product introduction

I've signed on with ZAZZLE and have some products with my designs that you might be interested in seeing!  Also some great gift ideas... apron, mugs, bags, etc! 
    Just check www.zazzle.com/suzilongonart  and stay tuned!

Ghost Ranch art workshop with Bob Rohm

Bob Rohm, Instructor

Week-long painting workshop at Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch

NW of Santa Fe, NM

October 10-14, 2011

Here's Bob Rohm doing his first demo for our group of 14 painters (only 3 pastel, the rest oil)

My pal Elaine Leedy picked me up in Albuquerque and the next morning we headed for Santa Fe via Madrid up Hwy 14, the old Turquoise Trail.  We were only driving through, because we had an early afternoon appointment to visit Albert Handell's studio (later) but I caught this



Madrid gift shop... it's really a blue building!  LOL

I didn't carry an umbrella on the plane, but actually had two that were in my car parked at a friend's house in Walnut Creek.  I drove there from Mendocino and took the BART to SFO.  It was quite pleasant going and coming, since I had earplugs (highly recommended) and my sketchbook to capture people on the train and quick splashes of scenes out the window.

Oh Glorious full moon of New Mexico....

 Reminded me of what I'd seen 2 days prior in Albuquerque:



We were very fortunate to have timed our visit to Albuquerque to coincide with the last weekend of the Balloon Festival and then get up early enough in the morning to actually see several of these strange creatures in the sky.  Bumble Bees (actually there was a wedding of two of these), a Buffalo, stagecoach, and multi-colored orbs much like this one above.

Rocks, rocks and more rocks.  Here's a pile now:

Kitchen Mesa

Kitchen Mesa

Don't get the name, but I did a pretty nice painting of this hunk of rock!  The mornings were chilly and as the week passed, the afternoons warmed up so that we searched for shade and sunscreen! 

 

Pedernal

On Wednesday we went to the Chama River to paint. Water!  At last!

.  I found this cliff edge irresistible with the shadow and the reflection in the muddy river.

Chama River (unfinished)

What a beautiful place  to spend a morning painting.  We painted for the first two hours or so; then gobbled up the lunch we'd packed in back of the cafeteria kitchen.  I didn't make a sandwich, but was able to wrap up some lunch meat in some crispy romaine leaves, and enjoyed peanutbutter/celery sticks as well.  I remember drinking lots of water during the whole trip.  It was easy to do in the dry altitude.

Pedernal for backdrop

Cabin built for CITY SLICKERS

In the movie, this cabin was briefly shown as part of a larger corral area with a big barn and other outbuildings, fences, horses and cowboys.  Now it stands alone on a large flat plane just a bit inside the gate to GHOST RANCH and I attempted to paint this view.  You'll just have to come to the gallery to see the finished painting!

One thing we didn't have time for was

laundry!!! but I just loved the colors of this clothesline

with the yellow cottonwood trees in the background!


The whole week was fabulous; I learned so much that I'm excited to apply to my coastal paintings!
If you would like to know more about my trip, please email me.  And if you are interested in the paintings from NM, please visit my website www.suzilong.com after November 1.  Thanks!

New Mexico

I'm heading to Albuquerque this afternoon for a road trip to Abquiu and Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch for a week-long workshop with Bob Rohm, pastellist extraordinaire!  My pal Elaine will be driving over from TX in caravan with another artist, and we'll stay over in Albuquerque tonight and head to Santa Fe on Saturday morning for a rendezvous with another extraordinary pastellist, Albert Handell, a personal friend of Elaine Leedy (went to school with Jeff Leedy) and then some gallery hopping and then dinner with Mr. Handell!  I'm excited about this trip!

Then Sunday morning we leave Santa Fe for Abquiu and the Ghost Ranch.  I've heard so much about it!  And I've got my pastels all packed up and ready for a week of plein air painting!  How fun. 

I'll post photos when I can!  Probably after I return!  Stay tuned! 

xoxo suzi

mural update September 1, 2011

Oh boy!  I think today is the final day of the mural project!  Here's where I left it yesterday.  I think some darker greens on the foreground foliage will help this window pop.

and I finally have the right photo of the cat so I can get Oscar on the top window above.  Hard to see, but the little black and white kitty is on a rock reflected in the pond. 

casting call

Welcome to my blog.  I feel rather bloggy today.   Gak!!!  the cast is on my right wrist until Tuesday, a day of liberty and freedom.  The incredible feelings of entrapment will at last be over.  It's been agony.  Please return in another week for an update on the rehabilitation of wrist muscles and hopefully a mural update.  I'm itching to get back to the job!!!

suzi

Time off

Last Tues July 20, I fell on my right hand with fingers bent backwards.  Ouch! Broke pinkie (bruied all fingers, knees, cheekbone, right shoulder and forehead)  but not knuckle, wrist, arm, hip, teeth or face.  Basically slowed down for the next few weeks.  Kinda long to detail, but I was fumed out from just having spent the previous 5 hrs painting the backdrop for The Pavillion, the next play at our local theater.  Set designer wanted a graduated sky faux finish and I sponged it.  I didn't realize I was loopy until I fell.

No, you don't wanna see pictures.  Especially after I dumped icewater into my crotch at the hospital.  Comedy of errors and lots of laughs.

 So, cast goes on this Tuesday and I learn to make pastel paintings in bold impressionist style with my left hand for a few weeks.  Then back to the mural to add yellow cat on left sill and finish greenery in rightside window.

 Please check back in a few weeks for updates!

almost finished

I put some ferns in the lefthand corner.

This foreground is finally coming together!

FORE!!!!

mural update

Finally I was able to get back to work on the mural on Tuesday.  I'll go today, too, but it's foggy and wet (in Mendocino) this morning and I'm taking a few extra minutes to update the blog while I'm supine here with Toodles (little white dog) who is visiting for another week. 

I was able to bring up the last photos into Photoshop and add more trees and foliage, (photo above is a computer generation) work out how the gate should be painted in, and get my brain prepared to actually apply paint.  Here is the view as of Tuesday afternoon.

It'll be fun to see how much progress I make today.  Moody day.    Thanks for watching!

Wine Cellar Mural

ground wires

will ultimately be camouflaged with a bare branch.

Above shows the window edge taped off and a quick swipe of latex flat to take off the sheen of the glossy white.

I then taped on a border of papertape to allow freedom of my sponge painting

and prevent drips by taping a crumpled papertowel underneath the piece across the bottom.

This week I was able to spend almost 3 full days painting.  I finished the stonework around the window and the hinges; spent lots of time taping the edge so I could work on the landscape.  What you see is a "foundation" or underpainting for future trees and landscaping.  The owner requested a "personalization" of the view and I'll put in a putting green (see the "sand trap") and the gate to the property.  I added a water feature on the far right and laid in some reflections.  This will all be refined with more trees added the next time I get back to the job. 

In the meantime, I'm off to St. Helena to scope out the Art/Wine Festival July 2-3 and pick up Toodles in Cloverdale on the way back for our 2-week visit.  The pup comes home to visit!

So, I'll be back to work the last 2 weeks of July when I have someone to cover the gallery.  Thanks for watching!

MURAL in a Wine Cellar

 

Here are the first three photos of the mural I'm painting in a private home wine cellar in Fort Bragg, CA.  

Day 1

I started on Sunday (Father's Day) adjusting lighting and laying out the arch shape and measuring all the elements.  

The length is approximately 14' and the mural is an arched window with center redwood post and a "shutter" open on each side. The redwood shutter doors are inspired by the door into the wine cellar. Each door will be "hanging" from a small L-shaped bracket that will appear to protrude from the stone window surround via an "eye" in the end of the metal bands (not painted/shown yet).

Day 2

(Tuesday June 21) I refined the measurements and drew with vine charcoal on the wall. Then I used blue and green tape to outline the exterior lines of the stone and the shutters.  Once all tape was burnished to the wall, I mixed up two colors for the stone faux wall and applied the colors to the exposed surface of the wall.  Underneath the mural, an 11' bar will be situated and will cover the unpainted area seen below the mural.

Day 3 won't be until next week.  See you later! 

Mission Federal Art Walk San Diego

Beginning of DAY TWO and I'm in my grubbies in a coffee shop; need to go get dressed up and then go set up my booth again.  I'm having a blast, but only sold one mini piece yesterday.  Sure hope to recoup today!  I took pictures of some of the visitors... lots like WalMart Shoppers!  hahahaha!  Costumes, colored hair, women in VERY nigh heels... how do they do it?  I'll post later when I have more time.  Sure is nice to be warm... it's beautiful spring weather here. 

Enjoying my friend Elissa and her friends... Scooby, Denis and Tom; and Gia and Tom and then Angie showed up too!  How nice was THAT??  Wow  it's been 14 years!  :0)  More later.  I'll probably mosey up to Santa Barbara to visit Judy Oster who ran into Katie O'Brien!!! small world!

ArtWalk in San Diego April 30-May 1, 2011

Friday April 29... I'm hanging out in Sun City with my pal Elissa.  We've been friends since '83 and she's a wonder!  Yesterday we drove in to San Diego, scoped out the site for the ArtWalk, found my space right in front of the fair office building, and found that I'll be parking my rv about a block from my booth!  Can't get closer than that!

I'm still not on WiFi so I can't post pictures yet, but maybe tonight if I find an internet cafe in Little Italy I'll be able to get some photos posted.  What a cute neighborhood; my booth is a few blocks from the most Italian/quaint part of this section of downtown, but I am mentally attracting ONLY people who will buy my art!  Also a fun thing about this fair is a "passport" where visitors have to get 5 stickers from various parts of the festival and one of the main ones is right next door to my booth!  He's a whimsical sculptor and I'm looking forward to meeting lots of fun artists at this event!

Please stay tuned ...

xoxo suzi

Heading to San Diego

I've been juried into the Mission Federal ArtWalk show this coming weekend in Little Italy, downtown San Diego!  One of 300 artists (do I stand a chance of making any money???) I hope to shine like a star and prove my mettle (Is that right???) and make enough money to keep paying rent on my watertower in Mendocino!


CoCo is all loaded with paintings, mostly on the passenger side, so I hope I'm not too weighty on the right; the refer has stopped working, so I borrowed a huge styrofoam cooler from the Scotts and will get a block of ice somewhere along the road to keep any produce I find on the way nice and fresh.  Kinda like life was on the boat in Hawaii... we always got a block of ice for the cooler and everything stayed nice and cold all weekend. 

I'm heading to Sun City and my pal Elissa, friends since mid 1980's.  She'll take me to San Diego on Thursday so we can scope the fair, the parking, the whole area and I'm feeling less stress already, just knowing my friends will be there to support me!  It's great.  I LOVE my friends. 

Pictures will follow soon!  So stay tuned for the next installment!  Girl on the move!

Plein Air Paintout in Winters, CA

I just returned from Winters, CA, where I painted Weds thru noon Saturday with a group of extremely talented artists who had gathered for the 4th annual Brigg's Plein Air paintout that involved alot of the town of Winters.  We had green green and more green because spring was bustin' out all over... blooming nut and fruit trees, redbud, and barns, farms, gorgeous scenery.  here are some of my paintings for your enjoyment!!!

Here I am about finished with the following painting of an oak tree.

This is the underpainting.  I had white Wallis paper, and put down some pinky-orangey pastels and squirted on some rubbing alcohol that I then mushed around with an old paintbrush.  Once this was dry, I began to add layers of the greens that made up most of this scene.  It was a beautiful day!

Big Oak, dry pastel, 9x12, $375

This was the first painting I did on Wednesday of the old silo at the Turkovich farm.  The workers were tractoring out debris from some recent flooding of the creek below.

I painted Stormy Creek  from inside my rv since the wind was so fierce it would have blown me over!  I turned around and saw the barn below and got permission to drive out closer to capture The Good Earth seen here:

This creek at Nicholson Ranch was just lovely and I painted it after the Big Oak.  I think the finished piece is hanging in the Winters Visitor Center.

The third painting on Thursday was this orchard in bloom with tractor tracks filled with water.  I found it on my way back to the gallery when I thought I couldn't paint another thing that day and couldn't resist capturing the light here.  I brought this one back to Mendocino.

On Friday we went to Berryessa Gap property and I painted this little vineyard scene with a Redbud bush and creek both using my artistic license.  This painting is at the Berryessa Gap tasting room in downtown Winters and is also for sale.

This is the pizza oven for Putah Creek Cafe, and my effort during a "quick-draw" event on Saturday morning from 8-12.  The restaurant owner offered to give me $200 in food trade, but since I don't live there, I just laughed and then this painting sold right after it was hung in the Briggs Gallery. 

Paint The Town!  Shaunie Briggs put together a really fun paintout with artists from Tahoe to Mendocino!  Great weather, good friends, lots of creativity!

My next adventure is San Diego for the Art Walk show in Little Italy end of April-May 1.  Please come see me there!

Mendocino, February 20, 2011

I arrived back in Mendocino around 9 on Friday night.  Tired of driving, but glad to be back.  Saturday morning, I took a walk down my street.  At the end of the street was this house.  I'll paint this and several other pieces from this morning's walk.  It was an incredibly beautiful morning.

See the white house in the center?  That's the house seen above.  That song from My Fair Lady kept running through my brain as I walked along..... "I have often walked down this street before..."

Ed Pillsbury's house

on Kelly Street... I was shooting "slices of the sea" from between houses

on this walk.  My new theme.  Think I'll do a series of these. 

Mendocino Keyhole, one of my favorite spots.  Very close to home.

Just a little farther along Heeser Drive around the headlands

is this view of the Cabrillo Point lighthouse.  See it on the horizon?

The water was SO CLEAN and fresh-looking.  Beautiful.

Back home, I finally unwrapped my paintings from my great adventure.  Here's the only large piece from the cliff overlooking the Santa Cruz Boardwalk (not shown on the right because I didn't paint it) at the San Lorenzo River mouth, and the wharf.  This painting is either 16x20 or 18x24, will need some finishing touches before it gets framed.

The left piece on the floor is from Loughlin, NV petroglyph walk; the one on the right is West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz.

two from Calico... the wagon, and over there leaning on the wall is a little building with hillside and a pepperwood tree.  All these pieces need finishing touches after their journey with me!  Hahaha!

Here are 4 from Sedona

and from the left, Wilder Ranch, SF, Mexican Hat and China Camp (San Rafael)

These 3 in on the window ledge are Sedona's Oak Creek canyon the left and center pieces and the old church door from Tubac on the right. A total of 23 paintings, and probably 6 pen/ink/watercolor sketches!  Pretty productive for 33 days on the road!

It feels great to be home.  I have a new attitude... I'm happy, relaxed, calm, dedicated to my painting, and project-oriented.  I have a job to do... and on my first day back, I sold 2 (older) paintings!!!!!

Last night I attended a production of the Mendocino Film Festival, and saw several short pieces that were very good, and mostly very amusing.  The best part about going to this film presentation was seeing many of my friends there.  Everybody was "You're BACK!!!" and there were lots of great hugs and laughter!  Fun Fun Fun!