Wildflower Study

"Wildflower Study"

5x6 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa

I decided to practice painting flowers from a photo in my studio today before another attempt at plein air painting in my garden. After struggling way too long I was tempted to wipe the paint off and start over. In one last attempt I found adding a little red and warm browns seemed to work and will try to use this color scheme in this weeks DWP Challenge. I used the same limited palette of cad. red light, cad. yellow med, and ultra blue plus white.

Begonia Study

Begonia Study

5x6 oil on canvas

Carol Horzempa

This was intended for James Coulter's Nature Arrangement Challenge on Daily Paintworks. He challenged artists to stand between one to six feet away from flowers on the ground and paint them in one hour, (no cheating). A limited palette of Cad. Yellow Med. or light, Cad. Red Light, Ultra Blue and White was also part of this challenge.

To start off I noticed my timer kept stopping and I lost track of my time. I also realized I broke one of the rules of not using white except with blues and purples. My flowers were peach so just red and yellow wasn't working.

After not sticking to the rules I decided to take a picture and finish the painting in my air conditioned studio. Next time I will try Cad. Yellow Light, buy a new timer and not sneak back to my studio with a photo before the painting is done.

This is really a fun challenge but I'm finding flowers are really hard to paint!

Neglected Tools

"Neglected Tools"

oil on canvas 6x6

Carol Horzempa

I've always wanted to paint my painting tools and finally found time to join Carol Marine's "Paint What You Paint With Challenge," on Daily Paintworks. This was a fun challenge but I really struggled with the tube of paint and especially the cap. Finally I scraped the cap off and tried again. If I don't look too close I'm actually pleased with the whole painting.

I feel rather guilty about the care of my tools as you can see but manage to paint with them the way they are.

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.

Okruszek

"Okruszek"

oil on canvas 6x6
Carol Horzempa
NFS

This is a little homeless dog that was found tied to the inside of a trash can in Poland. A wonderful woman named Ori has a rescue home for homeless cats and dogs that have been abandoned, abused or found in the forests of Poland. Not only does she find homes for them but she takes beautiful pictures of them and has given me permission to paint from her photos.

Okruszek, which means crumb in Polish, is a fitting name for him since he was thrown in the trash like nothing other than a piece of crumb. He is an old dog with health problems but will be taken care of by kind caregivers to enjoy his last days with good food, medicine and a warm bed.

My granddaughter fell in love with this painting so I plan to surprise her with it for her birthday next week.

This painting has been submitted to the DPW Challenge on Color sponsored by Carol Marine.

Update: On April 28th Ori (the woman in Poland that rescued Okruszek) wrote this on her blog about Okruszek (Crumb):

Crumb died yesterday evening.

We had him for three weeks and three days.
I guess I have never met anyone who would be at the bottom of this misery, so incredibly battered by fate, so lonely and helpless.
We tried for three weeks to give him as much love as he should get through his long life. We believed, or rather, I naively believed that in this way manage to outwit the disease, banish it from the Heavens and bargain a few months.
Crumb rewarded us well-being and attempt to return to health, but the forces he was able to very briefly.
He died as someone very dear, important, deplorable as Someone's dog, nestling, farewell, and was buried with great respect.

(This has been translated from Polish to English by Google Translate)

Blue Day II

Blue Day
oil on canvas 6x6
Carol Horzempa
Sold

I decided to paint from the same photo that I used for a painting I did two years ago called "Blue Day." I wanted to experiment with the "one color per stroke" method in this painting. I have found myself painting this way ever since I entered Carol Marine's "One Color per Stroke Challenge" on the Daily Paintworks website.

I am really hooked on this method of painting! You have to think about values and color before each stroke but it's fun and I find my paintings look fresher. Of course I did break a couple of rules by using a smaller brush in places and forgetting to squint.

When I took the photo of Shawna, she was laid up with a torn dewclaw and had to spend the day indoors with a bandage on her leg. She looked so sad and worried in the photo that I just couldn't resist painting her the first time and a second time with a little thicker paint.

This is the second painting I've entered in Carol Marine's challenge. Be sure to check the over 200 entries here.

The Help Japan Challenge

"Waiting"

on canvas 6x6
Carol Horzempa
Sold

I decided to do another painting of Shawna, this time with her head resting on my husband's boots. I took the picture yesterday and she was a great model, waiting patiently for me to snap the picture while giving me the eye.

We adopted this sweet dog 10 years ago when she was a year old. While my husband was writing out a check to the rescue people Shawna laid down next to his feet and put her head on his boot. I knew then this homeless dog was adopting my husband and they have been inseparable ever since.

I will be donating this painting to the Daily Paintworks website: "The Japan Challenge." I thought this painting would be fitting for this challenge since "home" is the theme. This painting comes with a solid cherry wood frame.

All proceeds will go directly to the Humane Society International. The HSI team will be taking in animals that have lost their owners and helping the Japanese people who have managed to survive with their pets.

Please click here to the auction page to place your bid.

Update: Here is a photo of the solid wood cherry frame that comes with this paintings.

The Help Japan Challenge

"Gatekeeper"

oil on canvas 5.5 x 6.75
with solid cherry wood frame
Sold

This is my entry for Daily Paintworks Challenge: "Help Japan Challenge" which is a fund-raiser for those who were affected by the recent disasters in Japan.

The theme for this challenge is "Home." Though I did this painting a while ago I thought it was fitting for this challenge. In the summer I have large Peony bushes growing next to my picket fence near the gate. When they are in full bloom it is such a welcoming sight for friends and family to see them as they drive up to my home.

All proceeds from this painting will go directly to the Japanese Red Cross Society

Update: Here is a photo of the solid cherry wood frame that comes with this painting. The dimensions of the frame are 7 x 8.25.

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.

Sweet Bell

"Sweet Bell"
6x5 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

Another Carol Marine Daily Paintworks Challenge and what fun this was! Carol challenged fellow artists to paint one stroke of color at a time. We were to mix a new color for each stroke and not worry about edges.

I had to drag out my old easel since part of the challenge was to stand and step back often while painting. I've forgotten how much I love standing at my easel! Been doin' to much sitting lately.

Some of my colors mingled when I had to adjust the values with another stroke of color over the first stoke but I loved working this way and found it very liberating. I have a zillion brush strokes...got to remember to squint more often. Sometimes old habits are hard to give up. Hopefully my next one will be painted with fewer strokes and less correction of values.

We were supposed to use a 1/2-inch or larger brush. I found my number 6 & 8 bright brushes worked well for this challenge, using the side for smaller strokes. My palette colors were cadmium yellow light & medium, cadmium orange, cadmium red light, chromium oxide red, ultramarine blue and titanium white.

Be sure to check here to see all the great submissions to this challenge.

Rose Study

Rose Study

5x7 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

My roses from Valentines Day have almost expired so I decided to try another shot at painting a rose. I used the same palette colors as I did in my first rose painting for DPW Challenge. I decided I really need more practice and can't wait until my roses start blooming in my garden this spring.

Zippo

Zippo

6x6 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

This is my submission for this weeks DPW Challenge. A really great artist by the name of Michael Naples posted a reference photo of a Zippo lighter for this weeks challenge. He invited fellow artists to paint the Zippo using only burnt sienna, ultramarine blue and titanium white. This was a great lesson in values and quite challenging!

Red Rose Waiting

Red Rose Waiting
6x8 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

I never thought I would enjoy painting a rose until I tried this challenge posted by Qiang Huang who is a master in painting roses. He challenged fellow artists too paint a red rose on the weekly DPW Challenge. This is my second one, the first one I loved too and can't wait to try more. I have now fallen in love with red roses and painting them!

My palette colors were Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Light, Chromium Oxide Red, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White.

10 Minute Apple Studies

Ten Minute Apple Studies
6x12 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

This is my contribution to a challenge posted by Carol Marine on Daily Paintworks. Our goal was to paint an object of our choice eight times allowing only 10 minutes using a timer. This is a great challenge for improving skills and painting fearlessly. Check the DPW Challenge website here to see over 160 artist's 10 minute paintings.

Finally Framing My Work

"Walkin' the Dog"
6x8 oil on canvas panel
Carol Horzempa

This January my well-intentioned plan was to frame everything that needs frames before starting another painting. All month I have been touching up and rescuing paintings, some of which I thought weren't worthy of a frame. It is a lot more time consuming than I thought.

I have learned one thing though, no more odd size paintings! I am fortunate enough to have a spouse who has a special gift in woodworking and can make beautiful frames out of recycled wood any size I want.

This painting, which was an odd size, was done for a Karen Jurick challenge. I was able to enlarge it to a 6x8 by adding more background.

The frame is made from recycled wood that my husband rescued from an old house that was being torn down several years ago. I think this pine wood taken from an old paneled wall looks beautiful in its second life or should I say third as a frame. I even like the little dings and patina that gives it a rustic look!

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...

Christmas Carol

Christmas Carol
13x15 Conte Crayon 
Carol Horzempa
NFS

I've been away from my studio and busy with the holiday madness so I decided to post this drawing I did several years ago. For inspiration I used an old photo taken of me on Christmas morning when I was a small child. This drawing was done with Conte Crayon on Canson drawing paper.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to everyone!

Snowbirds

"Snowbirds"
6x8 oil on canvas
Carol Horzempa

This is my submission for the Alice Thompson's Calypso Moon Artist Movement monthly challenge. The title of this challenge is "Painting History." Alice asked us to capture a moment in time we witnessed that involves people, tell why we chose the subject and how it relates to us"

This painting was inspired by a photo I took on Florida's Emerald Coast while walking along the beach on a foggy overcast day. I spotted two "Snowbirds" sitting in plastic lawn chairs and couldn't help but snap a picture. The woman in red seemed to be waiting for her partner to wake up after being lulled to sleep by the rhythm of the waves or could it be boredom? The three figures in the far distance are my husband and son with the family dog.

This is our favorite beach that we often visit while vacationing in the south where our son lives. We just had our first snowfall today so in a few weeks we will be heading south again just like "Snowbirds" for a little fun on the beach and time with our son during the Holidays.

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.