Skip to content
Close Menu

CATHERINE J MARTZLOFF / Bright and Expressive Original Oil Paintings

  • Featured Collection
  • Still Life Oil Paintings
  • Landscape Oil Paintings
  • Beyond the Portrait
  • Past Collections
  • Events
  • Exhibits
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
  • Purchase Art
  • About
  • Scenes from my Studio
  • Testimonials

CONTACT

cmartzloffart@gmail.com

Scenes from the "Studio"

Recent Posts

  • Between Rooms: Bringing a Series of Collage-Inspired Portraits to a Close
  • On Certain Ground: A Collage Portrait of Memory, Place, and Belonging
  • The Stories We Paint: Turquoise and Twigs
  • Capturing Fleeting Beauty in ‘The Unexpected Garden’
  • The Golden Pour: An Expressionist Still Life of Pears

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Community

  • elena delle selve
  • darrynlyons
  • versatiledolphin229650cdae
  • Don't Lose Hope
  • Catherine Martzloff
  • davidjrogersftw
  • علي الجازع
  • TRphotogallery
  • lgaikwad
  • Yolanda - Aspergers syndrome - Poetry - Photography/edit - Art - Mental illness
  • Emily-Rose Alcock
  • mentalnotes1
  • jayargonaut
  • Stefano Ligorio
  • passiveincomepro23
  • cmartzloff
  • Menteyvida
  • Stanley Maruda
  • Bachir Bastien
  • strategyninja2023
  • Liza
  • Alejandro Ayala
  • dvedtool
  • lokeishumak
  • Armi Messenger
  • Nadea Celac
  • Chris Lovie-Tyler
  • Wayne Wolfson
  • kimgokso
  • Louise’s ARTiculations
  • DEX
  • wilsonmike2010
  • Anna Cull
  • Caleb Cheruiyot
  • Clara Foster
  • Amy Martin
  • coverage
  • Catherine Arcolio
  • spotlightchoices.com-C. Wilson
  • Krishna Shiwarkar
  • octavidf
  • Lynn Goldhammer
  • Damien de Soto
  • Christoph
  • Catherine
  • Cherryl
  • Jason Lawrence
  • His masterpiece
  • outsideauthority
  • Ionia Froment
Menu

CATHERINE J MARTZLOFF / Bright and Expressive Original Oil Paintings

Category: Nature

The Stories We Paint: Turquoise and Twigs Every spring, I look forward to a specific view outside my kitchen window. There is an old Weigela shrub out there—about 30 years old now—that bursts into life with the most lovely pink florets. I have always been drawn to its delicate, almost magnolia-like flowers and the woody, tree-like structure of its branches.Lately, my studio practice has been deeply focused on still lifes, particularly exploring the forms of fruit and bowls. But on this specific day, I felt like I just needed a direct hit of nature and the outdoors. I went outside, clipped a few twigs from the Weigela, placed them in a simple glass cup, and sat down at the easel.The glass added a beautiful sense of fragility to the setup, and I loved being able to see the raw branch stems submerged in the water.Around this same time, a painting friend had introduced me to working with a black background. That concept was still lingering in my mind. For years, I have been so comfortable using white, patterns, or solid colors behind my subjects. Introducing black felt entirely different.Leaving that dark backdrop up in my studio has been incredibly enlightening. It has pushed me to see the vast array of subtle colors that can actually come through within "black" shapes and deep shadows.Turquoise and Twigs captures that exact moment of transition for me—finding the delicate balance between the woodiness of the branches, the fragility of the glass, and a brand new way of looking at color and shadow.
3 weeks ago 1 Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

The Stories We Paint: Turquoise and Twigs

Turquoise and Twigs 10″x 8″ Oil on canvas – $475 Every spring, I look forward to a specific view outside […]

Capturing Fleeting Beauty in ‘The Unexpected Garden’ An impressionist oil painting featuring a cluster of purple irises with long green leaves, set against a textured, warm yellow background. The flowers display rich shades of violet, lavender, and dark indigo, while small hints of yellow accent the lower right foliage. The artwork has visible, expressive brushstrokes and the artist's signature is faintly visible in the bottom left corner.
1 month ago 2 Comments by cmartzloff Flowers

Capturing Fleeting Beauty in ‘The Unexpected Garden’

The Unexpected Garden Oil on canvas – 20″ x 16″ – $1850 A fleeting moment on a hometown walk The […]

Revisiting: A Poetic Portrait of A Summer Iris Garden
April 21, 2026 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

Revisiting: A Poetic Portrait of A Summer Iris Garden

Summer Iris Garden 14″ x11″ Oil on canvas – $675 in summerbetween the waves of heatcool dirt upon my toes […]

On the Shelf: Captivating Oil on Canvas
January 25, 2026 3 Comments by cmartzloff Interiors

On the Shelf: Captivating Oil on Canvas

On the Shelf 10″ x 10″ Oil on canvas – $580 On the Shelf extends an ongoing exploration of still […]

Winter Hydrangeas: Celebrating the Season Between
December 10, 2025 2 Comments by cmartzloff Nature

Winter Hydrangeas: Celebrating the Season Between

The Season Between – 14″ x 18″ Oil on canvas – $1125 These winterized hydrangeas came straight from my yard, […]

Artistic Balance: Light Between Seasons
November 6, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Nature

Artistic Balance: Light Between Seasons

Light Between Seasons – 10″ x 8″ Oil on canvas – $475 Light Between Seasons began with bottles—a subject I’ve […]

The Way Sunflowers Lean
October 29, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

The Way Sunflowers Lean

The Way Sunflowers Lean – 20″ x 16″ Oil on canvas – $1850 Some flowers stand upright with unfailing confidence. […]

Still Life in Two Worlds: A Reflection on Perception
October 21, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

Still Life in Two Worlds: A Reflection on Perception

Still Life in Two Worlds – 16″ x 20″ Oil on canvas – $1850 A jar of late-summer zinnias, a […]

Sunflower Painting: Festival Echoes in Oil
October 1, 2025 1 Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

Sunflower Painting: Festival Echoes in Oil

Sunflowers and Festival Echoes – 20″ x 16″ Oil on canvas – $1850 This sunflower painting carries the joy of […]

Sunflowers for a Season: A Still Life Reflection
September 23, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

Sunflowers for a Season: A Still Life Reflection

Sunflowers for a Season – 20″ x 16″ Oil on canvas $1450 There’s something about sunflowers that feels both grounded […]

Vibrant Paint Box Bouquet: An Artistic Celebration
August 4, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

Vibrant Paint Box Bouquet: An Artistic Celebration

Paint Box Bouquet – 8″ x 10″ Oil on canvas $375 There’s something about zinnias that always lifts my spirit. […]

Winter Grasses Art: Capture Seasonal Beauty
August 1, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

Winter Grasses Art: Capture Seasonal Beauty

“Winter Grasses” captures a moment of brightness in the quieter season. A simple clay pot holds sprigs of dried grasses, […]

Summer Sentinel: A Vibrant Coneflower Still Life
July 23, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

Summer Sentinel: A Vibrant Coneflower Still Life

Summer Sentinel – 10″ x 8″ Oil on canvas $375 This painting came together on a slow, sunny afternoon just […]

Sunlit Zinnias: From The Sunlit Interiors Collection
July 1, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

Sunlit Zinnias: From The Sunlit Interiors Collection

Sunlit Zinnias – 20″ x 16″ Oil on panel $1450 Sunlit Zinnias invites you into a world of radiant color […]

The Symbolism of Pineapples in Art
June 24, 2025 Leave a Comment by cmartzloff Flowers

The Symbolism of Pineapples in Art

The Pineapple – 20″ x 16″ Oil on canvas $1450 This painting brings me back to a time when I […]

The Traveling Muse: A Journey of Artistic Inspiration
May 28, 2025 4 Comments by cmartzloff Flowers

The Traveling Muse: A Journey of Artistic Inspiration

The Traveling Muse Oil on canvas 30″ x 24″ x 1.5″ – NFS Exhibiting Oct. 2026 In The Traveling Muse, […]

Posts pagination

1 2 … 5 Next
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
Toggle Widgets
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Loading Comments...