Sue Flanagan’s Website

Some of the very talented collage artists at the LaGrange Art League (LGAL) made a book. Each artist took a page and made it her own. When I saw a book of handmade watercolor papers at the local craft store, I decided to give this a try. Each page is like a little painting and this is great for my limited attention span. My friend is a writer. When I am done, she is going to write the text for the pages. It will be interesting to see how my art inspires her. Here are a couple of the pages in the book.

Now, what about a project? The LaGrange Art League participated in a community fund raiser called Empty Bowls. The proceeds went to local food pantries. People bought bowls and anyone who came to the gallery with a bowl received a chance to win an apron that was decorated by our artists. Now, fabric painting is something that I have never done but I was asked to participate. I couldn’t say no. So, Suzy came out to play and I painted one of the aprons. This is what I came up with. I wanted to keep the cost down so the palette had to be minimal. I did not have fabric paints or fabric dye. It is called Celestial Happenings.

I have not abandoned my pastel paintings. Every once in awhile I feel like painting a flower. I took a photo last summer of a rose that I think is very interesting. It is a combination of yellow and pink. I started with an oil underpainting on paper and then added the pastel when that was dry. This month’s theme at the LGAL is the color called rose madder. I hung this painting in the show and called it “Does a Rose Matter?” Here is a picture of the underpainting and of the final painting.

I have completed other paintings from my trip to Taos, NM. I will be updating the landscape gallery soon to show you some of those. I hope you are enjoying the spring weather. I am. For all of you who are mothers, have a great Mother’s Day!

Sincerely,
Sue or Suzy?

Thank goodness that the days are getting longer and the snow is melting! It is time for some plein air painting.

I have started a series of pastel paintings of a nearby field next to a bike path. I took several photos of the process. Since there was a lot of green in this summer scene, I did an underpainting with orange and red gouache. I used U Art paper for my support. You can see quite a bit of the underpainting in the first photo. The next two photos show the progression where I started to build up the soft pastel from the background to the foreground. The underpainting continues to show through even in the final painting. The fourth picture is the final painting which is 12 x 16 inches. Click on the image to enlarge.

The painting was hinged with tape to a backing board. Then it was framed with a gold wood frame using clear spacers between the glass and the painting.

I just finished taking a class in Photoshop Elements at the LaGrange Art League. Sarah Rehmer was the instructor. I took the class so that I could fine tune the photos of my art. However, I have found it to be another creative outlet. It is easy to spend hours playing with this program. It is a lot of fun but the learning curve is high-at least for me. Here are two examples of what I did.

The first piece is the result of creating shapes, filling the shapes and using the other tools to modify on a blank canvas. The second piece is from a photo the instructor gave us. This one included selecting, moving, resizing and then using filters to obtain the final image. It will be in the LaGrange Art League Student show. All of the students were to start with this same photo and create something from it using the skills we learned. I’m sure there will be a quite a variety!

Peace,
Sue Flanagan

This is a recent pastel painting that I did. The mixed media work that I have been doing is making me more adventerous with pastel.  I set up a still life of a cup, potted plant, and an apple. The first picture is the beginning step where I laid down pastel using the pastel sticks. I then took a bottle of distilled water and sprayed the image, tilting the board to let the pigment move like watercolor. I used too much water and the paper I was using buckled too much for my liking so I had to press the paper between boards.

Then the real challenge for me began. I then layered pastel over the dried surface but only as much as needed to give the viewer enough information. I did not want a lot of detail. As you can see I ended up eliminating the glass cup of coffee and cropping the image to a 16 x 16 in. size. The picture on the right is the final painting.

Well, I was going to show you pictures of the Koi fish paintings that I did for a client. However, the video card in my camera is damaged and I cannot retrieve the images. The client ended up buying 3 paintings for Christmas presents and for herself. This is just one more battle I have had with technology.

Laura Svencner, a collage artist at the LaGrange Art League, organized an “Art Jam.” Approximately 15 artists came together in the League’s studio to make art. We all challenged ourselves to do something that was different.  I experimented with acrylic products: self leveling gel, gloss medium, polymer, string paste, sand medium. The artists worked in a wide variety of media. We brought food and music. It was a wonderful, creative, day. For more information and pictures go to www.lonecrowart.blogspot.com.

I hope you are off to a good start for the new year!
Sue Flanagan

Hello Friends,
There is a lot going on in my artistic endeavors. I won best of show in the Holiday show at the LaGrange Art League for my plein air painting, Crystal Trees. The reception was well attended. The above painting, Irish Castle Silhouette was juried into the LaGrange Art League’s show, Eclectic Elegance. The show will be in the LaGrange Library for the month of December. Click on the link to the league for more information about it.

I have mentioned that I am taking classes from a local artist, Joyce Leas. She teaches multi media abstract and non-objective art. She has me working on large pieces. She is teaching me “controlled” splattering and throwing of paint and gluing papers. I am learning more about composition and value.  Here are some pictures of our little class in her studio. Click on the image to enlarge.

The first picture is Judy Goral, Joyce Leas, and Bill Keck. The second is of me working on a piece and then there is Joyce supervising. Joyce’s philosophy is “anything goes.” Here we are in front of her painting entitled “Anything Goes.”

Joyce’s class is great fun. Another fun activity was going to a Saturday workshop by John Howard. John is an excellent watercolorist and he has fantastic drawing skills. The workshop was offered by the Town and Country Art League. We worked on drawing including drawing a model. Here are some pictures of the experience.

I am back to working in pastel. I am working larger and I am experimenting with making my own textured surface. So much to do and so little time. That is all for now.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!
Sue Flanagan