During the summer of 2011 I have plein air painted with other rural artists to capture “our towns” for a six woman show in Autumn 2011. This brought us to locations we probably wouldn’t have explored on our own. We painted in parks and prairies, church yards, along waterways, and from farms. This opportunity gave me a greater appreciation of my town and challenged my painting in ways not experienced before.

In addition to landscape painting I enjoy working in my studio on still life. I find the play of light on different surfaces from pottery, glass, fabric and shiny surfaces such as silver and copper exciting to translate from a three dimensional surface to a 2 dimensional surface. I am currently working on one hundred 6x6 masonite panels to expose me to the many challenges that larger works present. It is also nice to have a finished painting completed after 2-3 hours in the studio.

All images © Louise Kubista

I only work from photographs if the subject is such that it is difficult to paint on location, such as a building on a busy street or something that catches my eye when I don't have time to paint or don’t have my paints at hand. Of course, the paintings of my dogs, which I love to paint, are from photographs.

I paint primarily in oil on either masonite or canvas. I enjoy painting pastels on sanded paper when I can be outside. I have been painting for 7 years, trying different media before settling on oil and pastel. Painting has given passion to my retirement and has made it possible for me to become friends with many gifted artists.

DEMONSTRATION: I will demonstrate the use of different grounds and the effect on the final painting.

STUDIO ACCESS: There is an outside access with one step up to my basement studio. The path to the studio door is over lawn. There is a bathroom.

Louise Kubista
601 Reid Drive, Mount Horeb, WI 53572 | (608) 437-2030 | lkubista@wisc.edu