Color of Summer III

remember to click on any image to view it larger...

The first image is from Ashley Bullard, oil on linen, 18 by 24 inches
second image is "Love Spring" from Mitchell Rosenzweig oil on canvas
third image is a wall sculpture (framed) butterfly from Cilla Stiles 5" by 5"
fourth image is "Fatherhood" by Bruce Andrew McKay acrylic 36 by 48

More images of work to see at our upcoming opening of "The Colors of Summer" Friday night at artstream. Opening time 5:30-7:30, come enjoy some Charles Shaw and goodies. Come see it live and meet the artists!

The word for the day is ... abound ... as in abundant sunshine, love in the house and possibilities!

Hula Monkeys

Just a little personal post today... experimenting with our new D-50 Nikon and enjoying the monkeys er ... lions at my dear daughters birthday party. That grand age when girls can be girls unhindered by the world - 12. They are at the top of their game, can do no wrong and are full of fun. The luau was rained out, but spirits were still very high inside with skirts for lion's manes. Mine is the one roaring....Man this camera is great.

word for the day is ... silly ... as in being 12 again, a song which has no end, and string in a can.

Spring Garden

spring garden mixed media on birch
12"by 42" click to enlarge

Is it a jungle out there today? It feels like it. Illustration Friday picked this topic today, how serendipitous!
There is nothing like rain, continuous rain, to keep you insde painting on a spring day. I finally finished this and thought I would give you a peek. Lots of paper inclusions, same color palette from the garden series. If I get in gear today, I will finish the last piece of the series entitled "Garden Saint" she is a complete departure for me, according to my critics... (the short young ones)
For more lovely jungles, go see Penelope's Illustration Friday!


The word for the day is ... little ... as in a flicker of hope , a bit of this and that ... and what is left of the week!

Overheard

The wind blew hard against me and
I thought I heard a voice.

It said my name in whispered tones
and that I was their choice.

It took me by surprise that day when no one was around,
to hear with greatest clarity, the earth speak human sound.

I wondered if my ears were playing tricks on me?
Or my sanity or vanity,
Why was I their choice?

It whispered softly ... one more time:
"The children will have a voice"


My Poetry Thursday ... attempt #2

Spring in the Gallery

So much happens in spring here. We all come alive again in New Hampshire and well the gallery does as well. Our 15th annual Student art exhibit at the local library complete with the unveiling of 22 new claymation movies, artwork from the adult classes and children's alike,

a new jewelry case for the gallery found via Molly, *hugs to you dear*,





new bud vases from Salamandra Glass,

end of the year paintboxes which have the best look ever to me,



trying a new process in our adult painting via a spark from Ullabenulla's post (photos of the
paintings come later as these photos were taken last night after phase one!

an unwrapping of the ever so cool shipment of BigHead Cats

from Bruce McKay for next week's ehxibition opening, (WOW), garden flowers in the vase on the counter, and one happy soon to be 12 little/big girl checking out her almost done bedroom!

The word for the day is ... push ... like the end of the school year, the revolving door and that cool Matchbox20 song.

Grab bag of goodies

Laundry has never looked soooo good... at least to those of you living in Britain. Of all my years visiting the UK in Glasgow, London and Salisbury working for high end designer hifi companies Linn and Naim (yes, women in hi fi was a rarity and after 6 years of being on the road I know, first hand why... boooooooring! [except for the travel and music part] ) I always coveted their under the counter size frontloaders. Yes, I am not into housework and happiest when the maid comes around, but I do have a thing for laundry. The washing and hanging of it. (sans ironing ... see a great post on ironing at Corey's site) But this machine brings the art of laundry to yet another level! Trust LG to make such a beauty. Load the machine, pour the coffee, make mine white, and sit back and enjoy the view of the machine. Flowers and if you are much more mod, there are some bold graphics available too!


Next in our grab bag is another view of next week's opening with Colors of Summer at artstream. The painting here is the second in the Snow Poppies series by yours truly. Tired of the poppies? I guess I have been sort of single minded lately, but they hold so much color and life for me that I thought I would show you just one more. This one has the most paper inclusions and if you double click on the image you may be able to see that. I really am not a painter of flowers, but why label oneself? Over in Leipzig, Germany a very nice fellow, Max Rence , posted on his new art site another one of my poppies. Go visit Max and just say guten tag! via Susan. Danke schoen Max for the nice post!

All things come in threes here. Good design and composition rule. All things in this post are about flowers. Oh mon Dieu! When I think of flowers of course I think of omondieu! Angela and her flower rings, pins [see the beauty on her jacket in her self portrait?] and hair combs
which adorn our gallery and make it a more lovely place to be, every day. You can wear these sturday fleurs on any finger and dabble in art all day, run a hand through a sweater and greet your neighbor without it wilting! I am so hard on my bellis, but it keeps on keeping on each and every day. Angela is not only a designer of beautiful rings and fanciful poesies tees but an amazing photographer. She is one of our gallery regulars and we carry all of her work. From rings to photographs and back to tees! You can purchase her omondieu! line through us or directly at her site. You just can not have enough beauty in your day. So take a moment today and stop and smell the flowers ...


The word for the day is ... fragrant ... like lilacs in May, a steaming cup of latte and life lived to its fullest!

Color of Summer II

field oil 38" x 42" click for a larger view

Here is one of Ashley Bullard's paintings which will appear in our next exhibtion: Color of Summer, opening on June 16th. Ashley is a wonderful painter hailing from Sandwich, NH, graduate of UNH with her BFA in painting, 2002. We are so pleased to have a large collection of her works for the summer show. She is a delightful person as well as a serious painter. She has many New England exhibitions under her belt already as well as experience in painting in Europe. We have works ranging from small unframed paintings of urban landscape to large scale oils as you see above. Her work is affordable and collectable. Come meet her at the opening from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. on June 16th!

I will keep posting a few more of the artist's works from this exhibition until the opening.
Enjoy the colo(u)rs and your Sunday!

The word for the day is ... sublime ... like a wet field in springtime, a cool breeze in the garden on a hot day and a work of art which moves your soul.

Clay Pendant

highfire stoneware clay, sterling silver clasps, silk ribbon
click for a larger view

Inspire me Thursday's challenge for the week was to show some Functional Art. I usually make some sort of small clay jewelry work during the winter to keep me from going batty. Last year they were small white doves which I made into earrings and necklaces. This year I choose to work with a small circle for pendants and carve each one with different marks. (I am a mark maker in most of my work.)
Here is one of my clay pendant necklaces which I made this winter. It took me until spring to figure out the rest of the necklace. Thanks to a few jewelry makers and lampworkers, I got the jist of what to do with my parts and ideas. Each piece is handcarved out of highfire stoneware clay. They are finished with layers and layers of acrylic paint, stained with waxy shoe polish and sealed to last a lifetime or two.
Some appear on thick or thin silk ribbons, a few on black linen. Some hang down long some are more of a choker length. I had fun making these theraputic little carvings. They are all for sale for $22. Want one? Want to see more? Just email me.

The word for the day is ... edit ... as in shortening your text, your work or your plans for a lazy weekend!

Portrait

susan squared digital self portrait photoshopped size is uninportant here... but click if you wanna see it larger


Sometimes it is fun to play with photoshop. Builds skills. Makes for fun portraits for Illustration Friday and Self Portrait Challenge! Pop Art and all that jazz! Rainer and I love to use Photoshop as a verb and say "photoshopped" or "photoshopping" Please don't roll over in your grammer grave ...
Do you want something more painterly? I posted another self portrait last week over here, along with the original photo used for the Warholness above.

Go see more portraits at Illustration Friday. More beautiful POP Art at Self Portrait Challenge. And, have a beautiful weekend, will you please?


The word for the day is ... transform ... as a tool, your mind after hearing another's opinion, and your dreams by making them come true!

Lamps which light up your life

Here are a few of my current favorite finds in the illumination department. I find that finely designed lamps in a setting, whether commercial or residential make more impact than most an other single feature of the room. Light after all is something which we all seek. During daylight hours if the lamp or lighting fixture is not in use, it better be something you wish to look at! After working for the past two months with my husband and partner designing a new restaurant interior including a dining room, bistro/coffee house/martini bar I found these lovely lamps (none of which will appear in the new restaurant!) and thought I would share them with you all. (I guess I also had ulterior motives for choosing some lighting for our home as well!)

Here are my favorite picks. What do you think? Is it art? I think so! Illuminatingly so!

Heike Buchfelder's Pluma Cubic made from goose feathers

Louise Hederström Gladys chandelier


Araki Midori's bottle light


The word for the day is ... brighten ... as in pumping up the color, turning up the light and cheering up ones day!

Cake

Illustration Friday this week, baked us a cake.
I love cake, don't you? What is your favorite?
Mine is Mandrinen Kuchen.
I painted this little 6" by 6" cake in a cloud tonight quickly, then added some digital icing and text.
So there you go. You can have your cake, but you can not eat it.
But if I knew you were coming, I would have baked you a real one!

The word for the day is ... anticipation ... as in waiting patiently or not, that jumpy feeling inside, and excitement for even a small change!

Color of Summer Part 1

Espagnola oil 12" x 14" by Mitchell Rosenzweig

Here is a painting which will appear in our next exhibition opening on June 16th...
For more information on Mitch, visit his website. I love these paintings and am thrilled to have them all summer long in the gallery ... until someone buys it and takes it home of course in September.

The word for the day is ... juxtapose... is in colors side by side which you would not have thought would go together, a series of events forming new ideas and an unlikely group of people thrown together becoming fast friends.

Documenta rambles ...

after the bath 18" x 24" oil on arches #140 2005
The painting above was created from an old, not exactly antique sketch I did in college, 30 years ago. So it must be vintage or aged?

Sunday Scribblings
Studio Friday


My first love is and always has been art. Can you be in love at age 6? I think I was... with my crayon box. In 1963, Crayola came out with a new color called magenta. I was in heaven. Everything became that color or had that color incorporated into it. It was so exciting. Since that time I have pursued an artistic life. Every day is filled, in my mind or my studio, with something visually stimulating. Not always pretty, because art, like life is NOT always pretty.
I think that I enjoy more art than ever before as I have been exposed to much more art in the past six years.
Going to the Documenta 11 was a major eyeopener. When we went as a family in 2002, there was so much video installation which was so well done and it was hard to pick our favorite. The outdoor sculptures around the city of Kassel were great too. It was incredible to go to France and see artwork there, to travel to NYC and view works at the Met and MoMa and Guggenheim and the galleries. To see my favorite works of historical art in Vienna and Münich by Klee and Marc were astounding but the Documenta holds something much more special. It holds the pulse of what the world is doing today, right now, just like you and me in a visual sense.
Thank goodness that in 1955, Professor Bode brought the European art world back together for the first time since WW II. He said about the first exhibition:
"It should be seen as a broad, if initial attempt, to regain international contacts across the board and thus at home re-engage in a conversation that has been interrupted for so long, as it were. Haftmann believed that the exhibition also had a didactic brief: It is devised with our young generation in mind, and the artists, poets and thinkers they follow, so that they may recognize what foundations have been laid for them, what inheritance they must nurture and what inheritance must be overcome.

It was a huge sucess on a lot of levels. In future years they saw the need to go beyond their own part of the world (Europe) to expose the rest of us to something non-Western, something of equal importance something global, a representation from an artist from each country all over the world and in most every media conceivableable. Every four years. Next year is Documenta 12. Will you be there?

The word for the day is .... completion ... as in finish. that. damn. project.

Friesen

Friesen collage transfer/acrylic on mdf board 11"x 14" x 1"
double click for more detail
inspire me thursday ... with words in your art

This work was hard to photograph, even for Perry the pro who did this shot. It has 20 layers of medium on it with each layer adding a new collage piece. I used the phototransfer method along with lots of glazing with acrylic paint and medium. Medium of choice is the lucious Golden soft gel. If you haven't used this just go and get some. It is wonderful stuff!
I love this work as it incorporates many special things to me including A lomo photo my husband took of me in NYC, our tickets to the Documenta 11 in 2002, MoMA tickets, a postmark from a letter from my friend Anges in Montreal, and a snippet of a newspaper from our visit to Hamburg.

I enjoyed making this piece and won't sell it even though I have had many offers. It's too personal. Guess it is time to find a place for it again in my home. Once things come here, they are keepers. I had been on the fence for a long time about it, but writing about it here today makes me realize it was made for me.

*** an addition to answer the transfer questions ..... Here is a link to a great artist whom I met a few years ago on the internet - Paul Fujita - we swapped a piece of artwork and I will show you that at a later date. He has a tutorial for the transfer process which I used in this piece and it is quite complete. Please go here to see that and to here to see his work. ***

The word for the day is ... paint ... as in a cupcake pink bedroom in progress, the stuff which makes me enjoy life, and to paint the town red ... occasionally!

Winter Poppies

winter poppies II acrylic,paper, ink on canvas: 16" x16"x2.5" 3/2006
(click twice for close up)


More Poppies from the second series. In February and March, I found that our weather had really made me feel a bit anxious. I wanted for color and summer, yet it was still winter here in New Hampshire. So I made a little summer of my own in my studio. They got me through to April.
I used some college elements in all of the poppy paintings for texture. I like to begin with that sometimes. I have an affinity for paper. **additionally*** the painting is on canvas, which I didn't make clear before!

The word for the day is ... fern ... as in a beautiful plant in the woods, a color of green which can be used anywhere and the name of Wilbur's best friend, after Charlotte of course.

Poetry break

"two " egg tempera on museum board 18 by 24 inches

this post was inspired by finding PoetryThursday
I have not written a poem in awhile, but after looking at their blog
thought, hey, why not? ... i mean why not indeed?
it's like a canvas or new paper. what's the worst that can happen?
i mean, hey you might fail! oh dear! then what? what indeed?
so here goes. something inspired by my painting above as well as their facinating site!

Quiet,
soft breath leaves no traces

on the window
at the station.

where the tracks had led
through inky holes.

snake like paths
bend, twist
right, then left, then right again.

trees flick past one, two, three, ten
faster and faster until they blend into

the smoky chalk buildings holding
bronze reflections of the motion
flying past.

exhale. the window fogs gently.
shapes push past one another, moving with
the rhythm of the tracks.

a divide in the masses.
a small black and white form
a face, a hand, a smile,
you
are
there.

Susan Schwake-Larochelle

Birds and beanpods

bird/bean

One more new work in a series of three ... mixed media, acrylic, oil, transfer, graphite 6" by 6 " by 2.5 "

Birds have flown back into my life. This time in a bird dreaming of giant food.

The word for the day is ... concentrate ... on one thing at a time, delivering the goods and lemon juice!

Springtime abstractions

insprire me thursdays

Finally, I had my work of the past three months photographed professionally... (thank you P.S. you are the best!) Here is the second poppy, much more abstract than the other in the series.
What do you think? or as they say in German ... vat are you sinking? Feel free to comment.

Also! The magical knitting fairy dropped a huge package on my doorstep this morning! Much to my surprise, Ms. Jennifer White aka MKF, left me this lovely whimsical spring bag to tote my stuff to and from. Here is said bag. Can you dig it? Oh my thank you Ms. White! You will get yours ... this is more than what I could dream of! And it goes shimmy shimmy when you carry it!


The word for the day is ... tickle ... as in tickle me pink, tickle here's a pickle , and my fancy!

Whip up! COLOR!

Wheee! Whip up's last challenge is all about my favorite topic - color!




My project for the challenge was a dye fest of pima cotton and two skeins of cotton yarn. I have been dyeing textiles, threads and yarns for over 15 years now so one would think that I would have become a little better with creating something else from the end (the end for me!) product of yardage of colorful materials by now.

But the fun for me is my own final "product" - the six fat quarters I dyed. (Yes now there are five, read on, one is already gone!) Color abounds here! The lure of yards of white cotton, silk or wool baits me like nothing else. Ususally I dye the fabric and yarn then a skein goes to a friend or two, then the fat quarters or half yards to a quilter I admire. Often I sell them at the gallery. I focused on the fabric not the yarn here in photos as I have already given those away today. I wish i had snapped a shot of the pieces drying on the clothes line too, which with the wild wind today would have been fun. But you get the idea. The one piece (below) of the single fabric will stay with me. Maybe you will see it transform again here soon into something new. There are fairy wings and glowing bugs all part of the icy patterns formed in this one smallish piece of fabric. And it was just white 48 hours ago!

the one that won't get away...

In the past I have created one art quilt with the help of two dedicated, patient and amazing quilters great advise and help. It is almost done. I am planning more. (God help us! those friends are crying!) I sometimes use the colorful fabric to make handmade books or wall pieces. I have plans for some of this fabric which I worked on over the weekend. One piece has already gone to Susann Foster Brown for inspiration - my hot red, orange and deep yellow - to warm her ideas with the fire colors or fall colors as she sees fit!
midprocess in their warming bags ... fabric and yarn together ...


the "wild one" in purple, magenta and turquoise

The word for the day is ... divide ... as in divide and conquer the work, the fabric into dyebath colors and a pan of scones for four with clotted cream and strawberry jam!

a closeup of the lilac to ecru ice patterns

Three Wishes

robins nest, in our rhododendron bush in our front yard,
taken Sunday May 21, 2006

Sunday Scribblings
Mama Says OM


This beautiful gift of nature was found by Chloe age 11 the always observant one in our front yard on Sunday. The weekend was a whirlwind of activity with the prom for older sister Grace and their end of the year dance recital. It was all lovely. Aside from the activities, Chloe found this special nature treat.

Three wishes is what they say a fairy will grant you ... if you happen upon one ... I say we are given the equivalent of three wishes each and every day we wake up. What we choose to do with our lives each and everyday are our wishes granted to ourselves.

The word of the day is ... DANCE ... as in the prom, the celebration of a year's work of dance in a recital form and your eyes when holding a great surprise!