Newsletter

A New Year has brought with it a temporary change of focus and a necessary hiatus from both art making and participation in this Year's London Artists' Studio Tour. I am still able to take some time now and then to work in my sketchbook, but studio time has been almost non existent since Christmas. Hopefully new routines will form and allow me some limited time in the studio soon. Nevertheless, it is a happy time with a decidedly energetic feel. I am hopeful that when I return to my studio some of that energy will join me!

In the meantime I have been thinking about painting and doing some reading. Say what you will about modern technology and its sometimes negative effect on our lives, I have found it to be such an amazing source of inspiration and information. Among other things, it has allowed me to find several authors I may not have read otherwise. Among these is Robert Macfarlane. His book, The Lost Words , a response to the decision by Oxford Press to illiminate many Nature related words from their children's dictionary and replace them with words from the world of technology, has received much coverage through social media and the response to his book has been overwhelming. ( The irony here is not lost on me! ) Reading about this on social media led me to search out his other writing and I have been enjoying, both The Old Ways, and Landmarks, very much, partly because so much of what he thinks and says and quotes others saying about landscape applies to painting too. Macfarlane writes, "....the two questions we should ask of any strong landscape are these: Firstly, what do I know when I am in this place that I can know nowhere else? And then, vainly, what does this place know of me that I cannot know of myself?"

What do I know when I am in this place that I can know nowhere else?

I've copied the first question on the flyleaf of my current sketchbook. It will become my mantra I think. The response to  the second part of the question may become clearer, perhaps, when looking at my finished sketch or painting. Time will tell...What does this place know of me? 

Macfarlane writes, " There are experiences of landscape that will always resist articulation...or to which silence is the best response". I would add that sometimes, in that silent response, a painting is conceived.

My hope for you all is that you find places that hold truth you can know and that, in turn, the places you find both know and love you.

So, I will miss seeing many of you during the studio tour this year. Maybe we will see each other at other events throughout 2019. I will keep sending out my newsletters with updates about my work and any shows or exhibitions of interest to me and perhaps to you too.

As always, Thank you for your interest and support. Do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of help to you.

Sue

I have some paintings in the Group Show at Westland Gallery. I hope you can stop by.

Thank you for your interest in my work and your support throughout this year.

i am busy getting ready for the Spring shows and the London Artists' Studio Tour.

In the meantime,

 I am on Facebook, https://m.facebook.com>paintingsbysusangarrington 

and

Instagram, @susangarrington 

I post work on both so you can see my new work as it is finished and discover the story behind each piece.

Merry Christmas and all the best to you in 2019!

Sue

I am so very grateful to live in a place where I can enjoy, photograph and sketch such wonderful things. I am also very grateful to all of you who support my art through visiting shows, purchasing my work, reading my newsletter and so many other thoughtful and kind ways. Thank you and a very Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Like many of you, I suspect, I find myself feeling amazed that summer is quickly coming to an end. It has been a busy, productive and happy time for me and I hope for you too! I was delighted to have sold two paintings at the Westland Gallery's Square Foot Show. The show is now finished but the last painting I submitted is still available to see or to purchase at Westland Gallery. 

I have completed several new paintings for the Stratford Fall Studio Tour (September 22 and 23) when I will once again be showing at location number 7 on the tour map. ( If you are in need of a map, let me know and I will send one to you. I have a limited number available. )

Here is a preview of some of my new work.

i have submitted work to the Annual Juried Show at St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre and am waiting to see if anything has been juried into the show. Fingers crossed!

My paintings at Glenhyrst Gallery in Brantford will be on view until the 23rd of September. If you have never been to this gallery, it is well worth driving to Brantford to see it. The gallery is located in a 16 acre park on the banks of the Grand River. It is a peaceful and beautiful place both inside and out. Here is a photo of my work currently on display.

As always, thank you for your interest in my work, your support and your responses to my newsletters, and please don't hesitate to email me if you need a map for the Stratford Tour.

Until next month,

Sue

I have been recently spending less time painting and more time relaxing in our garden.This hasn't been completely by choice, but more by necessity. Life is full of surprises and one morning I woke up surprised by a very sore back. Painting seemed to exacerbate the problem so....

...short stints of sketching and taking photos in our garden have had to suffice. I have been unable to attend several Gallery Painting Group paint outs and missed the Opening at Westland of The Square Foot Show.

Things are improving, however I am ignoring the calls from a partially completed painting in the studio for a few more days.

Yesterday we drove to Strathroy as I was suffering from a severe case of cabin fever. We visited an antique store where I fell in love with several things, some of which may appear in future paintings. Of course we drove on some country roads and stopped long enough for me to photograph some delightful wild things growing by the roads. I am sure that the manufacturer of our car did not have sore backs in mind when they added heated seats but they sure help!

I will be delivering two paintings to the Glenhyrst Gallery in Brantford for the Biennial Juried Show. This year there were 636 paintings submitted and 59 were accepted. The dates for the Exhibition are July 28 to September 23 with the Opening taking place on August 3rd from 7 - 9 pm.

Two more juried shows have entry deadlines quickly approaching. I will let you know if I am accepted into either of them.

In the meantime, enjoy summer in whatever way you love and may all of life's surprises for you be pleasant ones.

Bonne Fete de la Bastille!

As Midsummer approaches you will find me with my sketchbook in our garden and our neighbourhood or on location with the Gallery Painting Group or in the countryside. As my sketchbook slowly fill with bits and pieces of Southwestern Ontario, I return to my studio and use some bits and a few pieces as inspiration for paintings. Recently two such paintings were juried into Flora, an exhibition at Gallery In The Grove located in Bright's Grove. One was awarded a cash prize for third place. I was very honoured. This exhibition is certainly worth the drive to see and the location is wonderful too. A great place to enjoy a picnic or a walk by the lake. The show ends this coming Saturday at 3pm.

Gallery In The Grove, 2618 Hamilton Road, Wildwood Park, Bright's Grove

Mon.- Thurs. 11am to 5pm

Fri. -closed

Sat. Sun. -11am to 3pm

Three pieces, which also began their lives on a sketching field trip, have been submitted to Westland Gallery's Square Foot Show. This show is always amazing so don't miss seeing it.

I am currently preparing submissions for two more juried shows as well as painting for the Fall Stratford Studio Tour.

I am writing this on Father's Day and am reminded that my late Dad often used to say to me, "Susan, you're always happiest when you're busy, busy, busy, just like a little bee!" He was right about that and so many other things. I miss him. I am both busy and happy.

For those of you who love hot weather, enjoy the next couple of days. If you are like me, I hope you can find somewhere cool to escape the heat. As always, thank you for taking the time to read this and for your ongoing support.

Sue

Yesterday afternoon I took a long break from wrapping and packing paintings for the Spring Stratford Studio Tour and sat in our garden with a delicious murder mystery which had been recommended by friends. I looked around occasionally to enjoy the flowers and redbud blooming. The lilac will soon be in bloom too. Its scent always reminds me of home since my parents' garden had a wonderful lilac hedge running across the bottom of the yard. i was reminded, too, of a man i worked with who gave me some forget-me-nots from his garden with the remark, "Plant these in your garden and you will always remember me." He was right. They pop up everywhere reminding me of him.

As I read, the resident male cardinal began singing his heart out. The sound coming from our neighbours' maple tree reminded me of the celebratory pealing of church bells and continued for almost an hour. I decided, with no proof at all, that he must be announcing the arrival of his offspring to the world. Today both the male and the female cardinal have been feeding constantly. This is unusual for them as they normally feed in the early morning and again in the evening. I have decided, again with no real proof, that they are busy feeding their young. Since life isn't a murder mystery, I find that I have no need of proof. I can tell myself and others whatever story amuses or makes us happy. Do any of you ever do this? I come from a long line of story tellers. Some stories are truer than others, some contain lots of exaggeration, but all are entertaining, and completely true or not, there is always a grain of truth in them somewhere. It occurs to me that the same can be said of my paintings. They are exaggerations of colour and form, embroidering the truth (as my mother used to say) to make something which speaks my own truth in my own way.

I am now almost ready for the Stratford Tour and am looking forward to the coming weekend. Stratford is such a pretty place, especially at this time of year. I hope some of you are able to visit me during the tour. You will find me at #7 on the tour map, 46 Norman Street.

Other opportunities to show my art may be at hand. I have entered some juried shows which will take place in the summer. If my work is accepted I will give you more information in upcoming newsletters.

Thank you to all of you who visited my home and studio during the London Studio Tour. I enjoyed the chance to visit with you. Winners of my raffle as well as the Passport Winners have now all been contacted. Congratulations to all of you. 

Thank you to all of you for reading and responding to my newsletters. Enjoy the spring season, tell yourself some stories, embroider the truth, and when all else fails, read a good murder mystery.

Sue

In March, the month of my birth, our suburban garden begins to waken with snowdrops blooming, other bulbs poking through the soil and the buds on trees swelling. Then winter revisits and snow covers everything... madness threatens and then suddenly the sky is blue and the sun is shining and hope returns. The overwintering birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and a few early robins keep Merlin, my resident art critic and studio assistant, amused or annoyed depending on....well depending on who knows really? Of all the animals who have made their home with us, Merlin is the hardest to read or understand. There are rabbit tracks in the "sometimes" snow and something, ( a skunk?), is madly digging up our lawn overnight.

Inside our home we are tiptoeing through, not tulips, but stacks of paintings waiting to be delivered to various places or to be hung here for the London Artists' Studio Tour. There are still more to come from my framer, Olga Guthrie. 

I am number 31 on the London Artists' Studio Tour map this year and I hope you can visit to sample some Rhubarb Lunar Cake, watch demonstrations, enter a free raffle for a giclee print of my work, and see my paintings.

I will have paintings for sale at Regency Florists, 1080 Adelaide Street North, Unit 9, beginning March 21 as well as at the following locations.

As always, thank you for reading my newsletter and for your ongoing support.

Sue

April 21, 22, 23 

Hearts and flowers to you for Valentine's Day!

Here at the Garrington residence preparations for this year's London Artists' Studio Tour are well underway. I have completed lots of new paintings which are currently stored away safely while we work (not the fun kind) in the studio. A few years of hanging paintings and then moving them as they were sold then patching holes (by me) and replacing them with new paintings has resulted in a need to more carefully patch and sand (by Brian) and then to paint (again, not the fun kind). This time we decided to paint one of the walls a different colour called Hiking Trail. I can hardly wait to see how my paintings will look on this new colour! I will be so happy when the is project is finished and I can get back my studio to paint (the fun kind!). 

This year I will have paintings at The Brush and Palette Show in APRIL at St. Paul's Cathedral. To see a preview of my work for the show go to The Brush and Palette website,  www.brushandpaletteclub.com and check out my gallery. While you're there take a look at the work of the many talented people who are members of this club!

 And finally, my upcoming shows and events are listed on my website, www.susangarrington.com . If you select Upcoming Events from the menu you will find detailed information including, venus, dates, and times.