Art Classes in Richmond, VA for Spring and Summer

I'll be offering many, many, many classes in the following months.  Here's a list of them in case you're interested.  All classes take place in Richmond, VA.  You can email me at SusanSingerArt at msn.com if you'd like more information, or take a look at my website at www.susansinger.com  for details about the classes.
 

Drawing
Beginning Drawing - Mondays, April 8 - May 20, 7 weeks, $210, at Crossroads Art Center, contact me to sign up.  Most likely I'll offer another Beginning Drawing class in the summer, but the dates haven't been set yet.  Contact me if you're interested.

Intermediate Drawing - Tuesdays, April 2 - May 28, 8 weeks (no class 4/9), $240, at my studio.  Open to all who have had Beginning Drawing or commensurate experience, contact me to sign up;  most likely I'll offer another Intermediate class in the summer, but I haven't set the dates yet.  Contact me if you're interested.
Drawing Fundamentals Intensive - another new class for me - Beginning Drawing all in a week!  Monday, June 17 - Friday, June 21; 9:30 - 12:30; at the Visual Arts Center, sign up at www.visarts.org


Zendoodles
Zendoodles for Parent and Child - a new class, by special request - Zendoodles with a special emphasis on kids and their parents.  We'll do some special projects for them to work together as well as teach many of the wonderful, fun patterns which make Zendoodles so special!  Saturday, May 18, 10-2; $75 for parent and child together; at my studio; bring a lunch; contact me to sign up. 
Zendoodles - the regular class for adults (and kids accompanied by an adult), Saturday, August 3, 10-2; at the Visual Arts Center, sign up at www.visarts.org

Pastels
Intro to Pastels - Wednesdays, June 5 - July 10, 6 weeks, 6:30 - 9 PM, at the Visual Arts Center, sign up at www.visarts.org
Intermediate Pastels - ongoing, Monday afternoons from 1-3:30 at my studio, $30/session.  Minimum 3 students/class; Max 6.  Call ahead to register. OR Wednesdays, July 24 - August 28, 6 weeks, 6:30 - 9 PM, at the Visual Arts Center, sign up at www.visarts.org
Pastel Intensive- Friday, April 5 6:30 - 9; Saturday, April 6, 10-4; Sunday, April 7, 1-4.  At Visual Arts Center and en plein aire (probably at the river); a chance to spend the weekend doing art!  Sign up at www.visarts.org
 

Creativity
 Take a Visual Journal to Your Soul - We'll spend a weekend making an extraordinary 64 page bound journal, then will meet 6 Thursdays to fill the journal with art, musings, dreams, thoughts - whatever you'd like.  Classes will offer opportunity to learn art skills; explore personally and spiritually; play, etc.  Saturday, April 13, 10-4; Sunday, April 14, 1-5; Thursdays April 18 - May 30 (no class April 25 - I'll be at Tech Rehearsal for the Vagina Monologues!); $275 + $25 for materials; at my studio; contact me to sign up
Follow Your Bliss - a class designed to help you learn what it is you LOVE to do, to figure out what might be stopping you from doing it, to support you in doing it with vitality and joy, Mondays, July 8 - August 26, 8 weeks, 6:30 - 9 PM, at the Visual Arts Center, sign up at www.visarts.org

 
Watercolor
 Watercolor Painting in the Garden - class held at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden; sign up at www.visarts.orgTuesday, April 9, 10-4 OR
Saturday, April 20, 10-4 OR
Monday, June 10, 10-4, OR
Saturday, July 27, 10-4

Update on finances for OBR - way to go!

Great news!  This was a good day for donations for One Billion Rising!  Thank you all so much for your contributions!

Here's what came in:

Indiegogo:  $400        lots of $50 donations - yay!
Individuals: $215.50   including entry fees for Women Rise!
Total:          $615.50  Terrific for one day!  Thank you to each of you.

We also got a wonderful offer from AlterNatives that they would donate a portion of their sales.  AlterNatives is a fair trade store that was founded 15 years ago to support widows who were survivors of political violence.  Their  Facebook page is: Alternatives Boutique Carytown.  We just found this out a few hours ago and are working to see if we can make it happen.  If you're interested in volunteering to help us out this Sunday, we could definitely use the manpower!  If you decide to go to Carytown to buy V-Day gifts, I hope you'll stop by AlterNatives and thank them for their support!

Please keep it comin'!  We're getting every closer!  Every penny makes a difference.  Thank you.

Still needed:  $4416.12, or $2416.12 if we have to use the Action Alliance's money - we're hoping to GIVE them money, though, NOT use theirs!  We want them to be able to use their funds to help victims of violence directly.  
 

Program for One Billion Rising Feb 14th at the Richmond Coliseum

Friends!  

It is high time for me to bring you up to date on One Billion Rising RVA!  We've all been so busy working on planning it, I haven't had time to write about it!  Before I tell you all about what's happening, we need volunteers!  If you want to sign up to volunteer, please click here to go to the Volunteer Sign up sheet on Google Docs.

Here's what's happening:

Thursday, February 14th, 11 AM - 2 PM, at the Richmond Coliseum
One Billion people around the globe will be rising to bring awareness to the violence being perpetrated against women around the world.  Here in Richmond ten thousand or more of us will gather to learn, to celebrate, to claim our power, to dance, to rise!  The events are as follows:

• 11 AM - 12 PM

1.  Resource Fair full of booths from organizations working to end violence against women.  This will give folks an opportunity to learn more, to get information for themselves or loved ones, or to volunteer to help out.
2. Hoopers, glow dancers, Capoiera dancers, slam poets, actresses performing bits of the Vagina Monologues, bands playing - some of these will be child friendly; some will be for more mature audiences.  (Children are welcome at all of them - we just want parents to be aware that some of the subject matter will be mature, and the monologues and slam poetry will contain four letter words.)
3. Slaying the Dragon - an opportunity for each of us to write our hopes and dreams for the future, or our stories of the past, or statements to honor those we love, or anything else we feel moved to write. They will be displayed on a beautifully-crafted papier-mache dragon symbolizing the New Year, slaying the dragon, using the dragon as a weapon to protect us, or whatever else works for you!

• 11:55  a terrific surprise you won't want to miss!
• 12 - 1:15  the main body of the formal program
• Speakers and performers include:

•  MC'ing the program for us will be two Richmond news anchors: Christina Feerick: Channel 8 & Diane Walker: Channel 12 &10

1. Claire Hylton Sheppard will address the impact violence has had on her personally.
2. Carol Adams, Richmond Police Department, will address local issues.  Carol has been a staunch advocate and phenomenal volunteer to help victims of violence locally.
3. The Nobel Peace Prize nominee Rebiya Kadeer a prominent human rights activist from the Uyghur region of China will speak to the global nature of violence against women. 
4. Yours truly will speak about the One Billion Rising movement worldwide and will recite a rousing poem by Eve Ensler, written specifically for One Billion Rising. 
5. Gaye Adegbalola an American blues singer and guitarist, teacher, lecturer, activist, and photographer, and her group The Wild Roots will play songs to entertain and inspire us.
6. There are a couple of other speakers who have been invited but who have not confirmed yet.  We hope to update and confirm the schedule by Jan 31. 
7. At the very end of the formal program portion, drumming will commence and continue powerfully as we all dance and express the pent up energy and outrage and hope that violence against women CAN and MUST END once and for all.  NOW!  If you have a drum and feel so led, we ask that you bring it with you to join in the drumming.  We would be delighted to have 10,000 drummers taking part!

• 1:15 - 2 The event will wind down as people talk to each other, share, meet, greet, and again visit the resource booths then gradually leave the Coliseum to go out into the world to do what they can to end violence against women. 
•  
• If you are interested in volunteering to help either before or during the event, we would welcome your help!  Here is information about our upcoming volunteer meetings:
• 
  
  Please Join Us - we have a planning/organizing meeting scheduled for tonight:
  
  
  Date: Monday, January 28, 2013 
  Time: 6:00 to 8:00 pm 
  Location: the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, 5008 Monument Ave. Suite A Richmond, VA 23230.  
  
  
  We will be finalizing the program for our Feb 14th event at the Richmond Coliseum, discussing event promotion, fundraising and sponsorship. We need your help and your good ideas. 
  
  
  We hope you can attend - Invite others interested in joining us and please reply and let us know if you can attend so we can make sure to have plenty of materials for all! Thank you!
  
  
  Please note: The next planning/organizing meetings are on Monday's Feb 4 – &  Feb 11  from 6 to 8 pm at the Action Alliance (address above)
  If you want to sign up to volunteer, please go to this google doc to sign up. 
  
  

Figure Drawing Class

Six weeks ago I started taking a Figure Drawing Class with Tommy VanAuken at the Visual Arts Center here in Richmond.  That may sound odd since I've been drawing and painting the figure for several years now, but I'd never gotten good at drawing the figure from life, and I recognized it would be a great thing for me to do.

Last summer I took the same class with Lisa Johnson, also at the Visual Arts Center.  Lisa is a terrific teacher.  She analyzes the figure and teaches how many head lengths there are to the body and other proportions.  It's very helpful for figuring out precise placement of body parts.  It's also great for learning measuring and comparison skills.  I loved the class and planned to go to Figure Drawing sessions afterwards to continue practicing my skills.  Alas, I didn't.

So this year, feeling like my skills were rusty, I took Tommy VanAuken's class.  He has a completely different approach.  He teaches through gesture drawings.  Gesture drawings are VERY fast (between 15 seconds and 1 minute) representations of the ENTIRE - yes, the entire! - figure.  The point is to capture the essence of the movement.  It also has the incredible bonus of allowing the artist to capture proportions accurately without even trying.  If the eye is attuned to the figure and the hand is attached to what the eye is seeing, the proportions come out accurately, almost like magic.  There's a major skill to doing gesture drawings well, and I won't say I'm terrific at it, but I have improved dramatically over the course of the six weeks. 

The first ones I'm showing here are after about 3 weeks.  Tommy made us do about 40 gesture drawings with thick, fat vine charcoal in 15 seconds.  That was a great opportunity to stop thinking and to capture the essence.  These drawings were made first with the fat charcoal then I went and did some contour lines around the form.  We had a minute for each of these.

 These next drawings are from this past week.  Again I used the fat charcoal then a thinner charcoal pencil to get the contour.  I admit I am fascinated by how possible it is to capture so much in such a brief time. 

Chris, my husband, asked me the other day what it is about the figure that is so endlessly fascinating that people have been drawing it since time immemorial, and, more specifically, that I want to do it twice a week.  I had to think about that.  I think part of it is that it's a discrete object, unlike the landscape which contains so many zillions of objects that they can never all be comprehensively drawn.  The landscape overwhelms me.  Also, we know the human figure.  We know when we're on target, and we know when we aren't.  It's a constant challenge to draw it well.  And there is such beauty, such infinite beauty, in the human form.  The curves, the subtleties, the shadows, the light, the spark of soul. There are so many different forms the body can put itself into, and each person can do each of those (barring physical issues), so there is a never-ending assortment of positions to draw.  I haven't gotten bored yet. 

When I was painting from photographs, I also experienced the spark, the luminosity, the soul, but I got weary of copying from a grid.  I am excited to be trying to convey the beauty now from life. 


Here are a few pictures I drew 3 weeks ago in class.  The first two were 20 minute poses.

 

We had 40 minutes to capture this pose.  It's very helpful to have more time to shade the figure and to indicate the pillows she's resting on, etc.

 
Below is the picture I did last Friday.  There's a lot of foreshortening going on.  That means that part of her body is much closer to me, therefore larger, than other parts (her head, arms, etc.)  In order to draw it accurately, it's important to measure the different parts.  Otherwise, she will end up looking totally bizarre and out of proportion.  Foreshortening is one of the more difficult things to manage when drawing the figure (or anything else, for that matter).

Playing my way through the pain

This December I'll be Artist in Residence on a cruise sponsored by Semester at Sea through UVa.  We'll be traveling to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Colombia, Panama (going through the Panama Canal), Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Mexico and California.  It will be 25 days long.  It feels like one of the thrills of my life!  I love to travel but felt like perhaps my travel days were mostly over.  This awakened my Wanderlust again for sure!

I'll be teaching classes around the concept of a Visual Journal.  I'll teach Zendoodles (patterns) to decorate the journal with, Composing Photographs Successfully, Blind Contour Drawing, Modified Blind Contour Drawing, Drawing Basic Shapes, One Point Perspective, along with the basic concept of Visual Journaling.  Since I've never kept a Visual Journal, I thought it would be a good idea for me to keep one between now and then!

Generally when I use a sketchbook, I am very careful to create beautiful drawings which I'm comfortable showing others.  I put myself under pressure to make them "good" and don't give myself any room to play or experiment.  I bought a gorgeous leather-bound journal when I was in Venice.  I'm proud of myself for actually using it, but, again, I've only used it to make beautiful art (or as pretty as I can make it!)  I decided I need a change of pace.

While shopping for supplies for the classes for the cruise, I glanced through some of the lesson plans Dick Blick offers on their website.  One of the ones I happened upon is for making a sketch book using raw canvas and acrylic paints.  It looked simple enough so I decided to modify it and make one just like the one I got from Venice except with a canvas, not leather, cover.  And I'd get to decorate it however I wanted. 

I thought about doing the color field art like Dick Blick suggested, but that didn't interest me so much. Instead I gravitated to doing patterns all over it.  That took a couple of days but provided me with so much pleasure and concentrated joy.  I did do a color field painting on the inside but then decided I didn't like it at all - too busy and uninteresting so I painted over what I'd done with purple paint on one side and red on the other.  I put quotes which are important to me there so I can read them when I need inspiration or courage or whatever.

Then I went to the local art store, Main Art, where they have a terrific selection of papers and allowed myself to get whatever spoke to me.  $50 later, I had about 8 different kinds of paper.  The primary one, and what they used in the Venice sketchbook, is RFK Rives, but I also included some MiTientes pastel paper in different colors, some mulberry paper, other Asian papers with cool patterns, tracing paper, glassine, parchment, watercolor paper, Denril (used with markers, I think), and who knows what else?!  I spent the rest of that day tearing the paper to the right size to fit into the book (10"x14" - one page is 10"x7").  Then I grouped those into 4 sheets each which folded over to make 16 pages (2 sides of 8 pages each).  I asked Chris to show me how to use the drill press then used it to drill holes not only in the cover but also in each of the 8 packets of pages (I have approximately 128 sides of paper to use in the finished journal - some packets have more than 8 pages because some of the papers are very thin.)  Then I went to Michaels where I found some thread/string that seemed strong enough to use to bind it then figured out how the other one is bound and sewed up my journal.  I hope it'll hold!  If it doesn't, I can always re-do it.

Pleased with myself, I was ready to sit on my laurels for a while - months - years - who knows? - and admire my pretty work, but I recognized the trap I was setting for myself - this is a journal to USE! not one to just look at and smile cuz it's so pretty.

I boldly did a gesture drawing of the roses Chris gave me for our wedding anniversary last week - mostly wilted, but still pretty - then painted it with watercolor.  Then, boldly, I wrote all over the page.  I wrote a promise to myself that I will use this journal for PLAY and EXPERIMENTATION.  Anything else is a cop out and will be a betrayal of what it is for.   I'm going to make notes on each picture about what I'm doing and why,and I'm going to use all sorts of different materials. 

The second one I did was a total experiment - on parchment, I wrote with  Micron pens I'd found at Michael's on sale -  orange and green - and drew impatiens from a planter on my deck.  This morning I painted them with watercolors.  I found out that parchment isn't all that fond of liquid, but the colors show up brilliantly, and the watercolor dries faster than I expected it would given that it just sits on the surface for a while and puddles.  It's very different than watercolor paper.

Here's what my studio looks like now.  It's a mess with everything sprawled around me, but I love it!  Color pencils, acrylics, pastel pencils, brushes of every description, a book to look at, my journal, drawing tools, flowers, micron pens, a plethora of toys!

I also decided to copy a picture by Frank Lobdell.  It's from a book Chris gave me for Christmas.  Lobdell does figurative work and abstracts with patterns so Chris thought it might give me some ideas as to how to combine the two or move between the two or whatever.  I don't like his work a whole lot, but it was helpful to copy the picture.  I find that to be a good exercise because I learn how other artists work - it makes me use different materials in different ways.  For this one I used acrylics, pastel pencils, color pencils, charcoal pencil, and even a conte' crayon.  After I finished copying his, I decided to play with the concepts on my own.  That's the piece on the right.  I don't consider it finished, but I had fun working with it and look forward to getting back to it tomorrow.  That's the best feeling - looking forward to getting back into the studio the next day.  I've missed that lately.

I'm intentionally not cropping these pictures and making them all pretty, because that's precisely NOT the point!  It is incredibly difficult for me to let myself be messy and to do something which doesn't look precisely perfect - or as perfect as I can let it be.  I think that's one reason I've been in a slump lately - I haven't been allowing myself to experiment or to make mistakes.   I've been creating beautiful work, but the parameters I've been giving myself - to accurately represent what's in front of me - have been stultifying.

I'm also taking Figure Drawing at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.  You might think I'd be good at that already, but frankly, I'm not.  I can copy 2-D things that are in front of me.  Drawing from life is not yet in my skill set.  I'm rectifying that.  Thomas Van Auken is the teacher I'm working with.  Thankfully he's very good.  He has us doing gesture drawings out the wazoo.  I've already used up most of a pad of newsprint in 2 weeks.  That's fine.  I'm also going to the Friday evening sketching sessions which anyone can come to so I can get extra practice.  I am determined to learn to represent the figure in a way I adore from life.

It's been a very difficult few weeks, feeling somewhat depressed and frustrated and in a lull, but I feel like following these gentle leadings and letting myself PLAY will be the key to moving through the muck and stuck and into something fun and interesting and compelling again.   

Hopefully this sense of adventure will keep me from looking like the self portrait I did last week and will keep me feel enlivened and curious and joyful.  That is, after all, the reason I quit my well-paying job to do my art full time - because the joy I felt doing it overrode any objections I could possible experience - if I'm not letting myself feel that joy, I should move on to something else.

It's painful for me when my creativity and drive are subdued and I can't access them.  I have learned to just let myself ride it out, but that doesn't mean I like it!  I'm hoping that treating myself gently and letting myself play will be the key to transforming the pain into joy.

Albert Camus' speech at the Nobel Prize in Literature Banquet, 1957

I found this in the magazine for the French Film Festival here in Richmond.  I like what he wrote.  It feels true to me.  I am working these days to try to figure out how to express myself in such a way that affects people and makes them more aware of the state of our world (i.e. my piece about the vaginal probe, my pieces about women's body image).  Camus wrote about the oppression of the world during WWII.  He refers to that here:

For myself, I cannot live without my art. But I have never placed it above everything. If, on the other hand, I need it, it is because it cannot be separated from my fellow men, and it allows me to live, such as I am, on one level with them. It is a means of stirring the greatest number of people by offering them a privileged picture of common joys and sufferings. It obliges the artist not to keep himself apart; it subjects him to the most humble and the most universal truth. And often he who has chosen the fate of the artist because he felt himself to be different soon realizes that he can maintain neither his art nor his difference unless he admits that he is like the others. The artist forges himself to the others, midway between the beauty he cannot do without and the community he cannot tear himself away from. That is why true artists scorn nothing: they are obliged to understand rather than to judge. And if they have to take sides in this world, they can perhaps side only with that society in which, according to Nietzsche's great words, not the judge but the creator will rule, whether he be a worker or an intellectual.

By the same token, the writer's role is not free from difficult duties. By definition he cannot put himself today in the service of those who make history; he is at the service of those who suffer it. Otherwise, he will be alone and deprived of his art. Not all the armies of tyranny with their millions of men will free him from his isolation, even and particularly if he falls into step with them. But the silence of an unknown prisoner, abandoned to humiliations at the other end of the world, is enough to draw the writer out of his exile, at least whenever, in the midst of the privileges of freedom, he manages not to forget that silence, and to transmit it in order to make it resound by means of his art.

None of us is great enough for such a task. But in all circumstances of life, in obscurity or temporary fame, cast in the irons of tyranny or for a time free to express himself, the writer can win the heart of a living community that will justify him, on the one condition that he will accept to the limit of his abilities the two tasks that constitute the greatness of his craft: the service of truth and the service of liberty. Because his task is to unite the greatest possible number of people, his art must not compromise with lies and servitude which, wherever they rule, breed solitude. Whatever our personal weaknesses may be, the nobility of our craft will always be rooted in two commitments, difficult to maintain: the refusal to lie about what one knows and the resistance to oppression.

Creating a Creativity Revolution in RVA

What happens when you put 250+ creative, innovative folks in one space for eight hours and give them the task to change the way something has been done for centuries?

Things change, that's what!  People leave fired up, turned out, ready to rock and roll.

Consider some of the people presenting their own passions yesterday at i.e.:

Ed Trask, a world-famous artist and former punk rocker, spoke about his art and about seeing the world in a different way, through a creative lens.

Matt and Mike from the Martin Agency, a world-renowned advertising agency, talked about their corporate culture and how they manage to do things so darn well.

Samantha Marquez, a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Maggie Walker Governor's School, blew us all away with her stories about the research she's been involved with for the last 2-3 years and the patents she's already gotten. Unbelievable!

Jeff and Joey Anderson are 21 and 23-years-old and have already started a company, BioTaxi. They get used grease from restaurants and turn it into fuel for their taxis. Not only are they working to help the environment, they are also helping people get from A to Z with incredible customer service.

Valley Haggard and I spoke about our collaboration for Artists and Writers at Randolph Macon College last February and how we're finding joy in vulnerability, authenticity, and nakedness as we pursue our separate passions.

And that was just the tip of the very deep iceberg which is Richmond Creative. 

In break out sessions during the day, we were tasked with deciding what we as a community, a group, and as individuals can do to shift the cultural paradigm in Richmond, VA.  Richmond has historically been seen as the seat of the Confederacy, the place where slave trading took place, a city where the Confederacy is still honored.  In other words, there's a lot to be ashamed of.  The organizers of i.e. asked us to consider a different possibility - that Richmond has a lot more to offer than that, that, in fact, it is a hotbed of creativity, passion, innovation, and inspiration, and could be the Center of Creativity of the US if we just become more aware of all we have to offer.

In looking for a paradigm-shifter, I was inspired by one of the organizers of the event, Stephanie Kirksey.  Everytime I spoke with her about an idea I had for the event, or asked if she could do something for me, she said, "Yes."  Without a moment's hesitation.  She made it happen.  Her attitude emboldened me to be more creative, to take more risks, to assume something could and would happen.  What would happen if we all lived with "YES" as the voice in the background instead of "Well, maybe, if such-and-such doesn't happen..."? 

Another opportunity would be to stop speaking about Richmond's past (yes, we need to honor it and make sure it won't happen again - I don't mean to lessen the suffering of the people who were enslaved), and to instead converse about the dynamic present and the exciting future.  Point to the innovations going on here and now.

The city is bursting at the seams with great ideas.  For example, Andy Thornton,co-owner of LaDiff, the furniture store cum i.e. event site, wants to make the area around his store a Design Region with a Design Museum that would highlight all the cool stuff being created and designed in and around Richmond.  THAT would draw people to downtown!  What a great idea!

I can't wait to see what comes out of this meeting and out of i.e.'s three year initiative.  I sense great change is afoot.

If you're interested in seeing a (fairly poor) recording of the entire event, here is the link. If you're interested in Valley's and my presentation, it's at minute 41 or so and lasts 13 minutes on the 5 hour video.

What part do you play in Richmond's Creativity Revolution?  I'd love to learn how you engage in creativity in your life.

Looking for Diversity

Friends,
As I'm starting to get serious about the book I'm working on about women's bodies, it is becoming abundantly clear that I have a large number of beautiful white women and an embarrassingly small number of women of color.  I also have too few older women who've been willing to pose for me.  If you or one of your friends or acquaintances is a bold older woman or woman of color or transgender or any other kind of amazing person who would like to model for me, please get in touch!  I'm located in Richmond, VA, and would love to work with you.

Here is a blog post I posted earlier which describes the modeling process so you'll have a better sense of what you might be getting yourself in for!

We figure out a time that works for both of us.  You come to my studio where I have a beautiful rounded wall in front of which I take the photos.  We talk for a bit about what you would like to get from the session, what your expectations and hopes and desires are.  We make sure we're both comfortable with the setting and situation.  We envision the feelings we might want to evoke.  One woman, for example, wanted to feel her power and her strength.  That showed up in the photos beautifully!

The photography session is a collaboration.  You and I work together to see what evolves.  We are led by each other and some other wonderful creative energy.  I never know what will arise, but I love the process! 

After we're done taking the pictures, we upload them to the computer where we look at them together.  You will have the option of deleting any you may feel uncomfortable with.  You have the option of having pictures with or without your face.  I will not paint your face if you don't want me to!  The process of looking through the photos is often the best part.  It's so wonderful discovering the beauty in each woman and watching as she sees on the screen how beautiful she is.  It's quite powerful for me and empowering for her.  In exchange for the gift of posing for me, I give you a DVD with the images on it for you to use as you wish for your own personal use. 

After you leave, I look through the photos again to find the ones that speak to me directly and demand to be painted.  I play with them in Photoshop, cropping, darkening, adding contrast, etc. so I have just the image that works for me.  If you have requested it, I will send you a copy of the image just to make sure you're comfortable with my painting it.  If you're not, I am very respectful of your choice and will not use it.  If you're OK with it, or don't feel a need to OK it, then my husband and I build a canvas, I gesso it, then I paint it!  Another option is for you to find the image you'd like me to paint of you and for you to commission a painting from me!  It's quite wonderful being able to choose just exactly the picture you'd like of yourself for your home. 

It's a wonderful process and thus far has been quite empowering for the women involved.  Here's what Sherry Tuegel wrote about the process:  (If you'd like to learn more about her, you can go to her website at http://www.love-transforms.com/ )

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!

If you'd like to learn more about modeling for me, please email me at SusanSingerArt@msn.com and we can figure out what'll work for us both.  I look forward to meeting you!
Susan

As I've mentioned off and on during the last few weeks, I have a lot of stuff brewing these days - classes, workshops, exhibitions, etc.  I thought it might be helpful to have a list of the information in case you're interested in attending any of them (I hope you will!)

Here's the list along with links and info on how to sign up.

Lecture:

Red Tent Meeting, Thursday January 6^th, 7:30 – 8:30 PM, At Illumination, 109 W. 15th St. Richmond, VA, 23224.

A fabulous opportunity to gather with women to talk about women's bodies and other issues near and near to us.  I’ll be talking about my work, and showing images, then we’ll all have a chance to share stories about our bodies and how we feel about them.  Follow the link to sign up, or just show up that night!

Classes:

Beginning Pastels, Tuesdays for 6 weeks beginning January 11, 6:30 – 9:00 PM, Visual Arts Center, Richmond. 

A wonderful opportunity to learn to draw with pastels, a lovely, forgiving, juicy medium, perfect for beginners!  Sign up online or call 353-0094.

Naked Self Portraiture:  Drawing Inward to Draw Outward, Fridays every other week, beginning February 11, 7 – 9:30 PM, Khalima’s Dance Studio (for women only). 

Part exploration of the soul, part exploration of the body, this class will give you time and permission to see yourself as you truly are with loving eyes.  We’ll draw and paint and sculpt with simple materials like Playdoh and finger paint, easy for the inexperienced artist and challenging enough for  the professional artist as well.  We’ll go inward through Authentic Movement and guided meditation to find the essence of who we are outwardly on the inside.  Come prepared to disrobe, to explore, to laugh, and to discover richly, deeply your own gorgeous self, inside and out.

Body Shop: An exploration of the body through image and word.  Friday, February 25, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM, my studio on Southside Richmond.  Co-led by Valley Haggard

What messages do we tell ourselves about our bodies? Are our perceptions accurate? Do the words we use to describe our own bodies - or the bodies of other women - promote our happiness or keep us stuck in judgment and self-recrimination? Through the processes of drawing, writing and sharing, we will explore the impact that our body image has on our inner and outer lives. In this intensive three-and-a-half hour workshop, we will gently but honestly uncover how we really feel about the woman beneath our clothes. 

Intermediate Pastel Drawing, Tuesdays for 6 weeks beginning March 15, 6:30 – 9:00 PM, Visual Arts Center, Richmond. 

Bring your own project to work on in a supportive, instructive atmosphere.  Excellent for those with some experience with pastels already.  Sign up online or call 353-0094.

Exhibits

Celebrate Gay Marriage, Foundry Gallery, Washington, DC, January 5 – 29, 2011, opening reception January 8, 6:00 – 8:00 PM. My piece Susie Kissing Sally will be on display there.

Artists and Writers, Flippo Gallery, Randolph Macon College, Ashland, VA, February 18 – April 1, 2011, Opening Reception, February 20, 3:00 – 5:00 PM.  4 pairs of writers and artists including Valley Haggard and I will be displaying our collaborative efforts at the Flippo Gallery in Ashland.  Valley will have a piece in Belle Magazine in February telling about our combined efforts and how being painted nude has changed her life.

Fruits and Veggies, Bon Air Library, Richmond, VA, March 1 – 30, 2011.  Exhibit of pastel drawings of fruits and vegetables.  No nudity allowed in the publically-funded sphere, so I’ll show my fruits instead!

 Solo Exhibit (as yet unnamed), Petersburg Regional Arts Center, April 6 – May 9, Opening Reception, April 8, 7:00 – 9:00 PM.  A small collection of my female nudes at this lovely art center in the heart of downtown Petersburg.

All Fleshed Out (working title), Crossroads Art Center, September 19 – November 1, 2011, Opening Reception September 23, 6:30 – 9:30.  A gigantic exhibition of my paintings and drawings of Female Nudes, Transgender Nudes, and experiential activities highlighting how we feel about our bodies.


I hope you'll join me for some of these many rich experiences.  I'm excited about all that is happening and look forward to sharing the joy and excitement from each in the months to come!