Two interesting invitations lately:  one is to join the group, Artists for Conservation, an international group, based in Canada. From  their website (link in Places I Like at the right) “The organization’s mission is to support wildlife and habitat conservation, biodiversity, sustainability and environmental education through art that celebrates our natural heritage.”

Maps We Carry, 2009, oil on canvas & wood, 15″x 15″ (at Cole Pratt Gallery)

The other invitation is from assistant curator Claire D’Alba of the Art in Embassies Program to particpate in that program by lending a couple of paintings for the residence of the ambassador to Romania (link at right.) It seems the new ambassador is from Alabama, and one of my delta scenes that represents his home state might also make him feel a little more at home.  It’s an honor, though tying up two paintings for two and a half years is difficult.  But I’ve commited to do it–and I will certainly be in good company with all the other artists the program has shown in the past.

Something about turning fifty has triggered all kinds of changes in my life! One is that I’ve felt a strong urge to teach. I’ve been asked about offering workshops, and want to do that at some time in the future. In the meantime, I approached the University of South Alabama’s Continuing Education department, and have been working with Sue Allison in that office to develop a course aimed at beginners. (It starts September 24, runs for six weeks and I learned yesterday that there is room for only one more student.) I plan to teach still life using the underpainting and glazing technique I learned many years ago from Jack Dempsey, the late, great professor of painting at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Later I may offer landscape painting, but right now I want to test my theory that anybody on the street can walk in and learn the craft of painting. Kind of like learning a song on the piano–you can do it if someone is right there telling you how–and you’re willing to practice.

Each session is only two hours long and so I’ve been testing ways to get the basic ideas across efficiently. One of these ways will probably include some slides of the various stages the painting goes through from start to finish. To do that, I’ve been exploring Power Point and Adobe’s Captivate programs and thinking about how to supplement what I am saying and doing, but not repeat myself.

While I paint in a very traditional way, I love discovering ways technology can assist the art-making process! In my own work, I’ve added a monitor and laptop to my studio setup in the past year and appreciate how I can zoom in on details, darken or lighten areas, and color correct immediately. Of course, photography is not nature, so I make drawings and color notes as well. But the minute changes in a cloud formation are impossible to capture any other way–so it’s a wonderful tool.

left: Where We Are,  oil on canvas & wood, 15″ x 15″

right: History, Revisited, oil on canvas & wood, 15″ x 15″

Places East of Here, no. 14, oil on canvas, 60″ x 60″

I’ve had some recent requests for large paintings lately–large for me, anyway.  After a long period of making smaller paintings, I’m reminded of the stamina needed to get through a piece that takes weeks, rather than days, to complete.  This is currently hanging at the Eichold Gallery at Spring Hill College in Mobile, as part of the Green 10 exhibit.  As the name implies, it’s an environmentally themed show featuring work by: Raine Bedsole, Alan Gerson, Fred Lawyer, Karoline Schleh, Greg Shelnutt, Dave Truesdale, Casey Downing, Jr., Rachel Wright, & Tony Wright.  The show runs through September 25th.

From the statement I gave to Mobile Press Register’s arts editor, Thomas Harrison:  “Two of the paintings in this show (Places East of Here, no. 14 & History, Revisited) are inspired by areas along the causeway that I’ve been photographing for the past twenty-five years.  I’ve noticed changes occurring from sediment flowing into the bay and also damage from recent storms.  But my paintings are more about the beauty I find there, so maybe the environmental message suggested by the show’s title slips into the viewer’s consciousness under the radar, so to speak.

The third painting has a large area of very green banana trees and a crumbling New Orleans street in the foreground. Poor, lovely city; when I moved there in 2000, Bill Finch warned me to take my Stauter boat.  Unfortunately, he was right. I chose this painting, Late Music on Dante Street, for the show because of the obvious color note, and, despite recent efforts to protect it, the city seems doomed.

As for the show’s title, well, that word “green” has really been twisted into the latest nom de correctness, hasn’t  it?  But in this case, it’s a good choice.”

right:     Late Music on Dante Street, oil on canvas & wood, 15″ x 15″

Wish no. 3, oil on panel 12″ x 16″

So the article about my paintings is finally out!  The article is titled,  Injecting Sophisticated Drama: Painting Skies & Coasts with Delicate Brushstrokes. It’s author, John R. Kemp, is the author of numerous books and magazine articles on the arts and a deputy director of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
There’s a link to the magazine website in the web places I like column on the right of this page.

Rice Creek winter II, 6″ x 6″, oil on panel

I’m still adjusting to the change in perspective.  The proportion of land  to sky has greatly shifted with this lower viewpoint from a kayak.  It allows for more detail in the trees and water, but the skies are less dominant.   Since the paintings are about the mood of a place, and I give so much importance to the role of sky for this function, I wonder if it’s the most effective way to go about capturing this area.   On the other hand, I also paint about how small we are in this world of ours, and I really feel that in this painting.

Rice Creek I, oil on panel, 6″ x 6″

The first in a series of studies for larger works.  Rice Creek is part of the Mobile, or Tensaw Delta, that empties into Mobile Bay.  A kind friend alerted me to its possibilities as subject matter this past winter.  I’ve always been interested in how landscape is obscured by airborne water–whether fog, or spray from an irrigation sprinkler in a cornfield.  The fresh green of spring will probably divert me from the moodiness of the fog, but it continues to intrigue me.

The garden needs it, but three gray mornings in a row tend to sink me a little. But I’ve just received a delightful email from Bob Bahr, who is managing editor at American Artist magazine.  Attached to his note was PDF file preview of the article on my paintings that will be in the June 2009 issue.

Being interviewed and reviewing a writer’s comments on my work (by John R. Kemp, who is a regular contributor) was illuminating. I was amazed by how Mr. Kemp took my random thoughts and digressions and handed me back a flowing narrative. A learning experience, his expert feedback and insights like a beautiful tray of hors d’oeuvres. I’m looking at both recent and older paintings with fresh thoughts. It’s an encouraging thing to be recognized, and it’s also a good time to pause and think about what’s next.

On the horizon: an invitation to be in a group exhibition of women photographers at the Mobile Museum of Art as well as a show of my own!

Baldwin Storefront, 5″ x 5″ oil on panel

Maybe it’s the colder weather, but close work appeals to me now.  Paintings 5″x5″ or 5″x7″ of quirky buildings around town: sort of anti-postcard views.  They could emerge later as larger paintings–but the tiny details of painted letters on storefront windows and signs, louvered doors, looped wire at the roofline, seem better suited to small scale painting.  Miniature work has always fascinated me;  the trompe l’oeil images on my painted frames are an example.  I haven’t done many of those lately and missed the concentrated attention they require.  It’s a break from a big sky or the expanses of marsh grasses.

I discovered I’m not the only one thinking along these lines. A couple of months ago, I received a prospectus for an exhibition of miniature painting here at Dr. Java Coffee in Mobile. I missed the deadline this year, but hope to participate next year.

Other small works may be seen on my website: www.susandowningwhite.com