Painter's block?

Early Lobster Boats

Original oil painting 12x16"

by Susan Roux

While blogging today, I came upon an artist claiming to have painter's block. I think we can all relate to that. But it got me thinking...

What is painter's block?

I know its when we can't seem to paint. Or, when we do, the results are nothing like we'd like. It can be so crippling. So derailing. That horrible feeling of... I can't paint!..falls upon you. You start to wonder why you ever thought you could, because obviously you cannot.

What causes this? Of course we don't all of a sudden forget how to paint. Do you think its something we put on ourselves? Unknowingly?

How?

Why?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Also, how do you get out of your block?

Beauty Inside and Out

Original oil painting 16x20"

by Susan Roux

Just a quick update: I heard from Gallery 5 yesterday. Not only did Magical Garden make it into the Plein Air exhibit, all four of my entries made it in! The gallery isn't that big, so this came as a huge surprise. Posted are two of the other paintings selected along with In the Lupines. Opening reception is October 15, 5-7 followed by dinner at Fishbones, maybe???

Without class

In the Lupines

Original oil painting 14x18"

by Susan Roux

I'm preparing a body of work to be exhibited next summer. I know it sounds far off to be beginning so soon, but the inspiration is alive and current. I feel its the perfect time to dive right in.

The morning I left for Deer Isle, I received an email from my artist friend Sandy. She suggested I go visit Peter at Blue Hill Bay Gallery, located directly in the picturesque town of Blue Hill, Maine. She is represented there and thought Peter might be interested in my art.

Talk about a last minute rush to pack a few finished paintings, grab frames, hardware and tools. No time left to put anything together. We were just about to leave. Running out the door, I remembered to print out a resume only to find it wasn't updated for 2010... Change some dates, pop in resume paper and hit print. In ten minutes, I managed to somewhat prepare for a gallery visit. Phew!

I was hoping to finish some magnificent work on location to totally impress him, but that didn't turn out to be the case. All my works were unfinished and the lupines were fading daily. By Thursday afternoon, I decided to give Peter a call.

This is never the way to approach a gallery, yet here I was doing it...

I like to project an image of class. Unfortunately Peter never saw it. His gallery was closing for the day in two hours and I was thirty minutes away. Throw some unfinished paintings in the car, hair all a mess and still in my painting clothes from a morning at work, yet I was off to Blue Hill.

I can't emphasize enough how it helps to know someone currently in a gallery. I did not enter the gallery with my best work. Luckily he could see through the plein air struggle and saw something he liked. Something that held promise. He delighted that I was so interested in the lupines. To my great surprise, he's taking me on.

We decided it would be best to plan for next year rather than try to rush a body of work instantly. And so here it is. My inspiration to paint lupines and the rocky coast of the Blue Hill Peninsula including Deer Isle and perhaps Acadia is front and foremost at the moment. Posted, In the Lupines, is my first finished painting for next years exhibit.

In the Lupines/detail

Yesterday, after my early morning lupine painting session with fog, I returned to my studio to finish the painting I'd started on the island, in the lupine patch. (They're purple. How can I resist?)

Hope you're immersing yourself in what nature has to offer. Its so beautiful...

(Happy Anniversary Honey!)