Last month, before we left for our "best-ever road trip", I entered three of my paintings in the Toe River Arts Council's Juried Art Show. This is a new show for TRAC and artists from a 5 state region were invited to apply. Today, I found out that TRAC received nearly 150 entries and two of my paintings were accepted. WooHoo!!!!!
If you've been following my blog for a while, you may remember the painting I was working on two years ago at this time - "River". This one is 24" wide x 36" long. It took a long time to paint, but I came to think of it as a journey. "River" is a painting that seems to draw people closer and holds them for a while. I particularly like the way the water has an actual shape - it isn't flat. That shape gives it movement and makes it come alive. And I love looking through the water to the bottom.
Inspired by "River", I decided to explore more water paintings. It was winter time and my photo shoot at the river resulted in two paintings with a totally different palette than "River".
This is the first one, "Winter River Rocks". This is my other painting that was accepted into the TRAC Juried Art show. It is 8" x 10", oil on canvas. This painting was just as difficult as "River", but being much smaller, was less time consuming. "Winter River Rocks" seems to be as much about the light on the water as the rocks under it. When I paint, I tend to pick my colors using as much intuition as color theory. And I like to just get started and see what happens. This was another painting, too, that was fun to just get lost in. Rather than thinking "rocks under water", I carefully considered shapes, values and colors.
The second painting, "Winter River Rocks II", didn't make the cut. But I really like this one, so I'll include it here. There is just something about this one that I'm particularly drawn to. I think it might be the ice - and the way the rocks have definite wet and dry spots. It is as if I could reach my hand into the painting, break the ice and grab a rock.
The TRAC Juried Art Show is being held at the TRAC Gallery in Spruce Pine, NC. It will open on October 17th and be open through November 14th. On Friday, October 23rd there will be an awards ceremony from 5 to 7pm. If you are in the Western North Carolina area, I'd love to see you there.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
susan
www.susangarriques.com
www.baseboardmice.com
susan@susangarriques.com
If you've been following my blog for a while, you may remember the painting I was working on two years ago at this time - "River". This one is 24" wide x 36" long. It took a long time to paint, but I came to think of it as a journey. "River" is a painting that seems to draw people closer and holds them for a while. I particularly like the way the water has an actual shape - it isn't flat. That shape gives it movement and makes it come alive. And I love looking through the water to the bottom.
 |
| River, oil on canvas, 24" x 36" |
Inspired by "River", I decided to explore more water paintings. It was winter time and my photo shoot at the river resulted in two paintings with a totally different palette than "River".
This is the first one, "Winter River Rocks". This is my other painting that was accepted into the TRAC Juried Art show. It is 8" x 10", oil on canvas. This painting was just as difficult as "River", but being much smaller, was less time consuming. "Winter River Rocks" seems to be as much about the light on the water as the rocks under it. When I paint, I tend to pick my colors using as much intuition as color theory. And I like to just get started and see what happens. This was another painting, too, that was fun to just get lost in. Rather than thinking "rocks under water", I carefully considered shapes, values and colors.
Winter River Rocks
oil on canvas, 8" x 10"
The second painting, "Winter River Rocks II", didn't make the cut. But I really like this one, so I'll include it here. There is just something about this one that I'm particularly drawn to. I think it might be the ice - and the way the rocks have definite wet and dry spots. It is as if I could reach my hand into the painting, break the ice and grab a rock.
 |
| Winter River Rocks II oil on canvas, 8" x 10" |
Thanks so much for stopping by.
susan
www.susangarriques.com
www.baseboardmice.com
susan@susangarriques.com
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