ENERGY TO CREATE HWY 58 by North Carolina Painter Susan Scoggins

Hwy 58

Other than the soul of the human spirit, nothing inspires me like landscape. The little french farmhouse on the road, the cabin in the woods, the barn in a golden field. I suppose after all the experimenting I’ve done, and not being very good at it, I always find myself landing right back outdoors in the midst of the creative masterpieces done by the Master Creator himself. There’s no reproducing it realistically.  Only expressions or impressions of the effect it has on me.

People ask, "How long does it take you to do a painting?" It may look like it's easy.  It takes energy to create. Think calculus exam…problem solving, shapes, formulas, colors, juxtaposition, brilliance, toning down, vibration, impression, intention. Think music…notes, crescendo, staccato, phrases, tone, emotion, expression. All of those components are stuffed down into a neat little intuitive package, until it's about to explode, then carefully allowed to flow.   It’s exhilarating and exhausting. 

For this painter, ME, it takes hours, even days of silence. Silence uninterrupted by texts, pings, dings, idol chatter, 24 hour news..even eating.  Silence.  Yet something has to stimulate the creative flow. The last two weeks have been spent with mind-numbing Netflix binging due to the flu. Not only no physical energy but no mental energy. 

Today was the day. I got up as the sun rose and prepared myself for a day of inspiration. After filling my personal tank with coffee, my little white car with gas, charging my phone for a plethora of images, I set off to the flat farmlands of Eastern North Carolina. Three hours and a thousand sneezes later my mind was completely filled with blue green flatlands, blooming white pear trees and little white barns with shiny sunlit roofs. What some people may see as  torn down sheds in fields of grey nothingness, I see as something to capture. Yes, there was a lot of backing up, u-turns, and photos for reference but now all these visions are jumbling off each other in all the crevices of my mind. They are charging each other up like sparks of electrical current, priming themselves for the perfect time to ignite.  When they ignite, they will explode.  

All of this is BEFORE ever putting a brush to canvas

Preparing for New Bern - by North Carolina Painter Sue Scoggins

Fairfield Harbor

It may be far off, but November is actually just around the corner.  November 9th, 2018, in fact, is the opening.   To prepare for a show takes months. First of all, I have to collect my thoughts which is a huge task...like herding cats. What will be the theme? A theme?  You mean I have to have a theme?  A press release?  You mean I have to write a press release?  Update my mission statement?  What mission statement?  Guest list.  Wall space.  Guest list. The list goes on.

I've painted nature for so many years.  I've tried to deviate but it keeps crawling back. But how do I do this one different than the past.  At first I thought I'd go live on a houseboat in Beaufort, North Carolina for a week.  Collect all the energy from the activities that are going on in that little town.  Paint like a mad dog the entire week and call the show, "HOUSEBOAT".   Long and short ..it's not happening.

So, I thought.  What do I do in this life I've been given?  Where do I spend most of time besides the studio?  Hello!  On my bike, cycling the countryside. Cycling is ingrained.  Painting landscape is ingrained. So, for now, my theme will be sites and sounds of the road.  Roadtrip.  Maybe that will be the name.  Maybe I'm getting somewhere. No pun intended. (or maybe it was intended.  You decide.)

First painting. Fairfield. A ride over the New Bern bridge brought me to a beautiful little riverside boating community and marina.

FLEXIBILITY by Sue Scoggins North Carolina Painter

Tizzy

Just in case you are the type who has to be in control of everything....guess what...that's not me! You would get so frustrated with this person. (me)  Although there is method in my madness and organization in it's chaos.

Twenty years in the airline industry trained me in one thing.  FLEXIBILITY.  I mean, if you are dependent on the "ontime" machine, you are sunk!  Things happen.  And you have to be prepared to rise above any circumstance. So, with my living in two places, I am prepared.  Sort of.  I have sets of paints and a makeshift studio in each place and a small carryall in my trunk filled with random art supplies. Not only does my "living abode" shift...but my mind has to shift too.

When I am at the coast, my mind is infused with the most indescribable beauty.  There's no reproducing it...only painting the effect it has on me.  When I am in the city, up in my little roof top spot, I am far, far away from raw nature.  I am surrounded by buildings and traffic.  While it takes a day or so....my painting mind shifts. Call me skitso. (is that a word?) I have to shift from the expanse of sweeping skies to blocks of buildings and streets.  Sometimes it throws me into a total expressionist tizzy!

In the meantime, wherever I am, I paint numerous paintings at one time.  At the beach, I have 3 - 4 canvases lined up one my kitchen counter.  I mean...a little pthalo blue here and a little there. In the city, I only have on on my easel but there are 2 or 3 leaned up against the wall that get placed on the easel when the previous one goes off.  They revolve and evolve. All of them.  I paint like a mad dog.  Then I stop cold.

So if you are wondering where in the world the variety comes from.....that is the best I can do to explain it.

Thanks for reading.