Susanna's Sketchbook

July 4, 2009

July 1, 2009

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Now for a bit of show & tell this morning... Last year, I joined a round robin with nine other artists from across the United States.  Sandy, the hostess and a talented artist herself, came up with the theme of Royal Confections and sent each of us a box containing a styrofoam doll figure, a royal-related dvd, bundles of tea flowers and a couple little bottles of confetti and champagne with a pretty glass. She asked each of us to choose a royal figure, real or imaginary, and to start a sketchbook and add the basic details to our doll/"royal". Then we were to send our royal, sketchbook and the dvd to the next artist on the list who would then add another detail to the doll, add a page or more to the sketchbook, and watch the dvd before sending it on to the next artist on the list. And so on and so on until everyone had added their own personal details and pages and all the royals were complete.

It's interesting to see how the royals and their sketchbooks evolve after each visit with an artist. A theme or a narrative begins to take shape. Recently, the Tea Queen arrived on my doorstep. I can see the hands and thoughts of the previous artists imprinted on her body...

and her sketchbook has become a travel journal.

In keeping with the ideas of tea and travel, I created a story about the Queen's visit to Chinatown in New York City.

We began by walking down Mott Street, where the fish market is located.
 

She had been given directions in an envelope to find the door...


with a certain symbol painted on the front.

She was to go inside and find this woman, pay her, and in return, the woman would give her...

a tea reading. On the last pages, I wrote out directions on how to give a tea reading which, come to think about it, would make a fun post.

I also made the Tea Queen a hand(tea)bag.

And now she is off to visit Stephanie in Colorado.

To see other details and sketchbook pages that I've made for the Royal Confections round robin, look under Categories, Royal Confections.

June 29, 2009

This past weekend I did something that I have never done before. It's such a simple thing, too, something that many of you have done before - and done many times. I would always back away from doing it. What was it?

Hiking through the woods on my own.

Sure, I've gone mountain biking, hiking, and I've even stayed overnight in the woods before but I was always with someone else. It was fear of the unknown, who was possibly out there, that kept me from something as simple as hiking through the woods by myself. It's so odd when I think about it; I was a carefree kid who ran barefoot and wild, t-shirts stained with berries and grass, during the summer. How and when did that change happen?

From childhood through adolescence and into our adult lives, we are told to be wary of strangers, of odd men with terrible thoughts. Bad things can happen to women who walk alone down a dark street, late a night. Bodies are found in the woods.

I contemplated whether to write of this fear on my blog. I'll admit that I am a bit embarrassed by my fear of walking in the woods alone, but then, I would never, ever make light of someone else's fear of flying. All of us have our own personal fears to overcome.

For three hours on Saturday, I walked alone into a lush forest along the edge of a pond

and onto a dirt road next to a farmer's cornfield. Yes, I know, it's not a wilderness. One step at a time, though!

 

 

I'll admit that there were a few times when I thought to myself, am I within screaming distance to another human being? What if I come across a creep? Are there bears out here? And then realizing that I was near a town called Bear! Do I turn around and go back? Or do I forge ahead and finish this trail? I finished. Hurray! A little, personal accomplishment.

June 26, 2009

I am married to an adventurous man. Tell J that he'll be spending the day dangling from a rope on the edge of a cliff or submerged under water without a scuba tank, and he'll be waiting by the door to get started before you even finish the sentence.
 
I have to admit that the freediving had me sending prayers upstairs. Dear God, my crazy husband is at it again... The perk, however, was seeing J in that tight scuba suit - hello!
 
Then there was the kitesurfing. Another tight suit - hurray!

 

And kayaking... No suit necessary for the skinnydipping that came afterwards.

 

Then we were hiking in the woods which in hindsight, must have been part of his master plan to get me mountainbiking ('cause two feet aren't enough! Let's add wheels!). The first time my husband took me mountainbiking, I fell into a lake - okay, it was a very large muddy puddle - surrounded by poison ivy. I cried. I stormed back to the car. Yep, I was a wimp. By mid-summer, however, I loved zinging through the woods and feeling proud that I was strong enough to cycle up a steep hill or over a fallen log without stopping. I wouldn't have done that without J's encouragement.

And again, there were his tight little shorts - hallelujah!

This summer, J started entering cycling tours; namely, charity tours. So far he's entered three - the first for a local food bank, the second for cancer research and the third for autism awareness. It's so much fun watching J do something he absolutely loves. His whole being lights up.

Happy Birthday, J! I love you!

Photo credit: The first two photographs were taken by our friend and a fellow adventurer, David Nesbitt.

June 25, 2009

On Wednesday morning, I opened my email and found a message from lovely Christina. When I opened it, I found this photograph:

My first thought upon seeing the "Share Your Dreams With Someone" winged messenger attached to the chain link fence, in front of a construction site was of the many people in this country who have lost their homes or are still fighting to keep their homes since the housing crisis began. Such stress, such heartbreak. I feel for anyone struggling to hold onto the place they call Home.

Then I went to Christina's blog and read the post that accompanies her photograph. Oh my.

This is an excerpt:

Have I ever told you there is a foster home/school, not too far from where I live? Each time I pass this home filled with children, I say a prayer for them. Inside my heart breaks, I want to hug each one of them, and tell them... it will get better, don't give up.

Ironically there is a construction site (across the way) where there are beautiful lofts being built. Homes.

I noticed the open staircase from a distance... through the fence. The sun danced on the steps and called my name, at the same time. I listened. I turned the wings toward the foster home play ground, with hope that each child will dream big, be blessed and occasionally notice this same sunset, that called my name.

Needless to say, I was moved by Christina's post. Moved to tears. Thank you, Christina.

June 23, 2009

The rider in Central Park, NYC.

June 20, 2009

One of my favourite things to do in New York City is window shopping and the window designers at Bergdorf Goodman never cease to inspire me with their displays. These are few closeups of their current windows:

 

 

 

June 18, 2009

On Tuesday, I caught a train into New York to meet up with a few friends. Our destination: the art exhibition, Life After Black: The Visual Journals of Barron Storey at the Society of Illustrators.

There were two large rooms on the first floor and in the basement, filled with Storey's original sketchbooks. Most of the time at art exhibitions, artist sketchbooks are behind plexiglass or the pages are photographed for display; they are certainly not available for visitors to pick up and peruse through by hand. Barron Storey's sketchbooks - and there were so many! - were open and available to anyone visiting the exhibition. I still can't get over that. That's generous of him.

Storey's sketchbooks were filled with ink and paint sketches and thoughts that I found to be quite dark and dramatic.
 

His sense of humour was also quite dark...but had me grinning, nonetheless.
 

This was my favourite.

He also had the neatest handwriting.

I also have to tell you about the Society of Illustrators which I think is an unknown gem in New York - well, at least not as well known as the larger galleries in the city.

The Society of Illustrators was founded on February 1, 1901, by a group of nine artists and one advising businessman. According to the Society, "The first monthly dinners were attended by such prominent illustrators as Howard Pyle, Maxfield Parrish, N.C.Wyeth, Charles Dana Gibson, Frederic Remington, James Montgomery Flagg, Howard Chandler Christy and special guests like Mark Twain and Gloria Swanson."

There's certainly a feeling of entering a club when visiting the Society of Illustrators, rather than entering an upscale gallery like the MoMA. I think that is part of its charm. On the third floor is a beautiful cafe open only to the Society's members. Ah well. Still, it's pretty cool to see original illustrations for the WWI and WWII Red Cross and from housewife magazines of the 1930's and 40's hanging on the walls on the other floors. I thought this illustration in an evening's programme was terrific:

What really caught my eyes were the old photographs hanging on the second floor, by by the restrooms and kitchen.

Way back when, the Society used to hold costume galas. The theme of this one is the circus. Not all the revelers are in focus which I think adds nostalgia and magic when imagining the going-ons during that night. Do you see the couple smooching? Do you see the giant holding the two children (or little adults)? There's a woman in the back of the room who is looking for someone (a clown, a fire-eater, a lion tamer?) and so she missed being photographed. Oh dear. That poor trapeze artist, axe juggler, or knife thrower's assistant.

 

I don't know if the Society of Illustrators hosts costume galas anymore but they do have Sketch Nights. An evening of sketching live models while listening to live jazz music sounds like the perfect date to me!

June 17, 2009

Several weeks ago, Angie Byers sent me a few photographs of winged messengers flying about Moorsville, North Carolina.

The photographs of the bench are in Mooresville, NC, outside of the Mooresville Artist Guild. As someone who formerly drew and painted, I thought it an important place to leave "Your Opinion Matters." So many artists are pushed by family and teachers to be an artist that they are not. After many years of struggling with art, I let it go. I now embrace my photography as my art. Instead of being disatisfied with my brush, I can paint a picture with my lens. I am at peace and I know that ONLY MY Opinion Matters!

The photographs of the Triumph TR6 are based in my love affair with cars. I seem to be drawn to the ones that are left in an abandoned state (usually by an owner who will not give them away or sell them). It is a heartbreak for me to see so many cars just wasting away when there are thousands of people who would be happy to taken them. I love British convertibles. Cars are a constant in my photography. I think that my happiest days of being with my camera are the days when I am able to photograph cars!!
 

The "You are beautiful" winged messenger was left on a mirror at The Cracked Teapot in Taylorsville, NC. The photos you see are from a little girl's Tea Party. Anyone who walked through the door could see that they were beautiful.

Your photographs are beautiful, Angie. Thank you! To see more winged messengers, placed and photographed by readers, check out "Susanna's Winged Messengers" in my sidebar (right).

June 12, 2009

Elizabeth has brought out her favourite plates today and has asked her readers to show their own favourites in a blog post. Admittedly, I'm more of a cup and bowl kinda gal. My favourite coffee cup was given to me by my birth-aunt and features a Parisian-looking cat named Sebastian on the front. I'm also very fond of my little collection of vintage teacups with winking faces on the front. Each of the teacups remind me of the characters in Joanne Harris's book, Chocolat.

In keeping with the theme of Elizabeth's Favourite Plate Day, though, I am going to cheat and show you one of my favourite bowls that is so flat it could be a plate.
 

I made this blue "plate" in a basic pottery class a few years back. Yes, it's completely cooked and wobbles when placed on a flat surface, and there are bit of jagged pottery bits on the bottom, showing up through the glaze. Perfect, it is not. What I like about it, though, is that it reminds me of the New Jersey shore, one of my favourite places in this state.

It also reminds me of a time in my life, when I first moved to this country and didn't know a soul. I was incredibly homesick for my old life back in Canada. Thankfully, a month after moving to New Jersey, I met my friend, Rena. She'll always have a special place in my heart.

I wanted a community of friends and J suggested that I take a pottery class with him. It would be a creative outlet for us (mainly me) and we (meaning me) would no doubt make new friends there. He was right. I met amazing women in the class, including my friends, Jodi and Moe, who I sometimes refer to as my "MoJo". And as it turned out, J became the star of the basic pottery class that year.