open studio this Saturday

I'm having an open studio this Saturday...last one before the holidays!

Kristina Wentzell, pansies, oil on canvas, 6 x 6 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell Fine Art
Open Studio
Saturday, December 3rd
2-4pm

87 Ashuelot Street
Keene NH

presenting....Lucy & Ricky

Kristina Wentzell, ricky, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, lucy, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

These paintings are available in the 100 Paintings for $100 or Less Sale.

open studio round up

the best beach

Kristina Wentzell, the best beach, 10 x 8 inches. ©2011

This painting is available in the 100 Paintings for $100 or Less Sale.

snowy owl

Kristina Wentzell, snowy owl, oil on canvas, 6 x 6 inches. ©2011


This painting is available in the 100 Paintings for $100 or Less Sale.

barn owl

Kristina Wentzell, barn owl, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

This painting is available in the 100 Paintings for $100 or Less Sale.

barney

Kristina Wentzell, barney, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches. ©2011

This painting is available in the 100 Paintings for $100 or Less Sale.

betty

Kristina Wentzell, betty, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011


This painting is available in the 100 Paintings for $100 or Less Sale.

just over the rise

Kristina Wentzell, just over the rise, oil on canvas, 10 x 8 inches. ©2011


This painting is available in the 100 Paintings for $100 or Less Sale.

birds on a wire

Kristina Wentzell, birds on a wire, 6 x 12 inches. ©2011

The 100 paintings for $100 or Less are all on my website now! The sale will run through the end of the year. Here's a secret though...I will continue to add more paintings over the next several weeks so be sure to check back if your favorite is already sold.

Open Studio Friday & Saturday

Kristina Wentzell, storm's coming 2, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011



100 Painting Preview Sale
November 11th & 12th
Fri: 5-8pm Sat: 10am-4pm

87 Ashuelot Street
Keene NH

cardinals

Kristina Wentzell, cardinal 3, oil on canvas, 6 x 6 inches. ©2011

The 2nd Annual 100 Paintings for $100 or Less is officially underway! A series of cardinals (two are included here) and several landscape series were among the latest works posted. I still have some paintings underway so be sure to check back to see new work. See the paintings here.

Kristina Wentzell, cardinal, oil on canvas, 5 x 5 inches. ©2011

cupcakes!

Kristina Wentzell, cherry on top, oil on canvas, 4 x 4 inches. ©2011

Cupcakes!

I've never painted baked goods before but thought it would be fun. My 100 painting project is a good excuse to try new ideas. A few years back, I discovered an amazing cupcake cookbook: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

For a while there, cupcakes were taking over my world...I was baking one delectable recipe after another...it was starting to get a little crazy. Luckily, I had some good friends (and two little charges) who were happy to help me consume them.

So here they are...a calorie free delight.

Kristina Wentzell, sprinkles, oil on canvas, 4 x 4 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, cupcake 2, oil on canvas, 4 x 4 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, cupcake, oil on canvas, 4 x 4 inches. ©2011

These paintings are available HERE...as part of my 100 Paintings for $100 Less project.

100 Painting Open Studio this weekend!

Kristina Wentzell, at the closing of the day, oil on canvas, 9 x 9 inches. ©2011

The Preview to officially launch my 100 painting project is almost here. I hope to see you at my Keene studio this Friday or Saturday. Please note I have extended the hours on Saturday to make it easier for folks to attend.

Otherwise, please check out my online gallery where all the paintings are on display. Be sure to check back as I am adding new paintings daily!

100 Painting Preview
November 11th & 12th
Fri: 5-8pm Sat: 10am-4pm

87 Ashuelot Street
Keene NH

the best beach?

While the two feet of snow on the ground has been slowly melting away here in southern New Hampshire, I've been dreaming and painting of far away beaches.

Kristina Wentzell, the best beach 5, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

A few years ago, my family had the opportunity of living in Australia for a short time when my husband received an international research fellowship from the National Science Foundation. We ended up in Western Australia, the little inhabited coast of that country, in September (springtime down under).

our first glimpse of the Indian Ocean

We started our stay with a family adventure by renting a camper van and driving a thousand miles up the largely uninhabited coast. Our first glimpse of the Indian Ocean on day one of our trip was magical...pure white sands, turquoise waters, and not a soul around for miles. We spent the days driving up the coast, through the desert, marveling at the amazing sunburned colors of the earth, spotting kangaroos, lizards and multitudes of jewel colored birds, and the nights camping on the beach gazing at the southern stars.

my two little charges at Shell Beach

Shell Beach, Monkey Mia

gifts of the sea

Coral Bay Beach

I painted these simple beach scenes with inspiration from my Australia days but also with the hope that they would bring back memories of your favorite beach.

The beaches of Western Australia rank up at the top for me, but I also have others, the coast of Maine (with its many beaches: Popham, Scarborough, Wells, Reid), or the lovely beaches of New Hampshire's short coastline where we now take our little charges in the summer, or a very special beach on a tiny island in the British Virgin Islands where we were married.



Where is your best beach?

Kristina Wentzell, the best beach 4, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, the best beach 3, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, the best beach 2, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, the best beach, oil on canvas, 6 x 12 inches. ©2011

These paintings are available through my 100 Paintings for $100 or Less Project.

sunflower triptych

Here are the pieces that started off my recent sunflower phase. A commission for a sunflower triptych, 40 x 60 inches. A real statement piece for the home!


Starting soon! 100 Paintings for $100 or Less

100 Painting Project -- a personal story

Below is a press release that is going in my local papers. I decided to share a personal story about how lung cancer has affected my life. November is lung cancer awareness month. Please go here to learn more.

Kristina and her dad, 1970

Artist Kristina Wentzell is pleased to announce a special online art show: the 2nd Annual 100 Paintings for $100 or Less. Known for her vibrant, impressionist style, Wentzell’s oil paintings feature a wide variety of subject matter including landscapes, florals and her popular backyard chicken series.

Last years’ 100 Painting project coincided with a difficult time in Kristina’s life. Having just lost her mother-in-law to lung cancer, Kristina’s father was diagnosed with the same dreadful disease just at the start of her project.

Kristina decided to go ahead with the paintings despite the turmoil in her life at that time, and ended up finding sanctuary in the creative expression. Kristina’s dad also found comfort in her art, often sitting quietly in her studio while she painted.

Her father lost his battle with lung cancer in January of this year.

November is lung cancer awareness month and Kristina would like to dedicate this project to her dad and to all those suffering with this disease.

For the month of November, Kristina will be donating a portion of her sales to the Lung Cancer Alliance, a national non-profit dedicated to patient support and advocacy. See more at here.

The show can be viewed at online here and runs November 11th –December 31st. Wentzell is also hosting an open studio sale featuring the 100 painting collection on November 11th & 12th. (Fri: 5-8pm, Sat: 1-4pm, 87 Ashuelot Street, Keene NH)

Walking with Spring

Back in the early 90's, I was fresh out of college and eager for a bit of adventure. I had just met my now husband, Chris, in Portland, Maine. It was a moment of total serendipity, he was walking down the sidewalk, I was sitting on the curb for a bit of fresh air, and we just started talking. Both of us are shy folks, so this was not the norm.

We talked for hours and ended the night with a plan to hike the Appalachian Trail. What better way to start a new relationship than spending months in the close quarters of a tent with limited access to showers?

We set off on our adventure just a few months later in the early spring. We started in Georgia, heading north to Maine.

In the beginning, the days were cold, with bare trees and few signs of life. As the days wore on, spring started to emerge...first in the valleys with all the lovely colors of the season. Then up on the mountains as spring gradually crept her way up and soon the whole world was ablaze with a thousand different greens. The forest floor was covered with Spring Beauties, tiny white flowers that made the trail look like a ribbon through the snow.

Like in title of the memoir about Earl Shaffer, the first person to hike the AT in its entirety back in 1948, we were Walking with Spring. It's been many years but I'll never forget what a gift it was to have such an intimate experience witnessing the slow, unfurling of a season with nothing else in the world to do but be present.

Kristina Wentzell, walking with spring, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, walking with spring 2, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, walking with spring 3, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

Kristina Wentzell, walking with spring 4, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

These paintings are available in my 100 Paintings for $100 or Less project.

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more sunnies

Kristina Wentzell, sunflowers in a cream pitcher, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

These paintings are part of the upcoming 100 Paintings for $100 or Less sale. Coming soon!

Kristina Wentzell, sunflowers on yellow, oil on canvas, 8 x 10 inches. ©2011

sunflowers for a cold day

Kristina Wentzell, Grammie's pitcher, oil on canvas, 8 x 8 inches. ©2011

The 100 painting project is coming along nicely...I just finished a series of sunflowers. I'm not sure why, but I get such joy out of seeing these little beauties all lined up in my studio, especially when there is snow on the ground outside. blech!

The 100 Paintings for $100 or Less will be starting very soon...go here for all the details.

Kristina Wentzell, sunflowers in a tall vase, oil on canvas, 12 x 6 inches. ©2011