Art Books

I have some new art books that I just love and want to share them with you. They are Art Revolution by Lisa L. Cyr, Exhibition36 by Susan Tuttle, Image Transfer Workshop by Darlene Olivia McElroy, Printmaking & Mixed Media by Dorit Elisha. I also have the new Mary Todd Beam book, but cannot remember the name of it. I loaned it to someone already, so I can't run into he studio and look at the name. All of these books have useful information in them, but Mary Todd Beam's two books are my favorites.

Like most artists, I rarely actually read my art books cover to cover. I look at the pictures and if smething strikes my fancy, I read about how it was done, mark the page in the book and move the book to my studio. Then it sits there for weeks until I am tired of moving it around. Rarely do I actually try the techniques I read about. That is something I am trying to change. I have promised myself that I will try at least one technique from each book that I buy. Of the books listed above, I have tried techniques from two of them. I guess I shouldn't say that I never use the information from the books, because I do internalize some of the information and find myself using a variation of it sometime in the future.

I have discovered that art books about mediums other than those that I work with, usually still have something to offer me. I regularly buy the magazine Cloth, Paper, Scissors and often find techniques that I can use in my work even though many of the techniques are designed for fabric.

Something a Little Different

This one is a little larger than I usually paint. It is 24x36 and $900. I am having trouble naming it. If you have any suggestions, please send them to me.

Nan Robkin's Paper Making Class

I took a fun class today with Nan Robkin. We decorated papers to use in collages, books, whatever. I still have purple hands and think they may look like that for awhile. We used paint, ink, dye, pastels, graphite, colored pencil, watercolor, crayon and a lot of stuff I can't remember to decorate papers. The papers we put these mediums on were filter paper (which is a medical supply that you can buy at Creation Station), tissue paper, watercolor paper, and paper towels. I got into using all the fascinating texture plates that Nan had and ended up spending most of my time doing that rather than learning all the other possibilities. I made enough papers to last me for years, but I bet I will run out and buy some of the texture plates before a week goes by and continue making papers.

I also attended the ArtistsConnect meeting today. We had demonstrations by Janis Graves and Kelly Tissot. Janis discussed working with pastels and Kelly demonstrated her method of drip painting.

So it has been an art filled day, and I plan to spend tomorrow painting as well.

New Paintings

I seem to have gone through a flurry of painting lately. I was beginning to wonder if inspiration was not going to strike this time. These are a couple of my recent pieces. I have returned to exceptionally shiny finishes on these two.

The new website is live now and you can visit it at www.suerobertson.net.

New Website

Hooray for me! I have just finished putting together my own website that I will be able to keep up to date myself. I used FolioLink.com and a little help from my friend Jesse Young. It was frustrating at times, but I just kept at it until I got it all figured out. I haven't gone live with it yet as I will need Jesse to help me with that. I never imagined I would be able to construct my website, even using a template, so this is a huge accomplishment for non-techy me. I will let you know when you can actually see the new website.

Alone in a Crowd

Lynn Scott's Salon

Last night I joined 13 experimental Edmonds artists in a salon showing of new works. It was a wonderful evening at the home of Lynn & Randy Scott. The art was fabulous and so was the company. I showed two new paintings, which you can see here. The largest of the two sold last night at its very first showing. Hooray!

Matthew Robert Salon

On Sunday I hung a show at Matthew Robert Salon, owned by Matthew & Alicia Armstrong. They have been hanging art in their gallery for the last year, and have been selling very well. I love it that they love art and want to share it with their customers. Alicia's mother bought two of my small paintings before we actually hung them! Kathleen Johnson, a fellow artist, suggested that art be rotated in this salon, and she selects the artists. Thank you Kathleen. A couple of the paintings showing at Matthew Robert Salon are above this entry.

Local Color

Saturday night was the opening for my figurative show at Local Color. It was not particularly well attended, probably because of the heat. Local Color does not have air conditioning on because the front is open to street. It is located across the street from Pike Place Market, so it is always an interesting venue. While we were there a wedding party walked down the street with umbrellas like they do in New Orleans. Instead of jazz though, they had bagpipe players. It was quite a sight.

My favorite painting in the show sold before I got there for the opening. I sold another piece to a couple from Israel who are traveling the United States for two months. I now have paintings in Israel, France and England. I can say I am an international artist! The two pieces sold are above this entry, and the one traveling to Israel is the second one, titled Indulge Every Day. Although you cannot see it in the image, the dancer has a tulle ruff around his neck.