Susan Blackwood

Close up and Personal

2012-01-23T18:43:00.000-08:00

For over a century now, thanks to the invention of portable tubes of paint, artists have been packing up their painting gear and heading to the big bright outdoors to paint plein air. Winter, spring, summer, fall…. Daytime and nighttime …… I must admit I am hooked, too. I started painting on location as a little girl with my family. My dad would lead us to the greatest nearby spots to paint and sketch… and I continue to this day with my husband, Howard Friedland, and many artist friends….. I love it! From our back yard to the exotic corners of the world, it is all calling to me to paint. What a thrill to be standing at my portable easel, smelling the air, feeling the breeze ( hopefully not too windy ) and gleefully accepting the challenges of painting plein air.

Howard just finished a painting depicting one such outing. He wrote a great description of that afternoon to include on the back of his painting. I thought you would enjoy his adventure and his painting. Here it is…

Bear Market by Howard Friedland 10 x 12 Oil

Grizzly Encounter
written by Howard Friedland

The bear depicted in my painting “Bear Market” is a Grizzly that I saw

“Close Up and Personal” as they say.

A few years ago, a couple of artist friends and I were painting in Glacier National Park.

We had just set up our easels behind the campground at Many Glacier, a spectacularly beautiful area of the park. We chose a mountain scene that was visible beyond a nearby creek. The other two painters set up along the bank of the creek and I chose a spot about ten feet back.

Soon after we put our first brush strokes on our canvases, I heard my friend Tom English yell out “BEAR! BEAR!”

Just then, I looked up and saw a grizzly bear ambling up the stream in our direction.

Immediately, I pulled my canister of bear spray out of its holder and pointed it toward the bear with my outstretched arm. The other painter with us did the same. At this point the Griz was no more than 20 feet away. My heart was thumping out of my chest! I knew, if he wanted to attack us he could have just leapt and been on us.

He sniffed at us for a while (it seemed like an eternity) and proceeded to continue ambling up the stream, which thankfully turned away from where we were.

It wasn’t until I knew we were out of danger that I realized, rather than whip out his bear spray, Tom whipped out his camera and took several photos of the bear.

What was he thinking?!!!!

Anyway, Tom was nice enough to share a photo of our encounter with the Grizzly bear.

I decided to paint this painting to remind me of just how close, this “Close Up and Personal” wild experience was.

Howard Friedland

______________________________________________

Here is another painting of Howard’s

Bull Market by Howard Friedland 8.25 x 14.75 oil

NOTE: Howard’s painting “Bear Market” and “Bull Market” are heading to the stellar invitational American Miniatures Show opening February 11 at Settlers West Galleries in Tucson. In a few weeks you will be able to see all the paintings on line at

http://www.settlerswest.com/html/mini.html.

It is always a fantastic show!

See more of Howard Friedland’s paintings at www.howardfriedland.com

Christie

2012-01-17T17:31:00.000-08:00

Sunday, January 8th, was a very special day for many reasons. I will tell you why in just a moment.

For 40 years I have been a professional artist, 32 years as a watercolorist and the past 8 years as an oil painter. During that time, I have done hundreds of shows and created hundreds of portraits. I love painting people. Many, many of these portraits have been commissions and it has been my highest honor to paint loved ones for a family.

In December I met with a couple, Valerie and Cam Gould, that loved portraits! Their home is filled with paintings and sketches of generations of their family members. They asked me to paint a portrait of their daughter, Christie. She is now 25, however, they wanted a portrait of her when she was three years old. Out came the albums of photos and we had a great time looking through images of the little tyke and settled on one image.

Like many commissions that dig back into the past, there are always challenges. Sometimes the photos are faded or damaged, or in black and white. The photo that we chose this time was a terrific image of her little smiling face, but it, too, had a sizable share of things that needed to be changed. For starters, the size of her entire body was less that 1 inch high, but the light wrapping around her face was priceless. When I tried to enlarge it to see her face, I realized that the photo became grainy and out of focus. (When this is the situation, I am so grateful for the years and years and thousands of sketches that I have done studying faces.) in the old photo, she was dressed in typical play clothes and sitting on bright colored inflated balloon bags. The setting and the clothes just didn't do her face justice, so using the inspiration of her little face and her body position, I set out to create a painting that would ooze with charm and innocence.

We found photos of her in a darling timeless dress and decided to have her seated on the old brick steps of her childhood home. By softening the background to colors found in nature, I created a portrait that let her darling face reach out to all of us.

Now, getting back to the big event of last Sunday. From the very beginning, my clients were very excited to host an unveiling party for this painting. Never before, in all the years of my painting and drawing commissions, have I ever been honored with an unveiling of my work at a client's home! I thought that perhaps a few of their friends and neighbors would stop by, a lovely thought and I was very pleased. This event was set for Sunday January 8th.

On the 8th, Sunday.... Howard and I arrived at the Gould's early in the afternoon to set up the painting and to my amazement, it wasn't going to be a small gathering....there were beautiful plates of food and candles set out all over! 60 friends and neighbors had been invited to this gala catered event. As the afternoon slipped into evening, more and more people arrived. It was a huge success! Everyone was thrilled to see the painting. What an honor to have my work presented in this way. It reminded me of the royal portraits through the centuries and how they were always presented at an unveiling for the court. I felt like a rock star!

A big huge thank you to the Gould's for trusting me with this awesome commission and for hosting that incredible unveiling! We all had a great time! Sunday was a great day of connecting with old and new friends.... and old and new memories.

Christie by Susan Blackwood
20 x 24 oil

Touch down!

2011-11-07T06:14:00.000-08:00

Arrived in Chicago yesterday, it was a 14 hour flight. That translates into 4 movies and 6 tv shows. We were exhausted and fighting colds. We tried to stay up until 7 pm, but I caved in and crawled into bed at 5:30 pm. We were awake for a couple hours this morning, then back to bed. This probably is not the best way to adjust to the time zone change, but very good for healing colds.

This ends the China trip. However, for Howard and I, our adventure has 9 more days as we head to New Jersey for our two person show at Highlands Art Gallery in Bernardsville, New Jersey. The reception is Saturday from 5 to 9 pm. Hope you can come.

China was an amazing mix of ancient and modern lifestyles. We are already planning to return one day. already we are getting e-mails from those wonderful college kids that took such good care of us!

I might send some more photos on the blog once in awhile. It is hard not to share all this with you!

Thank you for reading along as we traversed China!

Still flying...

2011-11-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

and passing the Alusian islands of Alaska. Looking at the map at the front of the cabin of the plane, it is obvious that this was a solid land mass from Russia to Alaska, linking Asia to North America. Historians and scientists believe that the Americas were populated from Asia using this natural land bridge. As a portrait artist, I love studying faces, and I could definitely see a genetic connection between the Chinese and Native Americans. I, too, have some Cherokee in my background and I could see a connection with my self as well! High cheek bones, small eyes, very straight hair.... Fascinating!

Anyway, while we are cruising along, I will send you some more photos.

Remember when I wrote about Halloween and our interpreters....
Here is the photo of the college kids that dressed up for Halloween and went trick or treating at our hotel rooms. They had heard about Halloween and the candy and so we invited them to dress up and go trick or treating from room to room. It was really fun with lots and lots of giggles and laughter!

And we're off! Up in the air.

2011-11-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

Meeting us at the hotel was Tu's nephew. He had arranged the bus for the ride to the airport. Thank you TU!

And our group started shrinking. Our Canadians, Neil and Vera Patterson are taking an evening flight to Vancouver, Canada. Nancy and Gar Crookston are flying to San Francisco around one pm. Howard and i are in the first group of 7 that is flying to Chicago.

All that hauling yesterday of our luggage took it 's toll on us. Clayton was hit the worst. He either has pulled a muscle on his ribs, cracked a rib or .... Is having trouble with his lungs. He is such a trooper. You can see the pain written all over his face each time that he gets a muscle spasm. He is really looking forward to seeing a doctor when he gets home. I have a pinched nerve in my neck ( oh brother, what next ). Keeping cold wraps on it seems to be helping. I know what you are thinking.... Yes, it was really worth it!

Interesting note: we left Hong Kong at 11:45 am on Saturday, November 5th and we will in essence be in a time machine, as we fly backwards through the time zones, arriving at about 12:30 in the afternoon, on the same day, Saturday, November 5th. Though we will be in the air traveling for more than 14 hours, the time will be less than an hour after we left Hong Kong. We live in an amazing time!

So, while we are floating around to the other side of the world, I thought I would send you some more photos about the trip.

These are from October 23rd, the day that we visited the construction site of Zhiwei Tu's museum.

We want to come back when it is open!

Change of plans...

2011-11-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Guess what... Pizza Hut was the choice tonight! Yum!!!

More shopping tonight after our pizza and pasta and more shuffling of our suitcases. Good thing that we brought a traveler's scale for suitcases! I think we are under the weight limit!

Hong Kong

2011-11-05T21:20:00.001-07:00

Okay, we are now at the Imperial Hotel in Hong Kong, but what an adventure some of us had getting to the hotel.

Howard and I made it here with no hick-ups, but several others had a bit of a tough time with the taxi drivers. Ken Dewaard and Ken Cadwallader were first in line and glided easily to a taxi, at least they thought it was a legal taxi, until the police came up and started yelling at the driver. Out jumped the two Kens and back to the back of the line to wait for another. Another of our group were shuttled around to three different taxi's, schlepping their stuff and waiting in longs lines. Finally we all arrived, sweaty, tired and hungry. Nothing like a wet hot towel to refresh a wear traveler!

Hmmm, for a change, we are thinking about Japanese food tonight's dinner? With our terrific skill with the Chop sticks now, this should be a piece of cake ( now that sounds good too)!

Making our way home

2011-11-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

Now the wind down, but first some serious final shopping. By now we had scoped out the possibilities and narrowed down to our goals. First we had a terrific breakfast with several of the university professors, Middle TU and Tu's nephew. It had everything that we have come to love about Chinese food.

Then back out on the streets, making bee lines to our destinations. We didn't have a lot of time, but most of us knew that we had to get art books at the book store! and boy did we ever get great books and art supplies!...great big heavy art books, ooops.

Back at our rooms, the big challenge was to get all of this into our suitcases and still keep them under 50 pounds. The night before I had to buy a new suitcase because my suitcase had a broken latch, now came the test and YES! It all fit and only a little bit over 50 pounds... To be fixed in Hong Kong before we fly.

We stuffed our suitcases into three vans and our bodies and off we went to the train station.
Next came the travelers aerobics.... Or as I kept telling myself ... The character building challenge of the day, as we dragged, pulled, pushed and carried our luggage across the station and somehow onto the train. This was the last time that we would have the guidance of Tu and we said our good byes. He created a magical tour for us that we will never forget!!!! It was a ton of work for him to co-ordinate this complicated trip. As we waved good bye I could almost detect a sigh of relief on his face. He will stay here in China with his family in his home town. Once we were in the train station, past customs and schlepped our many heavy suitcases either and yon... and all of us made the train, it was a beautiful ride in the sunny country side.

Next stop, Hong Kong.

Day Twelve

2011-11-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

Breakfast was a bit earlier today, at 7 am, because we were going to tour the Guangzhou Fine Art Academy! This is one of the Finest national academies in China. At the request of the central governemnt in 1953 this school was founded by Tu's Father in Law, Hu Yichuan (1910 - 2000). The school first opened in Wuhancity, then was moved to Guangzhou in 1958.

Hu Yichuan was an outstanding artist skilled in any medium. Prior to 1949, he was first famous for his woodcuts. To our delight, we actually were able to tour his home and studio, filled with paintings, sketches, woodcuts and sculptures. This is the place where our friend and fellow artist, TU, as a young man and his wife Dani shared many meals with her mom and dad (Hu Yichuan ). We lerned that Hu Yichuan was a Revolutionist and played a major part in the Mao Revolution ( 1921 to 1937). He is well loved and respected today in China. In 2000, after Hu Yichuan died, the government named the museum in Guangzhou, The Hu Yichuan Museum.

This outstanding university held a special spot in Tu's, heart. Not only was this where his father-in-law taught, but this is where Tu was a student for 6 years and later a professor for 6 years. He, too, - is well loved and respected.

We toured the new campus, the studios and classrooms, met the professors and the students, even had a chance to critique some of the student's work. Several of the professors gave us copies of their books!

We were awed at the classical drawing skills of these young students. We saw painting classes and sculpture classes and a display of a the most outstanding work from their graduates. This is a huge campus. Actually it now has two locations in Guanghzhou. The first and original campus is near to our hotel. That was so successful that a gorgeous new huge campus was built about a half hour away.

To our surprise, before going to dinner, we stopped by Middle Tu's studio. He is an incredible photographer in all areas: fashion, portraits, landscapes, etc. , winning many national and international awards. We have enjoyed his company at many of the places that we have been on this tripl He kept his camera clicking! To our delight, he gave each of us three of his photography books!

The Chinese are such gracious, giving people. Everywhere we were given gifts, from the owner of the tea shop to the photographers that accompanies us and even the interpreters. Our cup over flowth with gratitude.

All that was left at the end of this glorious day, was a couple hours of shopping in the main shopping area. Here it was, 9 pm on a Thursday night and the place was packed with people, all the shops were busy. The lights were sparkling everywhere, it was filled with excitement. The Chinese economy seems to be doing quite well! We all spread out...and none of us got lost!

What an amazing day. Like I said yesterday. This is the grand finalle of an incredible trip.

Day Eleven

2011-11-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

Dressed in our finest clothes ( how does one make the same clothes that one has been wearing for 2 and a half weeks look dressy?) we arrived at the Museum exhibition of our final 91 paintings. This was by far the most outstanding exhibition for us. Our paintings were beautifully exhibited, museum style, with terrific lighting and excellent placement on the walls. Hanging side by side, the paintings looked terrific. It is a very strong show and we are all pleased. There were banners and huge displays of our names, bios and faces. First there was a ceremony out in front of the museum. We were formally introduced by the officials of the area and thanked for coming and showing our work. Our exhibition was the kick off of the International Cultural Week for Guangzhou! The show will be hanging for one month.

After the speeches and lots and lots of photos, we entered the exhibition. as each of us entered, we signed a big red display book with a big black pen. This is tradition for important events. Then the public flooded into the exhibition. It instantly became very crowed. People were asking to have their photos taken with us. Each of us were surrounded by school children asking for our autographs and photos, lots of photos. It was an amazing feeling to be so admired and honored.

Lunch with the officials was as delicious as ever and as beautiful. I will miss the huge turntables that gracefully glided the dishes around the table.

Then it was time to put the suitcases on the bus and say good bye to our wonderful interpreters, our dear friends. That was the hardest part of the trip. These young people have shared their love with us and stolen our hearts. There were teary eyes, lots of hugs and notes of appreciation slipped into our hands. They made our trip so special and were missed instantly as we drove away.

On to Guangzhou. It was supposed to be a 3 hour drive, no problem. Instead, we experienced the most intense traffic jam. For miles (and several hours) we were sandwiched between trucks creeping along or stopping. I was very very happy that I wasn't the one driving! We arrived more that 2 hours late and very very tired! Get this, we were so tired that we actually went to McDonalds for supper! Radical difference from the dinners we have become used to, but we were just needing food and fast. Hmmm. Guess that is what they do best!

After that quick supper, we hit the streets to do a little shopping. Most of us just stumbled along the Streets for a while, then went back to the hotel and to bed.

Sorry, no photos this time, can't get to my camera right now, but soon I will send some for you to see!

Day Ten

2011-11-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

The last strokes of paint were composed today. We painted our last paintings and tonight we put away our brushes. All that is left is our final exhibition of about 90 paintings that opens tomorrow.

Our painting marathon ended today at the MT. Dabao Mining site. This is one of the largest mines for iron an copper. The government is very proud of this huge mine and is planning to make it into a national park. First we toured the top of the mountain to see the broad expansive vista of the mining operation. This was an hour before it was scheduled to set off several explosions. Sure enough at 10:30 am, after several warning sirens, two explosions rocked the valley. By then, we were safely down at the headquarters painting, but even our feet felt those impacts.

The day was lovely, the air perfect and the sun flirted with us all day. In and out... In and out, it danced with the clouds. We painted, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Lunch was serve yourself and we all questioned how much to put on our plate. For the past 16 days, we have dined from many dishes at each meal. We would take a bite of food from this dish and another spoonful from that dish. It all added up to a delightful and exciting meal. At the end of each meal, we had no idea how much or how little we had eaten. We just had to trust our stomachs and eat until we felt full. The meals were very slow and leisurely and that gave our stomachs time to really decide when to stop. Facing a full plate of food, now, seemed confusing at first, but it didn't take long for us to gobble it down and get back to painting.

In the afternoon, we actually had about 4 hours to paint our last painting in China. It felt good to put some extra time into these plein air creations. Our eager and very helpful assistants/interpreters were there, as always to help us with anything that we need. It is going to be hard to leave these great young people. They have really gotten into our hearts.

Back on the bus, then dinner with the officials of the Mine .... That means many many toasts ....and finally, back to the hotel. As we filed off the bus, our wet paintings appeared one by one, ready to be framed tonight and whisked away to the museum for our last show.

We are a tired lot. Several of us stayed up too late or rose too early to get our paintings ready for delivery this morning. Tonight we are delighted to get to bed early!

Day Nine

2011-10-31T09:19:00.001-07:00

Shaoguan University, a day of painting models at the art department building, visiting the school's drawing and painting studios and interacting with the art students. It is Sunday, so there weren't any classes. As our bus pulled up to the school, there was a huge crowd of students eagerly waiting for us to arrive and begin painting. Our models arrived and we let our brushes fly! These young ladies are art students and they sat perfectly for us.

After yesterday, the day of lots of thick paint, I was geared up to jump right into the portraits. It was a little intimidating, however. The room was very big, but shrunk quickly as we set up and the students melted into any free available space so they could watch.
Such eager college students. They stood behind us for hours quietly watching. Whenever the model took a break and we laid down our brushes, the students would step right up with questions. Many were intrigued with the way that Howard and I use a small mirror to look at our painting and the model at the same time, but flipped. That opened up a lot of questions and more photos showing how to use the mirror.

Lunch was at the cafeteria. It is huge, modern and served us
wonderful dishes. This is the same university that our translators go to school. Most of them are seniors majoring in English.

After lunch, a quick tour of the drawing department and the painting department. amazing young artists producing excellent work! The crowning glory was the view on the roof of the huge campus library. From there we could see the entire campus and all the lovely gar dents, fountains and reflecting pools. This university has about 15,000 students. It is a small school by China Standards, but very hard to get into.

Back to our second set of models. After feeling pretty frisky in the morning, I was dragging in the afternoon. It just seemed to take longer to find my "muse". My model had the cutest dimples and decide to hold that pose for the entire time. Clayton and I are sure that her little cheeks will be sore for a few days after modeling for 3 hours.

Our interpreter James was there and we got to meet LaiLai, his girlfriend. All of us are very attached to these bright and happy youngsters and will miss them terribly.

We were private guests of honor at the President and Vice President's request for dinner in a very nice private room.

That gave us a couple hours to walk around downtown and visit little Tu's (a famous artist and former student of Tu's) tea shop. We got to see more paintings of local artists, too. Full day but filled to the brim with wonderful memories!

Redstone National Park of China

2011-10-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in National Geographic Magazine, I have seen the magnificent stone elephants marching across a river valley. Today I saw them with my own eyes and camera lens in the Redstone National Park of China in Danxiashan. This fascinating geographic beauty is known throughout the world. As a matter a fact, this afternoon, as I stood painting one of these "elephants", Jock Whitworth introduced himself and gave me his card. Jock, as the head of Zion National Park, back home in Utah, and is in China on a cultural exchange of geographic national parks world wide. Small world. I told home that the artists painting in the park today are also on a cultural exchange for fine art, specifically, plein air oil painting.

The gorgeous formations, though very unique, in the park are not unlike many of the formations that we see in Utah and Arizona. We painted all day in the park, one in the morning and one in the afternoon and after dinner, we all rushed to our rooms to set up our easels and do some tweaking, most of us anyway.

After painting 16 x 20 Plein air paintings for two weeks, I have a much greater concept of why and how the great Impressionists developed their unique and history altering style. Try painting a 16 x 20 and larger and limiting your self to a maximum of 3 hours. Voila, as the French say... The birth of dots, dashes and dabs of color that capture the light. There literally is no time to even clean your brushes between color. The fastest way to capture what you are seeing is with very fast brushwork. I couldn't help myself this afternoon, my paint was thick and my brushes were flying!

Here are a few photos of us just getting started on our paintings this afternoon.

The brushes stayed quiet today!

2011-10-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

It was a day of Gift Giving and Celebration at the academy on the fourth floor where we painted the models. When we arrived we were whisked into the main assembly room. There on all of the walls was the showing of our paintings. One by one they lined the walls at eye level. The paintings were once again framed beautifully and hung according to each artist. Howard had 8 paintings and I had 5 paintings (cause I had been sick.... But you probably already figured that out.) I was right, there were 91 paintings once again. In the center of the room were chairs lined up facing a huge speaking area. First, all of the artists signed a big book of rice paper with a huge chinese calligraphy brush. For some of the oil painters, this was a foreign tool, but for me, this oversized watercolor brush was lovely in my hand. It felt really good to sign my signature in large expressive letters with that flexible brush.

Next, we were ushered to the front of the room to sit in the honored chairs. Five of our paintings had been chosen as gifts for the government and I am honored to say that one of mine was chosen and is now part of the collection of the Chinese government. There were several speeches, even one by our Neil, all beautifully translated by Tina or Shirley. Next we exchanged gifts. Our five paintings are given to the government in thanks for such an incredible trip. In turn, They gave us a beautifully hand calligraphied saying by the famous calligrapher and several excellent art books on his work and other famous artists. To our delight, Tu's paintings are included in the books. My gift was for long healthy life (everyone was worried when I got so sick). Howard's gift was a dragon. Later as we

were taking a gazillion photos, another calligrapher wrote out each of our names for us in Chinese! Can't wait to frame them all for our studio!

Now all of this happened before lunch. We again dined with top dignataries.

On the bus again, lots of good byes and photos and a big truck to carry all of our suitcases! Our translators traveled with us to Shapguan, where they all go to college, and stayed with us as we got settled in our new hotel rooms, had an audience with Zhentao Zheng and during the elegant dinner at our incredibly Deluxe Shaozhou Hotel with the Officers of CCP Shaoguan Municipal Committee and the Municipal Government.

Here are the names of the officials tonight at dinner.

• Zhentao Zheng ( Secretary of CCP Shaoguan Committee )

• Ping Li (standing member of the CCP Shoguan Committee)

• Weiqing He (Vice Chairman of the People's Political Consultative Committee )

The audience with Zhentao Zheng was in a room set aside for dignitaries. I am not kidding! Huge upholstered chairs, similar to chairs you would find in an elegant living room or hotel lobby, lined the walls facing each other. That is where we sat. At one end of the room were three of these chairs facing toward the open center. That is where Zhentao Zheng sat. In the center the camera man was rushing back and forth getting photos while the reporters were quickly taking notes. Okay, maybe this will help. Imagine a room with a throne at one end and elegant chairs for the council on either side.... You got it. A scene from a newscast of Hillary Clinton and you name the head of state.... That is how we felt! It really made me sit up and mind my posture! Pinch me... Is this real? If not, please don't wake me up.

Dinner was beyond elegant ( and at the all time largest round table that we have seen in China). No turntable for this table. Instead we had a lot of lovely ladies serving us each course and we had 14 courses, all designed and placed perfectly on each beautiful china plate! This, too, was fit for royalty, no kidding. The toasts abounded with "Gambai" ( drink up). Each dignitary came to each of us, one at a time with an interpreter and gave us his or her card and thanked us for coming. We would thank them and give them our card ( with both hands...that is proper). Then we would drink a toast and they moved on to the next person. Tu was very happy that they served a wine that is made in the region of his home town.

Okay, if we keep this up, those pounds that I lost the last few days will just jump right back on my body!

One more thing that I want to let you know about.... All during this trip, Everywhere that we travel, we have police escorts. REALLY!! A big white SUV vehicle goes in front of us and has the sirens blasting if a car, truck or bus gets in our way or even near us. Needless to say, all the cars on the road give us room. It is so nice to know that we are in such good hands!

Good news... We have WiFi in our beautiful hotel room ( over looking a gorgeous lake surrounded by trees and mountains - you get the picture) so I can send you some photos!

Here are some photos of us painting models at the academy.

OMG

2011-10-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

(OH MY GOSH for those of us that don't text)....
You know the mountains that are in all of the ancient Chinese paintings, very tall and very rounded, well, today we spent the entire day in their presence! We painted all day in Nanpu Village literally nestled among these geographic giants. I want to Google these mountains and find out why they are shaped this way. The air was misty. The village is old and surrounded by patchwork of fields, sugar cane, Chinese cabbage, rice fields, yellow greens, dark greens, warm yellows and bleached whites. It is ancient and timeless. Workers in the fields were carrying water buckets on a long pole balanced on their shoulders. Some were stirring the rice as it dried, some were separating the rice from leaves. There were ittle dots of color among the patches of greens. One by one the villagers would come up behind us and quietly observe. Then some would comment to our interpreters. It was heart warming to hear that they loved my painting of their peaceful village. It captured the way that they felt about Nanpu. That is why I paint!

We paused for lunch down the road. I am not sure who ordered the lunched, but they arrived steaming hot and in individual containers. Yummmm Delicious! Then it was back to the easels for an afternoon of discovering this world through our colors. We aren't used to these shapes, contours and light of this mountain village, so there was the challenge of adjusting our thinking and colors. It was a great day!

So, you may have been wondering..... What has been happening to the paintings that we have finished the past 4 days. Well, unlike the other locations where the paintings were literally framed and whisked away the instant we signed them. Here we have been able to take them back to our rooms each evening. Some of us were relieved that we could work on them a bit more in the evenings (me especially). But this morning all of the paintings were due in the lobby. One by one they showed up and soon the lobby was filled to the brim with exciting paintings. That is how the day started and that is also how this day ended. After dinner tonight, our paintings that we did today were also gathered in the lobby and whisked away for framing because tomorrow is the Opening of our next show of about 90 paintings. I will have an exact count tomorrow at the show. It is hard to comprehend all the exciting paintings that are being produced on this trip.

But wait! The day is not over! Tonight was also our last night in this location and the government gave us a special party, a Karaoki party! Now I have never been to a Karaoki party and I must say that I had a blast! The young interpreters couldn't wait for us to get there. We had a very nice private room with a huge wall to wall video screen. The music played and the words appeared over the musical video! There were wonderful sofas, fruit and drinks. We sang, we danced and we laughed! Yes, I sang too! "Yesterday" by the Beatles, and a couple of others with Shirley one of our interpreters. She has a terrific voice. We discovered that Joe (interpreter) is a fantastic dancer and has a great voice too..... and Neil and Vera and Nancy and Gar can really "cut the rug", so to speak. Bill did several duets to some of our old favorites and we discovered that he has a terrific voice! Shirley, Tina and lots of us took turns singing, dancing and all of us laughing and cheering. The upper crust of our group. ( over 50 .....) slipped out around 9:15 and let the younger ones cut loose. I am sure that they will still be going strong for another couple hours, at least! Actually we need to give our ears a rest. But then, I do remember when I would go dancing as a teenager and couldn't even hear my self shout at those dances and concerts...... Ah youth!

By the way, I am feeling ever so fine. Thank you for all of your prayers. I had a nasty turn for the worst last night and discovered that my earlier throwing up angered my ulcer and my innards were in knots with pain. Howard to the rescue. He realized what was happening and got me stoked up on Prilosec and anti-acids. That got me through the night and the nurse and doctor took over from there in the morning. They gave me several prescriptions that fixed me right up and I am doing terrific now. I wonder if I can find similar pills at home! Everyone else is mended or on the mend. Tu is the last one to get better. He is battling a bad chest cold but holding his own. He is out there painting with us every day!

Tomorrow we move to a new town and a new hotel. Let's hope that we will have WiFi to attach photos!

my apologies

2011-10-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

i am so sorry for the odd background format that is happening. it must have something to do with the transfer of information and limited internet. hang with me until we are up and running smoothly again!

Day Eight

2011-10-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

Did I tell you about our incredible interpreters? Well, these young volunteer college students, eager to practice their English with us, are our guardian angels and continue to amaze us. Susie is my interpreter. James is Howard's interpreter. There is Shirley, Tina and quite a few others. Judy is head of the interpreters, also a terrific gal. All of them extremely helpful and lots of fun. They look after our us, carry our art materials and see to our every need. Susie was by my side the day that I got so violently sick and helped me describe my illness to Dr. Yung. She has been an angel by my side ever since! Everyone is charmed by these wonderful young people (here again, I wish I could attach photos so you could see them, too).
By the way, James wrote out the name of the district that we are in now.... Wengyuan. And he wrote the name of the Temple that we visited yesterday, it is Donghua Temple.
Today we were guests at the local art academy. It is huge! The top floor was set aside for us today to paint models! What a great surprise! In the morning we had two gorgeous young ladies dressed in the traditional red dresses of China. Neither of them had ever modeled before and they were excellent! Then in the afternoon we had two more models, one gal and one guy, dressed in normal clothes of today. Wow, they were great too! I did get photos of all of us painting them that I will share with you soon. Every day that we have painted, we have been joined by local artists, some students and some very famous. Today was no exception. What a memory to be painting with them! Just painting with the American and Canadian artists on this trip is amazing. These artists are incredible! I can't wait to start showing you some more of their work they are doing each day!

After lunch we were invited to sample the highest quality tea at a beautiful tea shop, one of the finest in the area.....Tatea. The owner is also one of the finest calligraphers in China.

Apparently, our visit to China is consistently showing up in the news on the TV and radio every day. We caught a glimpse of one broadcast a couple nights ago, Nancy was on TV last night as she painted at the temple, and more about our trip is on tonight at the 8 pm and 10 pm on the news channel 22. We really are representing our countries (United States and Canada) while we are here.

It is such an honor.

Foot note on today.......

2011-10-25T11:39:00.001-07:00

This is what we missed when we came back to the hotel after lunch..... A huge parade, very festive with the Master wearing a full headdress and lots and lots of ceremony. PLUS.... and this is the grand finale.... after the ceremony, the Master gave the artists and the assistants an audiance. While he was with them, he asked to see the paintings that were done at the temple.... and he BOUGHT THEM ALL! WOW!!!! Boy did we miss that one!!!

As for the health report.... Zhiwei Tu's cold had gotten worse. It has gone into his chest. He was taken to the hospital for two injections. Let's hope he feels better in the morning.

Day Seven

2011-10-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, so remember those pesky 10 pounds that just never seem to come off? Well, I think I just found a way to loose 'em. Travel in China!

Actually I am feeling a lot better. I'm still a bit weak and shaky, and not eatting much (hence the weight loss), but feeling better. Gar is back to feeling good. However, Nancy still isn't feeling very well, but she is out there painting up a storm. Clayton opted to stay home and fight the bug. Even Tu is not feeling very well, he has a cold. Our dear friend Craig, who travels all over the world, consoles me that..... all this is common for travel.

We spent a delightful, peaceful morning at an ancient Buddhist temple. It was destroyed about 1000 years ago and recently rebuilt. To our delight we were there on the biggest day for this temple. Once a year believers from all over the world gather to celebrate and we were right in the middle of it! All morning long the drums were beating and the chants were chanting. What a way to make a painting come alive! Saffron robes floating in the wind drifted this way and that way as different ceremonies were called. What a delight!

The weather was unusally cool and a bit drizzly. Though I had on a jacket, I didn't have on socks, so Howard, Tu and I decided to head back to the hotel after lunch. Better to take it easy on my first day back. Our hotel room became the perfect studio, we pulled back the curtains, set up our easels and finished our paintings. Once again our iPads were invaluable as we plalyed music that we downloaded from home and used the nice big image for our reference to finish up our paintings. That new Application called ValueViewer has also been a blessing on this trip. It enables us to quickly see the subject in 3 values of our choice. Plein Air Magazine sponsored this App and I can see why! I used to spend 20 minutes doing a value study..... precious time that I could have been putting down paint. This little App helps me see my subject quickly and help me decide if I really want to paint it.

I wish I could attach some photos. You would love to see the Temple and all of the Monks and our paintings.... I promise, I will send you some as soon as we are getting WiFi again. By the way, Nancy did a terrific painting of the happy Buddah statue that greeted us at the entrance of the Temple.

Talk to you tomorrow.....

hi everyone!

2011-10-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

We have traveled to the north of Guangzhou and are in a different hotel. This hotel has computers in our rooms, but we can't use our iPads. that means I can't send you any photos for the next 4 days. Hopefully our next hotel will have WiFi, but that is a pretty advanced system. We are just fortunate to get on the internet.

Yesterday I was sick all day....throwing up....it was awful and I am very weak today. The group is off to a wonderful mountain village today, but I need to stay home and rest. We have a doctor that has been hired to be on our trip and we each have an interpreter. They couldn't be treating us any nicer. As we drove up to the hotel yesterday, we were greeted with many dignitaries and 12 beautiful girls dressed in the traditional long dress of China, all in RED! They presented flowers to each of us. I was so sick that I stayed on the bus for most of the ceremony until we were ready to go to our hotel rooms.

Earlier in the afternoon we had the rare privilege of seeing the museum that is being built for Zhiwei Tu. It is as big as the Googenheim in New York! The architecture is absolutely gorgeous! Situated on a river, this building over looks the country side. When it is finished in 2012, it will house the 6 huge paintings ( 8 x 28 foot ) of Zhiwei Tu's and many more of his work. There will be a studio for him to work in and where he plans to create at least 4 more oaf these giant paintings.

Nancy and Gar were sick last night, too, but they decided to go out to the village to paint. Otherwise, I can't say much about today until the gang returns with their stories of adventure. I am staying in bed, resting. Howard promises to take lots of photos, so, through his eyes and the lens of his camera, I can see it too.

That's all for today, I am heading back to bed.

Day Six

2011-10-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

It is 2 pm and I am writing to you as we journey down the road to visit some studios of local artists. This morning was Amazing.... Am I using that word too much?

This morning we said good by to Cassie and Gordon and checked out of our hotel. Some of us had the hotel do our laundry and had big surprises when the bills arrived! I guess 5 star hotels anywhere in the world will charge a lot for laundry and this was no exception! oh well, we all have clean clothes to start week two.

Our first stop was the Kwanwu International Museum in Nunhi. The museum timed our visit to coincide with the Grand Opening of the Museum and once again we were the honored guests. The place was full of important people and reporters. Remember those paintings that each of us brought from home? Well, they have been on display at this museum since we arrived in China. To our delight the entire show sold! Every painting now has a nice red ribbon hanging on it!

Our show was just one part of the celebration. Mr Kwanwu is one of the artists that painted with us all week and was part of our show in Shunde. This museum is dedicated to him, his paintings and his marvelous sculptures. This outstanding artist was born in Nunhi, the same city that is honoring him with this museum. Mr Kwanwu now lives in Kansas City and does many commissions there.

Surrounding this museum is a beautiful park. As part of the ceremony, they unveiled 5 huge sculptural monuments in the park. Each was covered in red silk. Confetti shot into the air as the cloth was pulled away to reveal the beautiful sculptures.

While we were at the Kwanwu Museum, we were honored with young student interpreters. Gloria (my interpreter) is 19 years old. She is studying English literature in the school of business. This was the first time that she was able to use her English with a foreigner. It didn't take long before we were laughing and talking freely. I admire anyone that learns how to speak a second language. Chinese has strong underlying tones that rise and fall like the song of a bird. It is very beautiful.

After all the ceremonies and photos, we were back on the bus to go to a celebration lunch with the artists and the organizers. This was punctuated with several toasts and we lifted our glasses high! Unlike our evening meals when we toasted with wine, we were toasting with Coca Cola.... but it worked just as nicely as wine! The glass is held with two hands and the eyes meet as we whisper shayshay (thank you).

The government of China is emphasizing the importance of the fine arts in their cultural development. There are academies established that give the artists salaries and space to work and in many cases, even pay for their housing (how about that)? What an honor for an artist to be chosen for an academy. We toured one of these academies and had a chance to talk with the artists (I am very grateful for interpreters). As we nibbled on delicious peanuts, giant oranges and bananas, we discussed the art world. We were in agreement that paintings are a universal language, uniting us all and need no interpreters only the hearts of the viewers. They talked about their Russiona influence in the past century. Now they desire the influence from the western cultures for their artistic growth. We agreed that we have much to learn from each other. This really was a chance for us to relate to the Chinese artists. And the world began to shrink some more.

As an interesting side note..... The compositional design in all cultures is determined by the direction that the culture reads their individual language. For instance: in the USA we read form left to right. Our words start on the left side of the page and read over to the right. Consequentially, our culture is more comfortable with compositions that start on the left and the eye travels to the focal point on the right.

For thousands of years, the Chinese read in vertical columns from top to bottom and their paintings reflected that trained eye movement. They are very beautiful vertical paintings that read from top to bottom. Well, about 50 years ago, the Chinese changed the direction of their writing. They now read with the same eye movement as the western world, namely left to right. Growing up with the new way of reading the artists in China are now creating paintings that read with the eye movement left to right. I find this so fascinating! From 1975 to 1978, I lived in Pakistan as an art teacher for the Lahore American School. I learned so much while I was living and painting there. That was the first time that I noticed that the direction of the written word is directly influencing the compositions of that culture's paintings. Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, reads from right to left..... and so do their paintings. If you are interested in this concept, there are great articles on the Internet covering this very subject.

Back to our day....

Then we were back on the bus and traveling to our beautiful hotel on a lake. At first none of us could figure out the air-conditioning in our rooms and they were very hot. One by one we figured it out in preparation for a good night's sleep.

Dinner was once again delicious and once again we had a huge variety of entrees. The evening air had cooled off just enough to be absolutely delightful. It reminds me of the wonderful evenings in Florida, or Venezuela or even the Bahamas.

Today is Calyton's 47th birthday! What a great way to celebrate his birthday in a land of a thousand surprises and delights. Each day is a present here!

Oh, dear, no Internet at this hotel. They have been working for hours to get it set up, but we still can't get on the Internet. That means that this blog won't be posted for a couple days. Hopefully tomorrow at our next hotel, we will be able to use our WiFi.

Here are some pics of the day:

Day Five

2011-10-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

Oh Boy! The Desheng International Canvas Week opened with a wonderful ceremony and an excellent exhibit. Actually there were three exhibits in the compound. Our exhibit was the main feature and then there was two more exhibits of local and regional artists. How exciting to see our brush strokes link across the ocean in a common language!

We had prominent speakers from the American Consulate General, the Commerce Department and others. We were very honored! They cut the ribbons and the show opened.

You can't imagine how exciting it was to see our work appreciated by so many people. Regardless of the language barrier, our paintings spoke to their hearts. More paintings were sold. An interesting side note... Instead of putting a red dot or writing sold on the title card, this exhibition placed a card next to each sold painting that said "this painting is cherished." It gives more respect to the painting. I like that!

The reporters from tv and radio were very busy interviewing the artists. here is Bill Chamber surrounded with reporters.

These three photos show only 1/4 of the show. Over 70 paintings.... It was all hung at eye level in a huge room.

There was a plaque for each artist with our bio and our photo in Chinese and in English.

By two pm we were back on the bus and heading to our hotel. The afternoon was free and a bunch of us chose to stroll the streets taking in the shops and getting great photos of the local sights, people and buildings of downtown Shunde. Clayton J Beck III was honored with a commission of the newly elected Governor that we had dinner with several nights ago. So while we were hitting the streets, the governor was posing for his portrait and Clayton's brushes were flying.

Okay, side note..... We all stopped into the Kentucky Fried Chicken place, just for a few snacks this afternoon. It tasted so good, really, that we returned for dinner and had a great time. The Chinese really know how to cook chicken...even for a Kentucky Fried restaurant!

The evening air was a perfect temperature laced with spices from all the street vendors cooking up their specialties.

Great night....good night!

Day Four

2011-10-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone out there in cyber space! Thank you for following our adventures here in China!

Our dear friend Molly has requested that I include some photos of us as we are painting. Great idea! Actually I have been meaning to do this each day, but the painting time is so limited that before I can blink, the paintings are being framed and the artists have cleaned up and put away their palettes. I have a plan for the next time that we paint.... I will take a couple breaks, walk away from my painting with my iPad in hand and take some of those much requested action shots!

Big day today! The bus didn't leave the hotel until 9:30 am so we had about an hour and a half to get a few things done, like arranging for our laundry to be done ( love it)! I also was able to help Nancy and Gar with their iPads. They now have the ValueViewer, an incredible app from the App Store that is sponsored by Plein Air Magazine.... A must for every artists....the magazine and the app! check it out! Enthusiasm for the iPad is spreading like wildfire!

First we headed to the gallery to sign our paintings and add finishing touches. Each of us will be hanging 5 paintings, holding back our 6th one to be added when we sell a painting.
Seeing all of our paintings together at the same time was very impressive. It will be a fantastic show of 60 paintings! Most of us didn't bring our easels, so we worked on the floor.

Here is Howard singing one of his paintings.

Here is another one of Howard's paintings that I Love!

After we did our touch ups, we were in for an amazing day of touring.
First stop,the Bao Mo Gardens and the amazing gate, the largest gate in China and it is huge and stunningly beautiful! The Eiffel Tower of the Orient!

This recently restored garden dates to the last days of the Qing Dynasty ( 1644 to 1911 -the last imperial dynasty ) in the village Zini near Shawan town. The garden is a fine specimen of the Lingnan architecture.

Lunch at the Jie Da Huan Xi restaurant was great and huge. The food is all so incredible that it is hard not to sample it all, but, like I said, our pants are shrinking!

That left the afternoon to tour two more incredible gardens, both palaces at one time nearly destroyed and then recently restored to it's fabulous glory! This was breath- takingly beautiful, peaceful, relaxing and amazing. Soaring architecture, exquisite carvings, reflecting ponds filled with happy fat fish... The famous Koi fish are Nnot for eating like the many we have seen swimming their last minutes before we ate them. These beautifies were just for the pleasure of the senses. I could watch them for hours! All it took was a handful of crumbs and these gentle creatures turned into a rugby tournament of twisting and jumping to get the treats. Howard and I were amazed! Years ago we gave up trying to keep our gold fish live and here we were gazing down at the healthiest, happiest fish we had every seen!

Everywhere we looked was a painting and our cameras got quite a workout, as did our iPads.

Finally we took some photos of each other, too!

Nancy and Gar Crookston

Bill Chambers

Howard and I

The whole gang

Eddie, our great leader, with lots of our cameras for a group photo!

Back to the hotel to blog, send e- mails, Skype and get ready for the Opening of our show! The organizers reported tonight that they have sold over 130 tickets to the event and today they had special invitations to clients and share holders to come in ahead of the opening to get first pick of the paintings...... They sold 20 paintings already!... But no one knows which paintings sold!

Stay tuned!

Day Three

2011-10-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is our last day of painting for the Desheng International Canvas Week and it was a huge success for all! Starting Saturday, we will be painting in a new area.

Our morning spot was the famous Ganzhu Power Station. Opening in January of 1971, Ganzhu Power Station was the first and biggest tidal power station in China! The very first tidal power station was in France in 1966. These amazing stations generate electricity by harnessing the oceanic power created from the tide as it ebbs and flows. This station here in China is still a world leader in harnessing this powerful energy of Nature.

The land around the Ganzhu Power Station is rural, peaceful and beautiful. We felt relaxed and eased into our first painting of the day. Some of us painted the boats on the river, some the little streets of the village, but all of us enjoyed the quiet countryside and the beautiful morning. .... And it really showed in the amazing paintings that were created!
Once again, as each painting was finished Cassi and her crew of Dudu, Gordon and others, whisked the painting off to be instantly framed. Before we left for lunch we once again had a mini art show of the morning's masterpieces. WOW!

Lunch was at a large and popular local Gan Lian Mansion restaurant famous for it's Cantonese Cuisines and over looking the very river that we painted all morning. The view was magnificent and so was the food. Are my pants getting a little bit tighter or is that just my imagination?

Here are some of today's masterpieces.

enjoy!

Howard Friedland's:

Ken Dewaard's:

Clayton J Beck III's:

mine:

Nancy Crookston's:

Bill Chamber's:

Ken Cadwallder's:

Zhiwei Tu's:

Kurt Anderson's:

Next stop, the Xi Jiang Fishermen's village. This is one of the best kept secretes of the area and a hidden gem in Longjiang. It is tiny but, as Ken Dewaard said over and over as he shot hundreds of photos.... " this is a candy shop"! It was hard for most of us to settle down to one spot, too much temptation to paint it all! The village is very tiny, so it was hard to find a spot that was not in the way of the local people and shops. Nancy Crookston was well under way on her painting, only to discover that she had unknowingly set up in an area of the local restaurant. With hands flying wildly trying to express himself, Nancy realized that he was needing to wash the sidewalk so he could set up his tables. Sadly, that painting of Nancy 's didn't get finished, but she did to a little gem of a fish hanging in the sun to cure.

It was a good day. No, a great day. As the sun was turning a brilliant cadmium red (light), the river, a golden hue and the sky spreading into a gentle peach, we hastened to finish our paintings, turned them in to be framed and climb back aboard our lovely bus for dinner.

Each night we have dined in the finest restaurants that you can imagine, and with important officials, but this night was the finest. So there we were, sweaty, sticky, hands full of paint (until we washed them of course), and dining with Zhang Xin Jie, the new governor of Guanddong, Alan Chau, the General Manager of Guangdong Desheng Creative Park, Luo da Quan, the director of Cultural Promotion Bureau of Longjiang and Eddie Liu, our director and leader for this prestigious event! Let me tell you, the wine glasses were kept full and we had one toast after another! Today the Governor just won the election and his term starts tomorrow. Three cheers! We also toasted to our very successful three days of paintings. They are very thrilled with our paintings and excited about our exhibition that opens on Friday. Tickets are selling quickly!

Tomorrow is a day of touring, our brushes will lay quietly in their boxes as our exhibition is finalized.

The excitement is building!

Day Two

2011-10-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

Painting Day two and the beauty just keeps getting better and better... And so do the paintings. We visited two ancient bridges. Both are surrounded by the charming village of Feng Gia.

Woven through this village was a beautiful canal. How peaceful for us to paint in this quiet, quaint and tranquil place. Once again, the reporters and photographers were interviewing us as our brushes were flying over our canvas'.

Lunch was a banquet of Cantonese country cooking in an open air restaurant! Delicious!

Dinner was once again a gorgeous feast of unusual speciality dishes of the Canton region in a fabulous restaurant. I actually ate chicken feet! Every restaurant has a big turntable in the center of each table. All of the food is placed on the turntable and we turn it around to self serve what ever we desire. But tonight the turntable was huge and made of thick glass. It must have been 5 feet in diameter!

We are being treated like Royalty!

I am pretty tired so I will keep it short tonight. Here are photos of some of the paintings produced today! Each of us did one painting in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Clayton J Beck III's:

Nancy Crookston's:

Kurt Anderson's

Howard Friedland's:

mine:

Zhiwei Tu's:

Ken Cadwallder's:

Tomorrow... Painting in a fishing village!

Day One

2011-10-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

Our first breakfast in China was a huge buffet! Never again will I think of breakfast as boring! What a great way to start the day!

The weather was perfect, too. As we started out on our adventure at 8:30am, we headed to our first painting location at the Desheng Creative Park. The Shunde Government along with Desheng Creative Park are hosting the Desheng International Canvas Week..... That is us! We are the special guests and they are treating us like royalty!

Desheng Creative Park aims to provide a platform for the creativity industry in the Pearl River Delta and the surrounding regions. This company also is a conservation project to protect the historic industrial buildings along the Pearl River.

So, that is where we painted, among the last remnants of little villages and small factories. It is a fascinating area with a mixture of the old and the new. Some of us painted the tiny twisting alleys and streets and others painted the Pearl River. We all worked on canvas that was 16 x 20. Yes, big for typical Plein aire paintings! However, all of us agreed that it was a challenge and well worth it! The morning paintings were very successful! I barely got photos of the paintings and they were framed and whisked away for the show at the gallery later this week.

Here are some of our morning paintings.

my painting:

Kurt Anderson's

Clayton J Beck III's

Nancy Crookston's

Ken Dewaard's:

Zhiwei Tu's:

Lunch was at a very local outdoor restaurant "Nan Jing Farm /Cantonese cuisine" that specializes in "standing roasted chickens." Imagine roasted chicken with a head still attached and in the upright position. It was delicious! We are still struggling a bit with the chop sticks. Some items are just too slippery for those slender table sticks.

After lunch we traveled to an ancient village famous for the Tree Bridge (Peng Chong Bridge). Centuries ago several trees wrapped themselves around the bridge over the little canal and grew to be one with the bridge. The trees are huge now and lean in wonderful directions while their gigantic limbs still hug the tiny little bridge.

Many of us painted the trees, they are so poetic! Several of us chose to paint the surrounding village and her beautiful arches, pagoda and buildings. Just like in the morning, people stopped to watch us, quite a large crowd grew around us, young and old, quiet and polite. It was a joy to have them watch us create. Once again, as the paintings were finished, they were signed and whisked away go be framed. I got a quick look at most of them and they are incredible..... But unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to photograph any of them. I promise to do better next time.

Dinner was at the Zhu Rou Po that specializes in Cantonese food typical from the private home. Let me tell you, they eat some incredible food. Some that are pretty weird, too, but all of it so tasty and delicious!

As a side note.... None of us are able to read our own blogs or anyone else's. That has been blocked here in China, as is Facebook. How about that. But I am sending my blogs via e-mail to Mandy and she is posting them, so that is how you are able to read them as they happen. Thank you Mandy and Thank you all for coming along for the ride. It means a lot to know that you are thinking of all of us as you read them!

Big day tomorrow, off to bed I go.... Sweet dreams!

We arrived!!

2011-10-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

And best of all.... So did all of our luggage!
Right now we are waiting for Nancy and Gar Crookston, they are flying in from San Francisco. Neil and Vera Patterson, just flew in from Vancouver, Canada. Www.neilpatterson.com.

The flight was very long. The food was good and the movies fun!
Howard and I splurged and got the Ecomony Plus seats and got 8 more inches of leg room.
If you are flying long distances, this is really worth it!

I need to make a correction on the photos that I sent in the last blog....

This is Ken Dewaard with the black beard

And this is Kurt Anderson sitting with Zhiwei Tu

My apologies for the incorrect labeling of the photos and I misspelled some names.

It's a sunny day here in Hong Kong!!!

Stay tuned!

We're at the airport!

2011-10-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

Wish I had taken a photo of the pile of luggage!

Most of it was equipment and panels for paintings!
We had a bit of a snafu with our check in. For some reason, everyone was registered as Susan Blackwood and Howard Friedland. However, it all got straightened out now.

There are 8 of us flying to Hong Kong from Chicago including Howard and myself. You can see my companions below. Nancy Crookston and her husband Gar from San Francisco and Neil Patterson and his wife Vera from Canada will meet us in Hong Kong.

Bill Chambers - Arlington Heights, Il

www.williamchambers.com

Ken Cadwallader -Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.kencadwallader.com

Susan Blackwood (ME) - Bozeman, Montana

Www.Susanblackwood.com

Kurt Anderson - Tucson, Arizona
Www.kurtanderson.net

Zhiwei Tu. ( fearless leader ) - Woodridge, II

Www.zhiweituart.com
Ken Dewaard - Chicago Heights, Il
www.kendewaard.com

Clayton J Beck III - Oak Forest, IlI
Www.Claytonjbeckiii.com

Howard Friedland - Bozeman, MT
Http://www.howardfriedland.com

The plane is starting to load!
Next stop CHINA!!

One week from today...

2011-10-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

our trip begins. The time is moving quickly, but we are pacing ourselves and getting a ton of things checked off our “to do” list. I can’t believe how much I can get accomplished in 16 hour work days!

Our main focus right now is on our exciting two-person show in Bernardsville, New Jersey on

November 4^th - November 30^th at Highlands Art Gallery. We are putting our final tweaks to our paintings, photographing, varnishing, framing and making lots of trips to Fed Ex. We will be going from China to New Jersey for the Reception on November 8^th. We will be there from 6 to 9pm and at an open house on Sunday from 10am to 5pm.

At the other end of our studio, our China packing is also moving right along. Our painting equipment is all gathered together; even the ordered “stuff” has arrived. Last big item on the list is preparing 40 canvas panels 16 x 20 (20 for each of us). So far, we have cut 3/16^th inch gator board panels and the canvas pieces (Clausens #13 oil primed Belgium linen). Tomorrow we will do the gluing and Friday, the trimming. (If you want to read how to do this read Howard’s article HERE . We have one suitcase dedicated just to the panels. It is a hard sided Pelican case, perfect size for 16 x 20’s.

I know that you are curious, so here is my painting set up.

It is centered around a 11 x 14 Open Box M pochade box on a Gitzo tripod with some fun attachments. The neat looking foldable wastebasket is something I found at EasyL. (Looks a lot better than my typical recycled grocery sack that blows in the wind ) All that is missing in this photo is my Easy L umbrella that attaches to my tripod.

The lightweight-folding stool has a back to it, ahhhh. Laying on the seat is my iPad, a great plein air tool…just in case an interesting water buffalo should wander past and I want to include it in my painting. Oh and the cute little fluffy white guy is Mack and, no, he is not going, even though his ancestors were Temple dogs in China!

Tomorrow morning we get our last shot…. Hepatitis… ouch.

Thanks for joining my site and “coming along” with us! Stay tuned!

Are you ready for another adventure?

2011-09-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Well, hand on to your hat! Howard and I are in the midst of preparing to paint in China!

Yes, I said CHINA!!!!

I thought getting ready for France was a lot of work, but this takes the cake!

Okay, so now that I have your attention, I will give you a bit of information on the trip. We have been invited by artist Zhiwei Tu to be the guests of the Chinese Government.

You can see Zhiwei Tu's work at the links below:

http://www.tuartgallery.com

http://www.tuartgallery.com/TU-ART-MUSEUM/tu-art-museum.html

The trip will be 20 days in the province of Guangzhou. During this time we will be painting 16 x 20 oil paintings in a different village each day and there will be two shows of our work while we are there. From models to landscape, we hope to capture the spirit of China and I plan to share these images with you on my blog as they are happening. Keep your fingers crossed that all cyber space systems are working.

Preparation has been everything from shots, mosquito medicine and visas- to bigger pochade boxes in order to accommodated the 16 x 20 canvas panels. We decided to order the 11 x 14 Open Box M Pochade boxes and they should be arriving any day. Our wet box had to be bigger too. Since we are hoping to each paint at least 20 of these larger paintings, we will be bringing greater quantities of canvas panels and paint, than we have ever taken on our previous trips. Fortunately we have the perfect hard case for carrying 45 – 16 x 20 panels and it has wheels!

Trying to keep our amount of gear to a minimum because of the airline restrictions and penalties. we also both opted to get IPad 2’s rather than carry our heavy lap tops and several books to read. These new mini miracles will do all that and more and be easy to tote around. Thankfully, the weather will be in the low 80’s, so we can pack lighter clothes.

Oh, and in return, the Chinese Government is asking that each of us bring one painting for their museum. This is the painting that I am giving to them.

Wen-di 18 x 14 Oil

So, stay tuned as our journey begins October 12^th.

Do you journal?

2011-07-22T07:39:00.001-07:00

Many of us write when we travel. I do, sometimes. It is a great way to record, not only the events, but also my feelings as I experience new people, new land and new cultures from New York to Nepal. As an artist, I also record expressions in drawings and paint. I love to chronicle those unspoken pings, pokes and thrills from my heart. My senses come alive when I visit a new environment and I interpret that into the way that I paint.

Coming home from France last Saturday, I brought not only memories, but a few treasures. I also locked into my consciousness a deeper sensitivity to life. It happens every day to all of us, but when I travel, the awareness is so much stronger and deeper. Once I am home, I paint and allow those fresh feelings of travel translate into a work of art.

On Sunday (with my luggage still missing and our friend Dorothy bringing us flowers from her garden) the mood was set for swinging my brushes on home turf!

This is the result, full of feelings and joy.

on the street in France

2011-07-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Painting on the streets and vineyards anytime, daytime or nighttime, is always a challenge, no matter where you are in the world. It always helps to have an admirer or two or four to cheer you on.

Here I am in France with some darling young eager artists watching me! It turns out that their father is a chef for the Prince of Monaco and cooked for his wedding! When I travel , I always meet the most wonderful people in all sizes.

Bon Jour!

2011-07-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

flowers in Vence

Here I am in Vence! France is ablaze with flowers. Summer is alive and well here in Southern France. Everywhere that I turn, there are paintings waiting to be put on canvas.
No wonder the impressionists were so in love with the light and subject matter here. Even though I have traveled to France more than 14 times, this country still has the ability to take my breath away. It is more than the light and the flowers, it is the gentle joy that history has laced through every village.

On my first painting day, a lovely couple from the Lake District in England fell in love with the painting that I was doing in St. Paul de Vence..... and bought it! Now that is a nice way to start the trip!

Today we were in Villefranche, a charming little port, full of boats and lively colored buildings. Visiting the nearby Rothchild Massion, put "the icing on the cake" to a spectacular day!

The sun has been following us around, but tomorrow it may rain. That will make for a perfect day to stay inside and touch up our paintings. Several of us have been creating nocturnal paintings under the moonlit skies. It has been a challenge to start as the sky is still light, guessing and anticipating what our subject will look like as the night turns quickly to dark. Then adjusting as we finish our paintings. Great fun! My eager students are painting flowers and cities by day and the villages with stars and moon at night. Wonderful!!

Fountain in Vence at night

Painting on the Go

2011-06-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

Starting in 1969, I started traveling the world. At first I thought that traveling to Europe was something to do and “get the wanderlust out of my system”. However, after 7 weeks in 9 countries in Europe and England, all that trip did was wet my appetite for new cultures and wonderful countries all over England and Europe, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, New Caladonia, Tahiti, and more. In 1994, I decided to share these trips with artists that wanted to paint in excellent locations. First I ventured with my students to the Bahamas, next trip was Tucson ( it really is exotic and a great place to visit ), soon I ventured over the ocean to teach in England, France and Italy…. Many times. In 1997, my husband, Howard Friedland, started traveling, teaching and painting with me!

So, summer is here and I am once again on a painting adventure. This time I am in France with my dear friend, Sunny Reeves, for 12 days of painting and teaching in the villages of Provence. She has designed and organized a knock out trip for 16 lucky people, artists and non-artists.

Many artists have asked me what supplies I bring to paint and draw when I travel. Here are two photos showing the minimum equipment that I recommend. Personally, I usually expand this a bit, more colors, more panels, larger panels, a tripod, artist’s umbrella, etc., but this is the bare bones for travel. With the little 6 x 8 pochade box, I still can paint 8 x 10 or 10 x 12 paintings.

This is the minimum equipment for sketching and watercolors.

For those that want to also use oils, the following photo has shows the minimum equipment that you would need:

All of this fits into a rolling backpack that doubles as my carry on when I fly. Just don’t plan to have your tubes of paint, palette knife, palette scraper, Murphy’s oil soap, vasaline, or brushes in your carry-on luggage when you fly. Pack those things in your main suitcase that you check in.

Do NOT bring solvent of any kind. Once you arrive at your destination, if you are near an art store, you can purchase your solvent then. If there isn’t an art store near by, you can purchase mineral spirits at any hardware store. One other idea is to switch to walnut oil, olive oil or sesame seed oil. But that is another blog for sometime…

From Tucson to New York, Montana to Florida, Europe to China, I hope this helps all of you artists out there that are wanting to travel with your paints, but are completely baffled as to what to pack. Yes, I know, many times you pack your equipment, and hardly have time to touch it. But, bring them anyway, you never know when the moment appears and you will be ready to swing those brushes!

I have always felt that the best souvenir that you can ever bring home from your travels is a sketch or painting that you have done right there, locking in your memories. Quietly painting in some corner of this glorious world, listening to the sounds of the village, smelling the food cooking, listening to the laughter of the children coming home from school… all of it becomes captured in your heart as you paint.

Now, Go pack a travel painting kit and keep it ready for the next time you venture far from home. While you are at it…. Get a passport, too! If you have it, you just might start using it!

Hope of Spring

2011-04-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

Me and My Shadow

20x20 oil

Okay, so spring is happening all over the northern hemisphere…. Here in the northern mountains, we have a very special kind of spring and I love it. It snows huge, wet, heavy flakes ( yes we are still getting snow). The snow piles up 20 inches or more. Then it all melts off to a bright and beautiful day like today. Then the cycle starts all over again. Each time the sun comes out, the air gets a little warmer and then we, in turn, get more and more excited about the coming warm weather.

Spring is a time of rebirth. Time to let new growth happen in my life and in my paintings.

The past week in my studio I worked on a self-portrait. The painting was inspired by a tiny old black and white photo of me when I was almost three years old. I took the liberty to make some changes, adjusted some values and added our cat Rocky. Because of the high key nature of this painting, it feels full of the hope of spring.

No matter what age, we are like little children, we all have a fresh start each spring, each year, and each day. Looking back on myself, at that tender age, I realize that my nature was already developing into who I am today. If I could… What would I say to that little one from the past? “Love everyone and every moment and know that you have a wonderful life ahead full of creativity and joy, because, with the help of God, you will make it so!"

Focusing on a Theme

2011-03-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for shows is like moving, especially for a big one like the Russell Week in Great Falls. It starts next week on the 16^th and goes for 4 days of excitement and fun. Packing for it is our job this week. There are paintings, display panels, lighting, chairs, handouts, and all sorts of stuff. But the real work, of course, starts months before when we start packing up…. Paintings.

For months, Howard and I have been painting and framing. Actually the framing is happening now. Creating a show of a body of paintings is a very interesting process. One painting can set the theme for the paintings to follow. Howard and I both paint all kinds of subject matter, but this year, for this show, we both seem to have a focus to our paintings.

Howard’s paintings have a strong leaning toward light licking the edges of day, powerful landscapes that uplift the heart. I have always been in-love with his use of color, paint handling and light, but even more so this year.

Here is one of my favorites that seemed to set his direction… See what I mean! Powerful!

East Rosebud Morning 22x28 oil by Howard Friedland

So, you are asking, what is my theme? People! My main theme is people. This is the painting that started my focus.

Inner Thoughts 36x24 oil by Susan Blackwood

When I finished this painting, I realized that I wanted to center my show around paintings of people.

I don’t often have a focus to my shows. Typically I have a show that is varied in subject matter and sometimes even in style, because that is what I do. But recently I have been inspired the most by figures and portraits.

I will show you one more of mine that will be in the show.

Neil 10x8 oil by Susan Blackwood

I had lots of joy painting this one and when I get home… I can’t wait to paint some more people!

So, back to the packing….

Wish you all could join the fun in Great Falls at the Russell Week!

Taking a Second Look

2011-02-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

Years ago I studied with a wonderful artist named Wynn Jones. I have mentioned him before here. He was my first painting instructor at Northern Illinois University and we were studying watercolors. His paintings were masterpieces of harmony and design and he was a great teacher. I loved watercolors but not the discipline that Mr. Jones required of repainting the painting over and over until it was right. Though it worked wonderfully for his work and many of the students, I had a hard time creating a better painting the second time around. Instead of looking new and improved, my repainted paintings looked less and less inspired. Fortunately my next watercolor teacher flowed with my spontaneous approach and I fell madly in love with painting.

That was over 40 years ago and my pattern of painting hasn’t changed. If my paintings aren’t working out, I don’t restart the painting and try it again. Instead, I switch my subject matter often. A landscape, then a figure, then an animal or a still life, I keep rotating my interests. However, I do circle back around weeks, months or years later and once in a great while, I revisit a specific subject and look for a different approach.

This past month I did just that. A year ago I painted a little girl looking out a window at her own reflection. I liked it a lot and so did the Salon International Exhibition and several clients. Somerset Fine Art even has future plans to print it. The painting sold right away.

Waiting 12 x 12 Oil

A year has passed and I felt that I had one more thing to say about that subject. So, taking a second look, I used a slightly different color scheme, changed the format and the approach to the background. This time the same little girl is actually playing with her reflection in the window. I like this one too and so does this year’s Salon International Exhibition.

Reflections 14 x 18 Oil

Moral of the story, Mr. Jones was right. Revisiting the subject does inspire new insight, creative ideas, sometimes it even helps simplify and organize. My ideas have had a chance to morph into a new concept. Thanks Mr. Jones; you were right!

confession of an addicted artist

2011-01-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

Here I am painting in Arizona at the Superstition Mountains during

the Oil Painters of America National Show in Scottsdale 2010

Okay, I confess, my name is Susan and……my addiction…. I am a binge painter. Once I start painting, I can’t quit. Sometimes I go at a fevered pitch for weeks. Then in exhaustion, I stop and sometimes don’t pick up the brush for several weeks. While I am painting, all responsibilities are forgotten. Dinner? (Really?) House cleaning,( never think of it). Groceries…. (Surely there must be another can that I can open)….. even exercise is lost in the blur of paint and canvas. I even forget to drink water. Fortunately I am married to a wonderful artist that understands all this and he has a wonderful pace in life. If it weren’t for Howard, I would never think about lunch. He makes wonderful morsels that beckon me to pause and join him.

Why am I telling you all this? Because this year I have decided to learn the fine art of pacing myself when I paint. Sounds normal I know, but when I am in my right side of the brain, well, that is all that exists. Time and all the “To Do” lists are forgotten, banished to the other side of the brain and lost. Not a bad place to be, unless you want to actually be a part of the living world around you.

So this is my plan. Limiting myself to 3 to 6 hours of painting a day (exceptions for deadlines, of course), I will be able to lead a normal life…. At least that is the plan. Also, I will be painting everyday without those long “drying out” periods when I finally throw myself at the bookkeeping, office work, domestic chores, etc. This way, there will even be time, on a daily basis to exercise (my heart will thank me), maintain a healthy office and smooth flowing home life. Ahhh sounds so perfect. Is this what left brainers enjoy everyday?! Lists that actually get accomplished, order to their lives, dinner on the table, hmmm, very interesting.

I think I am going to like it!

What makes you feel most whole?

2011-01-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

Apple Boy 18 x 14 oil

Howard and I saw a great movie the other night: Good Night Mister Tom. Set in England during World War II, it is a heartfelt story of a little boy and an old man. Both wounded on the inside, both needing love. As the movie unfolds so do all the qualities that love encourages. To my delight, the little boy finds his voice in drawing and painting. That part of the movie didn’t surprise me, but it delighted me tremendously. I know the healing power of the right side of the brain and creativity.

Each of us needs to find that quiet spot inside of our hearts and minds to create. We need to return often to this special spot to feel whole, complete and safe. Music, dance, writing, jogging, gardening, decorating, crafting, and fine art, are but some of the many ways that we, humans, reach the magic spot and find quiet and peace in a noisy world.

Now that the wonderfully busy Holidays are over, it is truly time to feed the creative side. Get back to it, create! This is a message for my heart, too!

His Tender Care 24 x 36 oil

A New Year,

2011-01-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

A New Chapter, A New Day, A New Morning, each of us get this gift today. Embrace the possibilities of it all! Throw off the chains that are holding you back, dream big! Don’t be intimidated by the largeness of this opportunity, instead look at the next few minutes as the beginning of your new plan. Keep it simple; it is easier to stay the course. But plan big… no Bigger than that! Reach for the stars, not just the rooftops.

Then write it down. Commit it to paper. That will make this dream more real. Think of one step that would take you closer to your plan…. And you are on your way. Change begins in our hearts and in our brains. These are the greatest journeys of all. Think positive thoughts; believe it will happen, look for the beginnings. It may take time, but wonderful journeys are worth waiting for. Let your journey begin today!

Happy New Year!

His Light 18 x 14 oil

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T22:25:00.000-08:00

Sweet Dreams 9 x 12 oil

Not a Creature Was Stirring, Not Even a Cat 5 x 7 oil

Shhhh, everyone is asleep. The lights on the Christmas tree have clicked off. The house is quiet, my heart is full, my soul rejoices.

Thoughts are circling my head. What really is Christmas?

Christmas is not about giving,

we can’t possibly give as much as God gives to us.

Christmas is not about getting,

we already have been given so very much in so many ways.

Christmas is not about parties,

how could we possibly celebrate enough the birth of Christ.

To me, Christmas is a time to slow down and embrace all those around me, cherish their love, and their precious lives, rejoicing in the gift of knowing each of them. Most of all, it is a time for me to draw God deep into my soul and trust him with all of my heart.

The past two or three years have been a very scary time for most of us. There have been financial fears, emotional strains, and losses of loved ones. Some of us have been very sick, and some of us have been very alone. But through it all, we have God. He has always been there. He is the one rock that gives us high ground for safety. Reach out, even if you are fearful. Find God in your heart. He has always been there. Reach out and make new friends. Find your family. Heal broken ties. In doing so, you will find God right by your side.

This is a time of year that encourages all of us to remember that we are all from the same family of God. He loves us, one and all. Now That is a GIFT!

Merry Christmas!

This Time of Year

2010-12-20T08:24:00.001-08:00

I love the Holidays. I love the color and the lights, the parties and the warmth of family and friends reaching out to each other. I delight in the decorations….. the Christmas Tree and the lights of the Menorah. The Holidays are a busy time for all of us. Some years I get the Christmas tree up just after Thanksgiving and some years I am muttering under my breath, “why didn’t I do this sooner” as I hurry to set up the tree on Christmas Eve. This year, to my great delight I set “her” up right after Thanksgiving. Now each night we have a lovely display of twinkling little lights from our living room. Ahhhhh.

Many Stories 30 x 40 oil

Don’t get me wrong. I agree, it is a busy time that can be so flustering for all of us, too. Add to that, all the parties and life gets a bit crazy. Most years Howard and I host an Open House in our Studios during the Holidays. It's great fun and a lot of work, but it is well worth it. We get to display our paintings, see friends and party for two or three days! We had one last weekend and it was wonderful.

Walking with My Sister 12 x 16 oil

Ever since I began drawing and painting, I have had an extra “artist’s dose” of the Holiday rush in the form of painting commissions for people for Christmas and Hanukkah. This is the time that I get create little and big treasured paintings for other people’s gifts. These paintings are often of their love ones, people and/or pets, but I have also done special homes, cars, boats and planes, favorite views and magical memories.

One More Time 6 x 8 oil

This is the time that I really experience how paintings bring joy into people’s lives. These creations probably will never be exhibited in a show or gallery or even sold. The families will keep them. These paintings will travel through time and generations. Originally painted as a little son or beloved pet, treasured home or special spot.... years later these paintings will be handed down to each generation as a painting of great grandpa, the beloved family dog, their very first home or family vacation spot. Being a part of this special joy really blesses me!

Sherican 8 x 6 oil

I like to wear red all year long, but especially during the Holidays when I feel like one of “Santa’s Helpers.” So, I had better get back to the easel, Christmas Eve is fast approaching!

Not a Creature Was Stirring, Not Even a Dog 6 x 8 oil

Thankful

2010-12-01T19:39:00.000-08:00

Howard’s Pumpkin

10 x 8 oil

‘Tis the season to be thankful and I am. I am so grateful for all of my life. The good, bad and ugly. I have had a wonderful life of travel, love and inspiration. Sure, like everyone, there have been plenty of not so wonderful experiences, too. So, I choose to let go of those thoughts and memories. Today, as I think of how full my cup really is, I am grateful for all of the wonderful friends, family and strangers in my life that encouraged me to be an artist. Some bought paintings, some showed up for my shows and many many cheered me on as my career climbed and my brush strokes became more determined and confident. Thank you, all of you. Your support, joy and enthusiasm for my work have given me the courage to grow as an artist.

The list of things that I am grateful for is incredibly huge! One of them is….I am thankful for the colors in the world.

Color is the icing on life. Everyday we are tickled and thrilled by hues and chroma that surprise and delight us. As an artist I have learned to look beyond the obvious color of red, or blue or yellow or green and instead look at the very subtle color that is reflected into the known color. For example: How often I have seen the red of someone’s sweater splashing into his or her chin, changing the skin shade to red. The same thing happens when a green tree is close to a red barn. We see the red barn, we see the green tree, but if we look very close, we actually see the green of the tree bounced into the red of the barn and visa versa. Once my eyes were open to this beauty, I see it all around me. Color, all by itself, can put a song in my heart. I love color! I am so grateful for color.

On Cottonwood

8 x 10 oil

Loss

2010-11-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

Good Hugs

15 x 20 Oil

Loss, I don’t handle loss very well. Most of us don’t. Several of my dear friends have lost love ones this week. When they are grieving, I am grieving, too. It is a time that naturally feels like we should crawl inside and pull up the walls around us. Healing takes time. When we humans are ready, we will reach out again, touch and once again relate to the world.

I turn to my painting. It is an inside place that is quiet and peaceful, without words, a place to float and recover. Focusing so deeply on the problems that a painting can create, letting the paint flow, watching it mix with the other colors and catch the light, actually soothes and quiets the words flying around in my head. Questions of “why” and “what if…” fade quietly for another time. I feel closer to God when I am quiet. The ultimate Creator, helping me create, helping me heal. All is good, all is peaceful.

We have been given the right side of the brain as a way to stop all the chatter. Whatever is your “right brain” experience, that is your healing spot, use it to heal the heart.

November Second

2010-11-01T18:53:00.001-07:00

So, here we are. November 2nd is the big day, big election. The Big Recession has had all of us on the edge. No matter what side of each issue you are on, you are worried. It is an uncertain time.

A dear friend of our’s, Craig, wrote to us about this very issue, “ dark days.” You know what he said (not sure if this is his original quote, but it could be… ) and I quote “ Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” Wisdom for sure! What a great message for me and for all of us!

Do what you love, do it now! If it is painting, paint. If it is hiking, hike. If it is anything that is your passion, DO IT NOW! AND DO IT WITH ALL THE LOVE IN YOUR HEART! For me, that is painting. And so, my vote is in, my heart is now free to fly into the highest places and soar. That is what our individual lives are all about, that is what gives us joy, so let’s all go and do that! The world will keep turning whether or not the outcome of this week is what you expected, hoped or prayed for. We will survive. Our job is that we bring joy to the world by leaning into our own passion that brings us joy!

Be sure to Vote, then go out there and “dance !"

“Curtain Call” by Susan Blackwood

8 x 10 Oil

Now showing at Howard Mandville Gallery– Small Works Show, opens November 6^th.

A Great Time to Photograph

2010-10-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

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!

A Blast from the Past

2010-09-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Last week Howard and I traveled to Chicago. As a Board Member of Oil Painters of America, he had official business. I, on the other hand, had business of the heart to attend to. Chicago is where I was born. Skokie is where I grew up. My roots go deep in that lovely land. Going to Chicago is always going home in my heart. I have family and dear friends there as well as memories, lots and lots of memories.

Vicki and Howard at the Art Institute

Chicago is a wonderful city full of culture, full of excitement and full of ART! ….. like, well, the ART INSTITUTE! Since both of my parents were artists, going to the Art Institute was a semi annual migration for my family. As a little child I regularly stared into the brush strokes of the greatest artists in the world.

Now, flash forward to last week, as my heart was getting a “filler up” of love, the anticipation of returning to the Art Institute was building once again. Saturday, my cousin Vicki, Howard and I boarded a commuter train (I love trains) and sped from Northbrook to the shores of Lake Michigan and the Art Institute. Vicki has had a membership to the Art Institute for many years, so needless to say she was eager to go again too. As a matter a fact, the paintings that we all loved, were like old friends to her. She knew right were each one was, around each corner and down each hall. What a delight.

Once we climbed the old stone stairs, the adventure began. Photography is allowed as long as the flash is turned off. Needless to say, I did take some photos that I want to share with you. I took whole paintings and parts of paintings, details that wowed me.

I photographed some amazing portraits, but right now I want to share the beauty of the hands and feet in some of these great paintings.

John Singer Sargent’s woman’s hand as she painted at the fountain…

Loose to tight, they are all wonderful.

Years ago, while studying drawing with Wynn Jones at Northern Illinois University, he was adamant that I draw the hands and feet accurately.

No matter how wonderfully I drew the figure or captured the portrait, my grade depended upon how well the hands and feet were drawn.

I thought about him and that class as I strolled the great rooms among the finest paintings in the world.

He was right, I thought. The greatest painting can be ruined with poor execution of the appendages at the ends of the legs and arms.

What a gift he gave me, the discipline to carefully study hands and feet.

By the way, because he told us that he would be grading us on the hands and feet, I made my room mates pose for me constantly.

Whenever we were sitting around in the evenings, I was drawing…. Fingers and toes, ankles and wrists, hands and feet… I made an A in Mr. Jones's drawing class, thanks to my hands and feet.

Awed by Encouragement

2010-09-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

I started selling my paintings when I was 19 years old at the local art fair in Skokie, Illinois. Showing my heart felt work to the public was difficult. I felt exposed. “What if they didn’t like my work,” I thought. “Does that mean that they don’t like me?” That tells you how much of the artist pours into the painting. We are one with our work. If you like my work, you are liking the inner emotions of me…. At least that is what we artists feel.

Flash forward 40+ years. We have Facebook and Blogs, newsletters and Twitters. The whole world is now one huge network of artists cheering each other on. Now our paintings can be seen in every country in the world in a matter of minutes. News flashes around the world and so do the comments of support and encouragement.

I had that experience again tonight.

“So, What’ll You Have?” 22.5 x 30 oil

About 3 pm this afternoon. I found out that my oil painting, “So, What’ll You Have” had been juried into the American Women Artists National Show. There were 1547 entries and only 68 were accepted. I was (and still am) thrilled. So, I posted it on Facebook. That was 10 hours ago and the comments have been pouring in from all over the world. Artists and patrons, friends and strangers have been looking and letting me know how my painting affects them. So…. Exposed…..yes, we are as artists, but never before in the history of the world have artists been able to cheer each other on like this. I am awed. Yes, we can see this every day and every hour on Facebook. People thrilled and talking about it, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing.

Thank you all for those wonderful comments.

They went straight to my heart and will stay there!

The Old World at Home

2010-09-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

First, I have had several people asking about my last blog and how long my retrospective show is up. It will be up until October 2. And after that…my work is always showing at the Master’s Fine Art of Loveland, Colorado.

Now onto today’s thoughts:

Okay, I have decided to have some fun and you guessed it… involving art and friends. Some of you may know that I have spent my life traveling the world. In 1994 (after breaking my big toe –ouch) I got the brilliant idea to bring artists to wonderful places in Europe to paint with me. I would teach, we all would paint and tour! So I did. And we did! Oh the beautiful places we saw, photographed and painted! We went to England, France and Italy. Then, in 1998, I realized that the trips would be easier on me if I worked with a director, Sunny Reeves Livesay. We started working together on French trips. She designs them, plans and handles all the technical and I teach. What a team we are together! My husband Howard Friedland often teaches on these trips too!

So, when my dear friend, Sunny, said that she coming to Bozeman for a visit in October, I decided to have some fun while she is here. I have designed a workshop for all those artists that have been to Europe with us or have traveled alone or with anyone else….and for those artists that have always wanted to go to Europe, too. We will draw and paint and eat and laugh our way through old and new memories, creating paintings and reflecting the romance of the “Old World”.

Join us! Here are the specifics:

3 Day Painting Workshop taught by Susan Blackwood 

October 15, 16 and 17, 2010

Bozeman, MT

Get out those photos of France and let's do some serious drawing and painting.

Three days of good instruction on composing paintings, handling the paint and creating an emotion in your cityscapes.  All levels are welcome….(For those of you that have gone on a French Trip with me, this will be a reunion with Sunny (Reeves) Livesay as well. )

Come spend three days emerged in memories and create some great new ones with us “on paper” and/or “canvas”.  If you have never been to Europe but have always wanted to go, come and dive into the world of romantic old buildings.

We will pretend we are really there.... We'll "eat, drink" and paint the Old World!

 http://www.susanblackwood.com/imagesoffranceimagesonly.html

 Cost: $350

To register for this class, or If you have any questions

Call me at 406-586-4484 or 406-570-0528

or e-mail me!

"passages" as an artist

2010-09-06T08:53:00.001-07:00

Just like little children, artist’s skills, styles and tastes grow and change through the years. As we find out more and more about the art world, we typically explore the many possibilities. And I really did! I tried everything from macramé to jewelry and pottery, pen and ink to enameling, drawing and painting and bronze sculpture.

Then in 1972, a wise and dear friend commented, “Susan, you are good at all of these things, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if you became an expert in one medium.” At first, I was shocked!

“No!” I said! “I love then all!” However the more I thought about it, the more it made sense… So, I picked the one medium that could hold my interest and challenge me for many years... I became a professional watercolor artist, exhibiting in shows and galleries. At first I was painting animals and Native Americans. Little by little my subject matter expanded, so did my style. But I stayed with watercolors for 32 years, after all, watercolors was one medium that was darn hard to conquer. In 2003, I took up the challenge and inspiration of Oil painting.

My career, style and mediums sure have changed over the years.

If any of you are in the Loveland, Colorado area, be sure to stop in and see my one woman show at:

The Master’s Fine Art Gallery of Loveland at 343 East Seventh Street.

The gallery is open Wednesday, September 8th through Saturday, September 11th

10:00am – 5:00pm

(or by special appointment.)

http://www.themastersfineart.com/events.cfm

Me with Linda King, wonderful owner of The Master’s Fine Art of Loveland.
Behind us on the left is a watercolor on the right is an oil.

This special show is a retrospective (from 1979 to 2010) of my life as a painter for the past 30+ years. Thirty paintings, several bronze sculptures and over 40 reproductions, create a little peek of my “passages” as an artist during those years. You will see my medium start out as watercolors then morph into oils. You will also see my style go from tight realism, to loose impressionism and even a huge abstract in watercolors. My subject matter, as you can guess, covers everything from animals, children, cowboys, still life, landscapes to European scenes, and more. There are also my limited edition prints of my watercolors from the 70’s and 80’s and my new 2010 giclees of my oils printed by Somerset Fine Art. Here are a few photos from the event.

My watercolors and oils

Hope you get to stop by and see it! The gallery is always gorgeous! A big hearty thank you to all those that stopped by for the opening reception. It was wonderful to see you all! Many of our friendships span all those years and more. All of you, after all, have influenced and continue to influence my life and my work and I thank you!

time-lapse with Odie

2010-09-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last video for now. This time it is about a little King Charles Spaniel named Odie, what a cutie.

Odie 8 x 6 oil

After painting a series of little cats, it was fun to do a critter with long floppy ears and a big nose. Black is sometimes hard for painters to capture form. I just keep reminding myself that black is really made up of many colors. So go ahead and use some bluish black, redish black and even greenish black. It is all there in black. When painting fur, I try to keep in mind the softness of the fun and paint it that way. But most of all, I try to capture the personality.

Click here to see the painting process for Odie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9aCPCGTTAg

time-lapse becomes second nature

2010-08-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

This third one was a lot of fun. Anytime I learn something new, it is a struggle to balance all the info, ideas and inspiration. Add in the mistakes that set you back and learning is sometimes tough. But, wait a minute, once the learning becomes second nature, the fun can really begin. Like painting, or dancing or dare I say it….. even “learning to love” has a learning curve. But once you get a grasp of the concepts, it is free flying from there! I was starting to fly on this one.

Click here to see: Painting Hepplewhite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY5nyruegO4

Hepplewhite 10 x 8 oil

I have one more video to share in my next post, however, this time it is a cute little dog named Odie.

Stay Tuned!

time-lapse take two

2010-08-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Did you like that last video? Well, here is my second one. At this point, I was beginning to “learn the ropes.” Tater Tots is a cute little cat. This painting is small too, only 8 x 6. I didn’t realize that clouds were rolling in and out, as I was painting. Thus the color shifts a bit from time to time. That is the interesting thing about North Light. It looks so even, yet when a bright white cloud slips over head, my light in the studio gets brighter and warmer, taking on a bit of the sun. When the storm clouds are above, the light gets dimmer. Under a beautiful blue sky, the light in the studio has a cool velvet tone.

Click here to see how Tater Tots was painted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJcM-8ih_4U

Tater Tots 8 x 6 oil

My next Blog will be video #3 about a cat named Odie. Stay tuned!

Painting Hazel

2010-08-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, can you handle a couple more paintings of cats? (Hope so, cause here they come!).

I have been intrigued with time-lapse photography for years, so a couple weeks ago, putting my curiosity to work. I set out to tackle two learning curves with a new digial D-90 Nicon Camera, and an intrevalometer. My brain cells got quite a work out at first, then like any learning curve, it got easier and easier. The end results have been fun, so I decided to share them on Facebook and on my Blog. Here is my first one. Stay tuned for another one next time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfSQ-uIVKQY

Hazel 6 x 8 oil

My model, Rocky

2010-08-11T07:29:00.001-07:00

Rocky 7 x 5 oil

Little critters sure wrap around your heart! Rocky didn’t come home last night. He is our little fluffy long hair cat. Normally he is home before dark and cuddling with us, happy to be combed and loved, but last night, no Rocky. Howard and I spent a fitful night taking turns getting out of bed… calling out the door. This morning, the dogs and I walked the neighborhood, while I was calling out “Rooooocky…. Rooooocky, Boooom Bah" ( his favorite name ) . Nothing. No cat.

Cats can be anywhere and in the summer I particularly worry that he might be trapped in someone’s car that he wondered into, or their garage or shed. Some cats even wander into the back of trucks, U-Hauls, RV’s, or empty houses when someone leaves a door open. He could be unknowingly traveling to some unknown destination…..

But not this time, just as I had resigned my self to settling down and started looking at my e-mails (always a good distraction method), I let out a huge sad sigh and in response I heard a responding soft little churpy meow. Rocky was home again. Whew.

Edge of a Nap 6 x 8 Oil

In the Shadows 8 x 8

Watching Closely 6 x 8 Oil

Among the Trees

2010-08-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

Among the Trees
36 x 48 oil

Yesterday, Howard and I, with our two dogs, hiked up to one of our favorite spots in Bozeman called Grotto Falls. Along the way we passed the stately giants of the National Forest, the pines. Through the years I have fallen in love with trees. Each one has such a personality: some lean to the left with lower branches touching the ground; some are straight as an arrow and then twist at the top. They are as varied and individual as snowflakes.

I didn’t always see the trees in this way. In my early years as an artist, drawing and painting people and animals were always easier for me than landscapes. As a child artist, I created each pine tree exactly the same. My little left-brain had found a symbol for the mighty evergreens and I used it over and over. As I artistically matured in my observations, I then saw too much! I looked at the trees, bushes and grasses in the fields as way too much texture! I was over whelmed with how to capture their nature and all those thousands of leaves! I sought advice from instructors and books. Little by little, and painful at first, I learned to observe these dense plants as I would a head of hair. Simplify! Look for form! Leave the texture as accents. Now I love painting landscapes, especially trees!

His Old Olive Tree
10 x 8 Oil

Welcome Arms
10 x 12 oil

Drawing on Walls

2010-07-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Commission- A boy named Drew

Conte crayon 20 x 13

When I first fell in love with art, my mediums were crayons and pencils. Like many young artists, too young to know the difference between paper and walls, I decorated my parent’s home with my little masterpieces. Even then drawing was an obsession. When I was scolded for drawing on the walls, I switched to the walls behind the drapes, or behind the coats in the closet. Lying on my back, I even decorated the underside of the coffee table. Many of my creations weren’t discovered for decades! Fortunately my parents were both artists and understood the need to create, so I was supplied with piles of paper, crayons and pencils. When I took it upon myself to help my daddy finish an ink drawing that he had been working on for weeks and I ruined it, of course, he decided it was time for my own art table. It was placed right beside his. Now, many years later, I still crave to draw, but not so much on walls anymore.

Drawing is the backbone of painting, the foundational structure of the composition. Draw well and the painting goes well. Each stoke of paint is placed correctly because of the artist’s skill in drawing. If the artist draws poorly, the brush strokes will be shaped poorly. Instead of drawing lines, with a single brush stroke we are drawing with shapes. Those correctly created shapes become mass. This applies equally to abstract as well as realism.

Lessons Learned

2010-07-23T14:36:00.001-07:00

Monday was my birthday. Funny how they keep showing up, but seems like the years are getting shorter at the same time. Another year zoomed by and another year up ahead, full of possibilities. It is up to me to use these years wisely. Not only do I want to grow as an artist, I want to grow as a person, giving more of myself to others, taking time to think carefully about my decisions and most of all loving all those in my life. Our treasures are not in “things,” but in depth. Depth of love, depth of relationships, to my husband, my family and friends, my little critters, my paintings and most of all my God.

I am so grateful for the years that I have been given on this earth and look forward to many, many wonderful memory building years ahead. Sure, I have had some bumpy roads throughout my life. Haven’t we all? But those ruts and detours have made me strong. Taught me to lean into God and given me a song in my heart. Pain can come in many ways: physically, emotionally, and mentally. All of it is devastating, but it also comes with lessons in love, patience, wisdom and faith.

At the Window of Life

Watercolor

Question: Do we get… so we can give? I think so, down through the years, my experience with the not so wonderful sides of life have helped me pass on lessons to others, much more so than those wonderful times of peace and joy in my life. It is those darkest times that I learned to reach out, learned to find my own strength and strength from God. Often times the strength came by simplifying my life down to the most important aspects of living.

Shining Through

Oil 30 x 24

Risky Business

Watercolor

Whoa, heavy thoughts for this glorious morning. One more thought and this is the best one: I can’t wait to see how this year will unfold. What will I be writing about a year from now and what new paintings will I have painted. My challenge… Sure, life is risky, take a chance. Dare to climb to new heights! What lies ahead is always very exciting…. Stay tuned!

Me at three

Spinning Peace Symbols

2010-07-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

I love Montana. For 18 years, I have painted her beauty on large and small paintings in the studio and on location. She is a land of varied landscapes in every direction. None of her cities are so large that you can’t easily and quickly see nature spread out before you. Her resources are wild, untapped and plentiful.

The invitation to paint for the “ Montana Landscapes - The Eye of the Beholder Show” at the Holter Museum, in Helena, Montana, gave me the opportunity to paint a landscape that I have had in my heart for several years. I chose to paint the beautiful and powerful wind of Montana represented by the giant windmills along highway 191. Standing there, being among the young modern giants that gather the wind, was a thrill beyond measure. I was enthralled by the choreography of those turning blades as their graceful arms gathered the wind and turned easily. It became a wind ballet.

Is this not the ultimate form of peaceful resource? Reflecting upon the horrible oil disaster destroying the environment and wildlife in the Gulf, the lives lost over the oil wars in the Middle East, and our beloved earth choking under the fumes of our homes, cars, and machinery, I realized that our wind is truly the one way to bring more peace in the world. Each state, each country owns it’s own wind. You can’t go to war to control another country’s wind power. It won’t “run out”. It is eternally available to all countries.

My hope is that this painting will enlighten the eyes and the heart of each person that gazes upon it. That gentle breeze is peace. The roaring blast of air is prosperity. Even the arms capturing the wind are shaped like the international “Peace Symbol” made so popular in the 60’s.

The Wind Ballet
22 x 28 at the Holter Museum

Painting Plein Air

2010-07-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

I have a confession. When I paint on location…. I am a fair weather plein air painter. This seems to be my pattern in life. Those years that I was a skier, I only liked to ski on the best days. And so it is when it comes to plein air. Now mind you, I have painted in bad weather, wrapped in warm wind and waterproof clothing, looking like the toddler wrapped for winter, and I had a good time. But plein air painting is difficult enough - why add to the problems. I can handle gentle breeze, hot sunshine and frigid temperature but I really excel in perfect conditions. I love to smell the fields and feel the dappled light skipping across the landscape. In these conditions, my brushes fly over my canvas and almost giggle with joy.

Often I am drawn to dwellings set in a landscape of beauty. Barns often catch my eye and beckon me to paint them.

This fading gray blue barn had tall trees on the right and casting long shadows along it’s front. I had to quickly paint those shadows first because they were changing minute by minute. Behind the barn are the Bridgers Mountains, the beautiful gates to our Gallatin Valley here in Bozeman. In front of it were fields scattered with sunny wildflowers. It was a wonderful morning.

Often, I find a subject right at my friends’ homes. This barn is just one of Reny and Bill’s many wonderful old buildings in Pennsylvania. It has it all, including old red boards and stonewalls. What a joy to wake up in the morning, walk outside and start painting right there!

This is my red, white and blue salute. What a great beautiful country we live in! Happy Fourth of July!

Have Brush, will Travel

2010-06-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

Near Her Door - Montesor, France (Loire Valley)
18x 14 Oil

I love to paint intimate scenes, close-ups that capture the little corners of the world.

Creating paintings everywhere I travel, gives me a special insight into each new location, be it a new country, state, city or wilderness. The very act of standing very still in one spot for several hours sliding my brushes over canvas, enables me to hear and smell and feel the environment. For that brief time span, as I paint my painting, I am merged with the locals’ world. If I am in a city or village, my ears are filled with conversations floating on the air of family and friends (often in a foreign language that my ears translate into lovely melodies) as they walk past or their voices float through an open window as they congregate in their homes.

Standing still, barely moving as I sway to the rhythm of my brush strokes, I enjoy the laughter of children on their way to school, beautiful music playing on a radio, church bells ringing out the hours, the tinkle of silverware as a table is being set for lunch, the smells of culinary delights being lovingly cooked. Not only do I take with me these freshly created paintings, but all the tickles of my senses, as well, and the memories firmly attached to each spot of color. They become “souvenirs” far greater than any treasure I could buy at the local markets of the world. Some of these paintings I will keep, but most will find themselves in someone’s home that can somehow feel, smell and hear the location that I painted.

Everywhere I go, people love to plant flowers. Those little touches of color reach out to all of us as we pass by. These paintings express a few of the flowers that have caught my eye through the years.

Red Flowers Near Her Door, Montresor, France, (Loire Valley)

12 x 9 oil

Sunny Side, - Tourettes sur loup, France

16 x 20 Oil

Even in my own little world right here in Bozeman, the corners are always so intriguing to me.

So Many Blossoms, from my own garden, Bozeman, Montana (2003) 18 x 14 Oil

This last painting was painted, plein air 7 years ago in June, when our peonies were in full bloom. We have had a very wet and cold spring, delaying our flowers. Our lilacs are still in bloom as are our iris’ …… next will come the peonies. They are finally just about to burst into bloom. Time to paint them for sure!

If all goes well, I will be painting peonies by 4^th of July.

Daddy’s Day....

2010-06-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

a day to appreciate all the many ways that our fathers have taken care of us, taught us and helped us become the people that we are.

Artists throughout the centuries have captured in paint, mothers with their children, those tender times of warmth and love. Fathers, on the other hand, were hardly ever depicted

in paintings. They were the providers and worked long hours, hardly involved in the day-to-day demands of raising a child. In this day and age, fathers now have a very active part in raising their children. You see them in every aspect tenderly and lovingly caring for their little ones.

Here are two paintings that I have done that attempt to capture tender moments in a Father’s arms.

Turn Around and He’s Grown

Watercolor

Father’s Touch

16 x 20 Oil

...and I miss MY dad

my dad and me

Spring has sprung

2010-06-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally come to Montana. While Howard and I were teaching in Kansas, the weather here was rainy and cold, but yesterday as we drove home, the sky opened up and the sun was brilliant. Our trees are green and our flowers are finally starting to bloom. This is such a colorful time of year. I love it! It is probably safe enough to plant new flowers directly in the ground. But for now, I will start planting pots to surround my porch with color. With all these beauties at my fingertips, my brushes are eagerly waiting for me to paint.

These two paintings are two of my very first oils and were painted back in the summer of 2003, when I first decided to find out who I would be when I painted in oils.

Pots of Pretties 14 x 18 oil: I bought the little pansies in a “six Pack” at the local nursery. Eager to start painting the little pansies, I did not even plant them in the pot, for fear that they would wilt. Instead, I gently set the “six pack” and all into the pot, set up some low exciting lighting, grabbed my brushes and the paint started flying. This painting was accepted into the CM Russell Museum Show that year and it was my first oil painting in a national show. I was hooked on oils.

Planted First 16 x 18 oil: Howard and I were at the florist looking for cut flowers to paint when this little begonia plant looked up at me. It was love at first sight. She had to be painted! Now I will remember her always.

Memorial Day Memories

2010-05-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

Reflecting on all those we love.

We don’t stop often enough and think of the very many ways that our service men risked their lives for us each and every day, not only in war but in natural catastrophes as well. I am so grateful for all that they have done and are doing for us.

my dad….David Swartwout – Coast Guard

My dad was proud to serve his country in the Coast Guard during WWII. Besides protecting our freedoms during the war, my dad was also an artist for the service men. Drawing and painting was always his passion and later his career. In high school, he was the newspaper cartoonist and he continued cartooning in the Coast Guard to entertain and cheer up the troops. He lived 40 years past the end of the war, had a very successful art career and, with my mom by his side, raised a family. He managed to turn all three girls into artists. I am so blessed.

Betty and Dave

Memorial Day also marks the day that I lost my mom 4 years ago. She was one of the first civilian women draftsmen for the Coast Guard. During the war, she drew up the blue prints and plans for the ships and destroyers. To read more about my mom click here.

Reflecting back on all my loved ones that are gone, I have so much to be thankful for, most of all for their love. Good memories never die, their love is with you always.

Little Kids to Big Kids

2010-05-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Where do the big kids go to play? How about Yellowstone National Park, just south of Bozeman. That is where Inger, Howard and I went last week. It is a great place to see animals of all kinds. In one day, we saw 16 different species of animals and lots of baby bison! Yellowstone is a great place to study animals and get good reference.

I love to paint wildlife. They capture such a feeling of independence. One of my favorite critters is elk. They are so regal! I created this oil painting of a little elk herd in January. It is currently at Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman.

ps…… still snowing in Bozeman today….sigh.