Bye Bye Sabbatical - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

Six months have passed and it's blistering hot outside. The sabbatical is over. The urge has begun! Some say artists don't read...but this one does.  Reading, studying, and meditating on WHY I paint. Why not spread a little cheer working at Whole Foods, volunteer at elder care facilities, build for Habitat, bake for sick people?  Why not travel again? Why not play the ukulele?

It finally dawned on me that the thing I do best is paint. (It's a bit too late for the corporate world and  I'm a terrible baker.) What I CAN do is paint. It's a gift and my passion. Visual arts is one of the greatest ways for me to spread hope. And although it is a gift, it requires a lot of time, work, focus, solitude, and a heart load of spirit. When I see massive cloud formations or fields of abundant wildflowers, I become speechless. My emotions become almost giddy like a child.  I stop all conversation, sit in awe, visions start scribbling around in my brain, then I go running back to my canvas. If I don't get it out....I dream about those images.  Inks have got to fly and flow!

So...while I'm waiting for a shipment of large canvases to come in, I'm creating mediums paintings.   The oils will begin soon.   Stay tuned!                                    

thinned oil on birch above

acrylic inks violating the canvases below