Suze’s Art News September 2020

It’s still pretty strange times.

We are all adapting as best we can. Artwork and time in wilderness give me inner sanity; helping others, whether individuals or institutions, is another strategem.

In roughly chronological order:

Where we watched the eclipse, watercolor on paper, 11″ x 15″

Bend, Oregon’s High Desert Museum’s annual fundraising competition, Art in the West, includes this landscape. The virtual auction is live 8/1 – 10/3/2020.

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Bathtub Lakes, watercolor on paper, 11″ x 15″

I’ll be teaching an in-person, outdoor class, “Practical Plein Air,” for Gage Academy of Art 9/12-13 — masked and distanced of course. There’s still room! Here is the registration page.

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Artichokes, watercolor on paper on cradled panel, coated in epoxy, 11″ x 15″

Item # 228, Silent Auction 2: in The Museum of Northwest Art’s annual fundraiser. Bidding opens on 9/11 and closes 9/13.

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Bark Beetle Book, Volume XXX: Species Distribution. Douglas fir branch, laser-cut wood, laser-print transfers, viscose and silk, Kevlar thread, wood beads. 3.5″ x 32.5″ closed, 3.5″ x 19 *feet* open — the longest book I’ve ever made!

I’ll be giving a virtual talk for Puget Sound Book Artists 9/10 from 4 -5:30 pm. Anyone is welcome to register for it on their site. I’ll be discussing the inspiration and processes of many of the 30 books that sat in the silent and empty exhibit “Gathered from the field: art provoked by the climate research” from early March to mid August this year.

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State of the Forest installation (fabric prints of my burned tree portraits). Image courtesy The James Museum, St Petersburg FL and David J. Wagner, curator.

Environmental Impact II, which includes State of the Forest, has moved to Fort Hays State University in Kansas, where it will be on display for the academic year 9/18/20 – 5/15/21. See also my home page and individual artwork page.

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Enlichenment watercolor on paper on panel, 8″x8″  SOLD

I was one of 50 contributors to a clever fundraiser called Square Deal–50 Artists for a Fair Vote. While mine is gone, there are still 12 left here.

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Bark Beetle Book Volume XXXI: Beetle Graph. Douglas fir branches, laser-cut wood, laser-print transfers, bronze rings. 86″H x 18″W x 3″D. Each branch is a bar from a bar graph of the most destructive bark beetles in Washington State from 2008-2018. 

I’m pleased to be part of the annual ICON competition at Lynn Hanson Gallery. There is a virtual First Thursday artwork on her site 9/3 at 5:30 and a virtual artist reception 9/12 at 2pm. 

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Bark Beetle Book Volume XXXII: Obligate Mutualism. Branch, laser-cut wood panels, iron-oxide-dyed and industrial wool felt, linen threat, embroidery floss 8.75″ x 6.75″ x 3″. Certain bark beetles that kill trees carry with them a staining fungus which helps them digest wood. Their characteristic patterns are shown on the covers. The fungi reach into wood with microfilaments, evoked by the lines of embroidery. 

I am once again part of Mighty Tieton’s 10x10x10 competition, on display 8/8 – 10/11. The virtual exhibit is here.

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In Headlight Basin, watercolor on paper, 11″ x 15″

This painting will be part of Schack-toberfest, the Everett museum’s fundraiser 9/17 – 11/7.

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Lastly, I’ll be giving a talk for Seattle Co-Arts at noon on October 27.

It has been a surprisingly rewarding summer despite everything there is to worry about. Painting outdoors on the Northwest Watercolor Society’s plein air days (which I help organize) has been a real treat. Small alpine landscapes remind me of the most joyous times of my life. This missive is already too over-long to show them here–but if you want to see some of this year’s small pleasures, let me know and I’ll send you a selection. 

Thanks for your attention to all my efforts to support our local art institutions!