painting with a table umbrella in front of the tree and ended up taking it out, glad for the suggestion! ;)

"Moonlight Bay"

8x10 oil on linen

LOVED painting here! It was the end of the day and just starting to rain, a nice quiet spot after being around people so much. Beautiful and serene. There was a local Dad there and his daughter fishing after doing chores on their farm. I remembered going to the lake on summer nights after barn chores.

"Purple Symphony"

8x10 oil on linen

This is my Quick Draw piece from Saturday! We had 2 hours from start to finish to paint a painting and then we had 30 minutes to tear down our easel, frame the painting, and get it set up on our easel down at the park for collectors and spectators to see the work before the live auction started. The auction got rained out so they ended up holding it in the town hall. A good move! The auction was a great success and every one of the 40 paintings done by the featured artists sold! Good for the school, good for the artists! Good for collectors!

"Summer Fields"

11x14 oil on linen

I can't help but love the way this painting makes me feel. I think it's the color combinations. It feels like breath and peacefulness to me.

"The Chef's Hat"

10x8 oil on linen

Love to eat at the Chef's Hat in Ephraim and am so inspired by the colors of their umbrellas and warmth of the sun. I painted this same place last year but in a horizontal format. Kind of a fun painting.

Back From Door. . . .and a tour of Master Framers

2010-07-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm back from Door County and very behind of my blogging. The trip was amazing, full of painting and meeting new and old friends. My intent was to make a post at least every other day of the progress but my laptop went dead and that was that. I will be posting later on today all my paintings and photos of the paintout but for now, I'm going to share my day yesterday.
I was fortunate enough to go with a dear friend and collector to Master Framers in St Paul to get a tour of their frame shop and watch part of the process of designing, cutting, carving, molding, guilding, leafing, and finishing off a frame. Frames are so readily available to us (and cheap) painters these days that I think we often times forget what a beautiful art this very old process of creating a frame truly is, a true art in itself and the ones creating them are Masters of their craft!

I don't know about you but I am never quite satisfied with my finish when I get my frames and usually end up toning them or not even using them. So, yesterday was a dream day of thinking of all the possibilities with frames for my paintings. The problem is the cost, can an artist afford to put a gold guilded frame on each piece, probably not. The hope is that the collector will realize that most artists do not charge extra for the frame, that it's a way to display the painting and the collector has the option to keep the frame the artist chose or take it somewhere like Master Framers to customize a piece for their piece of art.

just thinking out loud here. . . . . curious what other artists think about this. . ..

Im In Door County!

2010-07-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm in Door County! It's so beautiful here, it just feels good. Lots and lots to paint. I came over early this year to get acclimated to the area before painting for the Plein Air Festival which starts this coming Monday the 19th. We check in on Sunday to have our panels stamped for the week. I got out and did one 11x14 yesterday (below) at Cave Point and today I painted on the docks in Fish Creek, well I should say I ended up talking more than painting. . .lots of spectators! All nice people though, they just like art! :) Tomorrow I'll find myself a nice quiet place inland, maybe a farm scene. I'll hang out with the cows, I like cows, they don't talk much! AND they don't ask me what I'm painting! ;)

Not a great photo below but it gives you an idea.

Door County 2010

2010-07-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

"Door County Bales"

11x14 oil on linen panel

painted at the Door County Plein Air Festival in 2009. sold.

I'm heading off to Door County for the Plein Air Festival put on by the Peninsula School of Art. Ths will be the second year I've been invited to be one of the featured artists for their festival. I love Door County and am so excited to be going back to paint for a full week plus!

"Door County Bales" was one of the pieces I did last year during the week we had to paint.

Check out there site to see more on this amazing week in July!

www.doorcountypleinair.com

Pond Painting!

2010-07-06T21:44:00.001-07:00

"Morning Light At The Pond"

8x10 oil on linen panel

"Lily Pads"

8x10 oil on linen panel

These are my latest 2 plein air pieces done at the pond where I spend a great deal of time painting. The summer has been off to a busy start and I've been meaning to post these for almost a week now and since it's almost midnight when I'm putting these up I'll keep it brief.
I will say, I'm falling more in love with this pond by the day. It's interesting to me, even though I spent my entire childhood playing here, that I see the beauty with so much more depth now than I ever have before. I appreciate all it has to offer and am finding myself wanting to paint it every day. The "Lily Pads" piece is the same rooted bunch that I painted last year and I was curious to see the difference in it's growth from last year to this year. It is interesting. I'll post the one I did last year in a few days. It's neat to see.
Thanks for checking in!

"A Greater Presence"

2010-06-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

"A Greater Presence"

20x30 oil on linen

I've been working on a project the past couple of months for a fine arts festival called White Pine Festival. Check out their site to see what they are all about, incredible! www.whitepinefestival.org

Late winter there was a call to visual artists to submit samples of their work for the opportunity to be selected as one of the painters to create a painting inspired by a piece of poetry. I, along with 8 other painters were selected for this incredible experience. The idea was to see what imagery we would come up with inspired by the poetry. (i'll post the poetry later, I don't have it with me at the moment) "A Greater Presence" is my painting inspired by this piece. It's been finished for a while but I have not been able to share it until now.

The opening for this show "Painters Paint Poetry" is this Thursday, June 17 at Alesci Gallery on Main Street in Stillwater from 6-9. All are welcome to see this variety of incredible works by 9 different painters. I'll post more on the process once the show is going. Along with the paintings we've all written our experience and inspiration for the paintings.

3 Day Plein Air Workshop!

2010-06-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the kick off to my 3 day plein air workshop that I teach here on the St Croix River. Below are pictures of my hardy painting gang! The weather has been a bit rainy but they are troopers and haven't heard any complaints! I will tell you the COLOR has been incredibly rich with the overcast sky and wet greens! No complaints here! A far cry from where a was one week ago today in Sarasota Florida for my show at M Gallery where it was in the high 90s and humidity of 90%. This is refreshing! One more day to go, what a great group of painters!

Peonies From Mary's Garden

2010-06-08T14:37:00.001-07:00

"Peonies From Mary's Garden"

20x16 Oil On Linen

Painted last week in the studio and just now got a good photograph of this piece!

Things are bloomin' around here!

2010-06-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Last week was a full week painting inside and out!

Monday was the last day of my teaching "Mondays In May" in the studio. I really enjoyed teaching in the studio this past month, it was really casual and amazingly productive. It's incredibly inspiring to be surrounded by painters who are so eager to paint and learn! Thanks painters for sharing a part of your journey with me!
Monday evening was HOT! My daughter Paige and I grabbed a burger and a coke at a local place in town, packed our paints and headed to the beaver dam to paint the hot sun going down. There is nothing like ending a summer day painting your favorite place with one of your favorite people in the world! Paige was a trooper and brought a good book and a set of Windsor Newton Watercolors. A muskrat and a beaver popped up to say hello to her. :) (surprised her a bit. . .)

8x10 oil on linen

"Just Before Sundown"

Good friends, Martin and Richard own the Squire House Gardens in Afton MN. I spent a full day painting one of the many varieties of Martin's tenderly cared for peonies. What an inspiring place to be! (in so many levels)

The end of the week I ended up in the studio beaten up a bit by the heat at this point. Like I've already said, things are really blooming like crazy around here and early this year. I'm sure most people are not sitting around stressing about this fact like I am, but boy AM I! I have such an indescribable desire and hunger to paint everything as it blooms that I drive myself half crazy. They just don't last long enough but I think that's part of the drive for me, to get it so I have it captured from life on canvas, and it is not up to me when they decide to present themselves. If I didn't work and respond from life this would not be a problem but I do and it's what I think keeps my mind and paint fresh. When I'm painting from life it's almost like I'm connected with what I am painting, it's truth in response.

Thursday morning I had a dear friend drop by the studio with this LOVELY bunch of White Peonies! (hers were open before mine and I was concerned with my show in FLA this week that I would be gone when mine opened) They were so lush and fragrant sweet smelling that I simply stuck them in one of my favorite vases and started to paint. Not a simple painting to have done, but after two days of solid painting here we are! I will say, I've painted a lot of flowers from life and I do believe that white peonies are the most difficult ones to paint. It is a focus thing! Keeping lights and darks together and cools and warms is your saving grace here.

This bunch of peonies was like painting a melting ice cream cone! They were going quickly!
"Peonies From Mary's Garden"
20x16 oil on linen

I haven't had a chance to take a good photo yet but you get the idea. . . the color is a bit off. . . .I'll re shoot it after my show in Florida next week.

The Lilacs Are Early This Year!

2010-05-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

"White Lilacs"

20x24 oil on linen panel

The lilacs are early this year! I went into complete panic mode when returning home from painting Sarasota FLA last week to find the lilacs bushes blooming already. They don't last long, so everything else waited last week until this painting was completed. These are from my backyard (technically my neighbors bush). I had this composition in mind before even getting in the studio. The concept was that I wanted a rich warm background to highlight or support these beautiful whites.

When setting up, I realized that this was going to need to be at least a 20x24 canvas. Since 20x24 was the largest canvas I had ready, that was the size it would be! I started off by using transparent oxide red to tone my board and then began laying out the composition and drawing, paying great attention to the movement and character of the bunch of lilacs. The movement, It matters tremendously!

Happy with the layout, I move on. . .
As important as I knew it would be to get the flowers and foliage in ASAP (since they only had a day or 2 of life to them) I first needed to get at least my average of my background value/color massed in. The reason, color is relative! You cannot execute color until you have in at least an average of what it's going to be next to first
I then began massing in my structural darks (the foliage darks)

I like to work up my painting as a whole as much as possible, I don't usually complete any one thing at once (not to say that's not a good way, it is, just not for me lately) I like to work up my painting as a whole because it seems to help me create harmony in my work. I then started to get the darks of my lilacs in (the shadow side) in this case as usual, cooler than the light side, making the whites somewhat blue.

Continuing on getting a 20x24 covered, beginning to make notes of the difference in color temps and shifts in my large masses - And always correcting my drawing along the way! Painting is drawing, with marks of paint and temperature.

At this point I'm starting to realize that I need to get my eyes away from the area I've been focusing so hard on, and I simply want to get an average color in on the foreground of my painting, still not entirely sure where I will go with this part. I only knew for sure that I wanted it to simply support the lilacs in a beautiful way.

Finally I allow myself to begin massing in some light averages in the lilacs. I use great restraint when I build my paintings, what I mean by this is that as much as I want to put those fun lights in right away, I do my work first. :) Build build build!

Now I'm thinking first, of my entire mass as a form and second, each lilac as individual forms that belong in the large mass. What I see most when I teach is that many painters don't understand form and how to achieve it. I think the biggest problem is lack of truly understanding it. I'm going to share this information on form with whoever might be interested, I realize that many painters reading this are masters in their own right of form but if this benefits even one painter, it's worth sharing. :)

Think of this bunch of lilacs as a large ball. The ball is not flat, it come towards you in the front and gradually goes away from you as it 'rolls' away, it has FORM. As the forms moves (rolls) away from you, there will very likely be notably color/ temp. and value changes. This is what I am paying attention to in order to represent form and space in my painting, noting these changes with paint.

If this were a box, you would probably understand that the box has planes, each side is a plane, right? In a rounded form, such as this bunch of lilacs, it also contains planes, they are just much more subtle than a box. Being aware of this makes painting so much fun! Your eye will never seize to amaze you in what it sees!

Still building on subtle notes of gradations.

Working on correcting and working out some design issues with the foliage.

Day 2: I spent most of the second day working on the vase and deciding how to handle the table top. At this stage, I had it too red. . .

My set up.

Sarasota FLA

2010-05-02T19:57:00.001-07:00

These are a few pieces I did last week when I made a trip to Sarasota to spend some time painting the Florida landscape. My work is represented in Sarasota FLA at the M Gallery of fine art, where I'll be having a show June 4th as part of their monthly art walk. It's always interesting to me when I travel to a new place to paint. First of all there are the logistics of it, such as packing and shipping your painting equipment (and in my case luckily Marc packed it up and UPS'ed it all down for us, thanks!) Then there is the arriving there all fiery and hungry to get out and paint but truly needing to absorb and get acclimated to your new surroundings. I envy those painters who can set up anywhere at any moment and pop out a painting. I'm just not one of those painters. Can I technically do it, yes. It's just not how I work best. I like to feel the place I am at so that it becomes personal.

So, with the 5 days total we had there, the first and last being total travel days, that left us with 3 days to paint and have dinner with my Mom who also lives down there. My Saturday painting in the rose gardens got scraped out. It happens! Not that I'm ever very happy about that, but. . . . . I do survive! :) The best part was going to see the Ringling grounds and Museum! I'm going to be writing a post all about that experience in a few days! Very amazing place!

The paintings: The first piece was from the Botanical Gardens, what a peaceful and colorful place. While we were there painting, there was a large group of elementary age kids painting. It was so great to see that! It was good to see how involved the community of Sarasota is in the arts. I learned from a 12 year old girl named Brittany that they have a "special mosquito" down there that when it lands on you and bites you, it can lay up to 200 eggs that can go into your blood stream and make you very sick! THANK you Brittany! :) Needless to say, Marc went in and got some 1000 proof deat! ;)

"Botanical Gardens Sarasota"

10x8 oil on linen panel

"Myakka State Park"

8x10 oil on linen panel

Myakka State Park was awesome! It was a difficult day to paint, the light was a bit high key but we truly enjoyed the wild life there. I could have really spent an entire week just painting this park. That's the plan next time!

"Lido Beach Sarasota"

8x10 oil on linen panel

Lido Beach. Between almost getting attacked by the Mr Raccoon and setting up on a pile of red fire ants, I'd say it was a pretty successful evening of painting! I'm not sure people realize when they go into a gallery and see our paintings hanging there signed, varnished, and lit with a lovely gold frame on them just what the painter may have gone through to get that painting. :) As I'm writing this here on my comfy couch with my hot tea, I'm finding this quite comical!

This was a FUN piece to paint though. The color was amazing! I kept thinking of Camille Przwodek and her color palette. I absolutely can see how living in CA or FLA where your colors would be just that, bold and beautiful! The shadows were PURPLE! I kept trying to gray them down, but nope, they were purple, and I think I went to the conservative side of things here. Painting mostly in Minnesota where it's a pretty subtle palette most of the time, that was the biggest difference, the richness of color. I just love color!

It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back! Hope you enjoy the paintings!

From Memory To Landscape Impression

2010-04-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

"Beaver Dam Island Reflections"

24x18 oil on linen

This past week I wrapped up 2 new studio paintings that are near and dear to my heart. Like many painters, I most often find my surroundings the inspiration for my work, often for me this is the place where I grew up. I'm fortunate enough that place still exists and I have complete access to it. As I grow as an artist, I'm finding myself compelled to paint the places I have fond memories of. I'm finding myself using the place as a memory trigger that allows me to go well beyond the 'subject' that is before me, but rather paint my emotional response and memory to a moment as my impression.
The paintings below are of the beaver dam behind my Dad's house. I spent many years of my childhood exploring this habitat and enjoying it's beauty.

This is the beginning stages of "Beaver Dam Island Reflections". I started out with a wash of transparent oxide red to map out my large shapes and where I wanted them to be placed. I believe I also used aliz. and viridian to map out my darks. I spend a lot of time thinking of how I best want to portray what it is I want to say in my painting. For me, It is critical to have a strong start in my paintings.
Getting away from my block in (above) and making certain it's where I want it to be, I begin to mass in my large shapes in it's areas of lights and darks.

Most of the time I like to work up my studio pieces by getting my large massing in fairly soon in the process. So, I wanted to get the water mass covered. One of the main reasons I do this is because color is relative to it's surroundings and until I get the color close to where I need it to be it would be difficult to fine tune the rest of my painting.

Getting started on my reflections here. I really love painting reflections. I spent years just studying the river and how to capture it with paint (I'm still workin' on that by the way!) :) The one thing I've learned to 'usually' be true with a clear reflection is that your darks almost always reflect a bit lighter (and grayer) and your lights almost always reflect a bit darker (and grayer) and how ever clear it might appear there is typically some kind of subtle half tone color in between the two. The best thing to do though is to just squint down and make your own judgement!

Building my texture in foliage and having fun doing it!

I worked back and forth trying to correct the large shape of the tree mass until I was happy with it.

At this point, I'm getting close. So, I start slowing down quite a bit. Taking many breaks to keep my eye as fresh as possible. Always telling myself that each stroke at this point has to help the painting. If it hurts it, it's obvious not to put it in but if it doesn't hurt OR help, it's not necessary either. Easier said than done. I think this is about when I had to stop and go get my kids from school. Another good reason to have kids, keeps the eye fresh! ;)

Awe, now for restraint! Tough when you like lily pads so much! They make me kinda happy so it's tough to stop when laying in the final notes which are symbols for lily pads. That was kind of like just taking 2 bites of cake when you have a huge piece in front of you! Just enough.

Final

"Lily Pads And Blue Skies"

20x24

"Lily Pads And Blue Skies" are of the same place. My concept here is to paint this place from as many different perspectives possible. We'll see what happens!

April En Plein Air!

2010-04-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

"Water Grasses"

6x8 oil on linen board
"April Sunday"
11x14 oil on linen panel

It was wonderful to get out and paint this past weekend! We've had an incredible spring so far here in Minnesota. I went painting with Marc the past couple of days. The smaller 6x8 was done on Saturday in WI by a trout hatchery, beautiful place with tons of wildlife all around. The Sunday morning pond piece was done at my Dad's, just North of Stillwater on the beaver dam I grew up on. After a couple hours with a slow start while my Dad visited us while we painted, he discovered my Canon Rebel with all my extra lenses I had in the bag and I sent him off on a photo shoot! :) I finally scraped my first painting and started a new one (11x14 above) I only had about an hour to do this 11x14 so I made a decision to only use my palette knife to paint this one. So, here you have it, palette knife painting. Fun to try once in a while!

Tuesday Color Temperature Class

2010-04-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

I teach two classes weekly in my studio, one on Monday evenings and one on Tuesday days. This is a photo of my class from today working on an exercise I came up with a couple of years ago to help painters develop their eye for color temperature and how to identify the color they see in front of them by asking themselves a logical series of questions to work through making the color they see. First, what is the prodomenent color they see chosing from yellow, red and blue. Is it lighter or darker than the color they are attempting to mix? Now, is it Cooler or Warmer? They are only allowed to use a simple palette of yellow, red, blue and white to match the subtle variations of colors I have mixed and they have to match exactly.

There are many small steps between the very basics I shared above but it gives an idea of the concept of identifying and mixing colors. It was really fun today to see the painters who have done this excersize with me in the past and how much further they got this time than last semester! Very rewarding! Great job painters! :)

2010-04-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

"Superior Shores"

16x20 oil on linen

Completed, signed and photographed! Just waiting for it's frame to arrive. :)

2010-03-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

"Superior Shores"

16x20 oil on linen

My latest work (well there is one currently in the works, not finished yet). I did this painting from a study I did Up North along the North Shore a couple years ago. Interesting how a field study can trigger one's memory so strong that it actually takes you back to the place again. A good friend just told me, memory makes you smart, I'd say I agree. The cool thing is that 2 years later the artistic ability is more refined and things I did not achieve then, I felt I did in this painting. I remember the dance of the flowers in the foreground, like a symphony swaying back and forth with the wind. Very musical!

2010-03-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

"Brilliance"

14x11 oil on linen panel

Although I painted this piece a couple weeks ago, I'm just now getting to posting it. This started out as my demo piece during my 2 day still life workshop but I ended up finishing on my own. I was struggling for a bit with trying to capture the brilliance in the red flowers but was determined enough to figure it out. Many times I find it's the problem surrounding what I think is problem that is actually the problem, whew! A mouth full. That did play a part in this painting but it was also the lack of chromacity in my usual palette that was causing some issues. I finally dug through my bucket of paints and found one that was called 'bright red'. :) That did the trick indeed! Do note, I used it sparingly and only at the end of the painting for the little exceptions!

2010-03-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

"Crex Meadows In March"

8x10 oil on linen

We've had some unbelievably warm weather for March and as every painter that enjoys working from life out in the field knows, we all jump at the chance to get out whenever the winter breaks and we don't have to bundle in bibs, boots and carharts! Saturday was not quite as comfortable as Sunday (In fact we had a record high of 62 degrees on Sunday)
but still warmer than usual despite the high winds. The wind kept us in the truck 'car painting' but we were still out working from life and it felt great!

This is Saturday's attempt at capturing March's subtleties. Living and painting my entire life in the Midwest, we deal with our fair amount of subtle effects but I have to say that this was about as subtle as I've seen it get! Tough stuff, but really beautiful if you can just absorb it's quietness. Besides the swans and some Canadian geese, we were the only ones out enjoying Crex Meadows, an amazing place of really complete solitude.

Painting White

2010-03-09T16:54:00.001-08:00

"White In Italian Pitcher"

20x16 Oil on Linen

Last week I went to the market to find some inspiration in the flower section and ended finding it in all the varieties and textures of white! I never quite know what I'll end up with until I'm standing there immersed in all the colors of flowers. This day it was white! A few years ago I found this old Italian pitcher at a second hand store and thought it would be perfect with this bunch of white.

I used the branch on the table to soften the painting and build some what of a circular composition bringing the eye back around. The one leaf touching the pitcher helps to connect the loose branch to the the pitcher supporting the design.

It's a fun challenge to paint this variety of whites in one painting, I find it very harmonious. I started off by building all my shadows, which were fairly cool compared to the lit areas of white. I'm always concentrating on my 'averages' in each mass before I start breaking in my subtleties. When I paint flowers, my goal is never to paint a literal interpretation of each little petal but rather respond with paint to the character of each flower's growth. I pay attention to their shapes, texture and color temperature compared to what's around them. The more I paint flowers, the more I realize that when I am working and struggling on correcting what I think to be INcorrect, it usually ends up being what's AROUND what I think is incorrect that's incorrect! Whew, ya still with me?? :) And when I fix it's neighboring color and value, I find my solution! Big reminder, everything is relative to it's surrounding neighbor color and value! So, with that said, here you have it, "White In Italian Pitcher"

Summer Plein Air Workshops!

2010-03-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

Summer Plein Air Workshops!

Now accepting registrations

Study and Paint along the beautiful and scenic St Croix River with Painter,

Kami Polzin

2 Workshops Offered

Intended, but not required, as a continuation of classes. These two, 3 day workshops are designed and divided up to be progressive. I'd like to stress that it is not 'required' that you take both, however those who do will work more advanced in August but both will be working on strengthening the basic elements of painting 'en plein'. Starting off in early June will give you the opportunity to use what you have learned and apply it in the first half of summer, then come back with intentional questions, and also to further add to your bank of information and yet again apply to your painting the remainder of the summer. At the June workshop, you will be given 'suggested' exercises to take home and paint on your own while studying 'en plein air'.

Registering for both sessions (6 total days), Tuition 545.00

or each class (3 days) 295.00 per class.

Registration details are posted on my web site

http://www.kamipolzin.com/

spaces are limited and are on a 'first come first serve basis'

Class Description:

We will be getting down to the ‘nuts and bolts’ of structuring and designing your work in a simplified manor to emphasize your idea and inspiration.

My teaching is designed and focuses around the basic and necessary elements of - design and composition, value, and color temperature relationships, to build a painting ‘en Plein Air’. The emphasis will be how to simplify and organize your masses in one cohesive statement and also to build a clearer understanding of the light effect at hand.

Working from life is a crucial element of painting whether in the studio or in the field. The knowledge gained working directly from nature is invaluable!

Each 3 days will include demonstrations, discussion, painting exercises, and plenty of time to paint with individual easel critiques. These 3 Day Painting workshops will give you the opportunity to completely engross yourself in solid painting and study time along the banks of the wild and scenic St Croix River.

For any questions please contact me. I look forward to painting with you!

Warmly, Kami

http://www.kamipolzin.com/

www.kamipolzin.blogspot.com

Pictures of this past weekend's Workshop!

2010-03-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

These are some pictures from this past weekend's 2 day still life workshop. The painters did an excellent job! It's always such a privilege to have the chance to spend 2 full days painting with other artists. There's always something so cool about having the 2 solid days, it goes by so fast, too fast!

The weekend started off at 9:00 Saturday morning. I did 3 hour demonstration and talk. After a lunch break everyone set up and got started on composing their piece and getting their darks started. Sunday they came fresh and ready to paint all day, 9:00-4:00. Thanks to all those who were there! It was a privilege to paint with you!

2010-03-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

"A Quiet Place"

20x30

This is my latest studio work done from a field study I had painted 2 summers ago from the Lake Elmo Park reserve in MN. I'm very drawn to painting the lily ponds around the area I live and grew up, it feels really comfortable painting these areas and it's always challenging to explore them further. I love all the delicate degree of differences in the lily pads, and the reflections in these rich dark water holes.

2010-02-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

" A Pair Of Pears"

6x8 oil on linen

Last week I had my classes paint pears, studying lights and darks and plane changes. I was so inspired by everyone's work that I did a quick study myself and called it "A Pair Of Pears". This painting was signed, varnished, framed, and delivered to the Squire House In Afton MN yesterday and will be in the show opening this Saturday.

2010-02-16T05:26:00.000-08:00

"Angie Expecting"

12x16 oil on linen piece

quick sketch from life

My new venture! It's been years now that I've been wantig to get together some painters and just simply paint from the model. We had good intentions last winter and ended up only hiring a model once. . . . We've started again on Fridays in the studio to simply study and work from the model from life. What a rush! The time goes by so quickly. This is the first, it will be fun to see how we all improve throughout the weeks. :) We had her for 3 hours and gave her many breaks, especially since she's expecting. :)

Squire House Gardens Friends Art Show

2010-02-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

I will be part of an art show in Afton MN along with fellow artists, James Wilcox Dimmers, Andy Evansen and Richard Meacock. The opening reception will be held Saturday, February 27, 2010 from 6-9. The show runs through March 14. Hope to see you there!
http://www.squirehousegardens.com

2010-02-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

"Old Withrow Train Depot"

11x14 oil on linen panel

This is my latest piece just finished today. It's of the old Withrow Train Depot that was sadly torn down over 20 years ago now. It's really too bad they didn't save it, I know many tried. My Dad has nostalgic memories of this depot from when he was a kid. He's been asking me for years now to paint it for him and I finally decided not to wait any longer. It is his birthday today, so in a way, it was my deadline in my head and a surprise for him. I still need to put some lettering in on the sign but besides that it's finished. I worked from a terrible old photo with these two cars in front of it but it didn't give me much to work with. I remember the depot from when I was a kid and know the site well so went with the little memory that I had left to make this painting. It was somewhat challenging because I knew that he had this vision of how it looked in his head. After getting the drawing in, it became easy to get 'into' the painting. I had fun painting the truck in front, first time for me!

So, there you have it! Now, to finish my large landscape I put on hold the past couple of days. I should have that posted soon.

2010-01-26T08:51:00.000-08:00

"Carousel Summer"

18x26 Oil On Stretched Linen

One of my favorite summer memories with my children are taking them to the Como Zoo Carousel. I remember how excited I was the first time taking my daughter when she was only one year old and sitting with her on the horse, she loved it! So, we'd get off, get another ticket and get back in line until she had enough. Not quite sure who was having more fun, her or me. . . Then my son came along and I'd take them both, as the years went by they graduated to me standing between both their horses holding onto the backs of their shirts, to "Mom, we can do it all by ourselves!" and me standing on the outskirts of the carousel taking pictures as they would come around. My daughter was always totally in to 'riding the horse' like a real cowgirl and my son was always looking off.

Needless to say, this painting is a special piece for me, I've had the idea (concept) in my mind for a long time now and it wasn't until recently that I've put that concept onto canvas. I think I knew what I wanted to paint but maybe wasn't quite ready to actually paint it. I know that a good concept is just not enough to make a painting, it takes all the elements and planning to carry through to a complete and solid piece.

So, I started getting ideas down with pencil. Very rough but that was all I needed, was the design and division of space. Throughout the creation of this painting, I never forgot what it was that I wanted to capture in this piece. I LOVE the movement of a carousel, it feels like whimsical magic to me and THAT was what I wanted, that memory and that feeling! I did several quick sketches and this was the design that I felt captured my memories with my children.

I had an old strip of linen mounted on gator board, so scaled it out to make 2 sketches, plus the color scheme I wanted.

This is an average of the color harmony that I wanted to carry through my painting.

Using my pencil sketch, I came up with this value study to capture and translate the light as I remember it. I'm really drawn to this lighting and the solid shapes of the darks here.

After working on concept, design and value, I decided to put them down on canvas in little larger study, this is an 9 1/2 x14. It's very raw but I could see where I needed to go from here.

Wasn't quite satisfied with the larger color study and thought I'd better simplify the masses a bit. This is a tiny sketch, something like 4x6 ish?

And the final painting is above!

Pear And Flowers Demo

2010-01-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

"Flowers And A Pear"

14x11 Oil On Linen

I really enjoy painting flowers and water. I think that with my still life pieces I get absorbed in the painting and lose myself a bit. I'm finding myself 'using' the still life that is in front of me as inspiration rather than copying the exact colors shapes and values that I see. I care a lot about the gesture and growth of the flowers and their color relationships.

In this piece I was really drawn to the green in the pear and the stems and how they harmonize with each other. THAT to me was the reason I painted this piece.

I start my pieces be looking at the large, simple, almost abstract shapes and angles. I used a wash of magenta at this point.

Typically I like to get my largest masses in first. The reason I find this helpful is that color is only relative to what surrounds it so it's important to start getting your color in. Then I start getting in my darks that provide a structure or foundation for you color. Also drawing in lines that separate between light and dark.

Once I get some darks in I start massing in some lit areas to get the color harmony going.

The comment I hear from more people is that 'water is difficult' to paint. I don't agree, in fact I love painting water of any kind. I think the first thing to realize is that it's just color and value. Don't think of it as 'clear water' but rather shapes of color. When painting this clear vase, I broke down the larger simple shapes within the mass (vase) and asked myself if it was light/darker and cooler/warmer than it's neighbor color (in this case the background) it really makes it simple to paint when you think of it like this. Also, your paint needs to go on clean! I try and load my brush when painting in the stems and get them down with one stroke. Oh, and only put in what you see when you squint!

Whenever I paint, I'm always asking myself 'is it in light or dark?" Keep lights in light and darks in dark.

Flowers have character to them and each type of flower has their own uniqueness. When I'm painting flowers I really zone out and paint how they 'feel' not necessarily every little pedal.

Highlights on the vase and almost finished. . . .There's a little glare on this photo, I'll take a better one tomorrow so you can see the subtlety.

January Car Painting

2010-01-16T18:26:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite times to paint outside is January. I find great harmony in winter painting and working directly from life is so much easier than working in the studio, with of coarse the exception of enduring the elements. It's COLD! So, car painting is a great option for those of us living in this part of the country. Not to say that I never stand outside in winter and paint, there are just some places you can't get to from a vehicle, but a quiet county road provides a great place to pull over and do a painting from the comfort of a car.

This past week I went painting with Marc. We thought it would be interesting to show two different interpretations of the same place, same time, same light. When we paint together, we intentionally do not look at what the other is painting until we are finished with our work. This day in particular was very interesting working in two different mediums. Our color is quite similar, which seems to often be the case. It's fun to see the different compositions.

" January Light"

Oil On Linen 8x10 Kami Polzin
Me car painting. I am using my Easy L Classic on my lap, it's perfect for painting in the car. I love that box! I'm painting with a fairly limited palette. A jacket in the window makes a good sun shade. :)

Marc's gouache. 5x7 A little jem!

Marc Hanson "gouach'ing" :) His stearing wheel and a heavy duty clamp serves as a great easel!

January 2 Day Workshop!

2010-01-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

14x11 Oil On Linen Panel

"Red Still Life"

I will be teaching a 2 day still life workshop at my studio in Stillwater January 16 and 17, 2010! For more information on this workshop please visit my web site!

I wish everyone in the year ahead and beyond, much Love, Happiness, Peace, and Health!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!! Happy Holidays!!

2009-12-20T07:50:00.000-08:00

"Winter Song"

20x30 Oil On Board

This is not my latest painting, however it seems very appropriate considering the season. This is one of my favorite pieces I've done. A very emotional and quiet painting. I loved the large tree and all it's wisdom and character, and appreciated the small little bush living along the old fallen fence line. I love painting winter in all it's harmony and subtleties. There's so much poetry out in this world.

We just finished up our holiday show in Marine on the St Croix. It was a great success! Thank you to everyone that made it out to see our work. It was an absolute pleasure to meet new faces and to see old friends! I hope everyone enjoys this holiday season.

Hanging Our Show!!

2009-12-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we hung our show that opens at Art's In General in Marine on the St Croix this Thursday, the 10th! We are all ecstatic at how beautiful the work looks and how stunning the space came together! The show is open to the public with extended hours on Friday the 11th from noon - 5:00 and Saturday the 12th from noon - 5:00. Stop by to see work, say hello and enjoy some holiday spirits! :)

The beautiful space!

"Oh Boy . . . . ."

I love this quiet little corner of the show

Marc hanging work

My fruit still life pieces all framed up and lookin' pretty in gold! :)

Me, Marc, and Tom in the middle of hanging the show, feeling good, it's getting there!

Some up, Some painting still to go. . . .

Fruit Still Life Studies

2009-12-06T16:20:00.001-08:00

"Oranges" 6x8

Oil On Linen Panel

" Lemon and Lime" 6x8

Oil On Linen Panel

"A Pair Of Pears" 6x8

Oil On Linen Panel

These three little paintings were a joy to paint! They are part of the result of my weekly studio classes I teach at my studio. The semester is now coming to an end, bitter sweet really. Exciting for a new session to start up in February, looking forward to some projects I'll be painting the next couple of months, but also sad it's already flown by. It was an incredible few months full of growth and inspiration for all, very rewarding!

So, about these little paintings. We started the semester off by studying form using the still life to understand plane changes, light, dark, half tone, and where the core of the shadow is. Fruit is an excellent subject to study from. We began by working in only value (black and white), painting from a bunch of fruit we (Marc) made with flat planes on them to help students understand how to see a plane more obvious. (I'll take a photo of these and post tomorrow) After mastering and understanding plane changes in black and white and looking at 'fake' fruit, they moved to color and real fruit.
The lemon and lime piece was a class demo I did, the pears were 'my' assignment. Each week I give the classes an assignment to work on at home and bring back to class, to set a good example I did the assignment as well. :) It's a fun excuse to paint some pears! :) The oranges I just painted this past week because my kids had a late start at school and I knew I would only have a short window to paint but needed to paint anyway! :) So, there you have it, fruit! Fun to paint, great to learn from.

Holiday Show!!!

2009-12-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

"Winter Light Boom Site"

16x20 Oil On Linen Panel

Holiday Show!

Featuring the art work of

Kami Polzin, Marc Hanson, Tom Maakestad, and Anna Maakestad

Thursday December 10th, 5-8 pm

Friday December 11th, 10-5

Saturday December 12th, 10-5

We'll be having a first time ever Christmas Show at our friend and wonderful painter, Tom Maakestad's studio in Marine on the St Croix MN. Marine is just 7 miles north of Stillwater, where I live and have my studio. It's a charming little river town along the St Croix river and where I grew up. I'm so excited to be there having a show with such amazing artists at my side. I hope you all can join us for this gathering of painters and Anna, who is a potter.

November 2 Day Workshop!

2009-11-23T12:35:00.001-08:00

I've spent the past 2 days teaching a workshop at my studio in Stillwater. It never fails to amaze me at how well the paintings turn out by the end of the weekend! I had the fortune of working with an incredible group of painters who are inspiring and dedicated to the process of painting. I'm so grateful for their shared inspiration and for them stretching themselves as artists!

Beautiful job painters! :)

My Demo

Red Still Life

2009-11-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

"Red Still Life"

14x11 Oil On Linen Panel

This is a piece I did yesterday. I thought it was kind of fun to show the piece still on the easel and to be able to see my set up and what I was painting from. If you double click on the image, it will enlarge the photo to get a closer view. Hope you enjoy!

2009-11-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

"November Boom Site"

11x14 Oil On Linen Panel

November on The St. Croix

2009-11-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

"November on The St Croix"

11x14 Oil On Linen Panel

I just got in from painting on the river. What a great November day! I started out today thinking I would paint the old street alley's in Stillwater, after driving around for a half an hour with my coffee, I finally decided I needed some nature today and no people. Turns out it's just what I needed. Besides an occasional Bald Eagle soaring by, I was alone with the river and now completely rejuvenated! The colors were incredibly rich today, what a treat!

I will still photograph this piece for better viewing but I thought it was kind of interesting to show it fresh on the box with the river behind!

2009-11-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

"Beautifully Rooted"

24x30

Oil On Linen Panel

This painting was one I did from a late summer field study. I knew when I painted the small piece that I would be painting a larger one. I could spend a life time studying this beautiful plant.

2009-10-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

http://powernews.blip.tv

This is a link to an interview I did a couple of weeks ago as a guest on a show called 'Power' News in their art's segment. I have to say, it's a bit out of my comfort zone but it was still fun.

I've been busy getting ready for my solo exhibition, ordering frames, sending out invites, varnishing painting. . .. ALL that FUN stuff! My show is Friday November 6th in Stillwater MN. For more info, check out my web site at www.kamipolzin.com

2009-10-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

"Marine On St Croix Vista"

12x30 oil on linen

This is a piece I did in the studio using my 'plein air' piece for reference. I love this place on the river to paint and I was fortunate enough to be painting when this very short lived light effect happened. It was really amazing! When I had gone out to paint that evening it was kind of an overcast day and just as the sun was going down THIS happened. It was such a treat to see, I was so grateful to have been there at that moment!

Fall Abundance!

2009-10-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

"Fall Abundance"

Oil On Linen Panel 16x20

Fresh off the easel! This was a fun piece to paint. Last week I was teaching class and to my surprise this arrangement showed up at the studio! Isn't it amazing how flowers REALLY do make you feel good!? :) I was so inspired by this wonderful surprise that I spent the next 2 days painting them.

The arrangement had so much beautiful movement in it that I cared more about capturing that than anything else. It was almost an explosion of warm colors. I'm sure it's easy to believe when looking at this piece, but I did not use any blue. I think the coolest color I used was magenta, maybe viridian. If you're wondering where this stunning arrangement came from, it was one of the finest florists we have in the Valley 'Camrose Hill'. They are quite the artists themselves!

2009-10-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

"A Light On Second Crop"

24x30 Oil On Linen Panel

This is a piece I finished last weekend painted from a field study. The field study was painted the last week on July just north of my home. The back distant line you see is looking across the St Croix River Valley and is actually WI. I love the distance you can see up on top there. I knew when I was painting this piece that I would want to do a larger studio piece because the sky seemed SO big!

2009-10-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was kind of a different day. I did not paint, in fact I spent the day at one of the local area news stations. A little bit different for me and very fun! Across the river is Hudson WI and home of Power News, host Bobbi Pominville. She called last week and asked if I would come and be a guest artist on her show, the 'Arts Segment'. Bobbi is great and very easy to talk to. She's one of those warm people who you feel you've known your entire life, which makes talking on camera for 37 minutes and 50 seconds MUCH easier! :) Perfect timing as well. I will be having my solo show "Moments" at my studio on Friday November 6th and I talked quite a bit about my show. She says that they get over 100,000 viewers! Yikes, I better buy lots of wine! ;)

So, below are some snapshots of Bobbi and I.

Little Blue Bowl

2009-09-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

"Little Blue Bowl"

18x24 Oil On Linen Panel

This is a piece I just finished for my show coming up on November 6th at the My Studio in Stillwater. I love the hydrangea plant and am always excited at the end of the summer to paint this flower! They are a challenging plant to paint with all the tiny little petals in each head and the beautiful feeling of air in each bunch. My goal is always to just indicate their character with brush work and NOT to paint all the tiny petals.

I was on a time limit for sure with this one, the leaves poop out in about a day so it was crucial to get them in first. I really liked how the weight of the flowers seem to rest on the leaves. I found that an 18x24 was a bit 'ambitious' lets say for working from life. . . but once I got in the flowers I got to paint the "Little Blue Bowl"! :)

"Purple Loosestrife Meadow"

2009-09-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

6x15

oil on linen panel

A perfect place to paint on a perfect autumn evening. The color almost seems crazy to me that it would be so vibrant, but IT WAS! :) Very rich and almost hard to believe when painting it but I think it could have been even more chromatic. . . . the purple loosestrife looked purple when we set up to paint but by the time I actually got to putting it in on my painting the light was so rich, it had turned more red. Well, it was beautiful to see either way!

2009-09-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

" Floating Lily Pads"

8x10 Oil On Linen Panel

This is a study I did on location a couple nights ago. I was standing on a platform literally on the water looking down. I've had this idea of doing a large studio piece of lily pads just looking down into the water and needed to go out in the field to study them first, so this is what I ended up with! They have a very beautiful growth pattern that I find really interesting. For as many times as I've painted this subject on location I never quite understood their pattern of growth until now. They seem to have a pull and resist kind of anchoring strength to them. It's really quit lovely! They do lay flat somewhat, but it's almost as though they are being pulled down by one force and try growing up OUT of the water with another, reaching for the light. The roots win!

So, I'll keep you posted on the large studio piece. . . . . .

Some Late August Painting

2009-09-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

"Evening Light On William O'Brien"

11x14 Oil On Linen Panel

This is a beautiful place on the St Croix to paint. I taught a workshop here a couple of weeks ago and was so inspired after the workshop that I had to go back again and paint it after it was over. I love the evening light down here and the kayakers and canoers were coming in right around the corner from me. We had a LOT of rain this past week so the water was very high which was nice, the current was a bit stronger.

"Fields Looking Over the Valley"

11x14 Oil On Linen Panel

This is a great spot high up overlooking the river valley. The smell of the fresh cut fields was in the summer air!

"Evening Light On the St Croix"

6x16 Oil On Linen Panel

Can you believe that my dear friend Barb gets to see this view from her living room window every day!? :) I LOVE LOVE this view and her place in Marine on The St Croix. I'm so fortunate to have friends with such views.

"A Bountiful Harvest"

11x14 Oil On Linen

I remember my Dad planting this tree when I was 5 years old, now my kids pick and eat the apples! It's kind of a quirky old tree but I like it!

Tamarack Gallery Demonstration

2009-08-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I did a painting demonstration at the Tamarack House Gallery for the Stillwater Art Crawl. It was fun to see the painters that came out to watch! With the temps in the 90s and humid, it was fine with me to be in the cooled gallery! Below I posted the painting during the different stages from beginning to completion.

~The Demonstration~
1. I started out by laying in my design and large shapes using a wash of Transparent Oxide Red and Cad Scarlet - NO white. I often begin with a wash because it helps me feel out my design on canvas and it may be helpful later on in the painting if I decide to let some of the canvas show through.
2. I then start by massing in my darks.

(it's important that in this stage of the painting to be sure and step away from the painting to be certain that you like the composition)

3. Once my large darks are established, I begin to mass in the average color and value of my next largest shape ( the sweep of yellow where the path of flowers will be )

4. Starting to work in some temperature differences within the masses and describing a bit more form in trees by distinguishing lights and darks.

5. Once I had my design and large shapes of color massed in, I continued to find variety within the shapes and began to work with the different textures.

6. Then masses in the sky. With the sky I was not wanting to draw too much attention to it so kept it fairly quiet. Also thinking of the play in color with the purple juxtaposing the yellows. I love that color combination!

7. Tidying up some accents and details, trying not to 'over' due it! Also cutting back into the shapes of the tree line with the sky color and a few sky holes.

Completion!

"Minnesota Prairies"

11x14 Oil On Linen Panel

3 Day Plein Air Workshop!

2009-08-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

95 degrees and painting!

I had yet again, the privalege of working with some amazing people in my 3 day plein air painting class last week. I can't think of a better way to spend 3 days than with people who are willing, eager to learn, stretch their painting skills and just simply want to become better painters! :) This was one tough group, it was SO hot and humid! Each lasted until the end. In fact most were still painting when I went home. :) It was a great 3 days and fun to see the growth in each painter in such a short period of time.

We painted along the Wild and Scenic St Croix River just north of Stillwater MN, my stompin' grounds! It's a gorgeous place to paint and spend your time. Thanks to all you painters that took the time to be there. Happy Painting!

Group Shot!! The Magnificent '11'

The Magnificent 11-MaryAnn :)

"Painting the river"

"95 degrees. . . and still smilin'!"

"Day 3, 95 degrees, and still standing!"

"Me Demo'ing" :)

"Last Day Demo at William OBrien State Park"

"Rhythmic Tranquility"

2009-08-09T17:16:00.001-07:00

"Rhythmic Tranquility"

18x24 Oil On Primed Board

"Beauty in art is the delicious notes of color one against the other. It is just as fine as music and it is just the same thing, one tone in relation to another tone. Real sentiment in art comes as it does in music from the way one tone comes against another independently of the literary quality of the subject - the way spots of color come together produces painting. . . . . . There are just so many tones in music and just so many colors but it's the beautiful combination that makes a masterpiece." taken from Hawthorne On Painting

I pulled this quote from Hawthorne because it was where my head was when I did this piece. This painting has a bit of a story. This painting was initially inspired back in June when I was sitting at a Jorja Fleezanis concert during the White Pine Festival. The music was so incredibly and emotionally moving that I closed my eyes, almost as if I couldn't take in anything else other than the power of her music. To my surprise when I closed my eyes I saw brilliant colors floating on water, water lilies. It was clear and colorful! Nothing quite like this had ever happened to me so clearly before, to say the least it was a very musical painting I was seeing brought on by the music.

The following week I went out to the lily pond at my Dad's and did a color study for this painting. I went out with only notes of color in mind, responding to what my initial responce was to the color (before allowing it to process and kill the color) and ended up with enough information for my new found inspiration, this piece. :)