K. Mizner

Work in progress

by Susan Roux

Ok, I've kept an interesting blog to myself for long enough now. Its time for me to share.

Remember Chicken Coop man? Well he signs his canvases K Mizner. Frankly I don't know why, because Chicken Coop man is so much easier to remember...

If you recall I met Kevin at a workshop and painted in his studio Coop with Nora Kasten. Kevin is quite hilarious and even at the workshop, we were drawn towards each other. We set up our easels side by side and more off-handed comments were slapped around than paint! At the time I thought it was our shared Maine residency that drew us together. We seemed to have the same off-kilter view of things. But now as time passes, I think it was his humor that drew me in.

Kevin didn't blog.

Well, that never settles well with me. Why not? I asked. Its a great thing. After all, its how Nora and I met. I explained, I'm certain with wise cracks thrown in (some people bring that out in me, but I won't mention names... Rick), that blogging is a great way to meet, interact and network with artists from all over the country and the world. Well Kevin may be from the backwoods of Maine, but he's no dummy. Up here, backwoods doesn't mean backwards. There are some pretty smart cookies tucked in around here.

I think it was the very next day that I received an email from Kevin announcing he had started to blog. Smart guy.

He's posted daily since. He has so much to talk about, frankly I don't know what he did with all those thoughts before he could rant them out on a blog. You need to go be a follower. I mean seriously. He'll crack you up everyday. He can't help it. It just pours out of him. I literally burst out laughing aloud while reading it. My husband asks what's so funny? I'm just reading Kevin's blog...

I've chosen today to send you there, because he has a wonderful chilling Halloween story to tell you. He spoke of this while we visited his Coop, but the story he shared then was different than the one he posted. So you can urge him to post more on the subject. He's got stories...

Chicken Coop man currently has 9 followers. Yes I know, its sad. Go make his number rise. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. And for you, a daily post full of laughs with some art thrown in here and there. How can you go wrong?

Posted is the progression of the Wednesday Night Ladies class painting. We finally filled in the remaining white canvas and I allowed some of the sunlit flowers to emerge. Hey, I had to keep them happy...

One more note: For those of you who've been asking, I found artists to fill the four bedrooms in the February rental.

Sun versus shade

From the Shade

Original oil painting 14x18"

by Susan Roux

My weeks been crazy. I've been running around everyday and it won't stop until after the weekend. I suppose you all get weeks like this too. I find myself wishing I had three days of solitude to just paint...

Thank goodness for my classes, at least they force me to stop and pick up a brush!

I finished From the Shade with my afternoon class yesterday. I chose this scene so we could focus on shade versus sunny passages within a painting. We took a very different approach than usual. I had them block in the shady foreground area, in monotone, to remind them that everything they developed in this section needed to be in shade. Any color they placed within this area, if it looked sunny, needed to be changed. The class stayed focused on this idea. I find if you simplify things enough, everyone can easily understand what you're trying to get them to achieve.

It proved to be an extremely successful approach. Everyone's paintings leaped with sun and shade.

I decided to try this approach with a few of my other classes. I thought you might like to see the odd beginnings. With the painting posted, we began working on the light area, because it was further back. In the following two, the background is deep and in shade. I'm finding it challenging keeping the students from painting too much light. The photos we're working from have beautiful sunlit flowers in the foreground. They want to paint the light, but as you can see, I'm holding them back.

Its been a great way to have them recognize the difference between foreground, middle ground and background. This painting has yellow flowers against a fence post. In the photo the middle ground was sunlit as much as the foreground. I worked with them to keep it toned down so our final subject will appear to leap forward. Getting them to paint the feeling of sunlit foliage while keeping it subdued and void of detail was a bit unsettling for them. By the end of class this week, they had finally managed to capture this look and they left happy. I've been pushing them pretty hard lately. This class has been painting only a year and the results I get from them are pretty amazing.

My Wednesday night ladies were very happy with the new photo I chose for them. A sunlit garden makes this entry so inviting. Unfortunately I didn't let them paint any of the fun stuff. Keeping them in the darks to capture the house in shadow was difficult. It felt like we were painting a Halloween painting, the haunted house...

Keeping everyone's values in check has been tough. I think after these paintings are done, they'll understand how it all worked and it'll be easier to keep them in the dull deeps next time. Frustration was a visible emotion, but by class end, they had captured the deepness I was proposing. Another group left happy. Its not always easy to do. Especially when you push them out of their comfort zone.

I've been preparing a list of which paintings my students will exhibit in December. I want to know how long they were painting when they did the piece they chose. Its been astounding to us all when I get told 4 months or 6 months or even it was my second painting. It makes me step back in surprise at the achievements they've accomplished. I'm so proud of my students. I'm going to be thrilled to show them off in December!

Gimp

Original oil Painting 20x16"

by Susan Roux

A quick side note to my last post, Toemailer has informed me of a program called Gimp. I'm not at all familiar with it, but its an image manipulation program that allows you to alter your photos. Gimp is free to download! So thank you Toemailer for letting us know. Many people don't have Photoshop and a free software to fix photos is welcomed and necessary.

Ok, I know there aren't only art blogs out there. But have you ever gone searching out of our little community? I must confess I really haven't. I follow a few writing blogs, but it still falls under the creative arts. I've stumbled over cooking blogs, knitting/sewing blogs and photography blogs. That's about it. So really, what's out there? Have any of you gone to explore?

Toemailer is a blog about toes. Really, go check it out! I kid you not. People send in photos of their bare feet in different locations and it gets posted. Twenty followers thus far. I'm not sure what to think of this. I haven't followed yet, but curiosity just might make me hit that button. Perhaps we should all go follow, all send in photos of our feet, and see how long it takes for them to all get posted???

Sorry, I'm not just strange in the morning. Its an all day thing...

I'm really interested in what's actually out there in blogville. Please leave your comments and tell me some of the most unusual blogs you've found. Maybe leave us a link so we can verify and see for ourselves.

Posted is a scene from Blue Hill, Maine. I've been painting it with my Wednesday night class. I think mine is finished. Class will return with it to put their finishing touches this evening. I haven't decided on a title. This painting will be part of the work to hang at Blue Hill Bay Gallery next year.

Don't forget to leave comments on unusual blogs! Thanks.

Olympians? no...

My neighbors work for the olympics.

Its a very unusual thing, I know. When they first moved in several years ago and mentioned working for the olympics, our reaction was, 'Wow!" We don't often stop and think of the people working for the olympics, but there are many.

How glamorous it seemed. They were off to Torino! They were off to China! They were off to Vancouver! But it isn't as glamorous as it first sounds. Depending on their job, people can be assigned to be on location for 4 or 5 months. During this time, they work every day for very long hours. We can't even communicate via email; they have no time to read it or respond.

Can you imagine such a demanding job?

No time to paint...

Chris is one of my students. This time, four months away felt very long to me. No neighbors next door for a whole season and more. A missed student in my wonderful Wednesday night ladies class... Early on there were postcards. We all delighted in the short words that came. Every Wednesday someone asks if I've heard from her. The time seemed so long.

Well I'm happy to report that they returned while I was away in Florida. My neighbors are back! (Some of you probably have neighbors you'd like to get rid of for months at a time, but these are not that type of neighbor...)

I got my much needed "Chris hug" yesterday. Its been so long, she didn't even know I blogged. We have so much to catch up on. She hasn't painted since she left at the end of October and really misses it. Her "art fix" was to sneak off to a few art exhibits in slight moments of down time. I'm going to put a paintbrush back in her hand as soon as I can!

Chris may be starting her own blog. Something about fish tacos... She's very smart and comical so I'll let you know when it begins.

Posted is Chris during one of my workshops last summer. Welcome back Chris!

(Photographs by Michael McAllister)

Long road

When compared to painting nature, everything man-made takes on a different challenge. Unlike organic forms, these are structured and stationary. Both the mind and the paintbrush discover a change and need to adapt to capture the difference. I recently left a comment about this very subject on Jean Townsend's blog and last night, my students were struck by the difference...

I wanted to focus on the building but thought it would be better to quickly find a few simple elements on the right. "Lets put in the road quickly", was my suggestion. I must say, "quick" was no where to be found in this activity. Those two little ruts that extend only four inches up the canvas took us better than one hour to achieve!

We laughed at how little we had painted. One hour and two stripes!

My students were determined to get it correctly. (I love seeing that determination. Way to go ladies!) No matter how much I broke it down, perspective gets confusing when you put it on a hill, throw in a curve, and have it disappear down the other side. Thank goodness for the "thinner eraser"! Each rut needed to narrow as it receded. So did the space between the ruts. One rut comes towards you while the other approaches at a sharp angle. The mind tells you they are parallel. The hand wants to listen. Over and over, they redid it trying to get it right.

Finally we could move on...

I feared the building, thinking it would take us longer than an entire class after the road fiasco, but symmetry proved simpler. By the end of class, we managed to block in the remainder of our canvas. Everything is so stark and rigid right now, but its necessary when you're trying to teach it to a class. Breaking elements down to be understood by others can be an interesting challenge for a teacher. Last night felt like a mathematical lesson.

Its not the first time I do this to my poor Wednesday night ladies. Last time I had them painting a garden bench that covered two-thirds of the canvas without ever drawing it. Again I wanted the background to be free and continuous, so we painted it before ever trying to find the bench. Its a wonder they stick with me. I continue to push their limits. In doing so, they are really blossoming.

That makes me smile with pride...

Again, way to go ladies!

Posted work in progress oil 18x24" by Susan Roux