Dare to Be Sorry

Here is the watercolor version of "The Age of Anxiety." Doing these in watercolor takes a lot more pre-planning than I am used to. I even needed to get out the dreaded Maskoid for the raindrops--and should have used it elsewhere as well. Next time.

Before the Age of Anxiety

Here is my latest, and most fun of all. Remember big pot holes in the middle of the deepest puddles?

Word of Mouth

An exhibition challenged me to tell a story in 80 square inches, so I came up with this little painting ("Word of Mouth"). Originally I had moved to canvas to have a BIG space for my stories, so this was particularly difficult for me. But three girls, three very different personalities and some tension told a unique story. The viewer can fill in the "words."

Adult Children

I loved the gesture in the photo that this painting materialized from. It brought home the exuberance that we had for nearly everything. We went white water rafting last weekend and that exuberance came back in full force. We will always be adult children.

Yonder II

This posting is for Ken, who wanted to see the new painting in the Andrews Art Museum exhibit. I was driving back from teaching a workshop in Idaho Falls and watched the clouds line up this way all the way back to Boise. Believe me, clouds don't do this in the East. Kathi Eagan, my Buffalo agent, sold "Yonder," one of the paintings that was accepted into the show. So I did this replacement.

Andrews Art Museum

Here are my paintings at that Andrews Art Museum. Congratulations to all of the other artists in the show. It was a fine selection of contemporary work. I was very pleased at how my paintings fit in.

Rhetorical Questions

Did you mother plague you with rhetorical questions? "Your not going to wear those are you?" While I've had this idea in my head for many years, this painting was inspired by a book Myrna gave me. Thanks Myrna.

Now or Never

If any of you were at Kanuga Watermedia Workshops last week, this is the completed demo, Now or Never.

The Cake

I found a cake like this by Chef Ryan on Facebook, and wondered why I didn't think of this myself. After all, I made plenty of cakes like this before I discovered the bakery. Just ask my kids.

What else can I pile up and paint?

Web Site of all My New Work

Check out my new web site. See them all. wwww.susanwebbtregay.com

Sooner or Later...

I've been having too much fun painting to keep up with this. Here is my current favorite. I'm working on 24 x 24 canvases and having a hard time keeping them simple enough for this smaller size. But this one works. The caption on the side of this gallery-wrapped canvas reads "Sooner or later we learn to fly."

Down in the Valley Where the Green Grass Grows

Chanting while jumping rope kept us busy for hours. We didn't know that we were burning calories. We were playing and competing with our friends--or even ourselves. Remember Double Dutch, crossing our arms, double jumps? This series on Free-Range Children is bring back memories and lessons for the future. Watch for my new web-site with 15 paintings in the series. Coming to this screen soon!

Content in Sand Painting

Here is an amazing video. If you aren't sure what content is in painting, don't miss this.

Here I come, Ready or Not!

This is the latest in my "Free-Range Children" series. What do you think?

My Studio

My Philosophy Exactly

"To try and take iron-control of a painting is to kill it at birth. Yet to let it run riot almost certainly ends in anarchy or mud. I've found that if I alternate between order and chaos, intuition and intellect, then the painting slowly reveals itself." Nick Bantock

Paintings that Keep on Giving

Here is a thought to kick you all into high gear this week.

"To me, a great painting is a painting that is able to help you see the world in a different way. And its not just what you see in the painting, but what you're able to see after you leave the painting, and the way that the painting is able to expand your ability to see the world in new and different ways." Lester Marks, Houston collector

A Museum Show!

Yesterday I found out that I got three of these new paintings into a museum show! More about this when I find out the details.

My DVD

If this works right, you can go see a bit of my DVD, Master Disaster, 5 Ways to Rescue Desperate Watercolors. My book and DVD Show you five steps to begin, work through and/or finish a painting with punch and pizazz. Check it out.

No Child Left Inside

Here is my latest (40 x 30, acrylic). For a person who never liked texture in my watercolors, I have turned into a texture queen in this painting. Actually, I spent a lot of time toning down first natural textures that occur with this style of painting, then the textures that I created or saved along the way. Does it work for you?

Van Gogh's Ear

There is an article in the current New Yorker, that I've been meaning to tell you about. Van Gogh's Ear, the Christmas that Changed Modern Art.

Based on a German book by reputable German academics, it says that Gauguin was quite the swordsman and went around with a sword often--and that HE cut off the ear...perhaps while defending himself with a sword. Evidently the cut was too clean to have been done by Van Gogh, people don't self-mutilate themselves that way and there are subsequent letters between the two men that imply that this is what happened.

So Gauguin ran off to Tahiti, became the first "primitive" painter and influenced Picasso with this style. And thus "the Christmas that changed Modern Art". Hmmmmm.