Waste Not Want Not - by North Carolina Painter Sue Scoggins

This is random and nothing like I usually do.  But, I was totally "over" painting seriously for the day.

There is this "thing" that really bugs me...that's called waste. Instead of buying new, I usually try to recycle or get more than one use out of things.  So when I really botch up a painting, while my first inclination is to throw it away, sometimes I just stick it in a closet somewhere and forget about it. This old canvas had an unusual amount of thick dried up paint on it.  I at least had to give it try....see if something could come out of it.

So I thought...let's turn negative into positive.  I took a mixture of prussian blue/dab of red/and whatever other dark I could find and sketched, in very thin paint, a line of birdies sitting on wires. .. let the shapes of color of the old painting create the shapes of the birds. Thus the odd shapes of those  little creatures.  The randoms colors in the birdies are all the colors underneath.  Such diversity, ha.

Then, I began to negative paint a neutral color around, filling in the background.  The bottom of the painting was already dark..so I just put in a few strokes to indicate buildings.

There ya have it.  Urban birdies.  (Still might head for the trash bin.)  But...it was a fun experiment.

OUT OF THE WOODS - Italian Lanscape by Sue Scoggins, North Carolina Painter

Most all of my paintings have a story behind them.  While working in Italy last summer, I took an afternoon to hike from Palazetto to the San Galgano Abby. The beginning of the hike was across this beautiful field of gold and yellow tall grass that had a narrow path going across it.  The path led into the woods that was tucked in the valleys of the Tuscan hills. The woods were pretty thick with an occasional plowed field appearing from time to time.  With my backpack filled with water, a light jacket, a sketchbook and charcoal pencil, I was ready to take in the delights of nature and a bit of adventure.  Oh yes and my cell phone that didn't work in such an isolated area.

After about an hour hike, I saw the Abby on the hill and wound my way around to it.  This Abby was a special place where the legend of the sword and the stone took hold.  Fascinating history.  After  a quick lunch and relaxing little sketch of the Abby, I packed up to head home.

Circling around the Abby, I found my path to return.  One little problem...I walked completely passed my little fork in the path.  Kept looking straight ahead and into the woods. The deeper I got into the woods, the more "forks" there were and soon I began to think, "Hmm. I haven't seen this place before."  Figured I'd find my evident long road through the woods that I had come in  on.  After about 45 minutes, I realized I was getting no where.  Kept going back and taking new paths.  After about 2 hours, my "non-panic" mode took over in my mind.  I realized I was completely lost.  I sat and thought through my survival strategy.  Figured as long as I had that plan in place I wouldn't panic.  So, I evaluated, my supplies.  One backpack to use as a pillow, two bottles of water to use sparingly, a  charcoal pencil to fight off the wolves that I had been warned about.  My jacket as my blankey......and headlines, "Stupido American Tourist Devoured by Tuscan Black Wolves."

Needless to say, my panic did NOT set in and I didn't not get eaten by wolves.  I kept a level head (which is very rare) and hiked back to the beginning of my return and found the right path. Trust me, an hour later, when I saw this clearing, "Out of the Woods" was born.  Whew!

Inks and Buttery Oils - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

The creativity thing is such a mind game.  There are days when there is not a single spark of creative thought going on in my head.  Busy-ness, chit chat, and the like can fill the hours. I get energy from being around people.  But I get creative thought when alone.  Then the urge to paint comes!  It's like the brushes are screaming for me to pick them up and a vibrant color is begging to be spread on a canvas.

This painting began weeks ago with the spreading of transparent acrylic ink on white canvas.  Process magenta ink was carefully poured and spread with a palate knife.  The color is so intense yet so transparent that the white canvas shows through.  Oh such a gorgeous color!  Most all of my paintings begin this way.  The same was done with other colors some of them overlapping the other.  That was all that was done.  Here were basically three swathes of color across the canvas and I had no idea what to do with it.  So the canvas sat in a corner for weeks.

My studio is off of my living, so everyday whether painting or not, I walk by.  Unfinished paintings lean on the walls, some begging, some dormant, some wanting to be finished.  Yes...paintings are alive. (I promise, I'm not too crazy...really.)  But this one in particular had been begging for attention.
The other night, while sitting on my sofa, with this canvas silently calling me, I saw a color.  It screamed out at me.  So, I went in and put some indian yellow, pthalo blue, and white on my palet.  Mixed a chartreuse green and just started dancing it across the dark. I loved that green on that dark blue.  Thus the dance began.

Road to New Bern, revisited - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

There's another show coming up.  This will be the third this year.  I feel like a machine. In order not to get burned out, it takes new venues, new subjects, and new techniques to get me all lit up again.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is find new subjects or a new story to paint.  It seems I've been painting wildflowers since the day I was born.  There will be plenty of them at the October show at the Little Art Gallery in Raleigh, October 10th.  It is so much fun, slinging the paint on in the beginning, Jackson Pollock style, then carving out those little peeps of blooms that are hiding in the middle of all the chaos.   But it's time for something new lest those wildflowers start to wilt.

Today, I decided I would paint over an old painting. The intention was to have another "subject" at the show. So often those beginnings turn out to be the best paintings!  While  perusing through some old images, I remembered the painting "Road to New Bern".  Every time I would go to see my husband, who was ill at the time, in New Bern, I would pass this old barn.  I had the barn on my mind. With all the colors of the painting still in tact, I decided to put paint on very thick with a pallet knife but let the random colors of the old painting show through in little peeps.  I began with large swipes of white paint for the roof of the barn.

Basically, the rest of the painting was surrounding the white barn with color.  

Lots of crazy combinations of thalo blue, pthalo green, and indian yellow.  Juicy color.  Pretty fun.

RECAP and ONWARD - Back from Shangri-La

Shangri-La was a place is the fictional novel, Lost Horizon, written in 1933 by British author James Hilton.  It was a perfect place.  A dream.

sitting on a table in a vintage shop

Spending the summer in Italy was truly that.  A pipe dream that, never in my wildest dreams, would I have thought would occur.  The people I met and the art that I saw was almost more than I could take in.  I saw art everywhere.  In the architecture, in museums, in cafes, at street markets, sculptures on playgrounds, symphonies at sunrise. And it was old art...an authentic representation of life.....a wedding, the universal love between mother and child (I could write forever about that), history over the centuries.  Where would we be without art!  Even the shoemaker! It became ingrained in me.  To think that 10 years ago, I didn't know a thing about art.  I had only been to Europe on a few business trips but never to "live" and experience it. The art that I saw was more than I could have ever seen in any art history class.  To think, people live and breath it over there.  What a privilege.  Arranged by a friend, I was even able to see the Queen's art collection in Buckingham Palace before I came back home. I am humbled to have been able to go.  I mean, who gets to do these things?

on an
Arezzo street

a wedding documented on canvas in Anacapri

bye little Rose

It's September 1.
Time to get back to work. I said goodbye to my little Rosie, picked up Peacock Georgio's feather, gathered fourteen paintings, carefully rolled them up, and carried them under my arm across the Atlantic.  Neither heat, nor rails, nor airports could keep these paintings from coming to Raleigh. These 13 acres of Italian Borgo San Pietro gardens, captured on canvas, have travelled on trains to Naples, ferries to Capri, planes to London, the Gatwick Express, and finally on American Airlines back across the pond to Raleigh.

trains

ferries

See you soon, October 10, Little Art Gallery, Cameron Village, Raleigh, North Carolina.

After The Borgo - Goodbye by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

Blurred is sometimes better

It’s Friday.  Was it worth it?  An absolute, “YES!” 

Goodbye Borgo.

Goodbye gardens and gardeners.

Goodbye eggs florentine, waiters and drivers everywhere. 

Goodbye open windows, fire flies and horses grazing in the night.

Goodbye scorching days and dusty roads, icy rivers and muddy trails.

Goodbye cold showers, baby scorpions and lizards in my bed.

Goodbye Mr. Rooster and Georgio, the peacock.
Goodbye, huge black wolves of Tuscany.

And to the staff….

Goodbye florist Rosie from UK.

Goodbye concierge Anika from Finland.

Goodbye reception Lucrezia and Louisa.

You know who you are.

Goodbye to Caterine who smiles with each dish she washes.

The housekeepers…..and to the beautiful Stephanie who irons…. 

You are the gold nuggets of the Borgo. 

Goodbye artist residency Borgo Santo Pietro, Palazetto, Chiusdino, Italy, 2015

BIRTHDAYS!

It's my birthday today!  How lucky to spend a birthday here at the Borgo. (Actually, it's tomorrow but I didn't have the heart to tell my breakfast friends.)  How exciting to be sung to!  These breakfast buddies are so speeeeecial.  They make me smile every single day!

Could not stop laughing at Carlos singing the birthday song.

So fortunate!

It's been three weeks and the time is almost gone. To be honest, I’m a little “painted out”. But I’ve discovered the whole wax and wane thing must be true and I’m sure a new surge will come in a day or two. I guess this is what an addiction is like.  I want to quit but can’t!  Sort of like some people and chocolate cake….but mine is paint!   

……A DAY OR TWO LATER……

Walk to San Galgano

Winding down, means cleaning up the studio, throwing away near empty tubes of paint, “spent” canvases and old disposable pallets. Let’s smear this with a pallet knife. Can’t waste that paint on the pallet. NEVER WASTE PAINT!  Maybe a little dab here or a little dab there.  OH KNOW.  It’s happening.  Abstracts! The next one was painted over a dining scene I had painted of the Borgo.  I didn't like it.  SO........what a great place to put the leftover paint!

After the Borgo

Friday is my last day. 

Time For Some Abstracts

It’ hard to believe that it’s been three weeks. Lessons this week have been slow so the time has been spent working on paintings for an October show at The Little Art Gallery in Raleigh, NC. Interesting how the gallery wants a series of wildflower paintings.  My home this month has been in the midst of a sea of almost paradise gardens, complete with it's own peacocks and alpacas. 

To be honest, I’m a little “painted out”. Will be ready to be a “real” tourist staring next Friday. In the meantime, painting is the best way to stay productive and the best way to keep practicing. Kind of want to get a tad more expressive and abstract.  This actually was inspired from the underside of my pallet. I had used a piece of velum for my pallet and this is how the colors just happened to appear from underneath. 

The Art of Making Art - by Sue Scoggins, North Carolina Painter

Enough of talking about my days off….it’s time to get back to the artist in residency part. I had the most delightful student today.  Besides the fact that she was 50 and I thought she was 26….I was tempted to throw black paint all over her canvas….but…I restrained myself. 

The studio is open all day.  From 7:30 to 7:30.  Georgio, the peacock, quite often waits by the door. The weather is so beautiful in the wee hours of the morning and late evening. That’s when I paint. I read, write and nap in the middle of the day.  Getting this European life style down pretty good. Even getting the hairpin turns down pretty good, but we won’t  talk about that. 

Haley, from the UK, was the perfect student. She approached me yesterday for a lesson, saying she wanted to learn about color and oils.  She loves abstract!  YAY!  Just the right person to share art with. She had a degree in photography, already had the eye, knew about focal points,  light and darks. She wanted to learn how to layer.  I was ecstatic!

The first thing we did was wipe magenta all over the canvas.  Then orange.  Then yellow.  We could hardly contain ourselves when unimaginable colors came to light  and set the tone for a beautiful sunset.  Shapes occurred out of nothing.  Then I gave her some terped phalo blue and magenta…she added drips…moved her canvas from side to side..…before she knew it there were mountain ranges. Then we laid it aside to dry for the day. 

SO COOL!!!!!!!

For the rest of the time we experimented with making colors.  New colors out of only 5 basic colors..plus white.  Dominant, complimentary and spice colors…every color in the rainbow could be made out of those colors. There ya have it.  Our time was finished. Boo!

Now she knew the basics to go home with.  Buy just those 5 colors, two brushes, a pallet knife and finish up her masterpiece.  I can’t wait to see how it turns out.  Bellisimo!!!!  New art.  Better than that…a new friend. 

Ponytail hair for 26m days

Georgio

Power of Pink

Does anyone know why sunflowers turn a certain way Just asking. 

As  little girl, I never did like pink.  I guess because I thought of it as a sign of being weak. Don't know why, I thought I always had to be strong and independent.  I had a wonderful childhood with wonderful parents.  Who knows why we think what we think.  But, now that I'm all grown up, I suppose I don't feel like I have to prove anything.  And guess what... I love pink.  I’m writing this, while sitting at a table in a shady hillside garden in Montalcino. Its day two of my “holiday” and I just ordered a caprese salad.  It’s the size of a large hubcap! 

Speaking of hubcaps. With a wedding at the Borgo, it was suggested that I take a couple of days off,  a “holiday”.  Now, sometimes I get in a bit of trouble when I’m off my leash.  Yet, I’m thankful for friends and family who have realized that keeping me corralled, at this point in my life might make me very, very sad. In spite of the fact that it makes them worry, they’ve had to let me go.

Yesterday, my first day off, began with very good news.  Four paintings sold to a wonderful lawyer from Miami and her two daughters.  That was that!  Gratzi!  Gratzi! 

Next was the fact that I didn’t have to drive the Borgo “ferrari”.  I was the recipient of the Borgo VW Polo.  “Yay!  All is good!”  Uh oh! Trouble entered my mind when I opened the door and found a half empty bottle of motor oil in the back seat.  Hmmmm.  That's ok.  I'm strong and independent...remember.  What's a little car trouble. I'll just wear pink and act like a damsel in distress. 

My plan was to go to the beach and take my sketch book. A few wrong turns, scorching heat, crowds at the beach, closed cafes, and closed gas stations, I decided to just tootle my way back  home through a few local villages and find a cafe.  This last particular town was tiny and its roads ran very steep and narrow along stone wall drop offs.   Before I knew it, with the smell of a burning rubber clutch and brakes, my little Polo could not make it up the hill. “Oh God!  What do I do?” (Funny how religion comes into play when you’re about to die!)  I slowly backed down trying to make the hair pin turn in reverse, the clutch and breaks began to weaken…and there ya have it..gear in first, my entire body weight firmly planted on the brake and the emergency brake pulled tight ….I was teetering on the edge of that stone wall……disaster!   and it was the BORGO car!  WHAT WAS I TO DO???  Yell, “HELPO!!!”  

Thank you God!  Thank you for the 3 Australians who happened to appear out from under the archway of this deserted town. English speaking!  Desperate!  I had to put my faith in them to save me. They secured the back tires with mega large stones and I climbed out of the passenger side of the car. One brave Aussie got in and with dust flying, wheels screeching, brought little Polo to safety.  We were all sweating bullets! Mine were pink!  And, again, I could read another headline….STUPIDO AMERICANO ARTIST DIES OFF CLIFF AND TAKES AUSTRALIANS WITH HER!

Don't know why I shared this.  

Artist in Residency - Somewhere out here in Tuscany

My brain is so confused.  It doesn’t know what language to speak.  Today, I yelled out “Good Morno"…instead of Bonjourno!  I promise it was a total slip up.

Lest anyone think this is a luxury vacation and that I’m frolicking around sipping wine all day …here’s the way it is.  

The artist in resident’s duties are to be available for lessons twice a day, 3 hour sessions, 6 days a week.  Sundays are my day off. When not teaching, I have free reign of the Borgo, but they really prefer the artist to be painting on the grounds so guests can become educated/acquainted with art. 

The artist is given an artist flat for the duration, no internet, no TV, no AC.  But there is something magical about your windows open at night, feeling the cool Tuscan air breezing in and hearing nothing but silence. The lizards like it too.  The artist is provided 3 meals a day, two of which I eat with the staff.  (Sort of like Downton Abby)  Most of the staff is from somewhere else….Albania, Romania, Slovakia…one florist from Britain and a pastry chef from Canada.  Very few speak English. Now you can see why my brain is a jumbled mess of languages.  You don’t know how many times I’ve said, “Oui” instead of “Si”. By the end of the day, this is what I look like.

I am delighted be able to eat breakfast with the guests to become acquainted with them. Most are Americans, British or Australian.  Several have been from North Carolina…but they’ve been Duke grads.  Hopefully, they will want to sign up for lessons.  However, it is a record heat wave here in Tuscany..and that means HOT! (frankly, if I were a guest, I’d rather be touring vineyards and having “wine” lessons.)  

Guests are signing up for lessons though.  Every student is at a different level but most are beginners.  My trouble is trying to simplify the lesson so that they can be successful.  The most challenging is that I can’t just give a simple monochromatic light/dark lesson because the grounds are to beautiful that everyone wants to paint the gardens.  That is incredibly hard! So I try to have them focus a very small area that inspires them. I’ve never officially taught before so you might say this is “on the job training”..in Tuscany….not a bad thing, I’d say.

Every day I paint from almost sunup to sundown.  Accept for two days ago when, Rosie,  the florist and I escaped in the staff “Ferrari”  to a nearby icy river to swim.  Every artist has to be bit of renegade.  Without us the world would be a complete bore.  Besides, it was blistery hot!  Maybe the next entry will be about being chased by a wild boar.  Seriously. They are plentiful here, you know. 

FLORENCE - a traveller's diary by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

Pinch me! So surreal.  I hestitated to write this summer's journey.  I know that so many people have only seen Italy in their dreams as I have until now.  This opportunity dropped in my lap and I still cannot believe I am here.  Two months! Paid.  Teaching! To think of where I was just a year and a half ago..ten years ago...fifteen years ago.....in Alzheimer world. 

Answering the request to share, I hope this provides hope that all things are possible. The world is filled with wonderful people and places to learn about. 

Street artists everywhere in the city of art.

The lounge outside my room where Pellegrino is waiting on these hot summer days.

Duomo
one of the most famous architectural masterpieces of the world. 

My tiny room is at the bottom of the steps.

It's Monday morning from my rooftop. The hotel pigeon, who loves almond biscuits, is perched on the edge of the wrought iron chair across from me...waiting for his morning crumbs. These next five days will be spent learning about the greats...Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli.

Traveling alone has it's rewards. Each day I've met the most interesting people.  There's Gino, Antonio, Lorenzo, Leonardo....Funny how these Italian names all end in the letter O.  Today I have to mention the one that stands out the most.

Bountain!  Like mountain accept with a B.  When I got off the train in Florence, the lines were too long for a cab.  Headed in the general direction of my hotel, down by the river, I lugged my bag, filled with more art gear than clothes, loaded my portfolio bag on top and began walking. On the corner were two very nice gentlemen from Nigeria.  They had just come from McDonalds. Such smiles! We struck up a conversation.  These Nigerians had the most beautiful command of the English language...such a deep, powerful and tuba sounding musical accent.  Bountain began talking about how beautiful the English language was and that some people refuse to learn it. Our conversation moved on to having a zest for life and loving life and how he is saddened that so many people refuse to LIKE life. Some people just cannot see..and are constantly critical and angry about everything from too much this to too much that.

"You must LIKE LIFE before you can LOVE LIFE!", he said with his animated, barreling voice.  If you never like life...you'll never love life. You must appreciate so you can love LIFE.

I love that!  Thank you, as tall as a mountain, Bountain.

OUT IN THE FIELD - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

Needless to say there will be several paintings from this place.  What a way to spend a Saturday.

Little onlookers.  So cute.

Pristine Lagoon - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

From My Rocking Chair
24x30 oil on canvas

I've bene stymied. I'm not a "still" painter.  Yet, the first painting of the pristine lagoon was on a very, very still day.  The water was like glass and the trees were tall and barren.  It took me forever to finish...if it really IS finished.

The other is the same lagoon on a windy day.

The same pristine lagoon on a different day.

Blustery Day on the Lagoon
20x24 oil on canvas

Pristine Lagoon - by North Carolina Painter Sue Scoggins

One of the most memorable things about our place at the beach is our "pristine lagoon." It's really a swamp, protected wetland, but we call it our own "pristine lagoon". Many evenings are spent rocking on the deck over looking the lagoon...watching the sun go down.  Many mornings are spent drinking coffee as the kids roll their toy trucks around the deck.

Today, my painting brain started revving up.  My friend and I propped up a canvas and started scrubbing on our colors.  It actually was not the best light but we made the best of it.  The sun was bleaching out most of the color but we managed to use our artistic license.  After a few hours...I was just getting warmed up.  So I started another of a similar view at sunset.  Here are the beginnings.
Just the start....

Second Chance

We all need a second chance don't we?
As a break from the preparation of my Tidewater Show in June, I took a little aside.
ArtSource Gallery in Raleigh is hosting a fundraiser for Second Chance Pet Adoption.
The theme is companionship. Here ya go little fellas.

Soulmates

30x40 oil on canvas

Sunny Day in France-by North Carolina Painter Sue Scoggins

France on a Sunny Day

12x24 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

The sun is coming out and the days are getting longer.  I'm a creature of the sun and the sea.  There's just something about it.  As I have been contemplating what paintings are going in a show at Tidewater Gallery in June, I've been painting whatever comes to mind.  I've also been exploring some new techniques.  Scraping is such a good thing.  Scrape on.  Scrape off.  It takes away the attempt at perfectionism and lets the true colors come to light.  I just love that.

Stand Alone - A tree line by North Carolina painter, Sue Scoggins

It's another snow day in Raleigh, NC and a date with my easel!  For several weeks now, I've been preparing for a solo show at Tidewater Gallery at the coast. Images keep swirling in my head but few have landed on canvas.  It's challenging to nail myself down to one style or subject. Guess that's the "color in between the lines" sort of thing.....I can't!

While in France last year, I sketched several tree lines. Those rows of green things  (we're not suppose to call them trees, we're suppose to call them shapes) became compelling.

So, last night, behind my eyelids, I was envisioning this one white tree from one of my sketches. This little guy has been ruminating in my brain since last July.  How about a traditional?  An experiment in studying the classics.

The underpainting actually began the night before with a rough sketch on linen canvas,  using a paper towel instead of a brush.  Used just cad red and alizarin crimson thinned with turp.  Swiped on.  Wiped off.  Dried over night.

Up and ready, this morning, I turned on Yo-Yo Ma playing Ennio Morricone...Moses and Marco Polo Suite.  The music and the colors engulfed me and before I knew it 6 hours and two boxes of raisins  had gone by. 

I began by darkening my darks and trying to get a bit more definition.  Scrubbed on.  Scraped off.

I determined which area was my lightest.  Which was my brightest.  Which was my darkest. I began with a large brush.  But, when I laid down my long line of purple in front of the trees, I just picked up my pallet knife and couldn't put it down.  Seriously!  It was stuck to my hand and I couldn't let go.  It began to scribble and move color all over the canvas....sort of like a ouiji on steroids! 

Stand Alone

20x24 oil on linen

My First City Scape - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

Call me crazy.  We had a "winter storm" in North Carolina last night...which amounted to a beautiful dusting of snow and frigid temperatures....So...What does a painter do on a cold wintery day?  Take a guess.

Hmm.  Could be celebrating Fat Tuesday. Could be playing in the snow with my grandchildren (if I wanted to try driving on ice.  NOT)...Could be making chili (but cooking is way overrated when you live alone).....or possibly sitting in my warm comfy living room reading  a book..(but that would put me to sleep)... NO!

I'm painting.

This morning, as the sun was rising, this was the view out my window.
  Of course, this image was just the beginning and it became stuck in my head.  That's what happens to painters, ya know.   Pacing back and forth in front of the 9 foot wall of windows I could see, through the overcast sky, the city of Raleigh beginning to take on color.

So, I chose to take a huge painting, 3ft by 5 ft, ...previously painted...and completely distroy it!..Distroy it and create something new!

I tried to create a sophisticated monochromatic city scape...but couldn't!  The color from the underpainting created depth as I laid pinks and Indian yellow in the sky. Can't help but be addicted to color. It's just who I am and I can't help it.  I was born this way!  Once on a roll, I had to scoot my easel around the room to get all the buildings and avoid any direct sunlight coming in the windows. Can't you just envision it?  A "rolling" painting.  Glad the floor wasn't down hill.  Whee!!!  Kind of funny. The paint was laid on, then scraped off.  Adjustments were continually made as the city took shape. The painting took a total of 8-10 hours...on my feet....non stop.  No food...no break (accept the potty).  I was in the zone.  No phone calls....only two text messages...total concentration.  (Not to mention the distroyed hours of the previous underpainting...that took hours upon hours....only be painted over)  Thus....my first city scape.  Still a few touch ups left to do...but pretty much completed.

The Light's On

36-48 oil (upon oil upon oil)

Hope you like it!

New Friends and Flowers - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

Meeting new people is one of the most exciting parts of painting.  So often when a buyer comes to my place to pick up a painting they've seen on Facebook or when a commission has been finished, a new friendship is born.

Thank you Toni!  Hope you enjoy this painting for a long, long time.  What a privilege!

2015 - A New Painting Year by Sue Scoggins, North Carolina Painter

2015 has begun in a painting frenzy.  Deadlines have kept me from updating the blog but I had a request for a release of more France paintings.  They are being released slowly, simply because I can't let them go!  What fabulous memories...take me back!

On this hot summer day in July, I had rounded the corner into the square in front of the 17th century Hôtel de Ville.

Toting Buckets

7x9 original oil on board

$250

Aix is known for it's fabulous markets in old town.  This little French farm woman toted buckets in each hand while others sampled produce behind her. The market was bustling.