The idea for this series was born out of my love of painting small boats and the water that surrounds them. There is such a simple elegance to the form of these boats, with their curves and lines. There are so many nuances to explore in the changing moods of the water that surrounds them… movement, color, transparency, reflections. Years of vacations on the island of Nantucket have provided me with abundant reference, not only in photos, but in sketches and memories. I began painting the series in August while staying at a beach cottage, and I believe that observing and witnessing the changing moods of the sea every day for two weeks enabled me to instill life into the water. It was such a joy to be painting the water in each of these, as I imagined feeling the movement of the water with the brush as I painted.

 

"Blue Stillness" was the first on the easel.  In the early morning on a clear day, the water can be so calm, creating such beautiful reflections of the form of the boat.  A myriad of colors can be seen in the overall blue surface of the water as it mirrors the sky and clouds.  The cat boat is illuminated by the rising sun as it rests upon the gentle water.

     

 

"Rock Gently" shows a cat boat gently rocking upon the moving water on a beautiful,  breezy, blue-sky day as the late morning sun light plays upon the water.  I love to see the progression of color standing at the water's edge, from greens to deep blues.  The shallow waves close to shore allow us to witness the illumination of the sun beneath the surface, while the surface reflects the sky in varied hues.

 

"Dream" depicts a magical moment in the early morning, when the sky and the water are almost as one, wrapping the world in a soft blue cocoon. The early morning sunlight touches the cat boat, the orange buoy and the distant house. There is a dreamy stillness as the water gently ripples, allowing us to see beautiful reflections. Vaporous pinkish clouds are barely visible, but are reflected in the water along with the myriad of colors that create the beautiful blue.

 

I have been exploring and teaching a meditative process for painting for over a year. Applying this process in creating these paintings led to a wonderful journey of self-discovery. I realized that as much as these paintings are about the water and the boats, their beautiful form and the lifestyle they represent, they are symbolic of meditation.

 

Each boat is a solitary vision surrounded by an open space of water. There is space to be still, to contemplate... and reflect. Water has the ability to reflect. Water is also translucent, allowing us to see deeply. Water is healing.

 

Meditation, simply put, is mindfulness. These paintings were created in a mindful state as expressions of awareness... awareness of a connection with inner stillness.

 

The world needs healing and calm. I hope that these paintings contribute to that energy.

 

"Lilac Poetry" was first completed in April 2019, and had  hung in Susan Powell's Annual Still Life Invitational Exhibition.  The painting was returned to me after the exhibition, and I was happy to have it back so I could submit it to the annual floral exhibition at the Salmagundi Club, which I promptly did.  Once I hung it back on the gallery wall in my studio, I couldn't resist the temptation to remove it from its frame and put it back on the easel for another go.  Why would I do that when it had already been "judged" good enough for a top notch exhibition (at the gallery)?   And should I be making changes to a painting that had already been submitted for jurying (by photograph) to another exhibition?

 

Something about it had been bothering me from the day I delivered it to there,  and now it was glaring each time I walked into my studio. It was that "clump" of wilting leaves that spilled over the front of the vase... the very fact that I perceived it as a "clump" made me realize it needed attention.  There were also leaves throughout the painting that had only been suggested, but not very well (in my current assessment). My previous attempt to be more painterly and less detail oriented appeared more careless from my current perspective.  Clearly a review of the leaves... drawing, value and edges was in order.  I had to do it.

 

However, it didn't end with the leaves, because of course, revisiting the leaves required revisiting the background... and the blossoms... and the vase!  The children's book   "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie"" is a perfect analogy to the experience.    There were edges to be dealt with, which required adjustments to everything surrounding them. And while making those adjustments, I couldn't help but notice other things (value, temperature, brushwork) that I thought needed fine tuning. 

 

Fast forward after MANY hours in the studio...  and HOPEFUL that my changes had actually made it better...

 

before                                                                        after

 

Here is the painting BEFORE, as it had already been submitted and accepted to the annual Sylvia Maria Glesmann Members' Floral Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club New York, and AFTER, as it was delivered to the club, changes having been made.

 

What a happy moment to receive the news that "Lilac Poetry" received an award, a Certificate of Merit in the exhibition!  

I had felt confident that I was making the painting better.  I couldn't imagine there would be a problem with the actual submission being superior to the photographed submission.  I believe that the award was a validation.  What do you think... should an artist make changes to a painting after a photographed submission has been accepted?  I would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences!

 

I'm gearing up and getting excited priming boards and washing brushes in the studio today. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook (which I hope you do) then you know why I haven't had much time to paint over the past month. If you don't, then please follow my instagram page @susanjositas or my Facebook page, Susan Jositas Fine Art. My head is almost spinning having traveled to three different places, with two wonderful celebrations/experiences sandwiched in-between in the past 30 days!
Balancing art life and family life can be a challenge, but a definitely a rewarding one! Ever since I became a grandmother 5 years ago, I have had to make time to be involved in childcare for my one and only daughter's children. My husband's retirement coincided with the birth of our first grandchilld, so we are happy partners in this venture. Presently, we have two precious granddaughters: Avery, age 5 and Calla, age 2. We babysit for them two days a week while their parents are at work. It is such a joy to participate in raising these little ones... it softens the blow of not being as productive as I would like. I have cut back on my galleries, I have cut back on competition and show entries... but I have added richness, laughter and joy to my life! Also, I know that this precious time will pass all too soon... Avery enters full-time kindergarten in the fall and Calla will be attending nursery school 2 days a week. More time for painting is just around the corner, as I knew it would be.
In the meanwhile, I grab the days, or whatever moments I can, to step into my studio or get outside and paint! After what feels like a long hiatus from painting, I'm still very much in the afterglow of wonderful travels and experiences and looking forward to a block of time now where I can get into my painting! I can't help but feel that the time away from the brush makes me all the more inspired and ready to create.
Wishing you all balance in life and art~
Susan

This is one of my all time favorite paintings!  I sat upon a bench under the arbor in my garden, painting the dappled light spilling from above upon the pots of pansies...  and a beloved, unique find from several years ago... a yellow lantern.  This painting received the Sylvia Maria Glesmann Award for Excellence in Floral or Still Life at the Salmagundi Club NYC Members Exhibition - such an honor!  It will be available at Susan Powell Fine Art at her Annual Still Life Invitational opening April 5th.  

I am so inspired to paint when I travel… new sights, different light and atmosphere, new people... but so much of my travel is with family and friends… none of whom are artists.  It’s hard to find a moment in our typical traveling day to step away from the fun and adventure to paint.  Definitely not the time required to paint with oils, which is my typical medium.  I’ve brought sketchbooks along on trips before, but I’m not really a sketcher (not that I shouldn’t be or spend more time sketching)… I want to to get right into capturing the colors of the sights around me!   So this time I decided to try something different… gouache.  It’s something I’ve been wanting to try since seeing a demo at last year’s Plein Air Convention in San Diego.  Gouache is a water based medium, similar to watercolor, but different in its opacity and the ability to layer the paint more like oil. 

 

 I ordered a small set  (twelve 5ml tubes) of Holbein Artists Gouache, a MEEDEN  Empty Watercolor Tine Palette Paint Case with 12 Half Pans and a Field Artist 4 in. x 6.5 in Rectangle Watercolor Journal, Hardbound.  I already had a Holbein Watercolor Travel Kit, so the gouache tubes fit in neatly replacing the watercolor tubes.  These all went into a small cloth shopping bag  along with an assortment of brushes, a drawing pencil, kneaded eraser, sharpener, microtip pen, clips, spray bottle, paper towels and a small plastic “dressing cup”.

 

            

 

The terrace of our timeshare villa in St. Kitts in the West Indies overlooks the Atlantic side of the island, facing east, with a beautiful view of the peninsula hills. There is a constant backdrop of the ocean’s music and the palm trees dancing in the breeze.   I was usually able to steal a bit of time to sit there and sketch as I sipped coffee in the morning… can you say BLISS???!!!  And it was so much FUN trying something new!

 

           

 

 I painted with gouache more than 20 years ago when I first began painting.  I’m approaching it very differently now with all the experience and knowledge that I’ve gathered along my path as an oil painter over the past 18 years.  So much to be learned here… how to approach the painting with this different medium and support, how to manipulate the paint to achieve the effects that I want, which brushes work best for which effects… just some of the ideas that I am exploring.   What you see here are some of my first attempts.  I’m learning and loving this medium as a way to sketch!  I look forward to continuing this exploration now that I am back home... maybe "Coffee and Sketching in Connecticut"??? Stay tuned!

 

 

Last summer I met up with some friends from the Salmagundi Club to paint in Greenwich Village.  We set up on McDougal Street where the facade of the Comedy Cellar/Olive Tree Cafe & Bar became my subject.  I was drawn by the lights glowing in the darkness and the architecture of the building.  A shadowy figure appeared in the doorway creating an interesting narrative... he was probably taking a break while cleaning up from the night before,  Excited about my idea for my painting, I had barely begun when a big Blue Moon truck parked right in front of my subject!  I had hoped that it wouldn't stay long, since it was a no parking zone and it was probably just making a quick delivery, so I did my best to work on the parts of my subject that were visible.  Little did I know that it would stay there for 45 minutes (I cheered when the meter maid came along and ticketed him!). Unfortunately, it wasn't the only vehicle that decided to stop there as I doggedly persisted with my painting efforts.   I was disappointed to leave with a very sketchy and incomplete start, but I felt I had captured enough information on the canvas to create a painting of this interesting subject in the studio.

When I reviewed my reference photos, I realized that my plein air composition had omitted the beautiful arched tops of the windows that I felt were so much a part of the facade.  I decided to work from the plein air study and compose a new painting, including this interesting detail, but when I was done, I realized that something wasn't right... I had inadvertently created two separate areas of interest.   The windows were beautiful, but were stealing the attention from my intended focal point!

                                                                                          

I thought that I could create a better composition in the studio.  I thought that all the distractions and interruptions painting plein air had prevented me from creating the best composition... wrong!  I decided to cut the canvas down... a necessary task to bring the center of focus back to the dark facade, the lights and the shadowy figure in the doorway.  I re-created a composition closer to my original idea. .. the one I created plein air.  It was hard cutting off a beautiful part of the painting, but it was necessary.

                                                                                          

My story has a happy ending... I ended up with a successful painting, and there were lessons learned.   Number one, first impressions are sometimes best when beginning paintings en plein air.  Be careful about revisions in the studio based upon photographic reference.  Number two... be clear on the main idea of your painting, your center of focus, and stay true to it throughout the painting process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High Falls, oil, 20 x 16

This painting was mostly created en plein air during the Publishers Invitational Paint the Adirondacks event last summer, and I finally got around to putting on the finishing touches last week.  High Falls is a spectacular attraction located about five miles from the Canadian border. I made the trek down the ravine with three of my artist friends on a day when there weren't any other painters there, and we were pretty much alone in this awesome, remote spot.  While we were painting, a group of men appeared from the woods behind us, armed and dressed in fatigues!  They were the border patrol who were out looking for the convicts who had escaped from the nearby prison!  

  

The hunt for the convicted murderers who had escaped from the nearby Clinton Correctional Facility was big news during our stay at Paul Smith College.  While this was going on, 125 of us artists were venturing out each day to paint the Adirondacks.  Each night when we returned to Paul Smith for dinner, there were stories shared about encountering road blocks and news about the proximity of the search to the sites where people had been painting.  My friends and family had all expressed concern that we were in that area for the event, knowing that the escapees were considered to be armed and dangerous.  Obviously, most of us artists were never really worried about it.

Here we were on this day, face to face with the border patrol.  For one thing, we felt very safe!  They assured us that the convicts were not actually supposed to be nearby... that they had been brought in from out of state, had seen the waterfall on the map and wanted to check it out.  They wouldn't pose for a picture because they weren't supposed to be there, but they did take a picture of the four of us (and I managed to sneak the photo above)!

The following week the convicts were finally captured in Malone, the town that we drove through to get to nearby High Falls!

I was so excited to be painting en plein air in the city yesterday... my first plein air adventure of the season!  I've been busy in the studio looking out upon the blossoming leaves and enjoying the spring air through my open windows, but there's nothing like being outdoors to paint... it excites me, challenges me, teaches me, humbles me... it recharges my painting batteries!

I was in New York City, meeting up with friends from the Salmagundi Club at Sheridan Square, a triangular oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the West Village.  It was a bit chilly, so I looked for a spot to paint where I could be in the sun.  I was immediately drawn to paint this spot where the warmth and the light of the sun upon the colorful tulips contrasted so dramatically with the shaded brownstones across the street.  The shadows patterns of the iron fence and the light on the tree added interesting compositional elements.  I was pleased with my efforts after two hours of painting, because I felt that I had captured the feeling that I was going for.   This is not a finished painting, however, and is in need of some refinement.  You can see that I only partially painted the fence; I stopped to take time to consider how to proceed.  If I were to paint the fence in its entirety, it would take away from the mass of flowers and make a barricade preventing the viewer from entering the painting. On the other hand, I feel that the shadows from the fence provide diagonal contrast, an entrance to the painting and interest.  Also, including the fence speaks to the place... a city park.  Is it possible to strike a balance while maintaining the feeling that I've captured so far?  I hope so... I'm going to let the painting rest in the studio for a bit before I revisit it with fresh eyes.  In the meanwhile,  I have recharged my batteries and look forward to my next plein air adventure!

"Favorite Things"

oil on linen, 24 x 20

Fresh off the easel, this painting was just delivered to Susan Powell Fine Art in Madison, Connecticut for the Annual Still Life Invitational that opens with a reception tonight from 5-8 pm and runs until May 7th.  Peonies and oriental rugs are truly two of my favorite things!  It took almost a year for this painting to be completed, beginning with a freshly cut bouquet of these voluptuous pink blossoms from my garden last May.  I have to paint a peony bouquet every year, and this year decided to take on the challenge of placing them upon this small oriental carpet, a family heirloom whose colors created a beautiful harmony with the peonies... variations of reds and greens.   I knew full well that painting the rug would be time-consuming, so I focused on painting the flowers over a period of a couple of days and only blocking in simple color notes for the carpet.  It was necessary to move on to other paintings shortly thereafter, so it wasn't until several months later that I returned to paint the carpet.  It was quite the drawing challenge to capture the design in its perspective, but once done, a lot of fun laying on thicker brushstrokes to create the texture and subtle variations of color.  Sometimes I really enjoy putting details such as this into a painting... though it seemed to take forever, I never tired of working on it.  I have to admit, however, I am ready to move on to a new painting that allows me to be more expressive and free with my brushwork... maybe the subject for my next post!

 

The wintry snowscapes that were painted in tandem are finally finished!  It took me a bit longer than the first pair which I referred to in my last post.  I had thought that the tandem process would result in finishing my paintings more quickly... that wasn't the case this time.   I finally came to a point with the two paintings thinking they were done.  I was also at a point where I had grown tired of working on them.  After photographing them and loading the photos into my computer, I discovered that the shadow colors were totally off.  For some reason, blues are very difficult to accurately represent in a photo.  I spent quite a bit of time using Photoshop trying to adjust them, but it was a struggle to do that without changing some other aspect of the image, necessitating another change, becoming a domino effect.  I finally brought the images to a point where I felt they represented the paintings as best they could.  Between the photography frustration and the length of time I had spent trying to finish the pair, I wanted to put them out of sight for a few days and then revisit them.  In spite of this, I had gone ahead and posted the images on my website, which I realized was a mistake after the few days passed!

Upon revisiting these paintings, I was pleased with "Snowlight" (pictured left), but "Winter Shadows" (pictured right) had some issues with edges, as well as the value and chroma of the shadows.  I addressed these, and felt truly satisfied with the results... but now, these corrections highlighted the need for some changes in "Snowlight".   This is indeed the benefit of the tandem process!  Changes were made to "Snowlight" and it is now a better painting.  

Lessons learned...

Painting in tandem can result in a better painting!

Put the paintings aside for a bit after finishing them, and revisit them later to assess (I did know this, but didn't do it this time, and will definitely make it a habit in the future).

A third lesson was learned when I tried taking the photos with my iPhone and discovered they had more accurate color representation than my digital SLR!  Only a slight adjustment of the blue/violet shadows was necessary using Photoshop.  I still would like to be able to take a higher resolution photo with my camera with more accurate color representation, though.  I'll have to do some research on that one... maybe the subject of a future blog!