ISAIAH by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

For my New Bern show at , I've decided the name is "Roadtrip".   Sites and scenes, trails and towns over 2,000 miles of cycling along the East Coast.

Along the North Carolina coast is the historic shrimp boat at Phyllips Seafood in Swansboro, North Carolina.  It carries the reputation as the most photographed shrimp boat on the East Coast. During a lunch break I spotted it's gleaming white sides, which were almost blinding on this Carolina sunny day.  It's green swooping nets draped from the red lacquered crossbars.

This boat is covered with ropes and buoys, reels and rods, anchors and ladders, but the nets!  The nets!  I'm in love with the nets!  Carefully, I walked along the old greyed planks of the eroding deck in hopes of getting some images. A friendly gentleman in tall black boots approached.  He was obviously was a master shrimper with strong tired working hands...the keeper of the vessel....a sort of Forrest Gump. He invited me onboard and let me wander aimlessly snapping pictures.

When I finished I handed him a five dollar bill. He refused it. I said, "No.  I want you to have it. Give it to someone if you don't want to keep it." He took it and said, "Ok. I'll give it to Ronald McDonald House."  Then he told me of his 7 year old step son who has a degenerative brain disease, much like Alzheimers disease,  and is under hospice care.  OH MY GOODNESS I was speachless!!!!  He skyped the mom and we met over the phone.  Her son's name is Isaiah. What can I say.....

The treasures of the road.

Falling Palms by Sue Scoggins, North Carolina Painter

So.  With large paintings as my new assignment, I'm going to have to figure out how and where to paint them.  I wasn't about to say "no" to a new gallery.  But, it's not like I have some large warehouse studio.  I wish! At the beach, I have a small 8x16 foot space. Hmmm.  There are stacks of finished paintings for my New Bern show leaned up against the wall.  A desk.  A small loveseat is at the end where I have a little meditation and prayer  before I begin to paint each day. On the other side of the room are unfinished canvases leaning on windows waiting to be painted.  No easel.

I've ordered stretcher bars to clip canvas to.  That way I can paint the painting.  Unclip it.  Let it dry.  Roll it up and mail it.  But...oh no!  My stretcher bars haven't arrived yet. Not until next Friday.  What!!!  Anxious me cannot wait.  Besides.  Deadlines are approaching.

A BRILLIANT idea came while I was sleeping (It's what we painters do in our sleep.  Dream about the next painting.  It's a disease.) (Some women dream about "HOT" guys.  Did I really say that?)  I dreamt  TAPE!  Tape the canvas to the wall!  I used blue painters tape. The kind that won't take the paint off the wall?  Well...not only did it not stick to the wall, it didn't stick to the canvas either. The more I painted, the heavier it became, and the more it began to come off the wall.   I was frantically re-taping! (Is that a word?)  A canvas filled with oil paint was falling off the wall......HELP!  Palm trees coming down like a hurricane.  Almost like wallpaper...but covered with oil paint! Bad idea! Back to the "drawing board."  (That was suppose to be funny)
Maybe floors will work.

PS.  Those small trunks on the lower left look like ladies legs.  : )

The trunks still look like legs.  Hmmmm.

New Gallery in Naples by Susan Scoggins Landscape Painter

Vacation - 48x36 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

So, I'm so excited to have been asked to be represented at a new gallery, GALLERYVIBE, in Naples, Florida.  I immediately jumped at the chance.  A new state.  A new COLORFUL state! A beach state! Yay!

Now, the logistics.  Six to eight large paintings to be ready for their fall season. That means shipping by mid-August. I've already learned so much.  This gallery has their act together. They've given me sizes and popular color palette have briefed me on what sells. How, in today's market, homes don't have a lot of wall space.  Homes have mostly windows.  They want verticals!  Tall verticals.  Yes!  I love vertical!

And how do I ship such large canvas pieces without being eaten up with expenses?  For now, I've decided to ship them rolled up and have them stretched with a framer in Naples. What is so costly is the oversize (dimensions) not the weight. Course, if I rent a van....I could take a little trip!  What fun would that be? I don't know...Florida in August?  Maybe not.

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.

New Years Oak Tree Challenge - by Susan Scoggins, North Carolina Painter

After seeing a small oak tree painting, a client recently challenged me to 50 days of oak trees, a tree a day for 50 days.  Raleigh, being the City of Oaks. ..why not?  I've never accepted a challenge like that before.

In a way, it's a bit scary. What if I don't make it to 50?  What if I don't post a new "tree" daily? "FEAR NOT! " I say to myself. The worse that can happen is that I am labeled a LOSER!!!!  But "NO!  I am not a loser.  I am a painter!" No one understands us anyway!

This painter goes along, daily, painting what comes to mind. Now, this is going to challenge my brain to stay on task and spark some creative spirit.  So how does one create 50 oak trees?  How boring.  First of all, in my concrete mind, I rounded up a bunch of 12x12 canvases. Sounds pretty easy to me.  Then I painted a painting from my head.  Ok.  That was number ONE.

After that...what?  Before I knew it, I was obsessing over different projects.  Oaks in a boat.  Oaks on a float.  Lots of oaks.  One oak.  Oaks on the water.  Oak in a field. Oaks!  Oaks!  Oaks! That's what happens to us creatives.

In my closet older paintings are stored "resting".  Ah-ha!  One painting had been punctured but the colors were just to beautiful to toss!  Out came Edward scissors hands. Large pieces. Small pieces. Looked like leaves to me. If only I had a shredder!  I began to glue the pieces onto a previously painted canvas. Not just glue...but I literally tossed the pieces onto the canvas, glued each piece where it landed and let it dry over night with a board on top to flatten it.

With the leaves in tact, each leaf was loosely outlined with pthalo blue and raw umber.  Then the underlying painting was washed with titanium white, leaving a hint of the old paint showing.  At least it's a start.

For most of you, I've lost you.  I mean you do have a life!  But, if you don't, you can read this on New Years Eve!  Then have some champagne!!

The final result will be posted eventually.

Butterfly Cream by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

Butterfly Cream, 30x40 on gallery wrapped canvas

A new twist to florals!  One way to keep florals from being boring is to splash on the color and go BOLD! Every stem doesn't have to look real, and the flowers do not have to have a registered name in the botanical encyclopedia. They just need to give the impression of flowers.  Let the paint shape itself, then surround it with negative painting. Try color that compliments. Try color that doesn't make sense. Break the rules! 

Blue on Blue - an aqueduct impression by Sue Scoggins

Blue on Blue 36x36 oil on gallery wrapped canvas
suescoggins@gmail.com

Lest you think I've gone mad.....I couldn't paint an aqueduct impression without remembering my favorite little one out of Sienna, Italy. Two summers ago was a dream summer when I was honored to teach art at a beautiful Tuscan Boutique Hotel in Palazetto,Italy. Once a week, I would be driven to Siena to buy art supplies at the coolest, most eclectic, little art shop.  Each time, as we rounded the rolling hill and into the valley, my driver would point out the remains of this quiet little aqueduct.  It was out in the middle of no where and was said to have been dated around 4BC.  That is mind boggling! There it was, surrounded by castles and villages, but away and quietly alone, being overgrown by brush, yet it was still standing. 

Aqueduct of Segovia - by North Carolina Painter Sue Scoggins

Flaming Pig 30x40 old on gallery wrapped canvas
suescoggins@gmail.com

Aqueducts are stuck in my head now...and I mean REALLY stuck. There are all sorts of paintings that can come out of this.  Two aqueducts, in particular, bring back fabulous days of new discoveries.  The first, the Aqueduct bridge of Segovia, built some time in the 1st century AD.  I was with a group of peers from the airline days and we were being taken through Spain so that we could sell Spain to travelers. It was a true old world experience, in a seemingly centuries old eatery tucked under the arches of the bridge. We were taken down old red tile steps into a room furnished with a heavy wooden banquet table. The windows were small but we knew we were under the bridge.  It was there that I had my first flaming pig, brought out whole, with an apple in his mouth.  The server proudly placed him in the center of the table, set family style.  Lots of festivity and wine toasts!  It is only appropriate that this painting is painted with vibrant colors to represent the mood.

Aqueducts - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

This artist, me, finds it a bit difficult to come up with new subjects. Landscape, landscape, landscape. Pears! Fruit!  I mean how many times can one paint the same "scene" of the water and the sound or of wildflowers.  For quite some time now, I've wanted to break out of my routine and find NEW discoveries.

It takes a lot of thought.  In fact, often, more time is spent in thought BEFORE the painting than the actual process of painting itself. That's why it's hard for me to paint unless I have days of solitude before hand. This summer, when not doing commission work, I've spent time going through my old travel sketches of summers in Italy and France. The first thoughts that come to mind is the old world architecture. Arches and aqueducts have solidified in my head.  They are everywhere and many date back to 300BC.  So aqueducts it is! There is no end to the modern paintings this will bring.

Let's get started.  This sort of takes me back to the color and design days in college.  Believe me...those were ancient days! But, I remember having a project similar to this where I constructed a geometric tree with shapes and colors.  I suppose since math was my thing, the geometry is right up my ally. The supplies are here...orange ink, charcoal pencil, oil sticks, oil paint....here goes.  What have I been waiting for?  (like the frying pan in the sink?)

Artistic Freedom by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

It's so wonderful to accept commissions, where the new owner gives complete artistic license.  The only parameters were "I love blues, greens and water.  Oh...and I love clouds." So...there ya have it...another chance to paint from the head.  I suppose this scene is pretty much emblazoned in my mind because it's the view of the sound in Emerald Isle.  I see it every day in the summer. I dream it every night. The cloud banks that pile up along the horizon are some of the greatest I've ever seen. They make the car stop.

Water Water Everywhere by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

Water Water Everywhere, 20x30 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Almost every painting I paint has water in it somewhere, even if it's a hint somewhere and not obvious.  This little painting was from memory.  A trip made to visit friends on their beloved island. I mean....how could anyone not dream about this place. I can still see it.

Summer Painting by North Carolina Artist, Sue Scoggins

Blue Skies Smiling, 15x30 on canvas

This little contemporary ocean abstract was a delight to paint.  Strictly from an impression in my mind.  Love the size.  15x30.  Not too large that it needs the commitment of a large wall, but still rich in color and movement, full of simplicity and calm.

It's been a "century" since this blog has received a post. What can I say...painting is a priority and admin is uh....well...but I apologize because one wonderful thing about being an artist is sharing.  Sharing art tips and thoughts about what goes on in this artist's mind. In the summer my home is in a beautiful little coastal town in North Carolina.  How fortunate and forever grateful I am.

The summer has been a whirlwind of visitors so painting has been difficult to do consistently.  But, since there is show slated at the Little Art Gallery in September, the brushes had to go into high gear over the last couple of weeks.

Down Memory Lane - by representational abstract painter Sue Scoggins

Part of the job of a commissioned painter is to guide the client and help the determine what they would like in their painting.  For this commission, the client originally said, "All I know is that my favorite color is blue and that I want something fun." As the artist, I had to determine where to go from there.  We sat for a while in the room where the painting (in this case, 2- 3'x5' paintings) would hang.  Whether they would be vertical, horizontal, size, etc. The room was completely blank accept for a sectional sofa, a few pillows, and a rug. This was a large family room.

I asked her what some of her favorite memories were.  Personally, I like to paint emotions/memories for my clients.  Paintings that remind them of pleasant memories in their life. She told me of her travels and I encouraged her to list her favorite places.  She wrote down..France, Germany, Italy, Hungary.....HELP!  Turns out her family had taken a river cruise the year before.  After much ruminating in my head and about 50 photos that she sent me via email, these are composites of European village memories that I came up with.  FUN!  FUN!

Fly Little Bird - by Sue Scoggins, North Carolina Painter

This has been going on for weeks. Transparent  layer upon layer.  A slight departure from the crazy energized paint slapping I usually do. It was one of those Emerald Isle sunsets that I had to run to...then I stopped.  It's calm drama...I couldn't speak.  I had to give it my respect.

Out of the Darkness - by Sue Scoggins, North Caroina Painter

About 15 years ago, as a caregiver, this completely bewildered person was forced to find a new career. I purchased a little box of beginning oil paints and 3 brushes.  It began with trying to capture happy moments...moments from my own life...but more often moments that I experienced through others.  Now, it has become a personal form of expression.  I paint emotion! I paint a hug. Respite. I paint authenticity.  I paint sincerity.  Painting was a gift that saved my life and provided a beautiful outlet while caring for my dear hubby suffering from Alzheimers Disease.  It provided an income. It provided a refuge. It provided passion and purpose!

Life is not a random bit of circumstance.  We all have an intrinsic worth to our lives and were uniquely and beautifully designed for a purpose. No one escapes suffering. Now...as an act of gratitude for what was given to me...I must share the hope than can come from suffering.

My mission is using the visual arts to share hope..that there is something greater than our circumstances.  It's much more than paint on canvas or a pretty picture. It's not forced. It's not perfect colors or color coordinated schemes for decorating.   A painting should make you sing.  It should speak out to you.

I am not selling ART.....I am selling HOPE.

Out of the Darkness
36x36 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

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

PAINTER'S BLOCK - by North Carolina Painter, Sue Scoggins

"LAY DOWN YOUR BRUSH".  It's as if I heard that voice clearly this past January.

2015 was a great year for this painter.  I worked like a dog! Had passion. Had shows. Deadlines. Commissions. When the last commission was painted in mid-December..that was it! I put down the brushes, breathed a sign of relief and enjoyed the holidays.  Then it happened.  NOTHING!

Mid January, there was still nothing. For the first time, I had serious painters block. My galleries were full. I had a supply of inventory waiting in the wings.  It was as if the slate in my mind had been wiped clean.  For a while, I had been wanting to progress, become more complex in my painting, find new and meaningful subjects. Move up a notch. Find new purpose.  I became confused with futile attempts.  Then, "Lay down your brush", clearly was heard.  So, I decided to do just that.  I would just wait.

For 6 months, I did not paint. Didn't really even miss it. Kept wondering what would come next.  Illustrate that children's book I had started years ago? Write a memoir? But nothing came. Nothing at all.

During those months, I read two excellent books. The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield and Dancing on the Head of a Pen, by Robert Benson. Both are recommended reads for those with a mental block in doing their work.

So now, it's mid-June.  Emerald Isle, the beautiful coastal town, is my home for the summer. That's where my painting began years ago. On June 3, I remember it well, a huge mammoth storm cloud came in.  It took my breathe away. So I ran inside, grabbed a canvas, ink, paints and slashed away with color. It was totally interpretive.  No expectations.  In fact, painted TWO. I don't even know if they are finished.  They may never be finished.  But.....it felt good.  Really good...even if just for a moment.

SOUTHERN LANDSCAPE - by North Carolina Painter Sue Scoggins

Discovery
40x60 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

It's been a challenging January.  Don't know about the rest of you, but, the creative juices just haven't been flowing.  Recreating yourself, staying motivated, energy, spontaneity.....it's doesn't just come on command.

But, after putting down my brush, meditating, picking up my feet (as in exercise)...breathing in some fresh air..getting the blood moving, the energy is beginning to flow.

This painting was completed just before Christmas.  My last painting of the year.  It was like a serious  calculous problem, a jigsaw puzzle and SO MUCH FUN!  Perhaps one of my missions in life is to spread color in this world...this side of Heaven.