A Great Time to Photograph

Are you having a wonderful fall? Here in Montana we are experiencing an incredible autumn! Two years have passed since we have actually seen the trees turn gold and orange. Last year the weather snapped into a deep freeze early in September and from there the leaves just turned brown and hung on most of the winter. But this year the color is glorious! The warm tones literally wrap themselves around my eyes, vibrating with joy. Every turn in the road reveals an exciting tree or bush. The mountains have become ribbons of golden aspens, shimmering in the light.

Silent Reflections 48 x 36 oil by Susan Blackwood at Highlands Art Gallery

Grab your cameras! All of you! This is just too good to pass up! All of you become artists with a camera in your hand. Not only will the camera teach you to see composition and values (especially if you set your camera to take black and white photos), but looking though the camera will stimulate the right side of your brain, the creative side…. And you will start seeing everything around you in a different way.

Years ago I learned the best way to photograph these fabulous trees and I will pass on the tip. Photograph the trees while you are looking toward the sun, straight ahead or on the right or on the left. That way you will get the intense color coming through the leaves. If you photograph the trees with the sun to your back, there is too much sunlight on the leaves and your trees will look washed out in the photos. It is a simple trick, but works wonders!

Now get out there and record this glorious time of year that shouts with color!

By the way, if you want to see a show devoted to fall, check out Highlands Art Gallery’s show that opened last Saturday night! Just click HERE.

The Results

Okay, I promised to let you all know about the wild weekend of three outstanding national shows

Are you ready for this… ?

Hang on to your HAT!

As many of you already know….I am overjoyed to announce that my painting,

“So, What’ll You Have”,

won Best of Show at the American Women Artists (AWA) Exhibition in Dallas, Texas at the Southwest Gallery.

So, What’ll You Have 22.5 x 30 Oil

It is an incredible honor just to be juried into any of these shows. As with all three national shows, I am humbled by the outstanding work.

The AWA Exhibition is a juried show of over 1500 entries from all over the USA. Only 60 works of art (paintings and sculptures of all styles and mediums) were accepted. A panel, consisting of 9 AWA Master Signature Members, were the judges that decided the awards for this show.

Here is the link to see the show

AWA is dedicated to the inspiration, celebration and encouragement of women in the visual arts. With membership of professional, acclaimed artists, AWA increases the public's awareness of women in the arts by exhibiting quality artwork in museums and galleries.

I wasn’t able to attend the AWA show (I was in Jackson Wyoming at the Western Regional Oil Painters of America Show at Mountain Trails Gallery). I would have had to be cloned twice to attend all three national shows.

Therefore, because I was unable to attend the award ceremony, this concept of winning such a big prize is still floating in the air, like an incredible dream that you keep remembering. People have sent me photos, told be all about the events, but not being there keeps it more like a dream. I know that once the mailman delivers the official written word, a hard copy of the award, then, I will finally grasp the total experience. In the meantime, I am still floating, too, and will be for a long time. This is a dream come true.

Thank you, all of you, for your wonderful letters and e-mails of congratulations. I have tried to write back to you, but it has been a landslide of correspondence. So if I haven’t written back to you, please know that I have read and cherished each note, smiled warmly, grinned a lot, and felt your enthusiasm and joy deeply in my heart! Some of these friendships are new, some span my whole career and some have known me ….. my whole life.

Thank you for all your support, thank you for believing in my work and thank you for loving art …. And me! My art needs you and your enthusiasm and so do I! You are and always have been, the “ wind beneath my wings”! Thanks!

Three Show Openings on the same Weekend

The art business has lots of ups and downs. We all hope our art is accepted, but between rejections in shows, galleries and sales (or lack of sales in this economy) your emotions can seem chaotic. One minute you are feeling discouraged, the next minute you get up lifting news or a great comment and you are soaring again. It’s an up and down experience. Well, after almost two months of feeling beat up by the economy, I have had a super “high flying” moment! I am really excited! This is a big weekend for me. My paintings are in three major national shows and they all open this weekend! This has never happened to me before!

American Impressionist Society Exhibition is opening tonight (Thursday) at the Richland Fine Art Gallery in Nashville, Tennessee. Here is my painting that has been juried into the show.

Click here to see the American Impressionist Society Exhibition!

Beyond the Clock 10 x 12 oil

Then, as those of you that have read my previous blogs, the American Women Artist Exhibition is opening Saturday afternoon at the Southwest Gallery in Dallas, Texas. Here is my painting in that show.

Click here to see the American Women Artists Exhibition!

So, What’ll You Have? 22.5 x 30 oil

And Finally Saturday night the Western Regional Oil Painters of America Show opens at the Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming.

And here is my painting in that show.

Click here to see the Western Regional Oil Painters of America Show!

Maestro 16 x 12 Oil

I can’t be cloned, so I have decided to attend the OPA Show.

Stay tuned ….. I will let you know what happens!