Tag Archives: curious creatures

September 21, 2017 · 6:10 am

The Great Hurricane of 1938, beekeeping, art and other musings on life on the shore.

It’s that time of year again and Hurricane Flo has sent us rains and a beautiful sunset. The beehives are battened down and the bees are kicking the drones out.

What an adventure. We started with three hives in the mid-April and we now have seven. I will be attending an apiatherapy conference in late October as I am interested in the medicinal properties of bee byproducts especially propolis.

I have been busy painting all summer.

I have these three 14″ x 11″ paintings,: The Places I Go, Bee Mine, and Bee Happy framed in lovely black and golf frames ready to ship for the special price post studio tour price of $400. Please email me at susanmedyn(at)cox.net if interested. This is a one time half price offer to celebrate the wonders of the fall.

And now to some Hurricane of 1938 photos, art and life on the Rhode Island coast.

Hurricane of ’38, Providence, RI Boatyard

Walking down Ship Street after the waters receded. Men have their trousers rolled up to navigate areas of standing water. New England Hurricane of 1938. Rhode Island, Providence 1938 September 22

HURRICANE OF ’38, FOREGROUND WRECKAGE, BRIDGE, PROVIDENCE, RI

Harbor area destroyed by storm surge. New England Hurricane of 1938. Rhode Island, Pawtuxet Village 1938 September 22

The tug Monhegan left high and dry by storm surge. New England Hurricane of 1938. Rhode Island, Providence 1938 September 22

Barber shop of the Grosvenor Building with barber chairs reflected in the remnants of storm surge waters. New England Hurricane of 1938. Rhode Island, Providence

My hurricane photos have been used in several articles. I found these in a quirky antique shop.

Here is one photo being used in Smithsonian Magazine.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-great-new-england-hurricane-of-1938-62061578/

And there are a series of my acquired photos in this article:

http://www.wcvb.com/article/photos-remembering-the-great-hurricane-of-38/8115867

You can see a peek of how my paintings look framed above David Formanek’s latest sculptures.

Here you can see some of the work we displayed for South Coast Artists Open Studio Tours this summer. We thank all our collectors and visitors for coming out and seeing our art.

Stay tuned for more adventures of our coastal Rhode Island life and art. Soon I will be posting my foray into honey elixirs.

Calendar Girls 2016

I haven’t been posting in awhile so it is time to catch up! It has been a very busy winter. I had a knee replacement October 26th. I am happy to say it feels great and I am thrilled to be out of pain. I have been busy making sketches and preparing for summer open studios (if you can imagine that).

I hope you enjoy seeing these pieces. If you are interested in any of these, you should know that they are all framed and available for sale. You can email me at susanmedyn(at)cox.net.

Calendar Girls Ink and Watercolor 12″ x 9″ $600

Petting The Human Ink and Watercolor on Aquabord 10″ x 8″ $400

Owling Ink and Watercolor on Aquabord 12″ x 9″ This has a lovely coper pattern in the night sky that glows in daylight. $600

Elephant Walk &” x 5″ Ink and Watercolor $75.00

The Trees Are Alive, Ink and Watercolor 3.5″ x 2.5″ $35

Surge Ink and Watercolor on Aquabord 6″ x 6″ $100 framed

Reef Madness Ink and Watercolor on Aquabord 6″ x 6″ $100 framed

Sea Anemone Ink and Watercolor on Aquabord 6″ x 6″ $100 framed

Rising Tide Ink and Watercolor on Aquabord 6″ x 6″ $100 framed

4 Comments

Filed under Art, New Work

Tagged as after the style of Henri Rousseau, Chimeras, curious creatures, Dreamlike, Fantastical Creatures, Fantastical Watercolor, Imaginary Art, imaginary landscapes, jungle painting on aqua board, Stylized Art, Visionary Art, Whimsical Art

October 10, 2015 · 9:49 am

Beyond The Oort Cloud

Ink and Watercolor

9″ x 12 ” framed $400

I was asked to make 2 painting for an invitational exhibit based on the book Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin for the Attleboro Arts Museum. This is one of the two created for the show. I enjoyed going slightly demonic in my drawings. This painting is on 300 pound cold press Arches watercolor paper and is framed in a maple frame.

8 Comments

Filed under Art

Tagged as Attleboro Arts Museum exhibit, curious creatures, Fantastical Creatures, imaginary landscapes, monsters painting, sea monsters painting, Stylized Art, Visionary Art, whimsical painting, whimsical painting of animals and sea creatures, whimsical watercolors, Wizard of Earthsea painting

August 2, 2015 · 8:00 am

Sea me

Sea Me $400 (Framed in a maple frame)

12″ x 9″ Ink and Watercolor

July has been a terribly sad and extremely busy month. On July 3rd my mom passed away at the age of 88. I was fortunate to be there at the time and had called an ambulance a day before she died as it was clear to me she was in far more pain than she should have been for her diagnosis. She had been complaining of severe back and stomach pain and her doctor sent her to an orthopedist in April, but the pain got to be too much and she had my 92-year-old aunt take her to the ER where she lives. The ER did a CAT scan which indicated a highly suspicious pancreatic mass. The ER staff never told me this when I called to ask what the findings were. They said she had diverticulitis. Her doctor never read the CAT scan report so unfortunately we did not know that she had pancreatic cancer and were not all able to get up to be with her and have the opportunity to help her through her final days. Fortunately our son went to help her out for several days and thought I should come when he left. This is all so sad and frustrating as my son took her to a doctor appointment about a week before she died and my sister was on speaker phone to the doctor and asking questions if it could be anything more. The doctor stated it was diverticulitis and so we assumed that was what was going on.

Sometimes though things happen that softens the sadness. When my husband and I pulled up to the ER in the middle of the night after the doctor called me, we saw a large deer walking very slowly in front of the hospital door. It walked in front of our car and stopped and looked at us. I immediately thought of my dad and his love for deer and felt his presence. I thought maybe he was helping to bring her with him. When we got upstairs we learned she had passed away peacefully a few minutes before. We spent some time saying goodbye. No one had thought my mom was that close to death. She had been quite herself and active the entire day. She did get her wish to die in her sleep but we are all grieving her loss. When we went to leave the hospital we saw a doe wandering in a field. I can’t help but think that this was my mom going off to meet my dad.

This is my mom around the time of her high school graduation,

14 Comments

Filed under New Work

Tagged as cat on head, cats, curious creatures, Imaginary animals, sea creatures, sea horse

July 17, 2015 · 10:06 am

Open Studio Tours this weekend 11AM-5PM

Ella Who?

12″ x 9″ Ink and Watercolor $400 framed.

What an exciting weekend coming up! Open studio tours will be in full swing. I am number 48 on the studio tour guide. I have several new works in my watercolor series and a new series of abstract paintings. You can also see my work in Poland, the Côte d’Azur, France, and in Liege, Belgium this summer if you are in Europe! Please stop on by!

You can find me at:

90 North Ct

Tiverton, RI 02878

susanmedyn@cox.net

4 Comments

Filed under New Work

Tagged as bird in tree painting, cat in trees painting, curious creatures, Exhibits in Europe, South Coast Artists Open Studio Tours, Susan Medyn open studios, Whimsical Art

March 10, 2014 · 5:26 am

Phone case winner and new work

Thank you everyone for the fabulous comments on my phone cover designs. I really was wowed by everyone’s responses. Allie D has won a new phone case. Congratulations Allie!

I have been working on this piece for an upcoming international exhibit that I am participating in again in Poland this summer. This painting hasn’t got a name yet but I am open to suggestions.

I am also working up some designs for pillows. There has been so much response to my poppies phone case design that I might just use that design for one of them.

4 Comments

Filed under Art, New Work

Tagged as cats in trees painting, curious creatures, Egyptian orientalizing, ink and watercolor of cats, owl painting, poppies in the sky, poppies painting, snakes in the grass, Susan Medyn's watercolor's, whimsical watercolors

April 4, 2013 · 5:06 am

Petting the Human

I am working on a new piece with some of my imaginary creatures. I have figured out the color scheme and am doing something I haven’t done before. I am painting the background in first. This is the most tedious part of painting on aqua board as the strokes all need to be in one direction and with the same consistency of color. I look forward to posting the finished piece later in the week.

Happy Thursday to all. Yesterday it was breezy all day and then last night the north wind blew for hours. I hope everyone stayed warm. We lit a fire which kept the house very cozy.

14 Comments

Filed under Art, New Work

Tagged as after the style of Henri Rousseau, bear in jungle, bird, cat in jungle, curious creatures, Fantastical Creatures, Fantastical Watercolor, Folk Art, Henri Rousseau type painting, Imaginary Art, Ink and Watercolor Painting, jungle painting, Naive Art, painting on aqua board, poppies. sky of poppies, primitive style, Stylized Art, Susan Medyn, Whimsical Art

December 30, 2012 · 10:05 pm

A Lovely Day For A Stroll

A Lovely Day For a Stroll

The snow has come and the air is cold but not for this elephant and giraffe. They are warm and cozy and have moved to a new home in New York City. Working on aqua board is a challenge as the surface is hard on my nibs. The color sinks into the medium and often requires more than one coat of paint, unlike how one normally paints with watercolors.

I have had a few days off and have made 4 more paintings in the style of Henri Rousseau although I have not yet painted them. My high school friend, Andie Ptak, a graphic designer, suggested I make an adult coloring book of my drawings. I am taking her advice and am scanning each of my drawings into my computer prior to painting them. I am not sure if I will follow through on this project, but I will have the scans should I ever decide to do so.

I wish you all a joyous and peaceful New Year. Thank you all for following my blog and supporting my journey as an artist.

And as the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau said: “The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.”

11 Comments

Filed under Art, New Work

Tagged as after Henri Rousseau style, curious creatures, elephant painting, giraffe painting, Henri Rousseau, Imaginary animals, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, jungle painting, Naive Art, Painting Imaginary Animals, painting imaginary landscapes, painting on aqua board, philosopher, Susan Medyn, whimsical watercolor, wildlife