!The weather has begun to cool! I have purchased the treats for the children out trick or treating, so it really feels like fall. 
​I have artwork in a show at the Collin County Technical College, the large triptychs and a couple of 40 x 30's, all Zen Paintings.    One of the triptychs is posted here.  That left some empty spaces here, time to paint! 

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I love the easy pace of a Saturday, no big plans, just relaxing and creating.  One thing that the heat does is keep me inside, so I'm actually getting better at blogging!!  My grandson and his friend are playing in the family room, being very quiet.  They are 7, should I worry?  LOL!!
This afternoon I will join the SLMM Open Studios Zoom, always a great time, friends sharing while creating.  While scrolling through photos on my iPhone, I saw many that might work for some photocollage.  I need to download them and get them ready to use.  It will feel good to put them to use.  When I know that I have some to use, they tend to weigh on my mind until I get them in a successful composition.
I hope your Saturday is going well for you!  Enjoy!

Today I was zooming with fellow artists, members of SKMM, the Society of Layerists in Multimedia.  We all zoomed from our studios while working and sharing our ideas.  It's a wonderful vehicle for communications!  We call it Open Studios.  
We do this on Saturdays and Mondays, as well as a more formal one, where we discuss our works on Tuesdays.  We also have a book club that zooms.  It's amazing how well this helped bond us as friends.  We get a lot done during the time.
If you're interested in checking it out, go to www.slmm.org

The whole country has been suffering from the heat!  I live and work in the Dallas area, so it continues on until October.  We are kind of used to it, as long as the electricity doesn't go out and the air conditioning stays on.  Of course this doesn't help fight climate change, so it's a vicious circle.  Many things that we feel are important, damage the climate.  I think that I hear my lawn being mowed, we like it to look good, but of course he  is using a gas powered machine.  I must work on expanding the gardens!

Getting ready for Halloween, lots of fun for the kids and adults!  Lawndale Art Center has and annual celebration of the Day of the Dead, Dia De la Muertos.  This is an photocollage that I created for it.
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Finally giving my own website some attention.  I am the web designer of various sites and they get the love first.  Of course that's because someone else is excited and waiting for the updates.  I do enjoy creating sites, not as much as paintings and digital collages, of course!  

On Tuesdays, I  still ZOOM with the SLMM Tuesday zoom group, so I am getting ready for that.  It's a great gathering of artists.  We share ideas and processes as well as life.  Today was an especially good one, many ideas exchanged!

Another day of the week, kind of a flexible one, I zoom with a friend/ family member in CA.  She's my daughter's mother-in-law.  In a way it feels like it makes us sisters!  We share a love of family as well as art.  We do a serious critique.  It's very helpful!  I also find that doing that critique pushes me to get more work done.

I've been working on a few new paintings that I need to post.   They have to do with edges.  They deserve a new page, so watch for that.  I'm currently in 4 shows,  One is at the Cotton Mill in McKinney, TX, One in Allen, TX, one in Spring, TX and one will be online soon that is the 40th Anniversary of SLMM, titled Reconnections.  Also, the SLMM web gallery  for this quarter.  I love getting my work out!  

Enjoying the creative life!!
​Sue

A lot has happened since the last entry.  Of course, we still worry about the pandemic, but many of us have been vaccinated and feel somewhat protected from Covid 19.  Now we have art exhibitions again and even meetings of the local art league, the Visual Arts League of Allen. 
However, i am still gathering by zoom, especially with a national art group that I have belonged to for years, about 25!  It's called the Society of Layerists in Multi - Media.  www.slmm.org   It's different from other  groups in that the artists believe  in a holistic approach to art.  The artists are excellent and encouraging.  We all support each other and encourage each other.  I'm really grateful for this group of friends that I have made, most of which I have not even seen in person.  They live in states across the US and some in Canada.  It helps bring in a different perspective.  Some of us meet every Tuesday to show what we have been creating and discuss processes and ideas.  I always learn something new each week.  Currently we are doing a couple collaborative projects.  I'm doing one digitally with an artist in Seattle, Liz Ruest and anther with Joanne VanGenderen in Scotia, NY.  Liz and I exchanged images by email.  Joanne and I exchanged by mailing materials and papers to each other.  I will post them soon.
Here in the studio, I have solved the climate problem with a mini split which is doing a great job of keeping the studio nice and cool!  I love it!  It also will warm it in the winter!  I've been starting small with the collages and a couple small paintings.  So I have things to photograph and show you.  I hope to do it tomorrow....

We are already in the Holiday season.  Usually this would mean parties, openings, sales etc.  Although I appreciate the quiet time to be creative, I will admit that I am very tired of the restrictions.  I like to be able to go to the store, to travel etc.  Instead I am trying to help by not going out.  My groceries are gathered by a list online and and then a curbside pickup.  
I do see my local family, but we are careful about that too.  Enough!  This being careful makes me worried that we will be so careful about protecting life, that we will forget to live it!
Zoom is a good thing that has come out of this time.  I have taken classes on zoom, critiqued on zoom and enjoyed my book club on zoom.  Since I moved just before the Covid outbreak, I am more isolated, zoom has helped me stay connected. When everyone is able to gather again, the impact of my move may sink in, but the joy of being near family is great.  This is not the usual artist post, but I think the Holiday time brings out feelings and hopes for the future.  
My critique zoom helped me find a problem with a painting.  I have redone Desert Winds and I will post that here.  Stay strong my friends, we will get through this time.  Create, it's good for the soul!
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