Three New City Scenes

As promised, here is the finished painting, "The Loop"

                                               
                                      $300 on Etsy "The Loop" 11 x 14 colored pencil ©Susie Tenzer

I've also posted this on Fine Art America where you can purchase various prints. If you're in St. Louis, see it hanging in Wood Icing Gallery. 

Next to go up in the gallery is this one, titled "Maryland Plaza".  Fine Art America "Maryland Plaza" 11 x 14 ©Susie Tenzer

I love doing these city scenes!  I'm inspired by the light and shadows, reflections in windows, the people and cars moving about.  I'm working on a smaller piece in the same part of town:

I'm just blocking in the bricks and windows now.  I'll post the finished piece next month.

What's In A Name?

I'm excited to have been invited to join a wonderful group of artists at a new gallery in St. Charles, MO, Missouri Artists On Main Gallery.  This is a great name for a gallery - celebrating local artists at a space at 321 Main Street in St. Charles, MO.  There are lots of mediums represented and I'm thrilled to be part of it!  St. Charles is a charming city, located on the Missouri River. Come visit if you're in the area!

I'm continuing to work on landscapes, pushing the values and incorporating deep shadows.  Here's my latest  painting, On The Dock (named once again by the woman who does my printing - thanks, Bridget!)

                                             Buy this painting on Etsy - On The Dock 5 x 7 $90

I love taking my paintings over to Bridget without a name & letting her do her magic!  What's in a name?  A bit of description?  Setting the mood?  How do you name your work?

Nature Vs. Man-Made

I finished my painting of the St. Louis Gateway Arch and it got me to thinking:  do man-made structures enhance or detract from their natural surroundings in a painting?  Except for the top ten ugliest buildings in the world, I guess it depends.  If the structure detracts from the scene, but is essential, it's a moot point. In this painting, I wanted the Arch to be the focal point, but I could certainly have just painted the trees and pond.  I think buildings, interesting structures or people can bring life into an otherwise boring landscape painting. Unless the landscape has something going on like mood - dark stormy skies, crashing ocean waves, huge mountain rocks.

                                             Stand Tall (St. Louis Arch) 8 x 10 Buy This On Etsy

What's your point of view?

How Do You Sign Your Name?

 I've seen a few paintings that don't have any signature at all.  The last time a Monet exhibit was in St. Louis, I learned that the family signed for him.  I thought those signatures looked too perfect (they were a stamp)!  When I began doing my colored pencil work and framing them for the gallery I signed my whole name:

                           
                                                  Three In A Jar 6 x 6 Buy this painting on Etsy

Lately, I've been playing around with my signature.  I looked at a lot of other artists - wow, what an array of styles!  Initials only, last name only, first name only, you name it (sorry for that).  I thought about a qr code:

                                                 
How cool would that be?  But I finally decided on using my initials:

                                                 Blue Butterfly 8 x 8 Buy this painting on Etsy

How do you sign your name?

Your Website: An Important Art Tool

The first thing I did when I jumped into my art career was get a website.  Lucky for me, my daughter the computer genius made my website.  We narrowed down what sort of pages I wanted.  I set my goal for the website, which is to display my work.  Some folks sell their artwork on their website and give information about their technique (not me).

If your goal is to display your work, you ought to have these five pages:

•  A home page: this page gives an overview of the website and lets visitors know what’s in store for them. You can include news items such as upcoming exhibitions.

• A bio page: toot your horn!  Talk about collections your work is in, awards you've received, your solo and group shows, and other “credentials”.

• An artist statement page:  the artist statement can be a stand-alone page, or can be included as a section of the "About the Artist" page. The decision is yours, and will depend on how much focus you want to bring to the statement.

• A contact page: this page lists all of the means of contacting you. 

• A gallery page: there are as many ways of presenting artworks on the web as there are website designers. In general, the gallery page will contain thumbnail images of your artwork. 

If you have a website, take a fresh look with some of these ideas in mind.  If not, consider getting one!

 Meanwhile, check out my new piece available on Etsy.

                                        Grape Reflection 8 x 10 colored pencil all rights reserved
                                        by Susie Tenzer   BUY THIS PAINTING

Best Free Art Exhibit Spaces You Haven't Thought Of

I just installed ten of my colored pencil art paintings at a local library, the St. Louis county library Daniel Boone Branch. for the month of April.  They were super nice and I love how my art looks among the book shelves!  The Greater St. Louis Artist Association has many opportunities for juried members to display their work in a variety of venues.

Call your local library to find out whether or not you can display your art - sometimes there is a waiting list, but they're very happy to have your work.

Last year I had an exhibit of my work at a local nursing home, Brooking Park.  This was also for one month.  The residents enjoyed seeing original art.  Many visitors came through the show as well as staff members - all potential buyers!  I was able to leave business cards and information about my custom house portraits.

I displayed my paintings in a local coffee shop for a month.  Unfortunately this one wasn't satisfactory for me - the owner took my paintings off the walls to put up another artist's work without telling me.  My paintings were sitting on a back shelf with the coffee for two weeks.  Ugh.  I still think this is a great idea, though.  I'm looking for a little restaurant or cafe next time.

I just heard an idea about showing art in a home - creating a private exhibit - on the Artists Helping Artists radio show with Leslie Saeta.  Sounds like fun, maybe wine and cheese?

So...think outside your art exhibit box...

Sold!

                                             ACEO  "Two Cherries"  Susie Tenzer on Etsy

Blue Butterfly And Other Things

I went to the Missouri botanical garden's butterfly house last week because it's March Morpho month.  They had 3000 blue Morpho butterflies!  It really was spectacular, they were everywhere.  I had a hard time taking photos of them - none wanted to land for the perfect shot.  I did manage to get enough photos to begin a new painting filled with shadow, light and bold color:

Busy month, actually.  I'm getting ready to give a workshop on colored pencil technique to the Greater St. Louis Art Association this week.  I'm getting some pieces ready to hang at the Daniel Boone Library in Ellisville, MO. for the month of April.  One of my favorite paintings, Dancing Peppers was accepted into the Art St. Louis exhibit "Food Glorious Food":

I don't want to forget to show you my dining room!

 It's finished and I love it.  Don't mind the paint cans.

Painting Inside And Outside The House

I spent the weekend painting inside and outside the house.  I saw this lovely dining room on Houzz:

So I decided to do it in my dining room.  Wood Icing Gallery, where I sell my colored pencil paintings, also sells wood refinishing products.  I decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  Everything I've heard about it is true, I didn't sand or prime (I did wipe it down, but that just took a minute).  I did the first coat in about an hour.

I'm on to the second coat today, then the wax.  I'll show you the finished dining room next week.

I also did a house portrait, a lovely home with spring plantings.  I enjoy doing these house portraits!  If you're interested in having one done of your house or a special place (maybe the church where you were married or the your childhood school), you can order one here:

                                Custom House Portrait 5 x 7 $170 8 x 10 $250 But It On Etsy

When Creating Art Sometimes You Have To Just Walk Away

I learned this from golf:  when you're in the middle of a swing and it just doesn't feel right, stop and start over.  It's hard to do.  Recently I posted a painting with two ducks and some fish  that I spent three weeks working on.  Last week, though, I stepped back from my drafting board to check the tonal values and I knew it was time to quit. One of the ducks looked stiff to me.  The water wasn't showing any movement.  I couldn't get the fish to disappear underneath the water.  I realized I'd used the more textured side of the Stonehenge paper. So, even though I invested three weeks of my precious art life in this painting, I'm glad I quit.  I learned I love the smooth side of Stonehenge because of the way it takes color.  I was trying to change the photo too much and it just didn't work for me. I just finished a new painting and I love the reflection of the grapes in the silver bowl.

Grape Reflection by Susie Tenzer, 8" x 10" colored pencil (all rights reserved)  Buy this painting

I'm participating in a blog hop this week.  What's that?  It's a fun activity where you can visit a lot of wonderful blogs.  Click on the Blog Love Therapy below & start hopping!  See you in a couple of weeks, I'll be out of town visiting my adorable grandkids.

Do You Have Cyber Friends?

I have different kinds of friends.  Friends that are acquaintances, like my book club friends.  Friends that are work related, like my artist friends.  Hinda is a friend that I've had forever, who would do anything for me.  We're so close we don't even remember how we met.  Now I have a new category, "cyber" friend.  Last week I was looking at my Etsy shop and I popped in on a discussion thread of a promotional team that I'm on.  I was shocked to see everyone was talking about a team member whose husband had just died.  I don't know any of these people but it was very sad.  One lady proposed we collect money to send her a food gift.  She created a gift account in PayPal and after a couple of days there was almost $200!  The woman whose husband died was so appreciative.  Janice has become my cyber friend.  We've actually been friends for 48 years!  I got her name when I was 12 as a pen pal in elementary school and we've been corresponding ever since.  She lives in England.  We just started emailing and she checks my FaceBook page to see what's new.  I sent her a photo of my latest work-in-progress:

 
This one is fun!  I love to do glass.  I set up the props and took the photo (a lot of photos).  Hopefully I'll finish it in a week or so.  I plan to enter this one in a competition.  To all my friends, cyber or not, have a very happy healthy New Year!

What Are Your Favorite Things From 2011?

 I want to wish all of my blog readers a happy holiday season!  Thanks for your support this past year.  I've been thinking about what I loved about 2011.  So much happened to me this year.  My art career jumped to the next level - I entered art shows, sold paintings, juried into two art organizations, joined an art gallery.  I worked really hard to raise the bar.  My bar.  Anyway, there are other things I just loved about this past year.  For my 60th birthday, my kids surprised me with a present.  We don't give one another presents, so this was a huge surprise.  I got an Ipad.  Wow, do I love it!  I lug it around the house, surf stupid sites constantly, check my  Etsy shop way too many times.  Last night I crawled into bed and watched a terrible movie on Netflix.  It's great!  I put a ton of apps on it that I don't really use, like Kindle.  I haven't downloaded any books, but I do like to browse through them to see what's new.  I read the book blurbs and reviews.  Which leads me to tell you about a book I loved this past year by Stephanie Kallos, Broken For You.  What a fantastic story, kind of quirky, lots of levels and metaphors.  It was a juicy book for our book club.  We talked for an hour about the main character, an older woman who lives in a mansion in Seattle.  She has a huge collection of porcelain and meets a younger woman who ends up living in her mansion.  Both women are guarding dark secrets and look for redemption.  Sounds way too serious, but it's also funny and sweet.  Talking about sweet, I love looking at Foodgawker on my Ipad.  I'm addicted!  People post their gorgeous food photos, mostly from food blogs.  I had no idea there's a whole world out there of food blogs!  I'm not a real foodie, but these photos and blogs are amazing.  Well, there you have it, some of my favorite things from 2011.  I'm looking forward to writing more blog posts, creating more art and getting to know more of you.

Etsy Sale Fine Art

I participate in a promotional team on Etsy called the PromoFrenzy Team.  I really enjoy working with these folks!  I've learned how to create a blog, use facebook and twitter, along with other types of social media.  During the month of November, we are promoting a team sale on Etsy.   Many of the shops will be putting this picture in one of their item listings:

Susie Tenzer's Fine Art Sale On Etsy 


All you have to do is search through the shop to find the listing with the picture.  Once you find this, you'll be rewarded with a special offer!  Please read the shop announcements carefully, because each shop sale will be different.  This is a great opportunity to find lovely Etsy items for the holidays ON SALE!


A LIST OF PARTICIPATING SHOPS

1. Trinkets N Whatnots – www.galla15.etsy.com
Handmade Button, Crystal and Pearl Jewelry

2. Sewinggranny – www.etsy.com/shop/sewinggranny
Sewn items – baby, kitchen, home decor, holiday

3. CalliopeAZCreations – www.calliopeazcreations.etsy.com
Handmade Jewelry, Medicine Stones, Decorated Feathers

4. jQ jewelry designs – www.jQjewelrydesigns.etsy.com
Gemstone Jewelry that is Classic … with an Edge

5. KrystalsJewelry – www.krystalsjewelry.etsy.com
Intricate Handmade Jewelry of all styles for all tastes

6. Rooee – www.rooee.etsy.com
Quilts & quilted things, cloth dolls, fabric postcards

7. Painted Memories By Ros -  PaintedMemoriesByRos.etsy.com
Fine Art Note Cards and Prints

8. Peelirohini – Peelirohini.etsy.com
Colorful and Unique Sterling silver , Gold fill Jewelry with Genuine Gemstones and/or Polymer Clay

9.  Sunny Crystals -  www.etsy.com/shop/SunnyCrystals
Crystal Tumblestones, Natural Gemtone Jewellery & Decoupage Cards plus a bit of Vintage Jewellery

10. Symbolic Imports – www.SymbolicImports.etsy.com
Handmade Bath & Body – Lip balms, Sugar Scrubs, Handmade Soaps, Perfumes & more!

11. Beautifulswagstore – www.etsy.com/shop/beautifulswagstore
hair accessories, dog toys, baby gift sets, home decor, gift wrapping

12. Bijibijoux- www.etsy.com/shop/bijibijoux
Handmade jewelry/ beads/ supplies -

13. Newcreationz – www.etsy.com/shop/NewCreatioNZ
Fine art and photography craft

14. BountyOfBeads – www.etsy.com/shop/bountyofbeads
Handmade Bead Dangle Drop Charm Sets and Trinity Brass Findings
Jewelry Making Supplies

15. Fair Lady Boutique – www.etsy.com/shop/fairladyboutique
A Beading Boutique with vintage beads + components, Czech glass, gemstones, and custom made bead mixes

16. HollysFollyGlass – www.etsy.com/shop/HollysFollyGlass
Fine and fun Lampwork Glass Beads by artist Holly Dare.

17. Glitterbird Glass – www.etsy.com/shop/GlitterbirdGlass
Home decor and jewelry made from beautiful fused glass.

18. CrochetedbyCharlene – www.etsy.com/shop/CrochetedbyCharlene
Beautiful crocheted afghans, accessories, and much more.

19. Camillescloset- www.etsy.com/shop/Camillescloset
Handmade jewelery items.

20. Prittify – www.etsy.com/shop/Prittyfy
Handmade Jewelry, Modern, Altered Art, Steampunk

21. Crystalphotography – www.etsy.com/shop/crystalphotography
Fine Art Photography Prints and Greeting Cards

22. iaFlowerPower – www.etsy.com/shop/iaFlowerPower
Whimsical Crocheted and Knitted Baby Hats and more

23. Gabby’s Quilts – www.etsy.com/shop/GabbysQuilts
Handcrafted Quilts, Tablerunners, Wallhangings and Embroidered Gifts

24. CNJ Ceramics – www.etsy.com/shop/CNJCeramics
Contemporary Clay Jewelry and Home Decor

25. LostLemonade – www.etsy.com/shop/LostLemonade
Body Care Products made to cleanse, moisturize and soothe

26. RomanticThoughts – RomanticThoughts.etsy.com
Handcrafted Jewelry, PreMade Scrapbook Pages, Vintage Items and More

27. Ooh Leela! – isabelafelix.etsy.com
Handmade dish towels and trendy accessories

28. KatersAcres – katersacres.etsy.com
Polymer Clay Creations, Trinkets, & Treasures with a Whimsical Feel

29. Magda – magdamagdaFashion.etsy.com
custom clothing, accessories and supplies

30. Ugly Duckling Beads – www.etsy.com/shop/uglyducklingbeads
Handmade glass beads, digital collage sheets, tutorials, and jewelry

31. BellaTheBead – www.bellathebead.etsy.com
Handcrafted jewelry and supplies with vintage soul

32.IdeasBloom – www.ideasbloom.etsy.com
Handcrafted decorative wreaths

33. Greenhouse Glassworks – www.greenhouseglassworks.etsy.com
Fused Glass Jewelry, Stained Glass Home Decor, and Handmade Cards and Tags

34. Five Supplies – Five0101.etsy.com
All the supplies you need to create

35. TheMayFlower Fashions – themayflower.etsy.com
Fun & Stylish Fashion Designs for Women

36. Something Wyrd- www.SomethingWyrd.Etsy.com
Handcrafted jewelry and beaded charms

37. iluvmarin – iluvmarin.etsy.com
Greeting cards, scrapbooks, cupcake toppers, & festive banners

38. Lexilouflowers – www.etsy.com/shop/LexiLouFlowers?ref=si_shop
Hair Accessories, Feather headbands, and Hair ties

39. Mt Baldy Glassworks www.mtbaldyglass.etsy.com
fused glass jewelry and home decore

40. LexiekinPrints – www.etsy.com/shop/LexiekinPrints
Personalized, customized and Printable Invitations, tags, cards and more!

41. Turtlexiii- www.turtlexiii.etsy.com
Sterling Silver Jewelry with Swarovski Crystals and Pearls, Gemstones & more.

42. IsabellesAttic- www.isabellesattic.etsy.com
aprons, accessories, baby items and more

43. AshlynDesign – www.ashlyndesign.etsy.com
Artisan handmade lampwork beads, metal charms, and finished jewelry

44.  Susie Tenzer - www.susietenzer.etsy.com
original fine art paintings and prints

www.etsy.com/teams/7512/promotional-frenzy-team