Saturday Night at the Feed & Seed

I've been learning to play the fiddle and have been thinking about this painting for a long time. The Feed & Seed is a Bluegrass venue down the road from us that doubles at a Baptist Church on Sundays. You can't get a more authentic NC mountain experience than this.

View from The Backseat

I started this painting after a drive to Bat Cave. (Yes there is a town near here call "Bat Cave.") It was fall, hilly and near the Blue Ridge Parkway--sort of. So this is a painting about that drive. A day trip.

I had to really commit to this "Opposing Forces" design strategy to make this painting work. Take a look at my book, Master Disaster, or, better still, hire me to teach a workshop for your group and learn how powerful these strategies are. Of course, I'm using a Contrast of Temperature, Warm v. Cool Color Strategy. (36 x 36, acrylic)

Got a Grant!

Yesterday I found out that I've been awarded a grant from the NC Arts Council to pay for a brochure for my up-coming solo show at the Hickory Museum of Art all of next summer. The money will also cover an exploratory trip to Savannah to check out galleries there. My taxes at work.

Skipper

Here is my latest. After painting the girl cannon-balling off the end of the dock in "The Optimist and the Pessimist" (which just sold!), I wanted to try my hand at one more motion painting. Is this one girl skipping or four? It doesn't matter. What matter is that she/they bounce!

"Skipper, 40 x 30, acrylic

Solo Show at Turchin Center for the Arts

I just got an invitation for a solo exhibition at the Turchin Center for the Arts in Boone, NC!! This will run in conjunction with teaching for Cheap Joe in September, 2013.

Oh, My DVD, Master Disaster, is now available through Artists Network. Google Susan Webb Tregay and this comes up 4 or 5 times.

Another Award for this Series

Thank you Miami Watercolor Society for your gracious second place award in your 2011 Online Exhibition. The prize money will be well spent. Thanks for supporting the arts.

Moving Heaven and Earth

Being an artist is great. I moved both heaven and earth yesterday in this painting--and came out with a better painting. These are "The Optimist and the Pessimist." (acrylic 40 x 30) Before (bottom) and After (top). Are you an Optimist or a Pessimist?

Museum Show!

I just got an invitation for a three-month solo exhibition at the Hickory Art Museum NC. This will be the perfect place to show the best and the brightest of this series.The opening will be May 26th, 2012. If you are in NC mark your calendar!

Charleston!

Painting a specific city, in this case Charleston, on a grid was a challenging experience. What do you need to give the feeling of this wonderful city? What do you need to change in order for the overall design to work? This was a fun painting, but in some ways agonizing. Enjoy.

Watercolor Clean and Simple

Here is my latest watercolor version of one of my favorite acrylic paintings. Watercolor looks so pure and refreshing after layers of acrylics. "No Chile Left Inside, II."

Risk Entering Shows

I just found out that this painting, "Risk Being Sorry," a 21 x 21 watercolor got into Watercolor USA. I thank the judge for taking a "risk."

Tendinitis and Orchids

When you move to the Blue Ridge Mountains, you begin to feel the need to fiddle or pick. Three months after you give into that urge, you get a roaring case of fiddler's tendinitis. And you need to return to watercolor where you can paint for a week and never open a jar. Here is the result of that week.

TWSA Mini Paintings and Mine

The Transparent Watercolor Society of America posted the mini paintings that it asked several of its signature members to do. Mine ("Eat Your Heart out Milton Bradley" above stands out like a sore thumb. Check them out. http://www.watercolors.org/special/2011/

Paint BOLDLY

Painting BOLDLY

I got a long letter from Linda in Nova Scotia yesterday thanking me for my book,Master Disaster(amazon.com. She said that it gave her permission to paint BOLDLY. I guess up there watercolor is "supposed to be" soft. Thank you, Linda, for your letter. Email me! I'd love to "talk."

Truth, Fiction and White Lies

I spent last week agonizing over this painting. I felt that I had set the bar too high with my last grid piece. A couple of days ago I printed out and early version of it and added black and white to the RYB piece, and bit the bullet and painted it in. What a difference.

Those of you who have studied with me know where I'm coming from when I impose a color strategy on a painting. This was a great lesson for myself. Hire me for a workshop and I'll give you the scoop--and many more, for that matter.

Know, Yes, Maybe

I've spent the past week creating a 36 x 36 inch painting that starts with a grid pattern. Large-scale, this is very successful. I wish you all could see it at this size.

A Watercolor!

I have always loved watercolor for it's smoothness, and my acrylics for their texture. This watercolor breaks up space instead of creating texture. It's an old look that I used for years, but this is the first time with my new series.

This piece is only 6" x 6," I was asked to contribute one this size for the TWSA (Transparent Watercolor Society of America) auction. But I won't know if I even got into the show until March.

Milton Bradley, Eat Your Heart Out

This is the companion piece to my last entry, "everyone Else Lived on the Hill." I haven't decided on a name, but someone suggested "Milton Bradly on Acid." I love this idea, but need to tone it down a bit, if I'm going to write it on the edge of the canvas.

Everyone Else Lived on the Hill

Here is my latest. I got a phone call today from the "girl" who owned the swing set that I painted in my last post. We haven't talked together in at least 35 years. Thanks for calling, Jane!

Push/Pull, acrylic 30 x 40

Didn't you love to swing? I preferred the huge swings at the park, but these swing sets that threatened to tip over when you went to high held a certain amount of danger that was irresistible to us kids.

Someday, when I have my museum retrospective, I will find one of these swing sets and do a big painting like this one, and hang it from the top bar--and maybe another one of a girl hanging by her knees on one of the cross bars.