12"x12" oil SOLD

This is a painting of Carol and her cousin Heidi.  Today Carol and Heidi are undergoing surgery to remove one of Carol's kidneys to give to Heidi.  What a brave and generous act of love! This painting was commissioned in part to honor that event.   My main concern was to capture the posture and attitude of the ladies in an environment that suggests their family summer home.  Carol is a dynamic and very talented woman who is capable of enviable yoga poses!  I do not know Heidi, but I am sure she is as beautiful as she looks.  This painting is a compilation of many photo references.  It was probably my most challenging commission so far.
If you would like to commission a painting please email me at chrisholzsch@hotmail.com.

Deep Breath

12"x12" oil 

I have been busy painting...really I have, but I just haven't been good about posting.  This is something I promise myself I am going to be better at.  The above painting was done plein air with Peter Huntoon, who is an inspiring plein air painter.  He is equally adept in water colors and oils, and amazingly, approaches them with the same technique.  I am so grateful that he was generous enough to spend an afternoon at this lovely spot painting with me.  He gave me 2 tips, which aren't new but so good to relearn them.  I seldom paint plein air but love doing it.  It does overwhelm me though at first.  I actually had to come back the next day to finish it up.  The water was so calm and the light was so lovely.  Peter reminded me to block in the big shapes like I am cutting them out of paper (great tip) and upon finishing it he said to soften the bright colors I had put in on the trees to the left of the island (which I did) because they drew too much attention from my focal point.  It really helps to have a second pair of eyes looking at your work.  I am heading to Cape Cod this week to practice plein air painting with two good buddies, so I am glad I had this warm-up.  Please check out Peter's work by clicking on his name.  He is the quintessential Vermont landscape painter.  He has an auction for a painting once a week on his website/blog.  I love how professional he is with everything he does.

Golden Hour

It is that magic hour when everything slows and has that golden glow.  Time for cocktails and sitting in lawn chairs!

Stranded

3"x9" oil For sale by auction on Dailypaintworks.com

True story:  on a sailboat in the Bahamas enjoying the sun, breeze and beautiful water.  See a puny little island off in the distance.  As we get closer, there is a car and a lone palm tree on it.  So, I am thinking that the only way that car could get on that island is by helicopter.  What?  Why?  I have no definitive answer, but a good theory.  What do you think?

Sloany Bolognie

8"x10" oil  SOLD

Sloan, dressed for her recital,  caught her first glimpse of herself in a mirror.  This was a fun painting to do, especially the tutu.  I hope I was able to capture her surprise and amazement at herself, and I hope she never forgets that feeling that she is special.

Happy As a Sailor, Just Me and My Dog

6"x6" oilClick to Bid

I know, the title is bigger than the painting!  It is from lyrics from a silly song about a dog. 

Cheval Blanc

6"x6" oil for sale by auction

Cheval Blanc....White Horse.  Wandering back roads in Quebec, I came upon this white horse on a hill framed in green.  I stopped to photograph it and he/she temporarily set aside eating to look up and pose.  It was a good day.  Not my usual subject matter, but it sure was fun to paint.

Potential Energy

6"x6" oil for sale by auction

I have recently come to realize that I am truly a part of the older generation.  I am one of those old ladies that sits on the bench while the teenagers laugh and play and have so much ahead of them.  I am not being bitter about this.  Inside I am young and ageless...outside I look "mature" but I work at staying flexible and balanced and keeping a happy attitude, enjoying the joys of this long path.  I love a good joke but sometimes that joke comes in the form of catching a reflection in the window and wondering who that aged woman is!

I Can Fly

6"x6" oil SOLD

I love the expression on this cutie's face.  It was a really fun painting to do and I loved the abstract aspects of it, especially the rhythms and patterns, the dashes and drops of color.  I have been attempting to paint with less saturated colors and this one fits that bill.  It is not that I don't love the beautiful strong colors, it is just that I think I need to explore other options including those that don't come easy for me.

Moody Morning

9"x3" oil

I had an unusual shaped panel and thought this was the perfect subject for it...a moody, foggy day on the coast of Maine.  I loved painting this because I feel like I was successful painting mostly neutrals of grays and browns. 

One of Those

5x7 oil Click to Bid

Yes, indeed, it is one of those gorgeous sunsets we all love to paint, where the colors are so saturated you don't think it is real.

Midday Break

6"x6" oil  Click to Bid

I started this painting totally different than my usual procedure.  I sketched it in in colored pencil and painted on top of that.  I like the results, but it was a lot of effort for a painting that is not significantly better than what I have been doing.  I feel like the drawing did not keep me from keeping it loose which can happen.  What really caught my attention with this image is the crossing lines and lovely design.  I didn't wanted to reproduce the flowers in detail but give an impression of what they look like in a glance. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted the background sky to look...but I like how it looks now.

Waiting

6"x6" oil

I painted this for 3 main reasons : 1) on one of the painting sights I participate in there was a challenge to paint shoes this month  2)  I have been working on using a limited palette  3) I love the abstract quality of this.  I hope to move into more abstracted representational images, but I suspect it is going to be a slow process.  I used Gumbacher Red, French Ultramarine, and Indian Yellow for this, with Radiant White.  I really like this painting and may do it again with a different palette just to see where I can go with this.

Perfect Day

6"x6" oil

There is a lot going on in this little painting.  There are so many decisions to make along the way..sometimes it is overwhelming.  These are some of the things I was thinking about: composition, creating a variety of brushwork that included soft edges and harder edges, painting convincing soft shadows, getting the light right, creating a sense of depth, and not least, painting a convincing scene of two girls with their fishing nets on a dock, with some sense of movement.  This pond is a favorite subject of mine because it is right behind my house and my grandkids love to play there.

Determination

6"x6" oil

Again, I used a primary triad for this palette using Radiant White with the 3 primary colors.  This little guy was walking with determination.  He had a purpose and his mind was set on it and I think I captured a posture that reflects this action.  I usually am pretty happy with paintings I do that have figures in action.  That seems to be a pretty good reason to continue to investigate this. 

The Portage

6"x6" oil

I used a limited palette on this painting of Transparent Red Oxide, Pthalo Blue and Transparent Yellow with Zinc White.  I need to research the zinc white as someone told me it isn't a good choice.  I liked how clear the colors looked with that white as it isn't very opaque.  I also like the perspective on this view.

Power Walking

6"x6" oil

I started this painting very loosely and with a limited palette made of some rather unusual choices of transparent colors: Phthalo Blue, Indian Yellow, and Permanent Rose. For the top layer I added white to give it opacity and to add lightness.  I wasn't crazy about the greens from this mixture added with white because they looked chalky and lost the vibrancy of the transparent quality, but I went back on top in the light areas with Indian Yellow mixed with white and that helped.  I should have tried mixing in Zinc White instead of Titanium, but I will reserve this for another experiment.  The surprise and excitement I had was in the discovery is of the most lovely brown from mixing the three primaries.  I was drawn to paint this because her clothes and black with bright magenta hair matched the colors in the foliage and that was just fun!  I would not have guessed that I could make such lovely skin tones with these 3 colors.  Great experiment!

Duet

8"x10" oil

This painting was inspired by a photo taken by Carol Ricker who is a pianist and teacher. These little girls were playing a duet.  The original photo was a close-up of their backs and I loved the subject matter, so I added the missing details of the piano with flowers and their stool and legs.  This is why I say that I use photo references as inspiration or a jumping off place.  It is a bit like a movie about some specialist and only experts in that particular field would be able to tell the fictional parts of the character.  Sometimes it is more convincing than at other times.  For instance, I question the validity of Matt Damon's character in the Martian when he duct taped his suit and tent together on Mars to keep the integrity of air pressure.  Duct tape is amazing stuff...but...really?

Loading Pumpkins

11"x11" oil

Wrong time of year, but I have been wanting to do this painting for a while.  The beauty of painting from photos is that you can capture the image any time you want.  Also, there is the advantage of not having to haul an easel, paints, etc., etc., around with you.  The disadvantage is in not being there in the changing light with the sounds of nature and wind and breathing in the beauty of the experience.  When I paint from photos, I use them as inspiration and almost always change them by adding things or subtracting or rearranging.  I am grateful to feel confident to do this now.  When I first started oil painting I was a bit nervous about adding or subtracting.  Now it part of what I look forward to.  It is the exciting part. The setting of this painting is a local sugarhouse.  I will let you use your imagination to guess what I changed about it.

Gourd Painting acrylic

I also painted this gourd, which I will now varnish.  It is about 15"  tall.  I did one last year and I really like painting these, so I might make an effort to get more.  They are gooseneck gourds which is why I painted it like a weird bird.  The design was inspired by my love for my family with symbols which give a nod towards some of the things we love doing together.

Buzz

These are the decisions I made before I started this painting. 1)  Create the background with a high contrast of dark and bright. 2) Create the flowers in mass groupings in a variety of whites.  3) Add contrast in texture by showing some of the pedals and an edginess to the stems.  4) Try to make the bee realistic without getting fussy.
This may not be the most brilliant painting I have done, but I did accomplish my original goals. Then, after I posted it, I realized from looking at the post that I didn't like the high contrast background so I mushed it out.  I added a few dots of color in the pedals and rephotographed it.

Tumbling

8"x10" oil

Poppies

6"x6" oil

I have been traveling for a couple of weeks.  Now I am home and back to painting, so I warmed up with these little poppies.  It is hard to jump back in with confidence, but that is what is necessary.  I made a fun discovery when I got back.  I had not scraped my palette before I left and was getting ready to do that.  I cover my paints with little cups called "Paint Savers."  A while ago I had glued pieces of felt to the inside of them and applied a drop of clove oil to keep the paints soft between sessions.  When I took off the covers after about 2 1/2 weeks of them sitting, the paint was still fresh...not even glooey.  It is important not to mix clove oil with the paint, or even get it on the paint brush, because it will not allow the paint to dry on the canvas or panels, but the fumes will keep the paint soft for at least 2 1/2 weeks...so that is cool!  I don't expect to have any issues with the painting drying, but time will tell.  Also it is important not to use silicone or a

glue gun to adhere them because the clove oil will basically melt the glue, but I used Elmer's wood glue and that worked fine.

What's Not To Like

7"x4" oil

Green glittered ballet slippers and a wetsuit...."What's Not To Like?"  This little super hero is ready for dancing in the waves.

Pepper Party

6"x6" oil

Peppers are fun to paint.  They have such vibrant colors and interesting shapes.  When posting images with red varieties of colors, the photography tends to blend them into one color.  The difference in reality between the orange pepper and the red pepper is significant.  You will have to use your imagination with this one.  I like the exercise of doing still life paintings and I like taking a break on occasion from painting people.  Even though they are both made up of shapes, lines and values with lovely colors, the pressure of getting people "right" can be daunting.  I mean, if I make the pepper a bit lopsided or fat, who would notice?

8"x10" oil

This is painted from a photo taken by my friend at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, VT, on Lake Champlain, looking at the Adirondack mountains in NY.  It is a must visit place if you are ever in the Green Mountain State.  The bottom photo shows my first stage and the photo reference on the left.  I had fun painting this and it brought back lovely memories.

Woof!

6"x6" oil

Carol Browne another artist, posted a photo of her dog with the request that others interpret it in their style.  I thought he was so cute, so I  jumped on the band wagon and whipped this out.  The second image is the first layer of paint I put down, just to give you an idea of how I start a painting

Fishing

6"x6" oil

A beautiful day in the summer and the neighborhood is having a group party with lots of pot luck dishes and plenty of things to eat from the grill.  There are horse shoes, frisbees and volleyball.  Someone is playing a guitar around a campfire built to roast marshmallows, not for keeping warm.  But eventually everyone meanders down to the pond to watch the ducks, try their luck fishing, or paddle out in the canoe.  These little people are hoping to catch some minnows or tadpoles.

In the Swing of Things

8"x8" oil

Truth be told, I still love to swing.  I would love to fly if I could, but swinging is an approximation I think.  It is pretty special when you get your first swing.  When I was little, a first swing was a board hung by ropes or a tire swing from a tree and then we would graduate to a rope swing over the creek.  As a young adult I swung from a tree swing that was suspended from a huge tree over a gorge.  That was clearly the most thrilling and the most dangerous and if it hadn't been for my own perceived peer pressure, I would never have done it.  Anyway, this little one is clearly enjoying her first swing in spring.

It Was a Good Ride

8"x10" oil

There is always some apprehension about trying something new.  You go through the checklist of skills you have mastered that should allow you the capability to accomplish the new task, but then there is that tiny bit of hesitation to overcome.  Well, a new slide can be that obstacle and the joy experienced by the fast but safe trip down can be exhilarating.  Do you remember that feeling?  When was the last time you successfully overcame an obstacle and was thrilled by the result?  We all need this in our lives.

Dancing With the Apple Trees

6"x6" oil

The beauty of childhood is that a little girl sees the shape of the apple tree and the abundance of sweet fruit and spontaneously dances with it!  True story.  It is my granddaughter and we had such a lovely day picking apples and eating lunch on a blanket in the shade.  I hope your day is filled with little dances of joy!

Summer Time

8"x8" oil Not For Sale

This is from a photo taken by Dreama Tolle Perry.  She gave those of us who were in her online class, Dream Love Paint, permission to paint from it.  Her painting passion is lovely vingettes with window boxes, flowers, shutters or her cat, Eddie.  She encourages others to paint their passion.  I can be pretty much all over the place in my interests, but mostly I like to paint little people.  I like figurative work in general, but especially children and most specifically my grandkids or children of friends.  I love the work of Karin Jurick who is able to capture people in the most relaxed postures imaginable.  Her work is inspiring, and I am hoping to continue developing my style and subject matter to a level that is different than where I am at today.  Doing daily paintings and studying, learning from others, and from past masters is a good way to grow.

Home School

12"x12" oil

Some paintings almost paint themselves. Even though I was very deliberate about painting this, I did it quite slowly, for me, as I was talking with a friend the entire time I did it.  I like how the limited brushstrokes are able to say a lot.  It has an edgy quality, but there are enough soft edges to balance it out.  I really like the limited primary colors as well.  I painted this over a panel that I had covered up a painting I didn't like.  I had painted it with a turquoise paint I never use because I don't like the consistency of it.  You can see the turquoise showing through here and there, which I think works well.

Catching Up

12"x12" Oil

This couple is in front of Georges Innes's "New Jersey Landscape" shown at the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA. It is not the typical pastoral scene I associate with New Jersey, but then times have changed the scenery since 1891.  Innes believed that the spirit of God was present in the natural world.  This is what he was trying to convey in his landscapes, and as a result they are very ethereal looking with soft edges he rubbed with a cloth  I need to try that sometime!  My edges are usually pretty evident.

A follower of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, Inness believed that the spirit of God was present throughout the natural world. Although this painting may represent a specific place, the artist was less interested in defining recognizable details than in conveying nature’s immaterial essence, here expressed in finely modulated colors that have been painted with a brush and then wiped with a cloth, so they blend together without contours. - See more at: http://www.clarkart.edu/Collection/15667#sthash.B1kat9qp.dpuf

A follower of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, Inness believed that the spirit of God was present throughout the natural world. Although this painting may represent a specific place, the artist was less interested in defining recognizable details than in conveying nature’s immaterial essence, here expressed in finely modulated colors that have been painted with a brush and then wiped with a cloth, so they blend together without contours. - See more at: http://www.clarkart.edu/Collection/15667#sthash.B1kat9qp.dpuf

A follower of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, Inness believed that the spirit of God was present throughout the natural world. Although this painting may represent a specific place, the artist was less interested in defining recognizable details than in conveying nature’s immaterial essence, here expressed in finely modulated colors that have been painted with a brush and then wiped with a cloth, so they blend together without contours. - See more at: http://www.clarkart.edu/Collection/15667#sthash.B1kat9qp.dpuf

Twilight in Boston

4"x8" oil

This lovely hippie girl is meditating on Childe Hassam's "Boston Commons Twilight." It is a lovely, warm painting.  The young woman caught my attention because of the bell bottom jeans and fringed purse which definitely gave me a Deja Vu moment.

Rooster

6"x6" oil

Thank you
Judy Pritchard O'Hara‎ for allowing me to paint from the photo of your beautiful rooster.  I actually did two paintings of him today, this one is oil, and another one in acrylic on slate.  I am not sure what the attraction is for chickens and roosters, but I have to say, I am drawn to them to paint.

Eban

6"x6" oil commission Sold

 I did this portrait using the technique I learned in the Dream Love Paint workshop, starting with a layer of transparents (see below) and then building up with opaques. 

Exercise 7 Not For Sale

12"x12" oil Not For Sale

This was the final piece in the Dreama Tolle Perry online class.  It was a lot of fun to paint and I am happy with the results.  The five things I am taking away from this course are the following:  1)  Wipe the brush off after almost every brush stroke to keep it clean and not contaminating the clean colors 2) make sure to put my mind and painting environment in the right state to focus on the painting 3)  work steady but don't rush and don't let distractions creep in 4)  Make sure the first layer of paint is darker than you know the final painting will be  5)  set up my palette the same every time and keep it clean.  These are things I had been exposed to and inconsistently practiced, but they really sunk in with this class.  The great thing is that I will have access to the videos for the rest of the year to refresh my mind and also maybe pick up 5 more things.

Exercise 6 Not For Sale

8"x10"  oil Not For Sale

This was fun to paint.  Dreama's colors are so bright and joyful and she chooses images to paint that highlight those beautiful hues.  I really struggle making straight lines though.  I think I need to either avoid them or take a drafting class.  It is a good thing that I do a limited number of architectural subjects!

Exercise 5 Not For Sale

12"x12" oil Not For Sale

This was exercise 5 from the online course Dream Love Paint with Dreams Tolle Perry.  Whenever I go to a workshop I always intend to learn 5 new things.  I limit myself because I know that is all I can really focus on and put into practice consciously.  I don't feel like I need to write everything down because I will probably not look back at my notes even though I have every good intention to do just that.  I have taken several workshops with Dreama but I keep returning because it not only positively influences my work, but because it positively influences my life. I have taken some really wonderful workshops but if I didn't identify those 5 things I would put into practice, I didn't grow as much as I should.  I will tell you the 5 things in the next few posts.

Going Shopping

6"x6" oil

Isn't she cute?

In the Spot Light

6"x6"

My granddaughters were sitting on the floor with the sun glowing on them and I just couldn't resist taking a photo for the purpose of painting it.  I like how clean and spontaneous it looks and want my work to progress in this direction.  So much to learn....

Tea Time

4"x6" oil

I have been taking an online painting class presented by Dreama Tolle Perry #dreamlovepaint.  It is a 6 week course covering 6 of her images and demos with tons of extra material, instructions, tips and inspirations.  It really is jam packed.  She suggested several exercises including one to paint your tea cup (or coffee) in 25 strokes.  This was my effort with a couple of extra highlights and touches with the scraping tool.  It is a great exercise to try now and again.  Carol Marine is also great at suggesting exercises that are good reminders of important basics.

Kate's Kids

6"x6" oil sold

This is another commission.  In the photo reference, which was really washed out and blurry, the kid's feet were cut off..well not cut off, but they were cropped out of the photo, so I decided to put them on a dock and dangle their feet in the water.  I like how they are looking off screen...I wonder what they are looking at.