Stardust

Thank the good Lord I finally started feeling better today!  I'd spent the last 3 days in bed, almost unable to get up except to go to the doctor.  Yesterday I went to the accupuncturist and got a treatment and some Chinese herbs.  Afterwards I didn't feel any better, but today I feel half well.  I've been awake all day - quite an accomplishment this week! - and have even been able to get into the studio. 

I've been thrilled to have had the energy to work on Stardust.  In fact, the piece is almost finished.  There are some details I need to take care of, and I might do another layer on her face to make it a bit more refined, but other than that, I feel finished.  I'm delighted with how it's turned out. 

This piece will probably be the centerpiece of the collaborative show I'm doing with Valley Haggard in February at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, VA.  She's writing about her experience of being photographed and painted and I'm creating the artwork for the show as well as writing about it on this blog.

The canvas for this piece is 60"x44", but somehow it doesn't feel that large.  She's larger than lifesize but fits just right on the canvas.

I'm realizing that the name doesn't fit the piece anymore.  I had plans to do the background a bit differently, but I don't think I will.  I'd love suggestions if you have a thought about a good title!

Sexy Fruits and Veggies

Sexy Fruits

Dear Viewer,

What could be sexier than fruits and vegetables? They’re round. They’re voluptuous. They have beautiful colors. And they taste great raw. What more can you ask? So this summer when I decided to draw a series of fruits and vegetables from Ukrops and the William Byrd Farmer’s Market, I had a real sweet time. Everyday a new treat would await me patiently on my drawing table, giving me its “come hither” glance, daring me to fondle it with my pastels, acting spoiled and oozing its juices over the table if I waited too long. I learned to come when called and to sit myself right down when Nature hearkened.

Ah, the energy! Oh, the form! Ach, what colors! Allowing themselves to be created anew by my delighted fingers in two dimensions. Lucky they were to have their youths immortalized thus since they usually became too dusty and old to be of further service after their time in the limelight.

And now I present the for you, framed and matted by my loving husband - he, too, a part of the passion. Walnut and maple and acid free mats give new glory to farmers' markets' supplies. May you experience the passion yourself - the color, the form, the beauty - each time you gaze upon the bold ripeness or subtle undulations of form, my gift to you.

Passionately yours,

Susan Singer

That was the artist statement for the show I'm currently having, Sexy Fruits and Veggies, at The Listening Room at Ashland Coffee and Tea in Ashland, VA for the month of April.  The cafe is a great place to get a cup of coffee and hang out all day or go for the evening to listen to some wonderful live music.  Petie Bogen-Garrett has turned The Listening Room wall into a lovely gallery so that patrons of this great cafe can have culinary, oral and now also visual delights.  Check if out if you're in town!