Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreamer

Original oil painting 28x22"

by Susan Roux

This series of ladies at the beach has me entranced. My spare time is completely devoted to creating more of them. Even times that aren't spare get caught up in it. Certainly I would define this as crossing over from passion to obsession. I can't describe what fascinates me the most as I'm painting these. Is it color? Is it the sensuality? It's almost as though life breaths into them. I've never been so directed by what's emerging on canvas as I am now.

Both the figure and the background tantalize me equally.

The beginning starts off simply. A quick gesture sketch put on by a large brush, allows the form to move and morph into shape. Colors start to appear as random as my whim. Slowly it takes shape. This is when the fun or stress really kicks in.

The decisions I make stop being random and the art takes control. What starts out vague and undefined begins to have a voice. The further I develop the canvas, the more important it is to listen to it.

Is the canvas really talking? Well not in the out-loud voice we recognize with our ears. Someone better lock me up if that happens. Just make sure there's an easel and paints with me behind those locked doors...

No the voice I'm talking about is quiet and soft. Sometimes it's hard to hear. Backing away helps. Reflecting. Really seeing what's happening on canvas. Making decisions. Unwavering. The painting takes a turn. It finds a direction. Until I grasp this feeling, I can't bring the painting to completion. It's just a figure in a space prior that.

Each one is different. They all speak differently to me. Sometimes it's difficult to know the direction. Other times it's loud and clear. Usually the title will come to me when I find the direction. It wasn't the case with Sweet Dreamer. She sat completed. I observed her trying to come up with the right title. The longer I contemplated I began to notice she was also in a contemplative state. She looked so far away, deep in thought. What was she thinking about? Who was she thinking about? Was she longing? Was she sad? Was she reliving a moment from earlier in the day? I didn't have the answer.

Luka Bloom was singing in the background. Oh, how he serenades me continuously while I create. Sweet dreams Baby were the words that softly repeated from his lips as he sang True Blue. It fit my girl. It didn't matter if I understood her mood. She was dreaming. Day dreaming about whatever. I wanted to think it was a happy dream. Her clothes and stance supported that thought. And so it was that she became titled Sweet Dreamer.

I wish I could show you how the light moves in the background. Seeing them live is the only way...

But... what's in a title?

But...

Original oil painting 28x22"

by Susan Roux

This is the final painting I completed while away on my artists retreat. A week has passed since my return and that amazing carefree feeling slips away a bit more each day. Soon I suspect it will be but a memory. As I talk to the other artists who shared this wonderful experience with me, transition back to normal has not been easy.

I hesitated painting this red-skirted female after the thrashing Scarlet the tartlet gave me. Somehow my fears stepped aside because something about her pose sucked me in anyway. I approached her differently. Being keenly aware of the power of red this time around, I began by instantly adding lots of it in my background. I even kept her skin quite red to balance her skirt. Since the focus is directly on her red bottom, the color aided pulling the eye. She actually fell into place easier than I expected. I wonder, did being in the presence of all those other artists give me the nerve to attempt another red skirt? After the last, I didn't think I'd ever paint another one.

What do you think of the title? Is But... too severe? I had quite a few other titles come to mind, but somehow But... stuck. One of my other potential titles was Dry Skirt. Not nearly as catchy. I feel like I need to explain myself. (I'd go swimming) But... (I still have my clothes on). Do you think a potential buyer would cancel the sale because of a title? I wouldn't want to offend anyone. Perhaps they'd see the title as cute and sassy as my sweet model is? I'd love your opinion on this.

Do you have subjects or colors you shy away from because of past difficulties they've given you? It can feel good to face your fear head-on and keep in control to the end. It's very empowering. Why not give it a try?

And I don't want any But's for excuses...

The beginning

Through the Grass

Original oil painting 18x24"

by Susan Roux

I almost didn't post this painting. I just completed it with my class and it looks so different from the series I'm working on in my private time, that I hesitated to show it.

It's interesting when your work evolves and you're a teacher, because what you're teaching still resembles your older stuff. I think of my galleries and wonder, what they will do with these varying looks? I'm not sure they can even hang together...

But there is a story behind this work.

Class started this painting before Christmas. It's been a long road, between cancellations for snow days and holidays. It was also a good challenge for both students and myself to direct them through this complicated scene. Fields of wild grasses are one of my favorite subjects. How I love to let my paintbrush dip in colors and scribble the canvas. Most of it is spontaneous and therefore hard to describe to a student. The other difficulty was having several figures. Those figures are where my little story lies.

My studio is downstairs. It's too small to teach in, so I hold my classes in the dining room. Every week after classes, I'd remove the plastic from my table, replace the tablecloth and assemble the chairs around it. As time passed and the number of classes increased (I'm teaching 5 a week now) my dining room became a second studio. It's a rare occasion when I pull out the wall-matching tablecloth and replace the chairs. As one class rolls into another and I try to paint on my own, the partially painted canvasses collect. I often place them against the hallway wall where the staircase is. Some of them make it all the way down to the real studio, but lately most of them line the hall. It's sort of like a floor-level gallery.

One day as my husband came up the stairs, the figures in the above painting were directly in his sight. I hadn't painted figures in my work in awhile at the time and he complimented me on them. He seemed so delighted that when Don Hatfield called that week, I mentioned having put figures in my work. I asked if he wanted me to send him an image? Totally expecting him to give me an enthusiastic yes, I was quite surprised by his response.

Rather than ask to see the figures, he began to talk to me about the danger of painting figures in a scene. He spoke of how they too often jump out at you and in actuality they should be part of the scene. I remembered how he taught us to let our strokes move from the background into our portraits and reverse. My mind started to wonder (like it doesn't already do enough of that on it's own...) and inspiration emerged.

I pulled out a fresh canvas and a photo of a girl. I had one thing in mind. Make the figure be part of the background. Frolicking is what I created and this is how my latest series started... The big difference was not drawing my figure. When I do, I want to stay within the lines. This time I began with paint, not a pencil.

So it's for this reason that I've posted this painting. Sometimes it's nice to know where and why something new began.

This brings us back to Champagne Thursday... which will be held next week, February 24 at 5:oo pm. The address is 94 Shore Drive, Freeport, Maine. Please come. Admission is champagne and an appetizer. I'll be away painting all next week. Sure hope this sinus thing moves on before Saturday!

Design, Part 4

Coming Up Rosy

Original oil painting 18x24"

by Susan Roux

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Just as I was pondering possibilities on how to adjust my painting, a special phone call came in. It was from the master himself, Don Hatfield. He offered helpful suggestions. Don't you just love a good critique? I embrace them. A non-biased opinion that recognizes your achievements and gives good advice on how to make your painting stronger. Good points and bad points, strengths and weaknesses are welcomed bits of information.

Having heard someone's opinion shouldn't mean that you jump right in adjusting what you've been told. After all it's still your painting and you make the final decisions on what actually gets changed and adjusted. Don pointed out the lawn edge. "Have the landscapers come in, cut out a corner of the driveway, put down new soil and plant more grass." Curving the lawn to draw in the viewer more gently seemed a very good suggestion. It doesn't remove it as a pointer, just swirls you in for a softer approach.

Softness. It seemed to be the overlying feeling of this painting. I'd been extremely cautious to keep my roses soft and after talking to Don, I began to notice other places that could use softening. I also found the entire painting too cool. I went in with yellows. I hit some of my flowers. I hit some of my leaves. (Key word here is some) I warmed the driveway and curved it in loosing the hard line at it's edge. I liked what it did to the painting. Softening that line just added to the softness of my blossoms. I proceeded to soften the tree shadow and the bottom of the brick wall.

I'm very pleased with this painting. I have to admit, it became somewhat of a scary thing to do it this way in front of you. I was really exposing my thought process. What if it all fell apart? I tried to ignore that crippling voice. I can do this, I told myself. I pushed on. I wouldn't accept mediocrity.

I was happy with the play in my roses. Using a variety of colors, as explained in Part 3, really helped this to happen. Some blossoms are left in shadow, others catch the light brightly, while still others are in softer sunlight. I was able to regain my focal point to the roses easily by adding lighter yellows. I also, ever so slightly, punched the darks around one blossom.

Thanks for bearing with me as I shared my journey through a painting with regards to design. Sticking to one original thought without wavering is essential for a strong design. Even when the paint begins to pull you in a different direction, as mine did in Part 3, don't let it win. Remember you're in charge of your painting. As I tell my students. You're in control of your painting even when you feel totally out of control! For beginners who struggle with brushstroke, this always gets a hardy chuckle. The decisions you make when choosing colors and where you apply them is uniquely your own. So take some time while painting to make good decisions and try to keep in mind, the power of design.

Thanks again, Don. You're such an amazing teacher...

Toby and Leslie

Toby and Leslie

Original oil painting 20x16"

by Susan Roux

I can't tell you the amount of hours I put in this painting. Rest assured I was elated when I laid down my final strokes! I couldn't help but think of Carol Nelson who blogged awhile back, 100 portraits in 100 days. I'm impressed at all of you who post a daily painting. Not only are you completing a painting every day, but also taking time to blog about it. We can't all keep up that pace... Its very admirable that you do. I tip my hat to you.

I had days where I spent every moment from early morning to suppertime planted in front of my easel. My focus was so intense that every time I did this, the following day I needed to rest. It was as though my brain was empty, almost in a haze, and my spirit and energy were drained. I suppose I was really pushing myself...

Wednesday, when all my students saw it nearly done, they were baffled that I wasn't enthused with it. I didn't like the feeling it had. I wanted to capture the sense of love/admiration and all I had managed was the look of porcelain dolls. After I completed the faces, I worked with the background and succeeded a bit in capturing that emotion I wanted. Yes the colors are better in life and the feeling more apparent too.

I learned so much doing this piece. I started off expecting to spend a few days on it as an exercise and move on. As you know, that didn't happen. I hope to capture my next portrait quicker so a bit more of a painterly look will remain. The day I worked on smoothing out my color transitions to soften Leslie's features, is the day the porcelain feeling appeared. There must be a way of painting it soft without turning them to ceramic. My next subject will be a single head.

As I look at it this morning, I am kind of amazed I was able to accomplish this. Suddenly a separation from it, no longer being my lingering job, allows me to have a different perspective. Don, thanks for all your help. Even telling me to start over, though it was the last thing I wanted to hear at the moment.

I may take a few days to go paint in plein air before settling down to a new face....

Toby is my husbands son. He plays guitar in a rising band called Sparks the Rescue. He's toured the country many times and also toured in Europe. Recently they took part in the exhausting Warped Tour, where more than 70 bands played. They have a video that airs on MTV called We Love Like Vampires. You can view it at their official site by clicking their name. Please let me know if your children may have heard of them...

Enjoy your day creatively!

Loading Traps

Loading Traps

Original oil painting 16x20"

by Susan Roux

As you know, I've been approaching my art differently since taking Don Hatfield's workshop. I'm overwhelmed at all your lovely comments. So many of you saw my initial block-in as a finished painting. I regret to tell you I put in another 10 hours since then.

Please let me know what you think of the finished piece. Should I have stopped at the initial stage? Your honesty is greatly appreciated. When one is working so hard to develop in a positive way, honest feedback is necessary. Don't worry about hurting my feelings. I'm a tough girl and can take criticism.

Ten hours. I bet you're wondering what I did in ten hours. It blows my mind too.

The first day I painted about three hours. Mike came home, went to look at it and couldn't tell what I worked on. I thought to myself, "Phew, I haven't ruined it yet!"

My brain has been completely involved in this process. I have so much useful information buzzing around in there and I'm trying so hard to implement it into my work. By the end of painting sessions, my head hurts. My only hope for relaxation through this learning process is Luka Bloom piped in my ears, via my nano. Ohhh... how he can serenade me into a peaceful creative place.

So what did I do for ten hours? The block in was to focus on lights and darks. There was no sketch, only a blank canvas and raw paint. Getting the proportions accurate was also of prime importance. The next step was to paint various planes, focusing deeply on the reflected light in the shadows.

You can see all the color in his white shirt and the different planes and colors in his hat. All the while, trying to avoid painting too much detail! I probably failed miserably on that. Paying attention to the planes and avoiding detail seem to be one in the same.

Self criticism: I tried to keep my strokes loose, yet it looks strangely like a photograph. My figure is stronger than any I've ever painted. I had fun playing in the reflected light. I never paid much attention to that before. Of course lots of grays were used and that too was new for me. I'm more of a direct-color person, but I'm seeing the benefits of using grays.

I plan to continue trying to figure this out. In time, my brain will be less active in the process, helping me see myself more in the finished painting. I do find it interesting that with focusing only on light and dark and planes and reflected light can create such a real looking painting. I have loose messy strokes throughout, yet it looks tightly rendered. Of course its worse in this small version. In life, the painting is larger and looks a bit more painterly...

What do you think? Please be completely honest...

Vernissage

Vernissage. Its a pity we don't have them.

The Russian artist, Stas Borodin, told me about the vernissage. Being of French decent, I knew it had something to do with varnishing, but I didn't quite understand the full implication of the word until he enlightened me. For those of us in the States, it isn't a celebrated process and many of us are unfamiliar with it.

Oil paintings should dry for a year or more before varnishing. Stas spoke of a wonderful exhibition around the process of preserving your paintings. When an artists had a "varnissage" the works were hung on display and a typical "opening" was held. People came to look at the art.

Lots and lots of people came.

That night after the crowds left, all the paintings were taken down, pulled from their frames and varnished. The following night the people returned to view the same paintings under their brand new coat of shiny varnish! The colors transformed. The depth and richness increased in every painting. The people gathered to discuss how magnificent the improvement was on the works. Paintings they fell in love with the night before were now even more spectacular! It was a wonderful celebration of works, as they come to their final point of completion.

Even the artists haven't seen the full scope of their accomplishment, until this moment. Varnish enhancing the pigments.

I hurried around the other day, preparing my paintings for the gallery. In a crazy procession, I parade my paintings to the backyard where I spray them with retouch varnish. Its very common for me to wait until framing time to spray them, so there were many to do. In and out of the house, back and forth to the backyard, spray and return. The process is like a marathon.

Afterwards, with all the works back in the house, I was stopped by the change in my art. How different they all looked! It reminded me of the varnissage that Stas spoke about, but no one was here to experience it but me...

In other cultures, artists are revered. Art is taught and the people understand and appreciate it. Here its the first program along with music to be cut from schools when the budget is tight. Our openings are often a collection of family and friends. Getting people to come is challenging enough. Everyone is so busy. Can you imagine them returning the following night??? It would never happen here.

It is a pity.

So next time you're varnishing your art, all by yourself, stop for a moment and enjoy the transformation it takes as you bring it to its final point of completion. Perhaps you'll remember the celebrations people had over this event. Maybe next time I can stop viewing it as a chore and can appreciate its significance.

Enjoy painting as well as spraying!

Posted: Inspiration 16x12" Original oil painting (older work) by Susan Roux

Warm soil

The sun shines and the green carpet is laid outside my front door. The lawn is nearing its first "mow" of the season. How lush and inviting it is.

Creativity surges through my veins. It bubbles and excites. The yellow daffodils radiate tall above the dense patches of blue snow glories. Large tulip buttons rise and await their turn for center stage. Such beauty. The colors of the garden intermingle like the colors of a painting. Spring is calling. Its calling me out. I want to go play in the dirt...

Its a great time to rearrange perennials. As they pop out of the ground, memories of last summer's garden flood my mind. The blossoms. The colors. The spectacular dance of changes, as new flowers bloom and others fade. The garden can change color totally in the process. As I watch each new plant emerge from the warm soil, I remember its unique presence and gift to the garden.

Some plants have grown taller than expected and block delicate others. Beautiful, hidden plants should be moved. The excitement of rearranging urges me forward. Its the creativity of the process. Like sculpting an unseen item. The imagination is what leads. Imagining height, color and blooming time. Rearranging is the creation. The outcome is the show. The show of scented color that will continue to come until autumn's frost. But now, frost is far from my mind. Warm sun takes over.

I have many flower gardens. They are all around my home in unusual ameba-shapes that inspire asymmetry. Like wondering, exciting sprawls rising out of the green carpet. They seduce me...

I succumb.

Some plants will be switched to different beds. The shuffle begins. One large spring effort gives way to a summer season of pause and enjoyment, viewed from the pleasure of my garden bench. Sitting there in the afternoon sun, filling my lungs with sweet perfume, makes me thankful for all I've been given in this world. In nature I feel closest to God. What wonderful creations He has made! And he shares it all...

Its good we're sharing our gifts, our talents and our support. It makes God smile down on us. And that's always a good thing...

Find your words

I started to teach my afternoon painting class yesterday and the words I needed to use were just gone. How frustrating! What happens to the brain at these moments when you certainly know what you're talking about, but you can't seem to remember "words"? You stand there like a complete idiot with a perplexed look on your face, mouth wide open and... nothing. Does this ever happen to you? Luckily my students are wonderful and we laughed at my sudden problem, lightening the moment. I think I had so much on my mind that I was a complete scatterbrain! My mind didn't want to focus on any one thing. It was everywhere.

Well class must go on so we proceeded to mix colors and begin painting our sky. Our colors ranged through lovely shades of various blues to magentas and purples to a soft creamy yellow punched with a bit of tangerine. The colors on the palette were enough to arouse the spirit. With brushes in hand the wonderful process of laying color on canvas began. Swirling, blending, dabbing and allowing surprises to happen as we let a few puffy white clouds pass by. Letting go in the enjoyment of watching how the colors interact with each other is the secret to making it look natural. Keep the colors rich and exciting. Give it depth so by the horizon it appears to go on forever.

Somewhere during this process, I realized all of my words had returned. Oh the magical power of paint! Slow down folks. Make time for yourself. No matter how busy you get, when stress is getting the better of you, stop. Just stop. Breath. Take time to do something you love. Its medicine for your spirit. It will energize your brain and in the end you'll function better and accomplish more. You'll be happier and you too will find your words.