Susie's
Art & Fun Blog
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TWEE'ART - To Warm Your Heart.
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 Susie & loved pet 'Blacky' People often ask me, "Why do you choose pets and animals as primary subjects for art?”
The quick answer is that I love painting pets and animals. I love to see them in my home and I love handing a newly finished pet portrait to its owner. However, their appeal as art subjects grew throughout my lifetime. As a toddler I had a little dog I adored, I called Blacky. He died before I turned 5 and I guess I cried for days, so my parents didn’t want any more pets. I think I felt a bit pet starved after that. I married after college and began to gather a pet family around us. Over the past 48 years of marriage many breeds of dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, fish, birds, turtles, goats, and horses filled our home and barn. As a result, I became familiar with their coats, colors and contours and loved them all. Of course, life patterns do change. After retiring, and in our ‘golden years’ we discovered the difficulties of caring for so many pets. Then, as each one sadly passed away, we lived with fewer and fewer around. We decided to become a one pet family. Currently we have our bouncy Boxer rescue girl named Josie. However, I also missed the others and wished for the liveliness & ‘life’ they’d brought into our home. Within a year of retiring, I started painting our pets on coasters, which gave me an idea. I decided to paint as many pet and animal portraits as possible; to keep me surrounded by their wonder faces and presence. Now our walls drip with their presence and I love them all over again. Some pet portraits are of our own pets. Others perhaps illustrate wishes of pets we’d love to have. Some remind me of very special pets who have passed on. Once again I feel surrounded by their life and unconditional love. I enjoyed this so much that I could not have predicted what happened next. As I created pet paintings for myself and showed them to my friends and family, they began asking me for portraits of their pets and for those of family and friends. This became my delightful addiction as I discovered the happiness my pet portraits brought to these pet families. As a result of all these things, pets and animals remain my primary art subjects. Footnote: The sad truth about pets is that they rarely outlive us. While they live with us they bring life, joy, some craziness and unconditional love into our homes. When they pass away, we miss them. I continue to paint pets or animals for myself and others because I hope to offer happiness for those with living pets, and warm memories that will last a lifetime. If you are interested in a pet portrait for yourself or a loved one, please think of me. I’d love to help give you the lasting memory you’ll cherish forever. For more information click this link: https://bit.ly/2TH1csh. To go directly to my contact me form click here: https://bit.ly/2SULKZT Wishing you warm hugs and wet sloppy pet kisses. Susie Caron
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 Quick & Elegant DIY Silhouette Art
Susie E Caron 1/9/19 When I was about 13 years old, my Mother made me sit still in front of a strong lamp with no shade. Next she traced my silhouette onto a paper she taped to the wall behind me. She repeated this with every family member. My Mother later transformed those tracings into DIY elegant art. I can still recall the black construction paper silhouettes of each of us, carefully mounted onto white paper with red trim all around and displayed above our breakfast table windows. I didn’t realize as a teenager that years later I’d want to teach you how to create art much like those. You can repeat what my Mother did for your own family. All you need is a strong lamp, paper and patience. (You’ll need it when you try to get a child or teen to ‘sit still’ so you can capture their profiles.) Alternatively, I have an ‘elegant art project for you to do’ on Freebie Friday. This project gives you or your child an opportunity to do some fun, quick, inexpensive art. The variations are endless for DIY ‘elegant art.’ You may want to hang one or more up in your own home, or give some away as gifts. What ever you do…..have fun. Art is fun and we all deserve a little fun now and again. Questions or comments? Let me know. Hugs and Blessings, Susie  Alligators & Applesauce
Susie E Caron I love cartoons As you may notice on my Facebookpage , I use them often. I spent days coloring cartoons while growing up. Coloring, drawing, painting and using scissors are all ways that I learned fine motor skills and contributed to my artistic talents. Coloring recently became popular even among adults as a way to relax. I like that about art too. It’s relaxing but it’s also fun. All my life I’ve had fun with differing forms of art. I used art skills to sew, cook and decorate. I even spent a period creating and selling handmade hats and bags for women and kids. Now I’m a full time artist painting animals, pets and selected scenes. Some paintings exhibit regularly in galleries. Some go to homes of beloved pets. I love to teach. You may have guessed this week’s Facbook Twee' page theme is built on the letter “A”. Tomorrow I’ll post a challenge for you regarding that, but right now I encourage you to prepare for Friday’s Freebie. As I said I love to teach and coloring, using markers, crayons or paint is a good way to begin. Friday’s Freebie is a fun and easy project for you and or your child. What you will need You will need crayons, markers or paint and paper plus a computer and printer if you want to make copies. (Go ahead and make as many as you want.) Alternately, if you have a painting app on your computer or tablet you can use that to complete this art project. ( I use photo editor on my iPad.) Then I'd love you to share. After you finish, take a photo and share with us on my Twee’ page in next week’s, Truly Yours Tuesday thread. I can’t wait to see your creations. Any comments or questions? Please post below. Thank you. Hugs and Blessings Susie  I enjoyed a welcomed surprise, or two this past week.I received a 2nd place (red) ribbon for my acrylic painting Belgian Team Ready at the 2018 Champlain Valley Fair Art Pavilion, in the category "At The Fair". This felt good, as you can imagine. Then, as I walked around looking at the wonderful art all around me, I discovered another ribbon. This one was purple and titled "Staff's Choice Award". It dangled from my painting titled G"Night Horse. This painting depicted a girl and her horse, forehead to forehead in silhouette against a sunset sky. On the reverse of this ribbon the staff person/judge had penned this note: "You've captured the love between the two perfectly, and the sky is phenomenal." I treasured this little note more than the two ribbons combined. It meant a lot to me to understand what another person actually saw or felt when she looked at my painting. Of course I'm not unhappy about getting the two ribbons. Its just that the note added something more - the human to human connection we all crave. Think about it. When you go to a meeting, picnic, or party, what's the first thing you do, especially if you arrive by yourself? You look for somebody to connect with. That's what I appreciated most. That human to human connection, even if only in a note. After I returned home from picking up my unsold artwork, I discovered a message from a friend. She contacted me to inquire about this painting. She said she wanted to buy it and she told me why: "It brought tears to my eyes by bringing together the three things I loved the most - sunrise/sunset, children and horses." This pleased me and we worked out the details together. I love this painting because it does illustrate the warmth of a good relationship. It touched at least two people who then enriched my life by connecting with me. Relationship, making contact person to person really matters. This can be forehead to forehead, in a tiny note, on text, by phone, or in person. Taking the time to reach out even for a brief moment can make a difference in our lives. Days later, I still feel good. PS How do you like to reach out? Share your ideas in a comment here.  I often laugh and say to myself "I paint funny", when I start a new painting, like the kitten portrait below. I had an idea for a mostly white kitten from a photo I'd selected. She also lay on a pale carpet So what did I do? I looked for any hint of color in the otherwise white presentation. It's funny that I paint those colors very dark at first, only to lighten them up after. I do this, to the best I can figure out, for 2 reasons. First I learned to paint in oils. That process involved starting with dark colors and layering on lighter and lighter colors to develop the subject. So I just continue to paint that way using acrylics. Second I discovered I paint more freely this way and don't get bogged down with the details. Below you can see 3 steps in my process.
For this kitten portrait, to begin I sketch-painted the subject, and indicated the background and foreground. During the 2nd step, I applied darker values of the color in the subject and surroundings. In the 3rd step I add white or light colors to brighten the light areas. I also add dark colors to enhance those areas that need to appear darker. This brings the subject 'to life'. Each step may take a couple of hours or may be spread over a few days. I painted this one over a few days. However, I like to let a painting 'sit' on my art room wall for a while to see how I feel about it. Sometimes I work on it later if I find it needs some finishing touches. Finally, when I am satisfied, I sign the painting. What do you think of this portrait? Would you paint her differently or use a different process? Tell me in the comments below. It's fun to swap ideas. Hugs and Blessings Susie  4th.. Complete the details and sign the painting.  This title: My First "Splash" actually means two things: Splash is the name of an acrylic painting and the first painting I've offered for sale in the beautiful Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville, VT. (11/9/17-12/23/17). This is my debut!
Up to this date, my acrylic paintings have been gifts for my home, family members and friends. I also painted pets on commission, sold some of my prints, and taught in a recent paint and sip. Frankly, I hadn't created my art with a thought to sell them. I enjoy the process. I also got much delight from seeing the faces of those I gifted with a painting of a favorite scene or pet. However, I began missing the paintings I'd given away. So off I went to St. Albans to the Village Frame Shoppe & Gallery http://vtframeshop.com/ . where I could get my paintings photographed and prints made. That solved my problem because I planned to keep at least one print of each, for myself. Dan and Christianna at the Village Frame Shoppe, were so encouraging that pretty soon I found myself asking about artists groups I could join. Dan mentioned the Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville VT, among others. I applied and after receiving my membership I asked to become part of the GEMS show coming in November. When I delivered my first ever for sale painting, I was received warmly. The gallery is beautiful, with its high white walls and big windows above. It seemed to be everything I wanted to represent my fine art along with the works of other fine artists. So, if you are near Jeffersonville, Vermont, and want to see some beautiful paintings of all sizes, I know you will be welcomed at the Bryan Memorial Gallery. If you visit the GEMS show, 11-9-17 through 12-23-17 make sure you see my acrylic painting "Splash". That is unless it's already sold! If you are interested in any of my paintings for sale, or the matted print of my paintings, feel free to email me: contact@susiecaron.com You can find all my paintings under the ART tab above. Thanks for reading. Leave your comments or question below. I love to hear from you. Susie My Frozen Waterfall Painting Susie Caron (c) 4/6/17 I Love birthdays. My grown up kids all had birthdays recently and I gave each one an original 12 x 16 inch acrylic painting on canvas. In this one I learned a new 'how to' and something about myself. Last December my son and his wife came upon a frozen waterfall while snowshoeing. They loved the scene and took a photo of it to show me. I believe they experienced it as much more breathtaking than the photo illustrates. However, I could tell they loved their spot and I love them, so I decided to see what I could do for them in a painting. Here is their photo.  Photo by Ned & Jackie Caron In preparing to paint, I covered the 12 x 16 inch canvas with black Gesso. This ensured the waterfall had a good dark back drop. Then I used a scrunched up paper towel to paint the sun, sky and land mass. I indicated the trees with the back of my fingernails, by dragging them upward. Later I added more detail. I was surprised to find the waterfall presented a dilemma. As you can see in the photo the waterfall looks uneven at the top. When I attempted to paint it this way, it didn't 'make sense'. (God has much more liberty for creation than I do). As I worked, I discovered that I prefer my paintings to 'make sense', at least, to me. So I reconfigured the waterfall to appear more level at the top. Below is the result. What do you think?  Winter Icing SC (c) 2017 If you are wondering why the water and ice are not just white, it's partly because water and ice take on the colors of their surroundings. It's also just fun to take artistic license and put blues, pinks, greens and even yellow in the ice and water.
I titled this one "Winter Icing" for a few reasons. The kids appeared visibly excited to share a photo of what they'd discovered on their snow shoeing adventure with me. I felt happy to create this painting to capture their moment in time, the feelings they'd expressed, and my love for them too. So, I hoped my painting would be like 'the icing on the cake.' It seemed right for all of us. Tell me what you think about this in the comments below. Do you paint? What are you discovering? Twee' Means You & Me Painting Feelings  The Washington" #2 Susie E. Caron The next one also took 2 months, mostly because I began to paint it as a snow scene. However, my husband told me that in the winter, this train would not have a cow catcher in front. So, I altered it to a mid-summer scene . In this one, I discovered that I needed to use graph paper grid lines over a photo of his train in order to enlarge it and make it proportionally correct. This took a lot of time and planning. I particularly like the way I painted the smoke. The most important thing I've learned to date is not to be afraid to paint over anything I don't like, or that just isn't working. I used white Gesso for a while, but later for small mistakes I just used Titanium white. I promised more photos of my original paintings on coasters. As you will guess from these, my son and his wife are very active. I painted their coasters from their photos.
If you are thinking about painting your own coasters, I recommend buying the 4 to 4.5 inch pine blocks and using acrylics as a great way to start. You can find them at most art supply stores. I buy most of my supplies at DickBlick.com or Michaels. Dont forget to purchase some acrylic sealing spray to water proof them as well.
Questions or comments? I'll answer below. Hugs and Blessings Susie  Success!
This is painting #10 and my very first bird painting. Susie E. Caron (c) 2/15/17 I just completed this little acrylic painting of a sweet, colorful bird. I found the photo on Pixabay, a site that offers Creative Commons Zero License (CCO). What a wonderful site and obviously, helpful to me while I'm learning to paint. I found several that I liked and chose this little fellow because he's all alone. He also looks a little cold, but he's sitting in a tree filled with small seeds. I decided to call this painting: "He Feeds the Tiny Bird" ....because that's what I see. Matthew 6: 26 says "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? I hung this painting in our dining room to remind me that God miraculously provides for all living things. When every I find myself wondering how God could take care of us and our needs, this painting will remind me that He Feeds The Tiny Bird and He can supply our needs. I only need to ask. Hugs and Blessings Susie  'Early Snow' Artist: Susie E. Caron © 2017 I'm excited to introduce my new blog. When I began painting in April, I didn't know what might come out. To my surprise I'm doing really well. (At least that's what I'm told.)
Whenever I painted I took photos of my work in progress. I thought that was so I could study what I was doing at times other than when I was actively engaged in the process. Then I discovered the photos demonstrated my journey (mistakes and all) and what I discovered So I thought, "Why not share these with you?" So that's what I'll be doing. In the next weeks, months, and - dare I hope (?) - years - God willing, I'll show you my work, my paintings, and talk about my journey and process. I hope this will be entertaining and also give you hope that you too can do new things, even if, like me, you try them later in life. Watch for new posts, at least once per month, but possibly more often. Don't be shy. Tell me what you like. I'd love to hear from you. Hugs and Blessings Susie |
Author/ArtistSusie Caron, acrylic artist, creates realistic paintings of pets, animals, and selected scenes. Her love of and experience with many pets and farm animals throughout her life, enables her to capture the unique feeling and expression of each subject. In her commission pet and livestock portraits, Susie also works with each customer to discover and then reveal the personality and special bond between pet and human. Archives
January 2019
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