Merry Christmas!!! Happy Holidays!!

"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!!

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

"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!!!

"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!

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

"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!

"November Boom Site"

11x14 Oil On Linen Panel

November on The St. Croix

"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!

"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.

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

"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!

"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!

"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!

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

"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"

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!

" 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

"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

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!

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"