Silk Paintings at the Green Spot Tea House and Gallery

The spiritual journey is one of continually falling on your face, getting up, brushing yourself off, looking sheepishly at God, and taking another step. 

- Aurobindo

After hanging my silk paintings at the Green Spot Tea House and Gallery on Wednesday, I was fried! The show didn't look right. Silk paintings that were ironed when I left the house were wrinkled by the time they were hung. Silk paintings that hung well in the studio looked all wrong on the Tea House wall--at least to my eyes. And I forgot labels. 

But, the show was hung, and it was too late to iron. I went home and made labels and hoped for the best, knowing that about 8 people had promised to come out of the 500 email invitations I had sent.

Today was the opening. No one showed up, at least no one I invited. Thank goodness the Tea House owners friends came!

silk painting,  Madrona by the Beach

Now I know the kind of panic I was feeling is natural, the pre show jitters, and the post show depression, but today after the reception, I was in tears! Do I even go on? Eighteen paintings on silk represent a year and a half of work, and none of my friends came to see it! Not even the ones who live in Tacoma!


And yet, I have a show scheduled at the credit union here on Vashon Island in September. I started thinking about the new large silk paintings I want to do for that show, for their big bare walls. It's the place so many Vashon folk took their money as soon as it opened up. We were fed up with Chase, that mega bank that took over our Washington Mutual Bank. My work will be seen there, and people will come to the opening on the first Friday of September, because that's what Vashon folk do.

Bicycle of Love

Just love this little image by Elizabeth Gonzalez! The more I look at it, the more I like it.

Elizabeth is a fellow Flyer from Kelly Rae Robert's e-class on developing  a creative business. She makes "Borbolitos--Art the Makes You Smile!"

So many of us have made huge steps since we began the class just one year ago May 30th! Some of us started blogging for the first time, some have written articles for magazines, or been sponsored on other's blogs, or set up at art fairs. Kelly gave us a kind of road map, and lots of hope. Out of the class came a fantastic group of artists who still get together and give each other support, by way of a face book page set up by one of the class participants.

Some things really do change one's life, and Kelly Rae's class was something that changed mine.

Tea House Show

I still have a lot to learn about putting together promotions about my events. This flyer about my upcoming show neglects to mention that the show will be up all of June and July!

My show will be at the Green Spot Tea House and Gallery in Tacoma: 3318 Bridgeport Way W, Suite B
University Place, WA 98466
Phone: 253-565-2832

It's a great place to relax with a cup of fine tea or a bite to eat while you enjoy the art work. Do stop in if you are in the area!

Crystalline Clouds

Crystalline Clouds by Virginia Lloyd-Davies

Look what I found while looking for images of chinese clouds to inspire one of my silk paintings! This incredibly beautiful painting by Virginia Lloyd-Davies is done in a technique called Po Mo.

Po Mo, translated from Chinese, means poured or splashed ink.  It was developed in the Tang dynasty in the 7th century. Virginia has brought the technique up to date with her vibrant color. She also does more traditional Chinese brush work that is absolutely exquisite!

The impossible garden: Chickens in Thomas the Train

 Will Thomas the Train make a good chicken coop?

Thomas is left over from when Suzanna's School and Studio (my official business name) was mostly school and where I now want the garden was the playground. We had mostly girls in the school the year Thomas was created. Bob asked if we would like for him to build us a playhouse, but the girls opted for a train.

Thomas took us all over the world, including to the north pole. Sometimes we climbed up on his roof, and a few brave 5 year olds jumped off with wonderful flying leaps. Sometimes we pretended he was a dragon we were riding up over the trees and into the sky.

Thomas has been sitting empty now for about 3 years, except for the friendly wasps who built a nest inside last year,

This year, some neighbors and I decided to have chickens together. Not "raise" chickens, exactly. None of us wants baby chicks in the bathroom, or to wake in the wee hours to rooster crowing, but we do want eggs. With three of us to care for the chickens, we figured we would all still have the freedom to travel at times, and none of the chores would be too onerous. Also the expenses could be shared.

We spent days researching possible chicken houses that we could build for next to  nothing and looking at different places we might put the chickens. We only want 4 hens to start with.

Eureka! What about Thomas the train? Several days more of researching what exactly chickens need, and measuring, and I think it just might work, with a little bit of modification. We can build windows with plexiglas--Lynn and I both have some.  We need to make a door in back and put in some  2 x 4 's or branches for the hens to roost on. The space inside is 3' x 2'--just room enough for two roosts 2' long and 1' from the walls. We can pull Thomas's front out and put nesting boxes there. Feed will have to be somewhere else, safe at night from raccoons.

Tree patterns

Kimberly Mystique, quilt by Gloria Loughman

I was so excited by these tree trunk patterns! What a unique way to show them! Now if i can just figure out a way to do this in silk!

Gloria Loughman is a teacher, quilter, and artist working in Australia.  I've been studying her book, Luminous Landscapes, Quilted Visons in Paint and Thread.

This piece is particularly stunning! Maybe I should take up quilting?

Grow, watercolor by Barbara of Embrace
Tiger, Return to Mountain

Did Barbara see this image in a book or on line? Is that what inspired her lovely watercolor/ink drawing? Barbara's piece certainly inspires me!

Two Small Cranes Winner

Congratulations to George and Sharon Howe! They have won the drawing for this beautiful 10" square  silk painting (by yours truly) offered at the Banking on Dreams Showcase on May 4th.

Banking on Dreams is an event sponsored by Washington Cash, and it takes place yearly at the Seattle Convention Center. This year I was one of about 30 small entrapreneurs who participated. I had lots of fun and met some great people--some of whom graciously bought my scarves!