Visiting Artists
Biography
Kami Polzin is a master painter and teacher whose stunning oil paintings have been shown and awarded in competitions around the world.
A lifelong St. Croix Valley resident, Polzin acquired a profound love and respect for the qualities of the natural world while growing up on a family farm just north of Stillwater, Minn., and she credits her deep appreciation for nature with inspiring her to paint the world around her.
Polzin is best known for her lush landscapes and detailed still lifes, and her work is influenced by a number of painters, among them Isaac Levitan, Joaquin Sorolla, the 19th century Russian masters, and many American artists both living and deceased. She has studied with some of the country’s finest painters — including Mary Pettis, Joseph Paquet and John Foote — formally exploring topics such as classical realism, the prismatic palette, and portrait painting.
More than anything else, Polzin loves to paint outside on location (en plein air), where she can see firsthand how the light plays across a field of prairie grass, for example, and use all of her senses to determine how best to translate that experience to canvas and impart that same feeling to viewers of her work.
“To me, great art is capturing the emotion of the place, not just making a pretty picture,” Polzin explains. “I believe very strongly in working directly from nature to capture the essence and truth in one’s paintings. I respect nature as a great teacher.”
Polzin is a great teacher in her own right, and her skill and contagious enthusiasm make her a sought-after instructor in both studio and plein air landscape painting. Though she does most of her teaching closer to home, Polzin recently traveled to Tuscany, Italy, to give a plein air workshop at the invitation of Il Chiostro.
When she is not painting and teaching in the field or in her studio, Polzin can often be found traveling, hiking or at home with her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son.
Polzin’s work can be seen locally at the Tamarack Gallery in Stillwater, Minn.; Gallery 135 in St Croix Falls, Wis.; or by appointment at her Stillwater studio, Rivertown Fine Arts, 651-210-4337.
Recent shows
Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils
Missoula, Mont.
May 2 - June 14, 2008
Salon International 2008
The International Museum of Contemporary Masters of Fine Art
Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art
San Antonio, Texas
May 11, 2008
Nomades Del Arte
Sage Creek Gallery
Santa Fe, N.M.
March 1-31, 2008
Oil Painters of America's Great Paint Out
Stillwater, Minn.
October 2007
Barns and Farms National Juried Exhibition
Barnsite Art Studio and Gallery
Kewaunee, Wis.
Summer 2007
Salon International 2007
The International Museum of Contemporary Masters of Fine Art
Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art
San Antonio, Texas
May 2007
The Paintings of Kami Polzin (solo exhibition)
Stillwater Public Library
Stillwater, Minn.
May 2007
Tuscany Exhibition
Broome Street Gallery
SoHo, New York City
March 2007
Recent awards
- Artist Choice Award, Oil Painters of America's Great Paint Out, October 2007
- The Phipps Center for the Arts Award of Merit, 2006
- Artists of Minnesota Super Gold Award, 2006
- Artists of Minnesota People`s Choice Award, 2006
- Artists of Minnesota Creative Originality Award, 2006
