Susanna's Sketchbook

March 14, 2012: Inspired By, an art exhibition

These two paintings on plaster are currently showing at Susan Schwake's gallery, Artstream Gallery and Studios, in New Hampshire. They are part of the group art exhibition, Inspired By, which includes artwork created by Susan's young art students and by artists who contributed to her new book, Art Lab for Kids: 53 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper and Mixed Media (published by Quarry Books). The book is also available through Amazon.

Inspired By will be on exhibit at Artstream Gallery from March 3 - 31, 2012.

And starting this Friday, I will be hosting a giveaway for a free copy of Art Lab for Kids!

February 22, 2012: Girl on the Beach (Summer Postcard)

And here it is...the full, final version of the painting I started a couple weeks ago. As you can see, I added an image of a vintage postcard and applied a final white wash over the entire surface. Painting on plaster is still new to me and my inner critic piped up here and there but overall, it was an interesting process, cracking, etching, sanding, scraping, and painting onto the plaster surface. I'm fascinated with the cracked porcelain texture in particular.

Btw, I learned these techniques in Stephanie Lee and Judy Wise's online Plaster Studio course.

February 15, 2012: Plaster Painting (and practicing patience when creating art)

Here's a closeup of a painting I've been working on this week.

I've been trying to get back into the swing of creating artwork, specifically painting onto plaster. Admittedly, there have been more than a few frustrating moments that resulted in a second painting being thrown into the garbage but there have also been times when I've thought, hey, this looks interesting, let's try it again.  I like the chipped tea cup look on the girl's dress in this painting, for instance. Come to think of it, it kind of looks like the surface of a seashell, too. And the scraped plaster gives the overall effect of a weathered sign.

Sigh.

I just need to let go and be patient with the creative process.