Saturday Stroll October 16th Three for One!

This Saturday, October 16,

the Visual Art Studio will be offering a noon time (12 noon - 1 PM)

THREE FOR ONE SPECIAL!

 

An autographed Sacred Flesh Catalogue

A box lunch from Cucina

The opportunity to hear Susan Singer talk about Sacred Flesh, her exhibit of female nudes which is currently on display in the gallery

All for the amazing price of $38!

OR

TWO FOR ONE SPECIAL!

A box lunch from Cucina

The opportunity to hear Susan Singer talk about Sacred Flesh, her display of female nudes which is currently on exhibit in the gallery

For $12

Saturday Stroll will continue along Broad Street until 4 PM, with most of the galleries being open for your viewing pleasure. 

My Son the Doctor  will be providing lively music at the Visual Art Studio beginning at 1 PM.  All are welcome.  There is no charge.

For more information about the exhibition, see Susan Singer's website.

To sign up for Saturday's luncheon, please contact Anne Hart Chay by Wednesday, October 13th.  804.644.1368 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              804.644.1368      end_of_the_skype_highlighting. 

Lunch options are listed below.  Please peruse them and let Anne know your choice when you call her.

 Lunch options:

Cucina Fine Foods & Catering BOX LUNCHES   Choose either a Sandwich or Salad Box Lunch

Sandwich box lunches served with a choice of side salad and a dessert.Choose a Side: roasted red potato salad with dill, pasta primavera in balsamic vinaigrette or curried cous cous & wild rice pilaf with almonds & apricots

• Mesquite smoked turkey with spinach, artichoke and cream cheese on ciabatta
• Roast beef with cheddar, lettuce and herbed mayonnaise on sourdough
• Chicken salad with red grapes, almonds and lettuce on croissant
• Roast chicken breast with roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella & fresh basil on ciabatta
• Grilled eggplant and red peppers with goat cheese on ciabatta
• Dijon shrimp salad with oranges, ginger, water chestnuts & lettuce on croissant
• Black Forest ham and Swiss with lettuce on sourdough
• Vegetarian wrap, roasted red pepper hummus with lettuce, cucumbers & sweet red peppers

Salad box lunches served with flatbreads and toasted pita chips and dessert combination. Dressings packaged in separate containers.

• Classic Greek salad with kalamata olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and feta
• Mixed greens with tomatoes, cucumbers, apples and almond
• Caesar salad with grilled chicken and garlic croutons
• Dijon shrimp salad with oranges, ginger and water chestnuts on bed of field greens
• Mediterranean Medley Chicken salad with curried cous cous and wild rice pilaf
• Chicken salad with grapes and almonds on bed of field greens with cucumbers & plum tomatoes

Special Thanks to Cucina, located in the Museum District, for their assistance with this Luncheon.  www.cucinarichmond.com

More info about Sacred Flesh

      In today’s society, the media seems to be in charge of creating the image people have of the “perfect” woman’s body.  Singer hopes to crash through the belief that a woman must be tall and rail thin to be beautiful.  She presents women who are beautiful because they feel gorgeous.  They live authentically within their own skin and feel great about themselves. After viewing her show, Singer hopes that people will look at women, including themselves, in a new, more accepting, compassionate way.

     Singer writes about her work, her process, art, and her thoughts about women’s body image frequently on her very popular blog, Exploring Women’s Bodies, at www.susansingerart.blogspot.com Please visit www.visualartstudio.org  or www.susansinger.com for more infomation.

Sacred Flesh is up and ready to be seen!

Chris, Laura (my daughter) and I spent the day today hanging Sacred Flesh at Visual Art Studio!  Chris and I had spent several hours a few weeks ago laying out which pieces we would put where, but once we were in the studio we changed our minds about several of the pieces.  It was fun hanging all the paintings and drawings and the results of almost two years worth of work on the walls at one time.  I think it looks quite good.  I loved being in the midst of so many of my models at one time.  I'm very excited now for Thursday and Friday nights when the crowds will come. 

Here are the events for the week regarding the show:

Thursday evening, September 30, from 5-7 there will be a Preview for Discerning Viewers - what that means is anyone who would like to can come take a look at the art at a time when the galleries aren't as crowded as they are on First Friday.  I'll be there until 6:30 when I have to leave to go teach my pastels class.

Friday evening, October 1, at 5:15 I'll give an Artist's Talk about the show.  Several of the models will be there to answer questions as well.  It'll be a great opportunity to ask whatever has been on your mind as you've watched this show evolve.  The talk will (hopefully) be on YouTube later if you miss it Friday.

Friday evening, October 1, beginning at 6:30 and going until about 9:30 is First Friday, a great opportunity to explore and be a part of Richmond's art scene.  All the galleries along Broad Street stay open late; street musician, magicians, fire eaters, jugglers, etc. come out to perform; anyone who is anyone goes there to be seen!  It is a very fun way to spend the evening, checking out the culture that is Richmond and seeing scores of people you know.  I'll be at the gallery that evening until we close around 9:30 or 10. 

If you can't make it this week, the gallery is open during the week and on weekends (see the website for hours).  I'll be there the Third Saturday, October 16 for Saturday Stroll from 1-4.

Thursday, November 4, from 5-7 there will be another Preview for Discerning Viewers with a new set of pictures.  I had so many paintings, I couldn't fit them all in one show, so I'll be trading out pieces for the November showing. 

Friday evening, November 5, 5:30 I'll be giving another Artist's Talk about the new work as well as the work in general.

Friday evening, November 5, 6:30 - 9:30 is one of the best attended First Fridays of the year.  People come out to enjoy the nip in the air and to shop for Christmas presents for their loved ones as well as to enjoy the festivities.

Saturday, November 20, 1-4, is another Saturday Stroll.  I'll be there to talk to folks about my work.

Catalogues and prints will be available at the gallery during the show as well.

It would be wonderful to see you at one of these events.  I hope you'll introduce yourself if we don't know each other already.  I look forward to meeting you!

Susan

Catalogue for Sacred Flesh can now be purchased!

While I was tutoring calculus and heavily into derivatives and differential equations this morning, I got a most exciting phone call!  Michael at Uptown Color was calling to let me know all 75 copies of my catalogue were ready!  I went to pick them up immediately after the session.  Michael has been fantastic helping me get the color just right and working with me as I give him different versions of everything as I edited it and played with the color, etc.  I am so thankful that docucopies.com wouldn't print the catalogue (because there were nudes in it) and I had to go local.  It made all the difference in the quality for me to be able to see proofs of it and to correct it several times before going to press.  The product is infinitely better because of it.  Things do tend to work out how they're supposed to, but I sure was frustrated when docucopies told me they wouldn't do it.

If you ever need to get anything printed in Richmond, Uptown Color is definitely the place to go!

So now I have 75 copies of Sacred Flesh awaiting the masses of people eager to purchase them!  They are $25 if you get them from me before the show (plus $2.25 for postage if you want me to mail it to you in the US), $30 at the show or afterwards.  You can send me a check to my home address (email me for it if you don't already know it) and I'll get it out in the mail right away.  The Buy Now button down below can be used if you want to pay with PayPal.  It doesn't cost you anything extra and they'll ask you all the pertinent information.  A very easy way to go, I hope!  If you have any problems with it, please let me know and I'll figure out how to fix it.

Here's an excerpt from the catalogue so you can get a sense of what to expect:

When I told this woman that I wanted to paint this image, she was horrified - No!  It looks too much like me!  Everyone will recognize me!  I found her statement fascinating.  It’s ironic because you can’t see her face, and it’s likely that not all that many people have seen her nude.  It’s also wonderful because perhaps I captured the essence of her in this image.  That’s exactly what appealed to me about it - and what made her uncomfortable with my painting it, I assume.

Intent upon honoring her desire to not use that image, I had my husband come out to the studio and photograph me in the exact same position, with the same lighting, at the same time of evening.  The pictures he took didn’t work at all.  He did a great job, but the images were not compelling the way this one is.  It isn’t a normal gesture for me like it is for this model. 

Stymied, I completely released my desire to paint this painting.

Well, sort of.  I tried to, but the image stuck with me still, so I drew it in my sketchbook.  I drew a detail of her hand.  I kept thinking about the image.The next time I saw her, I told her about my compulsion.  She laughed and said, “Oh, good grief!  Go ahead and paint it then!” 

I was so excited, I began right away.I love the essence of this woman and how it comes across in the painting.  Her comfort in her body is clear.  Her centered nature and grounded being give me comfort and strength.  SS