Susan Gainen's nanoscapes

Painted Pigs Honoring the Minnesota State Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 15:27:00 +0000

Painted Pigs for the State Fair
Spotted Pig
3D Pig
Salted Pig

With no animal husbandry in my family, my entry into the Swine category in the Minnesota State Fair would have to be painted. You won't find them at the Fair, though, as they were completed much too late (yesterday) to be proper entries in any category.

These and other tiny original painted pigs will be available at the Hopkins Farmers' Market (Saturday August 23 from 7:30-noon), and at the Art Shoppe at Midtown Global Market beginning Monday August 25.

They all different. Each is matted and ready-to-frame in a 5x7 frame, and packaged with an envelope in a Clearbag. $15/each.

The J.V. Bailey House Pig

If you want to see a cousin of these pigs, stop by the J.V. Bailey House, home of the Minnesota State Fair Foundation. While you're there, become a Friend of the Fair.

Cave Painting Progress: Cat faces

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 16:02:00 +0000

I am an unabashed cat lover, having been managed by cats since 1972. Fitting, then, to honor cats in the Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul Installation for the WARM Mentor-Protege Show.

Russian Blue Ancestor

The Cat Panel

August 19 work-in-progress

The Cat Panel documents some of the ancestors of present-day Saint Paul Cats, including the Russian Blue and Striped Cats.

Digging through my shapes-and-templates archive, I found a cat that I had used for a needlepoint piece, and for two of my very earliest cat paintings. What better cat to honor the Ancestors?

Friends of the Cats

Like all of the panels, this one has both hummingbirds and frogs.

First Face

What about the faces?

Rendering the faces is the next challenge, and I can't do too much navel-gazing about it. Unlike the Great Cave Owl, who sat on my easel for six months while I practiced painting owl faces, this piece is for a show that opens in a few weeks. (Join us for the Celebration on Saturday October 18 from 6 to 9 at the Grain Belt Bottling House.)

A piggish experiment.

One thought is to make the faces even more 3D than the "cave gesso" provides. This pig is my first experiment. Using Golden Brand Light Molding Paste, is an interesting idea, but I am a 2-D artist who has always thought that sculpture was an inaccessible magical skill.

A molded pig

WARM Cave Painting Update: The Elephant

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 13:46:00 +0000

The WARM (Women's Art Resources of Minnesota) Mentor-Protege Show is coming in October, and, having had two years to conceive and to work on this piece, a progress report is in order.

Materials review This project consists of five 5x2' primed aluminum panels covered with tinted gesso to create cave texture.The Elephant panel is the last of the five panels to get paint. Last night, I mixed a gray from acrylic colors (black, white, gray, and silver) and some Golden Self-Leveling Clear Gel. Miraculously, I have leftover paint.

Your eyes do not deceive you. The Elephant's ear is, indeed, purple. To some leftover Elephant Gray, I added a purple acrylic and Golden Granular Gel Medium.

Making the drawing My original plan was to scan my tiny elephant painting into Photoshop, scale it up, and print each segment to make a 5-foot template. Much tape would have been needed to create the template. I am grateful to my friend, the elegant artist Jason Najarak, for showing me how to use a projector to get the image onto the panel.

The Elephant Drawing

The Painted Elephant

The other panels (owls, parrots, cats, and toucans) are in-progress.

Show notes: The show, Beyond the Surface, will run from October 3 to 31 at the Grain Belt Bottling House, 79 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413. The opening reception is October 18, and there will be artists' talks on October 9, 11, and 30. The schedule and more details TBA.

The Cats: A cave painting breakthrough:

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 12:50:00 +0000

The WARM Show

The WARM (Women's Art Resources of Minnesota) Mentor-Protege Show is coming in October, but the catalog picture and info deadline is August 1. Hence, the race to produce something that either sensibly represents "work-in-progress," or approximates "finished."

Three of the Five Panels

Cats, Parrots, and Owls in Progress

The Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul piece will have five panels: Owls, Parrots, Cats, Some Random Birds, and an Elephant. (It's my cave, so I can populate it at will.)

The Owl and Parrot Panels are not quite finished, but the images are all recognizable owls, parrots, and the border hummingbirds (top), and frogs (bottom.)

Cave Cats In Progress

The Cat Conundrum

In life, I answer to two cats, so it would have been impossible to keep cats from the cave walls. But what image(s) to use?

If you know my work, you'll recall dozens of cats of all shapes and sizes. I searched my image file and found one that I had used on two of my earliest paintings, Dot Cat and Striped Cat. I made three different sized templates, and "ghosted" them onto the panel with one of the most useful of watercolors, Winsor Newton Davy's Gray.

An organizing principle? A theoretical construct? A plan!

Because the Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul are whimsical historical documents, it seems reasonable that the Cat Panel would depict some of our current cats' ancestors. Who is to say that the Great-great-great-great-great-great-great (etc.) Grandpa of an orange-striped tabby didn't have a green stripe?

Other Markings' Research:

The Small Friends' Research Institute, (sponsor of the bulk of my research into whimsical creatures and publisher of The Small Friends' Chronicles and Meet the LLLamas) tasked its entire staff with emergency research into the markings on Ancient Cats of Minnesota. I expect a report this afternoon.

Lost Cave Paintings' Progress: onto the next level

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 15:49:00 +0000

WORK ON THE CAVE CONTINUES

Now a work-in-progress at another level, the Cave Paintings have owls, parrots, frogs, and hummingbirds sketched on two of the boards.

I used traditional watercolors and two big synthetic brushes for this stage. I respect my Kolinsky Sable brushes too much to use them on top of gesso. As between a natural brush and acrylic gesso, the brushes die.

LOOMING DEADLINE

An August 1 deadline for the WARM Mentor-Protege Show catalog photo is looming, so I'll be burning the midnight oil...

The show, Beyond the Surface, will be at the Grain Belt Bottling House, 79 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413 from October 3 - 31. The opening reception is Saturday October 18 from 6 to 9 p.m. Ya'll come.

Parrots and Owls Sketched, July 21, 2014.

Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul for the WARM Mentor-Protege Show

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 14:10:00 +0000

Women's Art Resources of Minnesota (WARM)'s Mentor-Protege Show is fast approaching. I have plotted and planned for months, and finally have taken gesso in hand to begin.

The Plan

THE PROJECT

The project will be an installation of an excavation of some of the Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul. I began making these paintings in 2012 after watching Paul Boecher demonstrate using gesso* on board at the Northstar Water Media Society's Art-on-a-Line. A piece of his gesso-on-paper looked like fresco, and my mind went immediately to "cave wall."

Since mid-2012, I've made more than 150 large and small cave paintings, and dozens of "friends of the cave" Pandas who inhabit the Hidden Bamboo Forest of Saint Paul.

* A Word About Gesso: In the modern era, gesso is an acrylic medium as thick as Greek yogurt that artists use to make surfaces either smooth or bumpy. I make textured cave walls with white gesso that I tint with watercolors for small works or acrylic paints for large ones. Historic gesso was made with rabbit skin glue and minerals. I am glad to be a 21st century artist who can skip boiling rabbits and simply buy gesso at Wet Paint or at Dick Blick.

The Flamingo's Last Outing:
Northern Spark at the Vine Arts Center

MEET THE FLAMINGO

This 5-foot flamingo has lived in my downstairs bathroom for more than 15 years. I took the paper design to a lumber yard where the staff kindly (without laughing) cut out the bird, made a dozen sets of book ends, and 20 8-inch rounds from the plywood that I purchased.

Flamingo with Magenta-
Tinted Gesso

In the original plan for the bird, I would have covered the body with beads, mosaic-tiled the legs, and created a stained-glass-shard-mosaic for the grass and weeds. Fortunately, it was a flexible plan, and I was very happy with some-beads-and-paint. All of the other flamingo pieces in the bathroom miss their Big Birdy Buddy.

The flamingo's body is now covered with tinted pink gesso, and the weeds are covered with weed-colored-and-textured gesso.

THE CAVE WALLS

The five aluminum boards (cut and primed with great skill by Jason Najarak), are now a taupe/gray that is a mixture of white gesso and an astonishing amount of acrylic paint. I used sepia, chrome yellow, chrome orange, phalo blue, violet, metallic bronze and gold, venetian red and probably a few more. Each panel is slightly different from the others.

NEXT STEPS

1. Create the templates for the creatures. I have gone into my archive for my favorite images. The original elephant works well on a 5"x7" tiny painting. Making him into a 20"x40"paper template will use all of my cut and paste skills.

2. Paint the creatures, including the dozens of frogs and hummingbirds which will be part of the continuity for the panels.

3. Print and install the maps for the back of the piece. Because this will be free-standing in the middle of the room, it can't have an unsightly "naked" back. I will cover it with maps of Old Saint Paul made from electronic files from the the Ramsey County Historical Society Library in the basement of the Landmark Center in downtown Saint Paul.

4. Print the "Visit Very Old Saint Paul" postcards for the postcard rack.

14 Rules for Consigning Your Art

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 14:09:00 +0000

Cousin Charlie Rooster #2

is a greeting card on

consignment at

The Art Shoppe at Midtown Global Market

Once you have decided to share your art beyond giving it as gifts to friends and family, you will look for venues to sell your work. Art sales options can be overwhelming: ETSY (your work), zazzle (your designs on their products), your own blog, any of the dozens of web-based group sales venues, art fairs, sales through the arts organizations that you have joined, and farmers' markets.

Considering consignment

Eventually you may consider consignment, a nifty arrangement in which you put your work into either a brick-and-mortar or web-based store in which someone else handles the customer interactions (conversations and sales), and you keep ownership of the work until it sells. The benefits are wider exposure than you might create on your own and the expansion of your sales team to include the store owners and staff. For this, you pay a percentage of the sales price.

Consignment is a big step. Think through these points as you consider consignment:

1. Find the right venue #1.

Talk to the owners or managers. They are in business to make money for themselves and for their artists. Make sure that you are comfortable with the people you will trust with your art.

Pandas from the

Hidden Bamboo Forest of Saint Paul

are on consignment on a greeting card at

Three Sisters Eclectic Arts in Saint Paul

2. Find the right venue #2.

If a store has a mission (representing artists from under-served communities, artists with disabilities, artists from a specific geographic area), don’t press to be accepted if you are not a member of the group.

3. Find the right venue #3.

Pay attention to stores’ price points. Don’t embarrass yourself by approaching a high-end-big-dollar gallery if the work that you want to sell is exactly what you sell on ETSY for under $30.

4. Find the right venue #4.

Style matters. A gallery with a 20-year history of selling cutting-edge abstracts run by one of the Big Names in Abstract Art Criticism may not be interested in taking on even the most exquisite realistic botanical art.

5. Find the right venue #5.

Some stores require artists’ participation beyond dropping off work. Is there an hours-per-month requirement? If you are uncomfortable with a few hours a month at retail, are there other ways to fulfill a work requirement? Ask about the managers’ needs. Consider social media, marketing and merchandizing as ways to fulfill your obligation.

6. Follow the store’s protocols with your Inventory Integrity.

You want to sell your art, and all stores have rules about pricing and presentation which -- if you want to get paid correctly -- you must follow to the letter. Although you will not be in the store every day, you must monitor your own inventory. Once accepted, you will submit inventory sheets with coding, prices, and product descriptions. Smart artists use consistent inventory coding and pricing across all inventory and across all platforms. Present legible inventory lists. Unless it is the policy, don’t expect the store managers to code and price your work.

7. Understand when and how you will be paid.

Some stores have multiple levels for consignors. Make sure that you understand exactly how each store's compensation system works. Most stores collect and pay sales tax. You are responsible for paying your own income tax. Talk to an accountant or tax lawyer to make sure that you are tracking your sales and paying your income taxes correctly.

8. Setting prices #1. Pricing is hard.

What is the magic number that will encourage someone to purchase your work without undercutting its value (and your profit)? How much is too much? How little is too little? Talk to the managers. Look at the stock and ask about price points and what sells best. Talk to your artist friends who sell on consignment, and ask for their advice.

9. Setting prices #2.

Price your items consistently. If not now, then soon, you will be selling art in many outlets and across many platforms. Nothing will irritate store managers and customers more than inconsistent pricing should you have one price for your website, another price for ETSY, one price for this store, another for the shop across town, and yet another for your direct sales. This is part of your Inventory Integrity, and only you can manage it.

10. Packaging: People buy with their eyes

Always present clean, well-packaged work. Make sure that price tags and other tags are legible.

11. Ask to do a demo or to teach a class.

Many consignment venues have space for teaching which generates traffic for the store and can generate income for you. Note that store owners and managers are your first, best audience. The more that they know you, how you make your art, and how you talk about it, the easier it is for them to talk about your work to customers when you are not in the store.

12. Your artist statement.

Within the space limitations of the store, post an artist statement. Customers are curious about you and your art. How do you make it? What is/are your inspiration(s)? What materials do you use?

13. Sales are not personal.

Some of your work may fly off the shelves; other work may not sell at all. Consider re-packaging, re-framing, or re-purposing the work by cutting it up and making a mosaic out of it, spreading gesso over the canvas and making a new painting, or re-making the jewelry by using the components in new work. Every piece of work won’t be loved, but all of it can be re-purposed.

14. Know the law.

You will be asked to sign a contract. Read it. If you don’t understand some of its terms, ask the store owner, or, better yet, take it to your lawyer. You have a lawyer don’t you? Every artist should have a lawyer on retainer for no other reason than to have an expert eye to review anything to do with the sale of your art. Find a lawyer who represents creatives as small business owners.

Fingerprint dots to tiny triangles: work in progress

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 16:53:00 +0000

Blue Fingerprint Dots

Rotator Cuff Surgery & Painting

I had rotator cuff surgery in November 2013, and it had (and continues to have) a long recovery which included about 10 weeks away from painting with my right hand.

Multi Fingerprint Dots

Must paint. Must paint.

Undeterred, I painted a number of sheets of fingerprint dots with my left hand, knowing that I would cut them into tiny triangles and create paper mosaics. Like most good things, this is taking much longer than I imagined.

The Guillotine Paper Cutter

I didn't consider that The Guillotine Paper Cutter could not be part of early rotator cuff rehab and recovery. (I just started physical therapy "weight training" with a one-pound weight.) The first step in making tiny triangles from sheets of painted Arches Cold Pressed Grain Fin 140# paper requires a sound "thwack" with the paper cutter, and I am just now beginning to use it. More than a few "thwacks" is clearly a wrong thing for my shoulder.

The Tiny Triangles

Facing a growing stack of half-inch strips, I know that making tiny triangles will require scissors, patience, and more recovery.

Creatures of Whimsy at the SE Hennepin Library January - March

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 20:36:00 +0000

Opening reception: January 25, 2014.
1:30 to 4:30. 1222-4th St SE.

When the first of the whimsical creatures called small friends arrived in my studio in 2006, I had no idea that they were creating a path for their friends and families. More than 400 creatures have marched, swarmed, flown, hopped, or strolled through the doors and windows to have their portraits painted.

The SE Hennepin Library offered its walls to host 29 paintings, and Creatures of Whimsy will hang there until March 29. The opening reception is Saturday, January 25 from 1:30 to 4:30. All are welcome to see the paintings and to try out Judith Olney's Joy of Chocolate Pound Cake and one of my new favorites, Shoo Fly Cake.

This building was designed to house a credit union by the late Ralph Rapson. Its layout, with many short walls between offices, is a gift to artists with small works that benefit from close scrutiny.

Mycological Musings

Stained Glass Rooster

SAVE THE DATE (for kids!)

March 1 from 3-4 p.m.

Susan Gainen will read from The Small Friends' Chronicles and introduce Robert the Tap Dancing Rooster, the Frogs’ Square Dance Team, Mary Anna Musk Ox, Darren Dragon, the Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul, the Wild Parrots of Saint Paul, and Zavier Camo Zebra.

Bonus: Everyone will get to make a zebra postcard – with or without stripes!

Library Information
1222 4th Street Southeast
Minneapolis, MN
612.543.6725
Hours: Tuesday (9-5), Thursday (noon-8), Saturday (9-5)

Image-a-day 2014: Gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 14:05:00 +0000

Pencil Lines: Image-a-day #1

2013 Image-a-day ended abruptly.

After rotator cuff surgery in mid-November 2013, I was forbidden to use my right hand, which meant no typing, painting, or drawing. My approach to rehab was guided by Kathleen, a pal from Vine Arts Center and a massage therapist, who said: "Do your exercises or become my patient for life."

Exercise for rehab.

So I did my exercises. After coming out of anesthesia and two solid weeks of pain-med-morphine, my right hand shook uncontrollably. I did my exercises, harboring the fear that I would never be able to draw or paint tiny details, which are the hallmarks of much of my art. I kept quiet and continued with my exercises.

On Christmas Day, I picked up a pencil and began to make this drawing. Tiny lines. Straight lines. Lots of them. The tiny drawing was two inches long. I wasn't able to work on it every day until January 8. I'm now ready to commit to my fourth year of Image-a-day painting.

Gratitude.

Panda #2 In Progress
On a Black Gesso Ground

I have a long list of people to thank, and I may miss some because the first three weeks after surgery are still a blur: My beloved book group, the Mystery "Mavens" (we have another name, but I don't want to get caught in a spam filter) who made and delivered soup and snacks, drove me to grocery stores, and, once, to the ER (Becky, Martha, Kathryn, Julie, Connie, Pat); neighbor and fellow Whovian and Sherlockian, Mary, an all-around fabulous helper who was unafraid to note that Figs Poached in Diet Ginger Ale is disgusting. (It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I was taking morphine for pain, which makes you stupid.)

Also, my friend Susan who bought the innocent figs and the other yummy treats which I did not abuse; WARM Mentor Layl, who supported my left-handed artwork and made sure that I was able to buy Black Gesso during our outing; Pal Janet, who provided chocolate and cheer; Russ and Susan, who cheerfully schlepped me and my art to various places; Josie, the very best Occupational Therapist Ever; and, finally (last but certainly not least), my great friends Nancy and Jason, who drove me and fed me cheered me throughout this ordeal.

Next week.

Cataract surgery. I can't wait.

Give thanks for paint tubes and other innovations

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 19:16:00 +0000

In the very first post on this blog, I wrote about how lucky I am to be a 21st century painter because I could walk into an art store and buy a tube of Lapis watercolor paint. No need to dig it up. No need to grind it myself. No need to fret about consistency from batch to batch. No worries about preserving it.

John G. Rand: Innovator

In May 2013, Smithsonian Magazine had a short but very informative article about the introduction of tubes for paint by "a little-known" American portrait painter, John G. Rand. Should you be hungry for more information about this innovator, look no further than a helpful article from the North Carolina Museum of Art: A revolution in paint.

Philip Ball's "Bright Earth"

Philip Ball's brilliant Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color sparked the "I don't need to grind it" insight. It is still a favorite book, and it sits on my night table. Full of delights and exciting (to me) material such as "Color Technology in Antiquity" and the shocking introduction of "Synthetic Pigments and the Dawn of Color Chemistry," Bright Earth also answers pesky questions such as "Who was Hooker of Hooker's Green?"

When making art, we stand (or sit) on the shoulders of innovators. Thanks to all of them.

Read this: Never Underestimate the Power of a Paint Tube (Smithsonian)

The Suction Cup Spreading Whimsy and Hyperspace: Meet Susan Gainen | The Suction Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 18:06:00 +0000

First Hummingbird in Hyperspace

Thank you, Kate Renee, for this blog post.

The Suction Cup Spreading Whimsy and Hyperspace: Meet Susan Gainen | The Suction Cup

Nanoscapes' magnets: for learning, for fun or for money?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 13:39:00 +0000

In my third year of image-a-day painting, I use these daily exercises to explore new patterns and designs, new materials, and new techniques.

Gels and TerraSkin since June 2013

Since June 2013, I've been gleefully exploring Golden Brand Gel Mediums (glass bead gel, tar gel, self-leveling clear gel, mica gel, black mica gel, fiber paste, and molding paste). Combined with TerraSkin, the tree-free paper that opened the door to Hummingbirds (and Friends) in Hyperspace, I've been on a three-month wild art ride.

Hummingbird in Hyperspace
on TerraSkin

Next up: magnets

Armed with 2x2-inch primed aluminum squares (thank you Jason Najarak), round magnets from Michael's (thank you, Layl McDill), a glue stick, some leftover Mod Podge and Golden gels, I expected to whip up some magnets to sell at the Saint Paul Art Crawl.

Not so fast.

Every good thing has a learning curve.

Making the cuts

What I'd imagined to be a great use for leftover watercolors or cut-up greeting cards, turns out to be an exercise in painstakingly careful cutting to match the aluminum squares. Not just snip-snip-snip and done, but not-unpleasant-but-not-very-fast cutting and matching, reminiscent of quilting.

Finding the right glue.

As much as I love a good glue stick, even my favorite archival stick was not a good match for this project. Call in the acrylic team (Mod Podge and gels), spread the glue, match the corners, press the paper to remove the glue ooze. Wait for the glue to dry.

Glaze the top and sides

Luckily for me, one of my prime artist directives is Painstaking Exuberance, loosely defined as relishing work in tiny spaces with tiny tools. Even Self-Leveling Clear Gel can't be troweled onto a tiny square so I used wooden skewers as applicators. I had also hoped to put glass bead gel inside some of the tiny shapes, but that will add an extra step. Maybe someday.

Glue the magnet to the back

Separating the round magnets from one another isn't as easy as I thought it would be. That, of course, is the reason that they are called "Magnets." Use a skewer to spread the glue on the tiny magnet. Carefully remove the glue that oozes out. Wait. Wait some more.

For learning, for fun or for money?

I've only made three of these, and I can't put a "price-per-hour" on them at the moment. I've learned a lot, so perhaps I will charge myself my hourly art-teacher rate and imagine that I've taken a class.

Susan Gainen at the Saint Paul Art Crawl: October 4-6, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 11:46:00 +0000

Gold & Brown Jungle Cat
From Hyperspace

Join flocks of whimsical small friends and exciting geometric abstract nanoscapes at the Saint Paul Art Crawl. I will be in the Lowertown Lofts Apartments, 240 5th Street East, Saint Paul, MN 55101.

Art Crawl Hours:

Friday October 4 (6 to 10 pm)
Saturday October 5 (noon to 8 pm)
Sunday October 6 (noon to 5 pm)

Lowertown Lofts Apartments are a short stroll from the Saint Paul Farmers' Market. If you are a late market shopper, you can drop right in on Saturday and Sunday.

Ax-Man Gizmo 10th Gear
Juried in to Tieton 10x10x10 Show

Small Friends from Hyperspace

Come and see the Small Friends from Hyperspace that I have made with TerraSkin, a tree-free paper that I found at Wet Paint in Saint Paul. TerraSkin is made from 76% calcium carbonate, and paint puddles and dries instead of being absorbed as with traditional watercolor paper. One look at the dried puddles and it was clear that Hyperspace had come to Saint Paul.

The Hyperspace friends include a large flock of Hummingbirds, a few Hippos, a Safe, Skein, Sore, String or Team of Ducks (those are the collective nouns for ducks in the air, which I believe should include Hyperspace), and more.

Who? Me?

Other new work:

Color Block #1

Some (not all) of the Ax-Man Gizmo paintings are on blank note cards;
A parliament of watercolor and Lost Cave Painting of Saint Paul owls ("parliament" is the collective noun for owls);
A new family of cats whose Prime Directive is to say "Who me?" when found to have made mischief;
Cats celebrating Halloween;
New excavations from The Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul;
New abstract cards (Color Block #1);
Autographed copies of Meet the LLLamas at a special Art Crawl price;
and lots, lots more!

And favorites, too!

Wild Parrots of Saint Paul
Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul
and original nanoscapes.

See you at the Art Crawl!! I will be painting!

If you miss the Art Crawl, drop by The Art Shoppe at Midtown Global Market to see more of my work.

Ax-Man Project Gear 10: Exhibition Finalist

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 15:56:00 +0000

Ax-Man Project Gear 10

The Ax-Man Project Gear 10 is a finalist in Exhibition Without Walls' Your Choice On-Line Juried Exhibition.

Eighty-seven photographers, digital artists, and graphic designers submitted 473 images. Twenty-five were selected as finalists, and if you click through the images, I promise that they will take your breath away.

My entry, Ax-Man Project Gear 10, was inspired by a Gizmo I found during an early-summer Ax-Man run with Layl McDill, my WARM (Women's Art Resources of Minnesota) mentor. I now know that the Gizmo is a tool that people use to measure wire diameter.

The Original Gear 10 Watercolor

I used it to make post-card sized watercolor paintings that I scanned and then (gleefully) manipulated in Photoshop. See all 10 here.

Gizmo from Ax-Man: non-stop inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:53:00 +0000

As a lucky participant in the Women's Art Resources of Minnesota (WARM) Mentor-Protege Program, I get to spend time with my mentor, Layl McDill, an extraordinary polymer clay artist.

Third Gear Painting: Posterized

Third Gear Painting

Two weeks ago our monthly meeting/field trip took us to Ax-Man, a surplus store on University Avenue in Saint Paul, and to the Bell Museum on the University of Minnesota Campus.

6th Gear Painting

We went to Ax-Man because I'd had a tiny moment in the workshop of a very talented guitar maker where the walls were covered with (to me) unknown gizmos, gadgets, and whatsis that cried out to become painting templates. While Ax-man was short of guitar-making tools, it was long on pieces that inspired me to go home and paint.

From the Ax-Man came the Gizmo, and from the Gizmo came "10 Gears." Each began as a post-card sized watercolor that I scanned into Photoshop and manipulated to make digital magic.

Gourds & polymer clay: new techniques

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:30:00 +0000

It is important to learn something new every day, and my head if full of new stuff from two classes that I took on Saturday and Monday.

A Gourd Pin

Gourd Art and Kristen Treuting

"Water Movement" is a three-artist show at Vine Arts Center. Kristen Treuting's unique and beautiful gourd art is part of this show, and in her workshop, she let us loose with wood burners, lovely inks, and glue guns to create our own gourd art. Thanks, Kristen. (Note to cat owners: Some cats find gourd pieces very enticing. Hide your work.)

Polymer Clay and Layl McDill

Layl McDill is a gifted, visionary, and whimsical genius with polymer clay. Last night she conducted "Clay Play" with Silly Millies for mentors and proteges in this year's WARM (Women's Art Resources of Minnesota) Mentor program.

Canes and Canes

Tulip Fingers

Having had a deeply disappointing encounter with polymer clay years ago, I had always been curious about how to make the intricate designs actually work. Layl showed us that "noodles and blankets" were the secret, and the designs and figures that we all made were vastly different from one another, and all wonderful.

I can't wait to incorporate these designs into my paintings.

NOTE: Layl McDill is my WARM Mentor in the current Mentor-Protege cycle. I am deeply grateful for her enthusiasm and encouragement. If you check out her work, you'll know that she will never, ever tamp down my whimsy.

Lost Cave Horse in Minnesota Watercolor Society Spring 2013 Show

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 16:49:00 +0000

Lost Cave Horse

The Cave Horse, one of the Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul, was accepted into the Minnesota Watercolor Society's 2013 Spring Show.

The Cave Horse and the Cave Toucan were excavated from the Lost Cave on Christmas Day 2012. The Cave Paintings are available from the small friends' website and on cool products at zazzle.

The show will hang at the Minnetonka Center For the Arts, 2240 North Shore Drive, Wayzata, MN from April 4 to May 2, 2013.

The framed Horse is for sale at the Show for $300.

Taking a Break with Two Palm Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 07:20:00 +0000

As I gear up to start a big painting of an as-yet-unknown subject, and continue to work on the (now) 50 Wild Parrots of Saint Paul Project, I took a break on Saturday to paint two tiny (5x5) palm tree paintings.

Palm Tree One (2013. 5x5 inches. $30)

Up North #3 (2008. Not for sale)

Although they reference some of my earliest nanoscapes' landscapes, I made these to play with granulation to give the sand under the palms some texture with paint, and to practice the traditional wet-in-wet watercolor technique in the leaves and sky.

Wet-in-wet is exactly what it sounds like: wet paint dropped onto wet paper.

I made controlled puddles, and then dropped in a color or colors that I manipulated ever so slightly. Too much manipulation makes dull, muddled color.

To purchase either of these paintings, please send direct email to susangainen@comcast.net and I will bill you through PayPal. Thank you.

Palm Tree Two (2013. 5x5 inches. $30)

Stars to Wish On

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:06:00 +0000

Little Star

All the Colors and Paths 1

Creative Consistency

When asked whether I planned the color placement in All The Colors and Paths #1, now hanging in Altered Aesthetics "Straight Trippin'" exhibition in Minneapolis, I explained that my choices are completely random. The only rule is that like colors cannot "touch."

From One Little Star

Making the Stars to Wish On images was a similarly random act. I scanned the Little Star and created a template called Nine Stars. Then I made copies, using some of my favorite Photoshop settings (vibrance, hue/saturation, color balance, invert, posterize, and photo filter) without keeping track of anything. If I liked a result, I saved it. I discarded lots of images because they just didn't work. These are my favorites.

Blue Stars to Wish On

Red Stars to Wish On

Neon Green Stars to Wish On

Bright Yellow Stars to Wish On

Harvest Stars to Wish On

Turquoise Stars to Wish On

Purple Stars to Wish on

Orange Stars to Wish On

Green Stars to Wish On

Some of these designs are available on cool products at zazzle.com http://www.zazzle.com/susangainen/9+stars+gifts.

Musings on liking your own work

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:05:00 +0000

All the Colors & Paths #1, at Altered Aesthetics'
Straight Trippin' Juried Show
February 28-March 28, 2013

If you don't like your own work, how can you:

expect anyone else to like it -- ever;

get pleasure out of its creation;

want to do anything other than use it for kindling.

Will you love every piece?

Don't expect to love every piece. Because making art is a journey, there will probably be some odd turns or dead ends:

You win inevitably make an awkward and damaging splash or drop the brush or do something that in the cold light of day makes you cringe. Learn from it, and enjoy the pleasure of making art. Forgive your child or your cat if one or both might be the culprit
When you get a new paintbrush or color or other piece of equipment, your first experiments might be happy accidents that you love (and sell), noodlings that you will use as reference material, or something to recycle by painting on the back.
Not that this would happen to you, but in my earnest determination to get back to painting after being ill, I put a lot of brown paint in a place where, on reflection, it does not belong. Whether I can bring this painting back to where I hoped it would be, turn it into something entirely new, or trash it, is yet to be determined. What did I learn? When speaking a simple, declarative sentence is unmanageable, I should stay away from paint brushes.

Who is the SpokesArtist?

I am the SpokesArtist for my own art enterprises, each of which is dedicated to making people smile. I have no idea how artists who pour their angst onto their canvases think about liking their own work.

Six Winter Socks from the Nanoscapes' Archive

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 17:14:00 +0000

After four years of above-zero temperatures, in mid-January 2013 Minnesota plunged to a few days of high temps below zero. To celebrate, I retrieved Six Winter Socks from the nanoscapes' archive. The tiny original watercolor which was made in 2008, is no longer for sale.

Six Winter Socks

This image is on a postcard at zazzle.com.

Two nanoscapes accepted into Altered Aesthetics' "Straight Trippin'"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:53:00 +0000

The nanoscapes Fractured Glass 3 and All the Colors and Paths #1 were juried into Altered Aesthetics' 2013 "Straight Trippin'" Exhibition which will run from February 28 to March 28, 2013 at the gallery which is in the Q'arma Building at 1224 Quincy Street NW, Minneapolis, MN 55413 in the Northeast Minneapolis Artist District.

Wild Triangles

Fractured Glass 3 is part of a series of watercolor paintings that answers the creative question "What happens when triangles go wild?"

I make these with my five-part Painstaking Exuberance process: (1) make a pencil drawing, (2) outline each shape with Winsor & Newton Davy's Gray, (3) paint inside the lines, (4) paint an outline for each triangle with a contrasting watercolor, and (5) paint a border for the entire piece. The paintings don't really come to life until I paint the outlines for each tiny triangle.

I have also used the triangles in a some of the whimsical creatures (small friends) in the Stained Glass Family, which includes Sarah Stained Glass Cat, The Stained Glass Elephant, Hernando Stained Glass Hippo, Amelia Tall Glazed Window Cat, a Green Stained Glass Camel, and one of the 7 Hippos Marching.

Fractured Glass 3 (22x33) Framed $800

Bright Boxes

All the Colors and Paths is part of a series loosely called Bright Boxes which celebrate the depth of color achievable with watercolor while challenging space and perspective. I like to think that I am painting in two-and-a-half dimensions. Most (including this one) were painted on 300# paper which is like painting on felt or a very welcoming sponge.

All the Colors and Paths #1 (13x23) $350

Altered Aesthetics Gallery is at 1224 Quincy Street NW, Minneapolis, MN 55413 in the Q'arma Building in Minneapolis' Northeast Minneapolis Artist District.

Puzzle Maker's Choice: jigsaw, tile saw or paint brush?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:17:00 +0000

Puzzle Pieces Work in Progress

I understand the addictive quality of working out a jigsaw puzzle, and have myself uttered the plaintive cry "Just one more!" when my parents were trying to call me to dinner or send me to bed.

There are no jigsaw puzzles in my house today: Too much space is devoted to painting, and Max the Kitten, who has already walked into wet gesso and spilled water onto a nearly-finished painting, would be drawn to puzzle pieces like a moth to a flame.

Having a "no puzzle policy" hasn't kept me from making puzzles, though. Typical puzzle maker's tools are either jig saws or (for the really ambitious) tile saws, however, my puzzle-making tool is a paint brush.

This work-in-progress puzzle is made with a 6H pencil and a Raphael Martora Sable #0 brush that I bought at Wet Paint in Saint Paul, MN.

Further reading: 11 Reasons To Do Jigsaw Puzzles

Flying Crystals for December 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:03:00 +0000

What started as a random pencil drawing became a series of chances to challenge space and gravity. Each Flying Crystal is painted on 12(w) x 9 (h) 140# Arches Hot Press Paper.

The five original Flying Crystals will be for sale ($50 each) this weekend at the Vine Arts Center Holiday Sale, and Flying Crystal images are available as prints and postcards at zazzle. If you can't make it to Vine Arts this weekend, contact me directly to purchase originals or to commission one in a size that works for you or in your favorite color..

Green Flying Crystal

Red Flying Crystal

Ultramarine Blue Flying Crystal

Turquoise Flying Crystal

Purple Flying Crystal

Susan Gainen's nanoscapes

Painted Pigs Honoring the Minnesota State Fair

Cave Painting Progress: Cat faces

The Cat Panel

Friends of the Cats

First Face

What about the faces?

A piggish experiment.

WARM Cave Painting Update: The Elephant

The Cats: A cave painting breakthrough:

The WARM Show

Three of the Five Panels

The Cat Conundrum

An organizing principle? A theoretical construct? A plan!

Other Markings' Research:

Related posts, retail outlets, and a web link

Lost Cave Paintings' Progress: onto the next level

WORK ON THE CAVE CONTINUES

LOOMING DEADLINE

Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul for the WARM Mentor-Protege Show

THE PROJECT

MEET THE FLAMINGO

THE CAVE WALLS

NEXT STEPS

14 Rules for Consigning Your Art

Considering consignment

1. Find the right venue #1.

Pandas from the Hidden Bamboo Forest of Saint Paul are on consignment on a greeting card at Three Sisters Eclectic Arts in Saint Paul 2. Find the right venue #2.

3. Find the right venue #3.

4. Find the right venue #4.

5. Find the right venue #5.

6. Follow the store’s protocols with your Inventory Integrity.

7. Understand when and how you will be paid.

8. Setting prices #1. Pricing is hard.

9. Setting prices #2.

10. Packaging: People buy with their eyes

11. Ask to do a demo or to teach a class.

12. Your artist statement.

13. Sales are not personal.

14. Know the law.

Fingerprint dots to tiny triangles: work in progress

Rotator Cuff Surgery & Painting

Must paint. Must paint.

The Guillotine Paper Cutter

The Tiny Triangles

Creatures of Whimsy at the SE Hennepin Library January - March

Opening reception: January 25, 2014. 1:30 to 4:30. 1222-4th St SE.

Image-a-day 2014: Gratitude

2013 Image-a-day ended abruptly.

Exercise for rehab.

Gratitude.

Next week.

Give thanks for paint tubes and other innovations

John G. Rand: Innovator

Philip Ball's "Bright Earth"

The Suction Cup Spreading Whimsy and Hyperspace: Meet Susan Gainen | The Suction Cup

Nanoscapes' magnets: for learning, for fun or for money?

Gels and TerraSkin since June 2013

Next up: magnets

Not so fast.

Making the cuts

Finding the right glue.

Glaze the top and sides

Glue the magnet to the back

For learning, for fun or for money?

Susan Gainen at the Saint Paul Art Crawl: October 4-6, 2013

Art Crawl Hours:

Small Friends from Hyperspace

Other new work:

And favorites, too!

See you at the Art Crawl!! I will be painting!

Ax-Man Project Gear 10: Exhibition Finalist

Gizmo from Ax-Man: non-stop inspiration

Gourds & polymer clay: new techniques

Gourd Art and Kristen Treuting

Polymer Clay and Layl McDill

Lost Cave Horse in Minnesota Watercolor Society Spring 2013 Show

Taking a Break with Two Palm Trees

Stars to Wish On

Creative Consistency

Pandas from the

Hidden Bamboo Forest of Saint Paul

are on consignment on a greeting card at

Three Sisters Eclectic Arts in Saint Paul

2. Find the right venue #2.

Opening reception: January 25, 2014.
1:30 to 4:30. 1222-4th St SE.