Not Proud

Several weeks ago I "had" to finish a piece for the Members' Show at Hudson, Wisconsin's Phipps Center for the Arts. I'd been playing with some long narrow canvases (12" x 36). Painting rows of colorful frolicking bears... They were turning out nicely. So I got bored.

Because I like paper even more than I like paint I seldom toss out scraps created when making work.

And I DO want to use up art supplies (hahahhaha).

So I knew that a collage and paint piece was the way to go for the Phipps" show.

Here is a photo of early progress.

It got better.
And then it got worse.

When the piece returns at exhibition's end I plan to make it Batter  - or at least Very Good. Even now it is not Awful, but it is not Wonderful.

I prefer Wonderful Art.

To be continued.....

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

P.S. - We will have one of the long acrylic paintings at the Brighton Beach Art Festival this Saturday ( August 1st). Come visit us at this small yet lovely and WELL-attended art fair just north of Duluth, Minnesota.

Little Posts Had Best Add Up!

To make that 30 post personal challenge it's time to crank out the typing!

Whole bunch of Baby Steps coming up...

One of my favorite quotes from "The Little Zen Companion":

Easy is right. Begin right
And you are easy.
Continue easy and you are right.
The right way to go easy
Is to forget the right way
And forget that the going is easy.
                - Chuang-Tzu

Of course, I forget this every day....

Till later -
Fare-thee-well,

Sue

Two a Days!

The ordered art supplies have arrived!
The new art supplies have arrived.....

So production on greeting cards can continue. Good for business. Bad for "art."

No Minions here any more. Grown tykes have own lives and real jobs.

I miss my Minions...

So am listening to the Kansas City Royals playing the Pirates. KC is winning. They used to be Terrible. Now they are Good.

Some kind of Life Lesson here. If you keep on going you might get better. Or, of course, worse.

It's a chance one has to take.

The keeping going is important. though now it's time to stop.


And keep going.

Fare-thee-well,
And, Ely, here we come!

Sue

Garden

I can't believe how many tomatoes there are in the jungle garden.
Still haven't made pesto...

Mosquitoes are sucking me dry.

The sunflower plants come from the left-over seed in the bottom of the birds' winter supply.

There are still unplanted areas. Will they be put to use?

Green Warm is So Wonderful.

On to the "more important" stuff of the day.

Sigh-
Sue

So Much for THIS Challenge -

Challenges are made to be met - and I feel, though there is still TIME - I'd best to typing SOMETHING.

How can days zing by so quickly? Morning thoughts contain ideas for this blog.

Then the Reality of Day's Tasks happen.

BLOG!! Make it Priority One!!!
But getting that new whole sale account is more important.
Filling that greeting card order is more important.
Getting in that much-needed week-late three mile hike is more important.

And then Today is Tomorrow.
For so many days in a row.

Blog or make pesto?
Blog or to the book-keeping?
Blog or do the laundry?

Oh, and don't forget to work on new web-site!!!
(I keep forgetting to work on new web-site...)

O.K.
I've have typed something here.
Any word or image counts.

Maybe tomorrow the challenge within a challenge will be: type for five minutes.

Many many many many baby steps to irritate readers?

Perhaps.

Ever onward.
Back to work.

This is a lie.
I will return to making greeting cards.

But it's a reminder of why I love to make art.

Fare-thee-well,
Until the morrow!

- Sue
PS - We'll be in good old Booth 15 this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, July 24 -26, at the Ely Blueberry Festival in Ely, MN. Come visit!!

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Too Much Culture - Not Enough Time!

Rather than spending all day Making Art I took a few hours off this evening to hang out with others who also Make Art.

The first event took place at Gallery 120 in River Falls, Wisconsin. Two friends who are photographers are part of exhibition featuring a total of four folks who make excellent images.

About half of the work was from abroad - Europe and South Africa in particular. As a person who has yet to cross an ocean I am still amazed by the many humans who take world-wide travel as a given.

Other subjects were beautiful close-ups of flowers and insects, and the ice caves in the Apostle Islands.

Each photographer had mastered topic, and I could still be there staring at the jaguar staring off frame - guarding its just-downed zebra foal while mare and herd mate look at big cat from hill above.

The artists each were invited to talk about their work, and all added to the specialness of the evening. I find even a few sentences to be eye-opening when then returning to view a picture. And hearing some of background stories made particular photographs even more powerful.

Having enjoyed both wine and coffee at that Opening I was both awake and relatively relaxed when arriving back in Stillwater for the ArtReach Members' Show Opening. No wine please, but Sparkling Water will be wonderful. A total of fifty works filled the two gallery spaces. The opening was well underway and very well attended. A magnificent bronze piece by Jim Schoop, depicting a local Gypsy Dancer, was the highlight of the exhibit. It handily won Best in Show and will probably win the Peoples' Choice award on closing night.

We helped finish off the brownies, and chatted till close of event.

Then it was time to come home and get back to work....
But - first there was Nervous Parenting to do. Daughter Tara was competing at the San Diego ComicCon's Her Universe Fashion Show. Her dress, inspired by the Star Wars Death Star had seventy-two hours of hand-beading, LED lights, and accompanying X-Wing Fighter Clutch Purse. It was magnificent! Just not magnificent enough... Tara placed Third out of twenty-five competitors. So texting and Face-booking and long-distance hugs and You Did Greats and all will be wells were typed and typed.

THEN I HAD to get to work. So mixed up some paint, scribbled "Simply put - I'm Happy Here" on the bottom of a painting, and decided that was it for the evening...

Tomorrow's coming WAY too soon, and there's "too much" to do in final prep for Grand Marais Art Festival, but what gets done gets done and what doesn't doesn't. Sometimes Zen practice helps lots - or maybe it's just the REALLY TIRED kicking in.

Ever onward. And Be Kind.
I have accomplished Today...

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Never Too Late

That darned "30 Posts Personal Challenge."
I am tired and semi-cranky and usually am conked out by this time of night.
Not tonight.
Accidentally took a sort of nap around 6:30  P.M. and am now sort of awake.

Curses!
I am NOT a Night Person. I am a Five A.M. person.

So have been matting reproductions and making greeting cards.
"Monkey work" we call it.
The brain is mostly on the side-lines. Tonight it is listening to an episode of "The Mind of a Chef."
I love shows dealing with food and eating.
I am not one for shows about re-furbishing houses.
I have mixed emotions about shows about hoarding....

Now this piece is long enough for me to consider it a Post.
Disagree, if you choose.

Tomorrow is another day.
Another day. Another Chance. Another post.

Here's a scrap of ink and words from 2014:

Fare-thee-well!
Another day toward Grand Marais!!
Booth 5A - here we come!

Sue

www.suerowe.con
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios