Such a "Dub"...

If there's a fruitcake award, please give it to me quick!

I just wrote this post about my painting problem. As I was writing, I decided to fix it and post the finished version at the bottom. Unfortunately in my haste and a cup of coffee short of awake, I failed to photograph it prior to fixing my problem... So now I have this post written about a painting issue, without a photo to go along with it! Sorry... You may want to stop reading now. I even joked about deleting this post. Maybe I should.

I'm finally back in front of my easel! Being everywhere was fun, but getting back to painting feels like me.

The past two days, I've been working to finish up this painting. I'll be delivering it to the Blue Heron Gallery in Cape Cod, in another week. The pressure is on. Pressure to finish up some lingering canvases. Unfortunately my best work isn't executed under pressure...

As I was painting my figure, I was happy with the results. She appeared very striking. I ended by doing her reflection and deepening the bottom water. My brush danced around in juicy shades of purple and blue. (I just bought three new blues and playing with new mixtures had me overjoyed, like a child with new toys!) The oranges were dynamite and sang among the darks. Playing was fun...

Did I get carried away with my new found colors? Did I fail to see what was happening? Maybe I was just away from the easel for too long? Luka Bloom was singing in my ears and I felt so relaxed and happy. My brush was on automatic... You know that's when your true spirit is releasing itself on the canvas. Your deepest self is being exposed. Revealed. Its the recipe for your best work. So why didn't it work, I wonder???

The bottom overpowers the figure. She no longer seems to capture the attention. She's fighting with the reflection and your eye doesn't know where to go. I stared at her for a long time last night, trying to figure out (no pun intended...) how to fix it. What does it need? When I crop out the bottom, she pops out perfectly.

Such a dilemma...

My thought has been to darken some of the top left. However, my intensions weren't to have a dark painting. I was fighting with myself. What to do? What not to do? Blogging is great, isn't it? As I sit here evaluating it for you, the solution I seek reveals itself. I have also been annoyed by the interrupted bands of white. Did I need to connect them somehow? No. I don't think so. I think my problem lies in the contrast of the reflected skirt with the dark water. Though I think its lovely, its also what's pulling the eye away from the figure. No need to darken the top. By dulling her reflected skirt, it will solve the "white blotch" problem at the same time.

Funny how its so easy for me to see what's needed with my students work, but often difficult with my own. It has to be that passion. That attachment we get with every stroke and color we painted. Ideas we tried to execute. Though failures at times, are hard to abandon. I'm happy to see dulling her skirt is all I need to do...

Knowing that, I could delete this whole post and go fix her quickly. But I think its better as a learning tool to post her as is. (Such a Dub...)

On the bright side, I was very happy with the colors dancing around her feet. She's looking down and I just want to watch her splashing feet too!

(My sincere apologies for botching this up... Its amazing you actually read to the end. Thank you for putting up with my stupidity.) Sometimes we just need to laugh at ourselves...

Posted: "Carefree" Original oil painting, 36x12" painted-edged gallery wrapped canvas by Susan Roux

Magic tricks

I'm finally back into my "Children at the Beach".

This one has very interesting dry patches striping the reflections. Its been a bit challenging to capture while keeping everything as colorful as I'd like. I'm trying so hard to stay away from having solid-colored bands in the dry parts. I spend as much time squinting at it as I do painting it...

I think its advancing nicely since posting it in Dabble color earlier this month. I like the yellows warming up the reflections.

One of the things I'm enjoying about this series is how in all of them, there is a dimension going down, while at the same time, another is coming forward. Keeping the reflections dropping deep and the ground or water coming towards the viewer as a surface is challenging. Down and forward simultaneously. Its an interesting effect.

The more I develop these dripped-color canvases, the more this effect becomes prominent. I'm really enjoying watching it occur. Its like watching a little magic trick...

Oh color! Lovely color! The things we can do with you. The things you can do for us...

It doesn't always work out as we planned, but don't we have fun trying anyway? What are you having fun doing with color these days? Where is it taking you? Don't get caught in a rut. Shake it up with something unpredictable. The experimenting and exploration is such fun. I love surprises arising on my canvas. Do something different and watch what it does. Watch the colors do magic tricks for you too.

Its in experimenting that we find discovery.

I'm still looking for a title for this painting. I was really hoping you'd help me. Still to this day, the only thing that comes to mind is Little Bulldozer. It just doesn't seem to fit a petite girl in a pink ruffled bathing suit! Your suggestions are greatly appreciated, so please send them along.

Then go have fun experimenting with color!

Posted work in progress by Susan Roux

Reflections

Reflections.

Reflections of life. Reflections of the soul. Reflections of ancestry.

Reflections.

Copying, mimicking, wiggling like echos. Like echos reverberating over and over, quietly without sound. Reflections...

Like recollections in your memory. Like a mirror. Recalling a moment, an idea, an image. Calmly silent.

Add water and like adding music, these quiet images dance in a harmonious symphony! Movement in full color explodes rhythmically. Nature presents us with such marvelous sights.

So marvelous I can't resist painting them...

My "children at the beach" all play in wiggling color. Beauty, energy and innocence combine to capture the reflections of my youth. Could this be my attraction to painting this series? A blur of the past. A carefree time, joyfully playing, mud sculpting and swimming in a world of vivid color unblemished by unkind realities.

The mind wanders. In creativity the soul is exposed on canvas. Secrets are revealed. Tenderness, excitement, boldness and sensitivity surface.

Perhaps all art is a reflection of its creator. It becomes impossible to hide. Its the nature of true creativity. What are you reflecting? What are you revealing about yourself? What are the subjects and colors you use to express it best? Would you pick the same colors today as you would tomorrow if your mood changed?

Think about it.

Reflections... are they echoing you?

Posted work in progress by Susan Roux

Tiny petunias

Mike and I returned from our two week holiday in Ireland with over 6000 photos. I know that sounds excessive, but we like to walk around taking pictures. Fortunately for us, its what we both want to do. I could post a daily picture from there for several years and still have images to spare.

So then I wonder, what makes me chose one image over another to post?

Take this simple image, a flower box of small, late-season, stringy petunias. Why among thousands was this my choice? Much like choosing an image to paint, this one caused a response. This one spoke to me.

The longer I look at it, the more I like it.

I like the fact that the trim is painted in two shades of red. The bright shiny wood slats of the window itself and the neutralized red, almost dirty red, of the sill. Notice how there are flowers in those exact shades growing. There are even soft yellow ones to match the color of the building. The lankiness of the stems create movement that dance my eye throughout the image. Though tiny and almost struggling to hang on, they remain bright and cheerful. Aren't window boxes up-lifting? I've always loved them.

As I observe closer, the reflection becomes impossible to miss. The window sits in shadow, but the reflection is all sunlit.

There in the distance are houses, a canal, small boats and two figures walking engaged in conversation. The easiness of their stride is captured in the reflection, even through the folds of the curtain. This relaxed easiness can be found throughout Ireland. No wonder we returned so relaxed...

I also like the curtain. Though its white, it appears to be a soft blue. If you look at the top image and squint, it pretends to be the sky...

This entire little image is poetry. It has a whole story to tell.

This captivating little window belongs to Monks. Monks is a pub in Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare. Like all the Irish pubs, they had great fish! The Guinness wasn't bad either. (I never knew beer went with fish...)

I think this is why Mike and I like to walk and take photos. Sometimes the neatest ones can only be found when walking slow. Taking time to look at the details is where the real beauty lies.

Kind of reminds me of people...