Susanna's Sketchbook

May 14, 2012: Bloggers in NYC

It seems like weeks since I last wrote a blog post and not the four days it's actually been. Time really does fly when you're having fun! 

Last Wednesday, I caught a train into New York to meet up with my blogging friends, Elizabeth, Karen and Eb, who I hadn't seen in ages, and to finally meet Seth for the first time. We had fun catching up first at Elizabeth and her husband, Robert's place and then over a memorable lunch at ABC Home. "Remember" was displayed in one of the store's windows.

Karen, Eb and Seth are all visual artists, creating beautiful artwork out of found objects. Karen's artwork brings to mind rich textures, (art) history, and spirituality.  Eb's artwork is (often literally) steeped in nature. I'm fascinated with her "rusties". You may have heard of Seth's recent book, The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed. It's an inspiring book filled with insightful interviews and beautiful artwork.

Elizabeth, who always cracks me up laughing with her observations on the world, signed three copies of her new book, New Roof in October, for me and I'll be giving away two of the books in my next post!

April 5, 2012

What a beautiful week we are having here in New Jersey. Blue skies are overhead, fluffy pink-blossomed trees are in the park, even the year's first dandelions are popping up on the lawns. Not that you would get that from looking at the photo above! I took this photograph while walking through one of my favourite local parks. There's a grand old stable on the grounds along with the remains of a sheep pen and a chicken coop. In front of the chicken coop is a gnarly old tree, split in two. There's a ghostly, poetic feeling to the place.

Speaking of poetry, my friend, Elizabeth Wix, has recently released her new book, New Roof in October.  I love the way Elizabeth sees our world and then puts it into words. She's a visual writer; I never imagined "eyes on airplanes" but those words certainly formed an image in my mind after reading her poem of the book's title. Elizabeth is currently giving away two copies of New Roof in October on her blog. The draw is this Saturday so make sure you visit her today!

March 16, 2012: Art Lab for Kids - and a chance to win a free copy of the book!

UPDATE (MARCH 26, 2012): AND THE WINNER IS...

PHOENIX PEACOCK!

Thank you to everyone who entered the draw.

Susan Schwake's new book, Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper and Mixed Media (published by Quarry Books) landed on my doorstep last week. It's a terrific book filled with art lessons that will inspire you and your children to create art projects together.

The lessons include scribble drawings (a game my twin sister and I enjoyed playing when we were kids), watercolor and salt painting, various printmaking techniques and mixed media projects, among others. Each lesson has step-by-step photo instructions, demonstrated by the young students from Susan's Artstream gallery and studios.

Also accompanying each lesson is a section titled Meet the Artist where contemporary artwork that relates to the specific lesson is shown. (An encaustic painting of mine is on page 131.)

Thanks to Susan Schwake and Quarry Books, YOU can win a free copy of Art Lab for Kids!

It's so simple to enter! Just leave a comment on this post between Friday, March 16, 2012 - Sunday, March 25, 2012. On Monday, March 26, I'll draw a name from a hat and notify the winner. Please make sure that you leave a correct, working email address so I can contact you.