Plein Air at Hemlock Crossing

Using my new EasyL Prochade box at Hemlock Crossing Park in West Olive, MI. I was here painting with the Plein Air Artists of West Michigan, and painting nearby was Barb Berens and Sharon Griffs-Tarr.
This is a very nice park with many walking trails, the Pigeon River and has a new educational nature center.

The day was overcast even though the forecast was for sunny weather! 

I decided to pushed the color a little to add variety and depth. You can see there are a lot of grays and browns in this landscape, so I mixed up a variety of warm and cool grays.

March Thaw, oil, 8x10, plein air on the Pigeon River.
The finished painting. I added a little more snow and warmed up the grasses.  I initially did not have any Yellow Ochre on my palette (I was mixing up a similar color), and then finally relented because the painting just needed the extra color intensity in the right bank and nearer grasses.

Day 27 - "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

Fresh Snow - Old Barn, oil, 8x10, SOLD

This is the second painting from the Saturday plein air painting session.  I loved every part of this subject, esp. the unique stone wall. It was nice to have the sun and all of the fresh snow on the trees!
This painting just might be next years Christmas card!

Below is a picture taken by Richard Jordan, the organizer of PAAWM, while I was taking a break in front of my easel. I was having a nice conversation with Sharon Pendula, the creator of Pleinly Speaking blog. If you would like to know more about the PAAWM, read the blog about this past paint out, please check out these links!

Thank you for viewing my paintings!

The easel is an Easy L Prochade box by Artwork Essentials.

Day 22 - "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

"Red Barn - Winter", pastel, 9x12, SOLD
$500. framed

This painting started as a demo in last Thursdays Landscape painting class.  I had to work from a 4x6 photo so I am hope my outcome looks OK. If the perspective is off a little, well then, I will just blame it on the fact that it is an old barn and it has character. Now that we have some snow in West Michigan, I am anxious to get out in it to paint, as soon as the temps reach 25 or higher.

Thanks for viewing my paintings!

Day 8 - "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

Sunrise Impression II, pastel, 12x9

$375. uf or $500. framed in a gold custom frame with AR glass.
Please e-mail at Kalinowski@chartermi.net for purchase information.

Another painting in the little sunrise series. This one was interpreted from the blurry cell phone picture that my daughter took on our way to school the other morning. I had to ad lib quite a bit, but that was the fun of it! The darks may look black on the computer monitor, but they actually have many colors from the Terry Ludwig Darks pastel collection.

I hope you enjoy the painting!
More "30 Paintings in 30 Days" from other artists can be found at http://www.lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/

Day 7 - "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

Sunrise Impression, pastel, 6x6
$225. framed in silver or gold custom frame with AR glass.

Another memory painting, this time from yesterdays beautiful sunrise. The sun was very large, the sky with pinks and orange, the clouds were wispy gray. It made quite an impression! As I drove my daughter to school I had her take some photos with my cell phone even though I knew they would not be good enough to work from.... though sometimes blurry images spark ideas.... The next idea came as I drove down the highway past the rolling cornfields and barn. I see those cornfields almost everyday and I decided I could combine the two.
I hope you are enjoying my paintings during this challenge because I am enjoying the burst of creativity it has given me!

Please contact me by e-mail if you are interested in purchasing.

Kalinowski@chartermi.net

Day 2 - "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

Snow Shadows, pastel, 9x12, $375. uf, $500. framed
with AR glass in gold, silver or black custom frame.

"Snow Shadows" for day 2 is a scene that I had been contemplating to paint for quite some time. I am glad I waited because I feel I resolved some composition issues that were bothering me. If you live in west Michigan you will know that we don't have quite this much snow yet. Some of the information, like the snow on the pines was from my photo reference. Hope you enjoy the painting!
Also see my painting and others at "30 Paintings in 30 Days" and on facebook.

Winding Down with 2012

Full Moon - Winter, pastel, 6x6, SOLD
A commissioned piece painted right before Christmas!
I used my small moon studies and past experiences with painting snow to quickly execute this  special painting for a some special art collectors.

Low Sun - Winter Evening, pastel, 12x18, SOLD
Also sold to a collector as a gift to his wife for Christmas.

Melting Snow, oil, 8x10, $400. unframed, $500 framed
This small oil painting was painted last year during a plein air session. I have always liked it and did a little enhancing of added contrast, in a demo during one of my recent painting classes. 




Thank you for viewing my artwork this year!
I have a special project planned for the New Year and will announce it in tomorrow's blog.... stay tuned.

New Pastel Accepted in Exhibit

Awaiting Fields, pastel, 12x18, $900. framed

Two weeks ago, I came across this field with the last remnants of this years snow. The field was shaded by trees and the remaining snow filled the plowed ruts. I immediately knew I wanted to paint this scene.   The added bonus was the full moon rising from the horizon as the sun was starting to set in the west. I could only shoot some photos and the next day painted my interpretation based on photo reference in the studio.
The painting was framed and entered in the Lowell Regional Art Competition and took the Juror's Recognition Award! The reception for this exhibit is on Sunday, March 25 from 2-4pm.
Thanks for viewing my work!

Plein Air Paintings in Winter

Creek in Winter Study II, oil on linen panel, 9x12
Painted towards the end of February in Townsend Park.

Creek in Winter Study, oil on linen panel, 8x10
Painted in mid February at Townsend Park.

Other Side of the River, oil on linen panel, 9x12
Painted in January on the Rogue River.

New Studio Work

This is the first day in a long while that we have snow...only it is bitter cold, so I don't like to paint outside when it is under 20 degrees! I have been working diligently in the studio and here are a few of my new works.

Creek Reflections, oil on linen, 24x30, $2600.framed
This is a favorite place for me to paint with my friend Patti Mollema.  I used several plein air studies along with some photos for this painting. I was attracted to the early morning light as it lit up the creek banks and the hazy distant trees were a nice contrast. I used oil primed Claussen C15 linen and enjoyed working on such a beautiful surface.

Snowy Boughs, pastel, 16x12, $850. framed
I used an oil plein air study for inspiration.

Winter Light, oil on linen, 18x24, 1800. framed

This painting was created after the first major January snow of this year.

New Winter Paintings

Snow Trails, pastel, 6x6, $225.
framed in warm silver

Winter Thaw I, pastel, 6x6, $225.
framed in warm silver

Winter Thaw II, pastel, 6x6, $225.
Framed in warm silver

New Season, pastel, 9x12, $500.
framed in Black with gold lip

Snow Banks, pastel, $900., at Treeline Gallery - SOLD
Framed in a black panel frame with silver lip and outside edges



Winter is becoming one of my favorite seasons to paint.  I do paint  outside, en plein air, in the cold weather. Although we do not  have any snow yet here in Michigan (very unusual), I have been painting from my reference photos and plein air studies to produce this series of paintings.

Melting Snow

Photo of Mill Creek from bridge.

"Melting Snow", oil on linen panel, 8x10

Today was a mild March day, although the temps didn't  get over 40, at least it didn't rain. I was  anxious to paint the snow one more time before it melted. Since I could not make the PAAWM paint out on Saturday, Holly and I decided to paint this morning at Mill Creek. There was no sun but nice grayed color, so we did OK. We enjoyed the sounds of the rushing creek as we painted.

Snowy Days

"Snow Boughs-Almost Noon", oil, 7x5 NFS

It had just finished snowing, and the sun was shining. I was in the mood to paint those bright blue shadows so I decided to just look out my studio window and paint a snow laden pine that just seemed to glow in the late morning sun. I thought I would try my new 5x7 Ampersand Gesso panels and just give it a go. The overall shape of the tree was lightly brushed in, the trunk indicated and some of the dark green placed. The most fun was the shape of the snow on the branches and trying to vary the shadow colors between warm and cool shades of blue and violet.
I had such fun with the first one, that I decided to do another as the sun went further west, the tree was still luminous.

"Snow Boughs-Afternoon", oil, 7x5 NFS

Three Paintings - One Day

"Snow Brilliance", oil, 9x12, $700. framed

"Snow Shadows", oil, 9x12, $700. framed

"Harmony", oil, 6x6, $285. framed

Three plein air paintings in one day. A beautiful winter morning beckoned Patti and I to paint at a private residence (with permission) with a creek flowing through the back yard. What a delight. Birds in song, creek sounds of water breaking up the ice shelves along the edges. Hope to paint here again!

Celebration of the Arts

Celebration of the Arts, 38th Annual Juried Spiritual Art Competition opens Friday the 25 - March 9. This diverse exhibit showcases many art forms in a spiritual light and is a highly regarded Grand Rapids area competition. Friday evening from 7-9 is the much anticipated artist reception you will not want to miss.
My painting "Promise of Spring", oil, 12x24, was juried into this exhibit.

February Plein air paintings

"Around the Bend", oil on panel, 6x6

"February Thaw", oil on linen panel, 11x14

These two paintings were painted last week when the temperatures were around 40 degrees.  The snow was beginning to thaw and since I was short on time I decided against driving around until I found a spot. I went back to "Lonnie's Farm" a place where I have done a number of plein air paintings in all seasons. I changed the frozen pond in front to look like tracks...a good way for the eye to enter the painting. As usual, since I love red this place is a favorite place to paint.

Another day last week when the morning was crisp, I came across the scene featured on top and decided to do a small 6x6 study. The red house at the bend in the road was a nice focal point.

Winding Creek

I finally finished the pastel painting that I had set out to paint from my recent plein air study "Winding Creek-Winter", oil, 8x10. A recent  blog  had mentioned that I wanted to paint this scene larger so I settled on the pastel medium, 24x18. I am happy with the outcome, though I may still tweek it a bit. The brilliant sun on that morning had started to melt the foreground snow as I was finishing the oil study so I added that to this larger studio painting.

"Winding Creek", pastel, 24x18, $1500.

Plein air with PAAWM

It was a fine day yesterday with lots of sun and temps in the 30 degree range. I drove over an hour south to paint with the Plein Air Artists of West Michigan at the Cedar Creek Farm Conservation Easement. The property owners were very accomodating. Al drove us back in the property on his new deluxe four wheeler vehicle. Jean made a pot of chili for lunch and we had a very fine critique at the end of the paintout in the warmth of their beautiful home. What more could you ask for?

"Winding Creek-Winter", oil on linen panel, 10x8

"Winter Woodland Trail", oil on panel, 8x10

I am already to use these small paintings as a reference for a 24x18 pastel....starting today!

Gifts of Art Exhibit

"Winter Day", pastel, (studio) 24x18 $1500.

"From Study to Studio" is the title of the Gifts of Art exhibit by the Six Women Painters opening on Feb. 14 at the Taubman South Gallery at the University of Michigan Health Systems in Ann Arbor. My next few blogs will be featuring some of the artwork shown at the exhibit. Six Women Painters was formed a few years ago as a fellowship of like minded artists with goals of painting together outside, en plein air, to hone the craft of painting directly from nature. This group has formed a camaraderie of painting companions that breaks up the typical isolation that many artists experience. We use our plein air paintings as reference points to start larger works in the studio. This exhibit showcases that process of a work painted directly from nature and the studio piece that was inspired from that experience. In the next few blogs I hope to show a variety of work included in this educational exhibit.

"Winter Beauty, study", oil, (plein air) 12x9 $650.

Winter Beauty

Winter can be irritating and inconvenient , especially with the excess of 12" of new snow last night. I was wishing that I could be somewhere painting this winter wonderland, except I was basically snowed in. My husband is now snow blowing out the drive and I am afraid it will be at least a four hour job. Since I could not paint outside today, I worked in the studio. On a winter scene. Something about this season...I find it more visually appealing the more I grow as an artist so many more winter landscapes are just waiting to be painted!

"On The Way Home", oil on linen panel, 16x20