Throughout history artists have created self portraits. Why? Because oneself is alway available, there is no modeling fee and one cannot give oneself Covid 19! I always want to do something constructive when I am feeling energetic so the last 4 evenings have been devoted to trying to get a lively, quick colorful portrait, using myself as a model but not taking the time to try to make the pastel painting look like me.
I like the 1st and the 4th, how about you?
Newer oils and pastels
There is an “art challenge” on Facebook. I was challenged by Juanita Greenspan to show 7 of my artworks in 7 days and to challenge another artist to do the same. Juanita is the epitome of a direct sculptor, finding wonderful forms in the stone as she works. Juanita is also a very interesting person who I met studying stone sculpture at Casa Alexandria in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. The challenge excites me because in these strange days of solitude I have found a sense of strength in my art. I will add to this post during the week to keep caught up and include more details of the work that is also on Facebook.
Day 1: A happy tropical bird
On our February 2020 trip to South Africa, my mother and I visited a beautiful aviary full of tropical birds with brilliant colors. We love to travel.
Day 2. Mixing things up. Painting supplies in the living room.
Day 3 Similar painting done outside in oil on canvas (use what you have).
Day 4
I carve the stone sculptures with nothing but a hammer and chisel, files and sandpaper. Most of the sculptures are alabaster. I choose a stone first for color, then for a stimulating shape. While I take off the rough edges, I look at the stone from all angles, imagining what the stone could be. Many of my pieces have gone through a few permutations. A sculpture may take months to years to complete because I am constantly thinking of how to make it come alive and I end up going back into the stone…
7 sculptures are on display in the window of Sterling National Bank, Whitestone Shopping Center, 153-17 Cross Island Pkwy, Queens, NY
April 28 is International Sculpture Day. We will release a short virtual tour of the studio and of some of Suzanne’s newer work and work in progress.
My beloved teacher Lissy Dennett explained that an “abstract” work of art is abstracted from an object while a “non-representational” work is a shape. The first sculpture here is an abstract of two hearts. The second sculpture, “Snuggle” is non-representational, although I am tempted to subtitle it “Two Hamsters”(making it “abstract” by definition).
Suzanne Posner Art 