Water Ballerina

Water Ballerina

Original oil painting 11x14"

by Susan Roux

I took Martine-Alison for a walk. From my home, we can easily walk to two different ponds, though the forest keeps them hidden. She brought her camera. It was a beautifully warm, sunny day and we took our time strolling, benefitting from the pleasures nature offers. Our senses enjoyed the many sights and sounds, from birds to frogs to packs of just-emerged dragonflies that danced around merrily and even landed on us as tiny hitchhikers.

It was a day of simple pleasures.

The beach was filled with mothers and toddlers. Older children were still at school. We sat for awhile watching the activity. Martine-Alison instantly focused on a darling girl swimming in a ballerina tutu. Captivated from the little girls movements, her camera pointed at no one else. She thought she was taking pictures for me to use, as she knows I adore painting children at the beach.

But that didn't totally turn out to be the reality...

Once home, she decided to paint her too. We've always wanted to paint the same person together. Now we had the chance.

To make this happen, during our quickly diminishing visit, she had to deviate from her normal process. Typically she paints her 20x20" canvases with brushes smaller than my signing brush. Can you believe it? Smaller than a signing brush..?

It takes her nearly a month to complete one, though she paints day-in day-out. It was obvious we needed to speed up her process.

I passed her a cluster of larger brushes. At a half-inch wide, they seemed enormous to her! I laughed. She wanted to attempt my method. "Teach me," she said. (like she needs teaching...) So, bravely abandoning her comfort, Martine-Alison played with paint on a canvas whose finish is much rougher than her own. She's never painted so quickly!

Water Ballerina

Original oil painting 14x11"

by Martine-Alison

Four artists gathered here to have a painting party. It was the perfect activity for a rainy day. Svetlana Beattie saw what we were painting and she too decided to paint the little girl. Music was turned on. Of course it was Luka Bloom... Such a wonderful serenader for the activity of painting. Our bodies swayed like our brushes to his magical, dreamy music. The artists all said it was the best music to paint to.

It created a mood. An energy in the room. Suddenly Svetlana asked, in her strong Russian accent, if Luka just said, ballerina?

Oh yes, I replied. Ballerina, just like we're painting. Its my favorite song, Water Ballerina.

Water Ballerina? Its exactly what we're painting! she remarked.

Oh yes it was. And there suddenly, came the title to all of our paintings...

Water Ballerina

Original oil painting 14x11"

by Svetlana Beattie

I told Svetlana how I bumped into Luka while strolling castle grounds in Ireland. Our encounter amazed her. His spirit was circling in the room, affecting how we painted. She said I must write to Luka to thank him for his inspiration. So Luka, if you're listening, I just want you to know how wonderfully inspiring your music is. Its the perfect accompaniment for painting. You continue to chant me away to my glorious painting-zone...

We have three artists versions of a sweet little swimmer. They are as different as the artists are. One impressionistic, one an experiment and one that I'm finally happy with.

Too bad the child's mother will never know her daughter is artistically-captured for all eternity. Three times..!

Ocean Roses 4

Ocean Roses

by Susan Roux

Original oil painting 16x20"

I confess... We have too much fun during painting class. I think we laugh more than we paint! But somehow in the midst of all our silliness we managed to complete our painting last night. I have them all posted. Class, sorry I couldn't adjust the colors correctly. Reds and hot pinks are the hardest...

Note: Everyone's painting looks softer than this shows.

Last week we thought we might finish, but another session was necessary. Everyone's work needed adjusting in different areas. To bring a painting to completion can be tricky. Knowing when to stop is often difficult. Its easier when someone else tells you to. (Paint with a friend, they'll do you the favor.) Looking at one's work objectively interferes with the passion we develop for it while painting. Abandoning your photo reference becomes necessary. At some point, everything that is already captured on canvas dictates what needs to come next. I like to stand back and squint a bit to find little areas that need adjusting.

The big question I put out there is, "What bugs you? What bother's you about your painting? Which spot?"

Those are the areas that need tweaking. Its that magical moment when you take all the energy you put into creating your work and bring it to a final statement. As a teacher, its that final moment of judgement.

"What can I say to this student that will help them enhance their work at this late stage?" Its the point of making it or breaking it.

As you can clearly see, all the students made it!

I was very pleased with the results of their hard work and silliness. Everyone brought some of themselves into their canvases. I always like how even though we use the same image and they follow along closely with me, a uniqueness emerges in every one. We talked about that last night.

The brushes we choose. The way we load the paint on them. Is it thin. Is it thick. How we apply the paint to the canvas. A delicate touch. A hard thrust. All these elements play a part in the "signature" our work takes on. I'm always fascinated that even with a person's first canvas, this signature appears. This one-of-a-kind brushstroke makes its debut right from the start. You can paint for years and really hone your skills, but look back where you began and you'll find similarities in your stroke.

I'd like to present my students work. They did great, don't you think? Remember they're all beginners...

Paul

Jen

Clint

Class, bring a new canvas next week. We're starting another one!

Anyone else care to join us?

(Photographs by Michael McAllister)

Don't give up

Finding artists to paint with me in Ireland wasn't easy. This land of lush greenery is green for a reason. Rain. Daily rain as I was told and this past summer had been exceedingly wet. Artists were not accustomed to setting up their easels with the constant threat of rain. Painting in plein air is different from studio painting and they had not developed skills for this. A bit of anxiety set in as they thought they would paint with a skilled plein air painter. I'm not so skilled. Anyway that didn't matter. I dreamed of how exciting it would be to paint in a foreign country with artists from that country. It would be the highlight of my trip!

I urged on. I was coming for the first time and I was going to paint directly on location. I wanted so much to capture the colors and feeling of Ireland while I was there, not simply from photos later. A little bit of rain wasn't going to stop me. After all, it wouldn't be the first time I set up in the rain. When water mixes with oil paints it causes some very interesting effects. Sometimes wonderful little surprises! And frankly, who cares if it would turn into a flop, I just wanted to do it. I wanted to paint Ireland in Ireland.

Despite all they were telling me and with stubborn determination, I continued my quest to find someone. One month before our flight I was completely unsuccessful.

"That's it!" I decided.

It was like putting my foot down. I wasn't going to give up so easily. My time was closing in and finding a painting partner became increasingly important. In desperation, I pulled out every Irish address I had contacted several months before. In a giant group email I stated my plight. I was looking for someone to paint with. Would anyone be willing to do so and if not, could they please direct me to someone who would.

Wow! It seemed to have worked like magic. I had several people return saying they would. It even seemed for awhile that a whole painting group would assemble to paint with me. A huge tingling rush spread through my body at the mere thought! Orchestrating that was simply too difficult and so it didn't happen. By the time I left, I had two separate proposal to paint. I was thrilled.

Only one of those actually happened. It was on the final days of our two week trip. A little gem in the end! Mat Grogan (www.matgrogan.com) a wonderful, shy master painter skilled in still life paintings joined me with his friend Dave Hayes (http://www.dom.ie/dhayes/dhayeshome.htm). I'll never forget it. We painted on a glorious day in full sun without wind or rain, in a lush Irish garden. I did paint by myself earlier in my trip, but it was nothing like painting with foreign artists. That was quite a thrill!

If you want something, don't give up. Keep plugging. Keep pushing until you succeed. In the end it will be worth all the effort you put into it and more.

(Photography by Michael McAllister)

Let the journey happen

I'm putting together my exhibition for the hospital. Its fun going through past art looking for pieces that will compliment each other. Its almost like a treasure hunt. Ever notice how some pieces seem better than you remembered? I guess we stop looking at only "that spot" we struggled with. I had to compose a write-up; never my favorite thing but they are getting easier. I'm less apt to cram too much information in as in the past. I'm preferring to focus on a theme or idea and develop it. After completing that, the exhibition pieces seemed to select themselves.

My France paintings are going. That's a definite.

I had the opportunity to visit France last year. We detoured there on our return from exhibiting in Russia to visit a very special artist, Martine-Alison (http://alison.livegalerie.com/). I'd been communicating with her for several years and she is to this day quite a dear friend. I painted a series of the medieval village of Perouges. It was a very special day when Martine-Alison walked the streets with us. I'll never forget the feeling. The sun was bright and warm and it lit up the old stone as I had only seen in pictures. We walked and giggled and practically danced our way around every turn taking an enormous amount of pictures! Ivy hung like garland from buildings and roses grew out of the cobble stone ground. Flower pots were tucked in everywhere. I was in an artist's dream.

The sights were grand! Giant window shutters hinged at the bottom dropped down to form shelves where people sold their goods. They were instant counters. Mike bought a sugar cookie that was baked in pizza shape and sold in wedges. The smell from this tiny little bakery filled the air. Mike claims it was the best cookie he ever ate. Somehow I think the whole ambiance around that cookie combined to make it the best, but he claims not. (French cooking... it was probably the butter!) Suddenly Martine-Alison slipped us into an unmarked door. It was dark and a narrow winding staircase attached to the stone wall led us down into a cellar. Not an ordinary cellar. A wine cellar! The lights were amber making the dark wood glow in such richness. At the long bar was a friendly gentleman who offered us tiny glasses of wine to taste. Along the walls were cases and cases of wine invitingly displayed like tiny little still life's. Of course we purchased a bottle for later...

My memories and delight for this place are still very vivid. What other art would match this series? It is so unlike my seascapes from Maine and Cape Cod. I chose to match the softness and the feeling. I've added meandering garden pieces and a special one I painted this fall in a magical garden in Ireland. I'm pleased with the international flare this exhibition took on. Take an idea or a feeling as your starting point and let it lead you somewhere, on a journey. A famous singer song writer said that about writing songs. Its the same with art and today with selecting a group for an exhibition. Don't try to plan it all out in the beginning. Start with a feeling and let the journey happen. The result will be far richer and the little surprises that occur along the way will make you smile.

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.