Feb 27, 2009
Good day in the studio today! Of course, every day feels like a great day when I'm working all day!
I finished the large canvas of the woman with her head thrust back today - I have to come up with a great title for it! I am very satisfied with how it turned out. I'm thrilled to be working so large finally after years of knowing it was the right way to go. I like what this image says about bodies and joy and beauty.
I also had time to work on "A Lifetime of Dancing". I was out there for 9 hours today! It felt so good! Here's a picture of the piece with the arm and hand with the first layer on it. The canvas is 6 feet tall so I have to stand on a stepstool to reach the hand. It's not a comfortable position to work in. I'm going to have to figure something else out so I can do the face. I'll have to build a platform or something like that...
Feb 23, 2009
I got to draw the image of the 89-year-old dancer on the canvas today. I'm very excited to be beginning to paint her. She's larger than lifesize, 6' from head to knees. I've never done anything so large before. I was standing on a stepstool this afternoon when my husband came in and scolded me for working so dangerously. I think he's worried I'll fall over and hurt myself or get so absorbed in what I'm doing that I'll step off the stool into thin air. I'm not sure how I'll manage to paint up that high, but I'll figure something out. We'll have to rig something up.
Here's a photo of my new model with her face blurred. She is allowing me to paint her face, but a painted face is much less recognizable than a photo, so to protect her identity, I've blurred it here. Her expression is so full of thought and interesting. Stay tuned to see it evolved! I have a feeling it's going to be quite powerful.
The video of my Gallery Talk at the Gay Community Center is up on UTube. The link to the GCCR website with the video on it follows: Gallery Talk at GCCR
In it, you can hear me talk about my artistic process and my history as an artist. The curator for the show, Petie Bogan-Garrett talks about choosing the artists and art for the show as well as about John Bailey's work (the other artist in the show).
Feb 21, 2009
This piece is feeling almost done. I worked all day on the cloth, the hand, and the foot as well as the intersection between the cloth and the foot.
Last night I took it to the Gallery Talk I gave at the Gay Community Center here in Richmond. I was pleased with the reception it got. I think I'm on the right track.
Today I'm frustrated by my lack of ability to calibrate my monitor and printer so I can print out the colors I see on my monitor. I can't figure out how to do it. I'll call Canon Monday to see if they have advice since I have a Canon printer.
Taxes this afternoon...
Monday I get to start painting my next model, an 89-year-old woman who is still teaching dance! I can't wait!
Feb 16, 2009
Today I spent the entire day working on the red cloth and her hand. I first went into the red of the cloth and added some shadows then glazed over it with red. By that time, the surface was too wet and I was just smearing paint around, so I had to switch to working on something else.
I realized that I couldn't really see the hand on the photograph, so I blew it up larger so I could actually see what I was trying to paint. I've always heard people complain that hands are so hard to paint, but I hadn't experienced them that way before. Now I have experienced them that way! I can see why portrait painters charge substantial amounts to include hands. They take forever! I worked on this one for 2-3 hours and still don't feel finished. It's better, but not quite right. From a distance it looks good, I think, but I want to get the knuckles right and modify the color a bit.
oh yeah, I also worked on the background and made it so she doesn't look like she has wings anymore.
I'm looking forward to Friday in the studio so I can finish the hand and the foot and the cloth, then maybe I'll even feel done.
I'm giving a gallery talk at the Gay Community Center of Richmond on Friday evening. I have a show up there. We'll (the curator and I) will be talking about what it is to paint and show nudes in Richmond. I'm excited about it. It's always interesting to me to hear what people thing about my work and whether they see what I do when I'm creating it. I welcome your input too. If you'd like to respond to this blog, you can use the Contact Susan Singer link and I'll include your comments and questions here.
Feb 15, 2009
Some days just aren't meant for serious project work. Today was one of them. I had some personal stuff going on that had me feeling disturbed and pissy and out of sorts. My darlin' husband was completely willing to listen to my rants, but I was boring myself to tears with all my complaining. In that case, the only thing to do is to get me to the studio (there being no nunneries on site and no interest in me for one). My family knows when I'm in a certain mood that the best thing they can do is encourage me to get out of their hair and into the studio where I'll calm down and become nice again.
Today I didn't want to ruin my big picture of the nude by working on it in my foul mood, so I pulled out some old pieces and let myself play with them. The red egg started out white with purple highlights and lots and lots of Rosingel building up thick, gloppy strokes. It had been a blow-out piece on a previous rough day. This time I took the colors on my palette from working on the nude and let myself go. I like the sense of mystery that has evolved - what's about to crack out of there? And it looks kinda stormy... what's brewing? It expresses what my mood was pretty darn well.
This pumpkin started a previous life as an acorn squash. Well, first of all it was a red and orange and blue color study, then it had an acorn squash painted over it in orange and dark green. But neither of those felt successful so I had no compunction about going at it with abandon. I enjoyed creating the sense of dimensionality in the sections of the gourd then really got excited when I added bright yellow and orange to the stem point - suddenly a story evolved and light was emanating from the pumpkin. These are much more fun than they were before I played with them tonight. I invariably love doing blow out pieces. It's so freeing and makes me feel so much better when I'm done! Now I can be present and loving to my family. Thank you, Art!!
Feb 13, 2009
I spent about 5 1/2 hours in the studio today working like crazy on the happy woman with her head thrust back.
I feel like I made very good progress. It's so different working on such a large canvas - it's hard to get a layer on everything in one sitting. I managed to go over her entire body today though. I'll work on the background next time I get into the studio and make that wing-like thing turn in to a shadow! I also want to get her hand to look better. Peopl
e have always said hands are tough to depict. I'm starting to get what they mean!
I like the way her necklace turned out. It's so miraculous to me the way mere oil and pigment can create an illusion of such reality.
Feb 12, 2009
As I'm getting ready to launch my new website (if I can ever figure out how to do it!), I figured I'd try my hand at a blog. I think constantly about the work I'm doing and thought it might be of interest to others to know about one artist's thought process in creating art.
3 days ago I finished working on a piece called "This is the way it is." It's an image of the hips, navel, and groin of a woman who is overweight.
"This is the way it is"
oil on canvas
36"x24"
She was an incredible model! - so generous in sharing with me her feelings about her body and in modeling for me in every which way. She shared the following with me about her experience:
When my friend told me of Susan Singer’s work I quickly accepted the chance to be photographed nude. A little over a year ago I would have refused and avoided the truthful lens. As I review the amazing pictures Susan has taken I revel in my enjoyment of this body I see so fully exposed. She generously shared all of the pictures with me on disks so I can see each and every angle. Some shots are certainly more becoming than others. The hardest ones for me to see are of me standing where the realities of gravity decorate my body with sags and ripples. I am still working on fully loving the sagging. As I continue loosing weight the sagging will likely become more exaggerated. Sometimes I see the fat laughing Buddha and smile thinking, I am that. What Buddha will emerge next? The roundness that I find becoming will diminish and I will need more acceptance of whatever emerges. I work to accept what I am in each moment. Susan’s camera gave me the opportunity to continue my journey of self love and acceptance. Her tender professionalism made the shoot easy and delightful. I am so grateful for this amazing experience. Thank You and Bless You Susan!
This woman's generosity has allowed me to paint some of the most powerful paintings of my career. Right now I'm working on one of her sitting on the ground with her head thrust back in joy. It's 4'x4', my largest canvas to date. It's taking a long time to do because the canvas is so large, but it's such a meditative pleasure. Covering large passages of canvas, trying to depict subtle variations in skin tone, subtle depressions and changes in the "landscape", working with my feelings about bodies, enjoying the sensuousness of crafting a 3 dimensional breast out of oil paint and brushes. Often brushes just won't do, so I pull on gloves and spread paint like a joyful kid with my fingers! Mush, mush, spread, glop, smear, refine, smear, blush, brush, more paint, more gel, more move, wipe, spill, wipe, blend, smooth...
Loving What Is
in progress 2/11/09
1 layer completely applied, 2 layers on l breast, legs, and part of hand
oil on canvas
48"x48"