Masterpiece Miniatures Project

Here are five paintings I am donating to the Pewaukee Area Arts Council for their Masterpiece Miniatures Project. These paintings will be on display and for sale at various events. They are only 4x4inch paintings. 

I haven't been painting for quite a while so this was a great way to get back to my studio and start a new project. I enjoyed painting small like this so much that I ordered a dozen more 4x4 mini canvases.

Winter Run II

"Winter Run II"
8x8 oil on canvas

I've been neglecting my blog long enough. With all the snow piling up in Wisconsin, I'm really in the mood to start painting snow scenes again. This is the second time I've painted Shawna running through the snow. I'm also happier with the results after using thicker paint and a larger format.

Sanctuary

"Sanctuary"

6x8 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa
NFS

Yesterday I decided to go out to my backyard to see what I could paint. I love how the evening sun creates dramatic light and shadows across my yard. My hosta plant always stands out with it's bright yellow-green leaves at this time of day. I almost didn't paint the bench swing since I wasn't sure how to paint it. I found it was easier to paint as long as I didn't focus on details. I started losing my sun so I finished this painting from memory in my studio.

I used a limited palette of cad. yellow medium, cad. red light, ultramarine blue plus white.

Old Mill House Challenge

Old Mill House

6x6 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa

This is my submission to the Daily Paintworks Challenge. Jean Nelson submitted a photo of an old mill for this challenge.

I see so many scenes like this in Northern Wisconsin and I have always wanted to paint one. I found this one especially challenging since I have been suffering from a serious case of "Artist's Block" for quite a while. I actually had fun painting though and hope this will get me back to the studio or even some Plein Air painting this summer.

Spring Thaw on Prospect

Spring Thaw on Prospect

6x6 oil on canvas

Hope of spring has finally arrived! While driving down Prospect Avenue in my village I was struck by the bright yellow reflection of a school crossing sign. Luckily I had my camera along and caught a great photo of a moment in time.

I have always wanted to paint reflections on wet city streets and dirty snow. This is supposed to be the ugly season with all the gray and brown snow left over after a long winter, but I found a lot of beauty in the variety of grays and colorful reflections.

My palate colors were: Cadmium Yellow light & medium, Cadmium orange, Yellow Ochre light, Cadmium Red light, Chromium Oxide Red, Ultramarine Blue light & deep, Viridian and Titanium White.

Garden Shed III

"Garden Shed III"
Carol Horzempa
oil on canvas
NFS

This is a plein air painting of my garden shed I did several years ago. This was my third try in painting this shed at the time. Unfortunately I wasn't happy with it so it ended up in my reject pile. I was hoping I could someday figure out how to correct some of the problems since I was really happy with the flower box and sunlight on the shed. I was pleasantly surprised it only needed a bit of tweaking with lost and found edges and correcting some of the architecture.

I'm happy I took a photo before framing so I could post the results on my blog. Sorry...I forgot to take a before photo of the painting.

I actually had a hard time parting with this painting but had planed to give it to my son in Louisiana as a house-warming gift. My son said he used to play in this shed when he was a boy so I think he was happy to have a painting with good memories of his childhood back home.

Now I'm thinking I should go back to my reject pile and see what else I can rescue...

Fall Farm Field

Fall Farm Field

6x8 oil on gessoed panel
Carol Horzempa

I painted this farm field from a photo taken near the Illinois border. Several times a month my husband and I take a day trip down to Illinois to visit his 96-year-old mother. On the last trip down there I had my camera and caught several scenes that I have painted in my mind in the past. It's amazing what digital cameras can do these days even in a moving car!

This scene represents so much of what I often see beyond my car window but never have the time to stop and paint. I used the same palette colors as my last painting, "November Grays."

November Grays

"November Grays"
6x8 oil on wood panel
Carol Horzempa

Today was a great day to do a quick study of subtle grays on an overcast day. This was done at the nearby Kettle Moraine State Forest. I used a limited palette of Cadmium Yellow Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White. I tried to focus on color and just painting the masses.

Shawna was being a good guard dog chasing away a red fox while I painted. We also had a chance to do a bit of nature hiking. Shawna is a bird dog and while hiking she flushed this young bird out of the brush. I think it might be a baby pheasant. I hope it can survive the winter, it seems so young.

Sharon's Shed

"Sharon's Shed"

oil on canvas

This cute little Shed belongs to my neighbor down the street. She is an antique collector and always has interesting items decorating her shed. I was meaning to paint this shed when she had it surrounded with flowers this summer but now that it is Autumn I thought the fall leaves added interest to the scene.

I used the same limited palette as the last two paintings which are Kevin Macpherson's palette colors.

Kettle Moraine Firs

"Kettle Moraine Firs"

6x8 oil on canvas panel
Carol Horzempa
Sold

I took advantage of another beautiful day at Kettle Moraine State Forest painting these two little fir trees today. Midday was not the best time to paint though, but the subtle changes in the grassy meadow, and these little firs with dried weeds really intrigued me.

This painting was done on a RayMar Plein Aire Panel. I really love the texture of the medium weight canvas. I used the same limited palette as the last one.

Kettle Moraine

"Kettle Moraine"
oil on gessoed panel
Carol Horzempa

Yesterday was a perfect day for plein air painting in Kettle Moraine State Forest. Not only was it sunny and warm but I was also entertained by the abundant wildlife including a beautiful red fox!

I used a limited palette of Cadmium Yellow Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White.

Color Study of Tree

Color Study of Tree
oil on gessoed paper 3x5.5

I found this little tree while walking the dog near a man-made pond. The area is not much to look at but I wanted to see if I could make something interesting out of this scene while working on my greens.

I have scraps of watercolor paper from years past that I gessoed for these little studies. I used the same palette as the last one.

Last Farm Field

Last Farm Field

oil on gessoed watercolor paper
4x6 

This farm field is surrounded by subdivisions just outside my village. The farmer still has sheep so I hope to get some more photos when the sheep are in the field.

This started out to be just a small color study on warm and cool greens but I had fun painting the fence and field and spent more time than planned. My palette colors were Cad. Yellow Light, Cad. Orange, Cad. Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Ivory black and Titanium White.

Painting Trees

Study
oil on gessoed watercolor paper
6x7.25

I thought I would share with you what I have been doing in my studio lately. I decided I needed a refresher course on painting trees. I would love to go out to the main source and paint directly from nature but the mosquitoes are more ravenous than ever in Wisconsin this year. Even repellent doesn't help much so I'm confined to my studio for now.

With this painting I followed a painting demo in Elizabeth Tolley's "Oil Painter's Solution Book Landscape." This is a great book on landscape painting with step-by-step demos and tons of valuable information.

Garden Shed VI

"Garden Shed VI"
6x8 oil on canvas
©2010 Carol Horzempa
NFS

Finally I'm back in my studio or should I say forced to be here. This is the only room in my house that is air-conditioned. This summer has been hectic with out-of-town trips but now I have time to focus on studio projects until another camping trip up north.

Buried away in my studio are several plein air paintings of my garden shed I've done in the past that I never was quite happy with. This time on my sixth try I finally got the result I was shooting for.

I love how the late afternoon sun cast dramatic shadows on my shed. I have been painting it in my mind so often this summer that I finally decided to paint it from a photo, since I'm too pokey to try and capture this fleeting moment.

My palette colors for this painting were Cad. Yellow Light, & Deep, a touch of Cad. Lemon, Cad. Red Light, Transparent Oxide Red, Cobalt Blue, Viridian and Titanium White.

The Neighborhood

"The Neighborhood" 
 5x7.5 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

Here in Wisconsin it's been so cold all week that I can walk on top of the snow without sinking in. Since I have been getting cabin fever lately I decided to paint the neighborhood with it's hard crusty snow piled up everywhere. This is the view I see from my back door.

Pennsylvania Landscape

"Pennsylvania Landscape"

pastel on sabretooth sandpaper
9x5
NFS

I can’t believe I’m still doing pastels! For days I kept seeing Karin Jurick’s black and white photo of a Pennsylvania landscape in colorful pastels. I found an old sheet of sandpaper for pastels that was laying in a drawer for at least 15 years so I decided to put it to good use. I also took liberty in cropping the photo drastically so I could concentrate on the trees and fields.

For Karin's DSFDF Challenge I understand we were to “invent colors” and “pay attention to how those colors marry with each other.” After poring over my favorite Kevin Macpherson’s book on Landscape Painting – Inside & Out, I found myself using colors I never would have considered. After I had the values down I put the book and photo away.


I really had fun inventing colors and drawing on my memory of Wisconsin landscapes I see so often while driving through the countryside. Even though my colors are not characteristic of Pennsylvania farmland and look more like the southwest I feel I learned a lot from this challenge.

Tracy's Tipi

"Tracy's Tipi"

oil  on Canvas

6x8

Last week I went plein air painting again at Kettle Moraine State Forest. While walking along the fence I was surprised to see a huge tipi in a clearing on the other side of the fence. I decided right then to sit down with my pochade box and paint what I saw. I didn’t have a clear view since there were so many bushes and I also had to look through the fence but could see good enough to capture the scene.

When I was halfway through my painting a very friendly woman named Tracy who owns the property came over to see what I was doing. She invited me to see her tipi closeup and walk inside to see the fire ring. She also said I could come back and paint on her property. I am really looking forward to painting when her apple orchard starts blooming.

I finished this painting in my studio from a photo and probably spent way too much time on it. My next challenge is to look for a simple scene that I can finish on location. I hope to do that while on a camping trip in Florida during the first two weeks of April.

Winter Run

"Winter Run"
oil on canvas 
6x8

I never painted a dog so small before. I had to paint Shawna’s face with a small palette knife to keep from doing too much detail. I always wanted to paint her running through the woods in the snow, something she does everyday. That is her favorite thing to do especially in the winter. I’m looking forward to painting a larger image of Shawna in the future.

Winter, Garden Shed

"Winter Garden Shed"

oil on canvas 
6x8

Signs of spring are here! The snow started melting the next day so I had to finish my snow scene in the studio from a photo. I had trouble photographing the painting because of so much white in it. This was the best I could do. I will try posting a better photo when I figure out my new camera.