Tag: artist

The Time Has Come

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art
Deep Meadow

It seemed so far away when Jan Selving first asked me to be in a show with her, Andrea Levergood, and Susan Lange.  I felt honored and there was plenty of time to get ready.  Endless time with the show itself in the distant future. And now…

It’s here. The show opens a week from today on Thursday, September 8th at ESU in the Fine Arts Building.

I am filled with an equal amount of anticipation and dread. Revealing the work is revealing myself.  Not always easy.  Not always fun.  But always worthwhile, as I keep telling myself.

So if you can make it, please come to the opening next week.  Try to be kind!

My Empty Nest

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art
Terrifying!

what are the odds?

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

To get some insight, I’ve been pulling cards from a deck that I made about a year ago.  In the past week, I’ve chosen three cards, and no lie…I’ve gotten the same card all three times.

What are the odds of that happening?

The universe is really trying to tell me something and I am really trying to listen.

I guess that it’s all about the upcoming four-person show that I’m going to be in at East Stroudsburg University in September.  The work is finished and so now comes the most challenging part:  going to the opening.

OK, I get the message!  I will set aside my insecurities about my work and about myself.  I’ll forget all my memories of past openings and how I dread them.  I will trust my instincts about the work and remember the joy I experienced while creating it.

I will go to the opening feeling calm and open.  I’ll look forward to seeing my friends and to meeting new people.  I’ll talk and laugh and drink some wine.  I’ll visualize people liking the work, and I’ll have fun.  I’ll remember picking this card three times, and I’ll think…pretty damn good odds…

 

 

Seems a little strange

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

Yesterday I finished painting for a show at East Stroudsburg University that is a full month away. This is unheard of for me! Anyone who knows me knows that I’m usually still painting on my way to hang a show, and that I should be putting up signs on the wall that say “Wet Paint” instead of labels with the titles.

Not this time.  I have to send the work to PA next week and it has to dry first, and so I had to stop working.  I really should have stopped on Sunday, but there was no way.  So I pushed it to Monday and then Tuesday and finally Wednesday.  Two friends came over to look at the paintings and said, “We think you have a show!”  And so it is.

I’ve been on such a roller coaster ride of emotions this past month.  Up and down all the time with lots of curves.  Some days I felt that I wanted to cancel the whole thing or give in and show old work.  Other days I was just so happy to be in my studio painting that I didn’t care if the work was good or not.  Other days I cared way too much and felt inadequate to every other painter on the face of the earth.  I just wanted to crawl back in bed and never touch a paintbrush again.

Did I say days?  No, my feelings could change drastically in the space of five minutes.  I could go from ecstatic to depressed and moody in a moment of time.  From feeling totally in the flow and joyful about what was happening to totally disconnected and insecure.

The eleven paintings are a product of all those emotions, and I have to say that as of this morning, I am feeling pretty good about them.  But catch me in an hour or two….

Pictured is a detail from one of them.

from tree to shining tree

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

Here I am at home after a mere twenty eight-hour journey from the East to the West.  From the amazing willow tree across from the Deer Head in Delaware Water Gap to the huge cedar tree outside of our house.  From  a sultry Tuesday to a sunny breezy Wednesday.  From celebrating the Solstice in Anita/Interplay style to embracing summer Orcas style.  From Reiki Reiki Reiki to Art Art Art.  Time to shift my focus once again.  Making art here on Orcas and playing in the glorious garden.  Practicing Reiki in PA and feeling so happy that the art gets seen.  Thank you Delaware Water Gap!  Hello Orcas!