Tag Archives: Fantastical Creatures

Egyptian Jungle and Bitsy Update.

Egyptian Jungle

I have always loved looking at  Greek objects especially those that have creatures in the Egyptian Orientalizing style. We were fortunate to see many at the Antikensammlung Museum in Munich, Germany. I only had time to make a few sketch’s as we had so much to see.  I was able to  incorporate some of my drawings into this 12″ by 9″ Ink and watercolor on Aqua Board. The owl is listening in. Maybe he will get to hear about our trip. I promise I will get to that in a future blog post. This painting has sold.

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I am happy to report that Bitsy is feeling better. She is moving around more and needs such careful watching. Keeping her from jumping onto furniture is quite the challenge.

Thank you everyone who has participated in my cart sale. It was a tremendous success. I have mailed out all the paintings and cards and have heard that some people have already received them. I just need to arrange delivery of 2 paintings. I cannot tell you how thankful I am by the outpouring of  love for Bitsy and our plight. As I type she is resting her paw on my hand.

I still have a few more paintings at special Cat + Art sale prices that I will be posting soon. Joanne Grant will also be doing a special cart blog post on Monday August 12th so hop over to her site and take a peak. Her pastels are not to be missed. And of course open studios is coming up August 17th and 18th. The South Coast is absolutely gorgeous this time of year and the ocean swimming is great.

 

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Bitsy says have a sale! Yes, art to pay the vet bills!

So poor Bitsy has broken her leg and had to have serious surgery. First it was the ER and a cast, but that didn’t work so off to an orthopedic surgeon for a plate and pins and circlage wire to heal her mysterious break (she won’t tell us what happened). We have been tending her day and night and thought she was on the mend, but the vet bills have mounted and she now is now sneezing and has a fever. Back to the vet again. This time more x-rays and a broad spectrum antibiotic.  I am having a cart sale ( cat + art) in hopes of making a dent in her vet bill. I am listing a few of my works at prices that will never be this low again. And Bitsy, well she is our baby and we sure want her to get well soon.

First picture is of Bisty resting in bed and the second is today waiting for the vet.

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Please take a look and consider buying a painting with more than one purpose. Each work is $150.00 and since I can only add one Paypal button at the bottom of my page, please either email me at susanmedyn@cox.net with which one you are interested in and I can send you an invoice or add a note next to your information via Paypal on which painting you are purchasing.

 

blue pink bird

Oh No, Not To A Grecian Urn!      SOLD!  THANK YOU CAROLINE!

Oh No, Not To A Grecian Urn! is inspired by the  Cycladic creatures that were on the amazing vases we saw at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich.  We had an intense museum filled visit there prior to going to the opening in Poland.

These creatures want to party and are ready to dance under the summer sky. The blue background is not lighter on the right-just photo quality picking up the light. This is a 7″ by 5″ Ink and watercolor on Aqua Board, lovingly made.

 

elephant talk ©

Elephant Walk  SOLD! Thank you Rosemary! 

Sometimes I want there to be lots of interaction going on with my creatures but in this painting I decided to let the creatures speak for themselves. I hope you enjoy the tamed wildness of sea anemones intersecting with jungle creatures and giant sized poppies. Did you notice those cut little marsupials hanging down? And it is even framed in a wood shadow box frame!

 

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WHAT BIG EARS YOU HAVE!        SOLD!      THANK YOU HEATHER!

This is a beautiful new 7″ by 5″ painting that I am adding into today’s blog. I loved the owl starring at the cute mercat like bunny. This painting was just finished and normally would be selling for $250 like my other works of this size but in my Bitsy vet quest, it is here framed in a black frame (which makes it pop right out) for $150.

 

The World Goes Round and Round

The World Goes Round and Round

 The World Goes Round And Round!   SOLD!    THANK YOU MARY SUE!

Well this speaks for itself. This little aqua board is 6″ by 6″ and framed in a maple shadow box frame. The background is painted gold, although that just doesn’t translate well into a photo. My Bitsy world seems to be going round and round to the vet.

cat in poppies

Hide and Seek!                      SOLD Thank you Jill and Donald!

This is Arthur, Bitsy’s loving little buddy who is so confused right now. She loves to sit in the grass and watch the birds. Since Bitsy broke her leg there is no more life outdoors for Arthur. He is actually going a little nuts because of it and is very puzzled by poor Bitsy’s cone and shaved skin. Arthur is also framed in a black shadow box frame.

Are They A Couple?

Are They A Couple?

I think by the cats smile we can be pretty sure they are going to get along fine. This is a 6″ by 6″ Ink and Watercolor on Aqua Board glowing with color.

To all my blogging and animal loving friends, I would love if you would share this post. The more people who see this, the closer we get to keeping up with Bitsy’s bills. And of course she loves you all!

P.S. If  you would like to help Bitsy but can’t afford a painting check out my card page…I don’t have them all posted there but I promise you 6 lovely ones for the price of  5.

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I am in a Wild and Wonderful exhibit coming up at DeBlois Gallery, Newport, RI, opening July 6th, 5-7PM

Rose White and Rose Red

Rose White and Rose Red

So I have the delight of being in a 3 person show with Gloria Merchant and her very cool 3-D Constructions. Come see her knocked up Barbie’s and outrageous GI Joe’s.

seed.pod ©

Trish O’Day is exhibiting a series of luscious sensual photos of flowers that aren’t to be missed.

YEAH YOU! ©

And then there is me and Yeah, You!

So, please join us for:

GIRLS GONE WILD

OPENING RECEPTION

SATURDAY JULY 6TH FROM 5:00PM TO 7:00PM

DeBlois Gallery

138 Bellevue Ave

Newport, RI 02840

The exhibit runs from July 6th through July 28th and is going to be a hot one!

I would love to see you there.

PS:

In a later post I will write about my trip to Europe and the amazing exhibit. The opening was attended by 3800 people! Yes, 3800 people.

 

 

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She’s Glowing! and monthly Gicleé and IPhone cover winner.

She's Glowing

I love bright pinks and this lady sure likes it too.  So what is going on here.

There are two creatures happily conversing while the south wind hangs out waiting for my wing propelled snail to pass by before fluttering Eve’s bridal veil. The snakes are contained in the plants so the are no apples to tempt Eve.

A slight departure on my painting today. After I used permanent ink, I washed the aqua board with hot water and soap thus lightening the ink outlines. Notice the difference?

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for my blog this month. Chris D. won the Iphone cover with one of my leopards on it and Kim, who helped my husband pick out a new iPhone,  won the gicleé.  Congratulations.

Soon we will be going to Europe and we are barely organized. Luckily our children have decided to spend some time here while we are gone so the cats will be well taken care of.

This painting is 6″ by 6″ and is for sale for $100.00

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Rebirth of Venus


cat painting

Titles tell us so much.  I first was going to call this “It Would Make A Cat Laugh”.

Then I thought about how beautiful the planets were in conjunction last night and wanted to call this painting “Waiting for the Stars”.

But Venus with her earrings reminded me of Willie Marlowe‘s series Peggy Guggenheim’s Earrings so in a round about way (since my lovely Venus is wearing earrings and maybe is as promiscuous as the wonderful Ms. Guggenheim) I thought, “One can’t be born with earrings, but one can make a reappearance, thus my title.

While you are here take a look at Willie’s website. Her works are influenced by Persian and Indian miniature paintings. Her use of color and reference to ancient art awes and inspires me. I feel so fortunate to have acquired one of her paintings in the series of Peggy Guggenheim’s Earrings. It hangs appropriately in our bedroom.

I love making my creatures appear and disappear. How many can you find?

This is an 8″ by 10” ink and watercolor on Aqua Board. I have been working and reworking this for the past two weeks. These paintings are slow going.

Rebirth of Venus is SOLD.

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Here’s Looking at You! and Gicleé Give Away

Heres looking at you © 2013

This was quite the challenge to work out as I wanted to stay with purples, oranges and browns.

Was able to put a nice wash of gold on the background.

Which creature would you like to be ? Any reasons why?

Please consider signing up for my blog and I will randomly choose a winner of a gicleé of one of my works matted to 8 1/2 by 11.

Learned today that I can significantly lighten Higgins waterproof permanent drawing ink from aqua board if I use soap and hot water.

I am interested to see how the painting will look with much lighter outlines.

Would love to have you follow my painting journey and be sure to let me know which creature  you would like to be.

This is a 8″ by 10″ Ink and watercolor on aqua board, varnished and framed in a shadow box frame.

To purchase click here:

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Lavender Reverie

Reverie © 5-13-13

I drew this painting while thinking about Mother’s day and storks and the notion that babies come from storks. Of course thinking about my family makes me smile.

As to storks though, I did not know that they are monogamous, often building one nest with one partner and living out their lives in one location.

But when I went researching folk-lore, I was surprised by the variety of conflicting histories. What stands out is that storks have been symbols of good luck since Greek times. It is said that Aristotle suggested that killing storks be considered a crime. I also found that it was believed by the Scandinavians that ponds that storks waded in held babies’ souls. But then, one gets confronted by the depressing Hans Christian Anderson tale in which some boys made fun of a stork and the stork went to the pond of baby souls and brought that boy’s family a dead brother. Mr. Anderson is, of course, known for many more morbid stories with quite the moral message.

But in my picture lies a much happier tale of presenting flowers to ones sweetheart, or mother or friend.

So with an abundance of cheer, I made my little 6″ by 6″  Lavender Reverie. It is for sale for $200 framed in a shadow box frame.

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Sheepish and just hanging around.

Sheepish ç 426-2013

I love painting dramatic imaginary foliage and poppies so here they are combined with a family of creatures.

This painting is getting framed in a beautiful maple floater frame. This is the style of framing I did for 8 paintings I mailed to Europe today.  (Ask me about the complexities of that task!).

This is on top of being woken up at 3:31AM by my cat Arthur who jumped on my head 5 times, swatted his tale on my face and cried repeatedly. I thought maybe he saw an animal as the light was pouring in from the full moon, or we hadn’t left the basement door open but when I got up to investigate,  just sat at the head of the bed crying. My phone is right nearby and I had the sound turned down to one notch. At 3:39 my 86 year old mom called me from the hospital. She had been taken there by ambulance after falling.

Sometimes I know things are just coincidences but I have been reading the book Making Rounds With Oscar that my dear friend and amazing artist, Kelley MacDonald lent me. This is the story of Oscar the cat at Rhode Island’s Steer House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center who goes and curls up next to patients destined to die within hours in spite of what doctors state or predict.

I am not saying Arthur is an Oscar, and my mom is already home, with a small fracture in her neck and a few bruises but thankfully nothing more. He is a smart and intuitive cat who came into my life when I most needed to have a kitten to help me refocus my energies on joy and playfulness. And he woke me up in time to see my phone light up and be there to talk to my mom when she really needed someone to help her talk to the ER staff.

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Arthur is in orange, Bitsy the calico.

And if you know of anyone who might like to sign up for my blog, I am giving away an IPhone 5 cover with one of my wild leopard paintings on it to one of the next 5 people who sign up for my blog. So, please pass this along if you think someone might be interested.

This painting is 9″ by 12″ on aqua board, varnished, framed and going to go to a new home.

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Monkey Business or How to Eavesdrop!

new 6 by 6

This painting has gone through several revisions over the past few weeks. I was pleased with the drawing but have darkened and lightened some areas to make a more harmonious painting. I continue to be in the poppy business.

It has been a very busy few days. I am trying to get work ready for several shows and have encountered those old framing challenges. I have several at the framer and am changing frames I originally was going to use by sanding and varnishing them.

I also hosted a meeting for South Coast Artists, an artist group I am part of on Thursday. There was such great energy at the meeting it felt like a party.

We have begun gardening and I planted 7 rhubarb plants in the lower 40. It is my favorite fruit for pies and I am hoping these plants take off and give me years of pies. I used Skype to chat with my daughter tonight who is in Hawaii for work. Now that job has some wonderful perks. She is staying at Waikiki Beach. I wish I were there. I could use some warm weather.

This painting is 6″ by 6″ and framed in a shadow box frame. It is for sale for $250.

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Petting the Human!

PETTING THE HUMAN ©

When I drew this, I began putting my usual suspects into the painting rather than some of my more recent jungle creatures. Painting the background on aqua board is challenging. I find I need to work with all the strokes going in one direction. I must be sure the paint stays wet enough so the background stays even. On this painting I worked in the background first. I decided what colors I wanted to work in and painted out a few color combinations on xeroxes of the outlined drawing. Once satisfied, I began to work on this 8″ by 10″ painting.

Mr. Gray Pants and Purple Polka Dots remind me of cartoon characters.

This painting is framed in a maple and black shadow box frame. To purchase click here.

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