The Lotus Series
Monthly Archives: October 2025
Triplicates Finalized: The Lotus Series
I’ve been busy reworking some of these paintings. They are now complete and I am very pleased with them. I thought you might like to view these before and after pictures and see which paintings changed.
Next up, buying more 8″ x 10″ canvases (they are actually hardboards), as well as beeswax, encaustic cakes and possibly, frames. I feel like I should continue on this floral journey. New floral shapes are percolating.
Paper Currency
This happened today! Yes! I found a dollar bill on the ground. This morning we had our first frost of the season so – this is pretty f-ing miraculous.
Now up to $3.15 in found money for 2025. That’s on the low side compared to previous years, but I’ll take it!
#bestdayever
Triplicates Revisited: The Lotus Series
I trust my living room rug is not horribly distracting. I wanted to do a quick update on The Lotus Series. I want to say they are finished – or I will say they are curing, resting on my dining room table so that I can look at them every day. Do they need more or can I put this series to rest? (That’s me asking myself, by the way).
I am delighted with them. And the beeswax is intoxicating. They smell good! My last series, Fan – Girl, ended up being this crazy six dozen strong group of 8″ x 8″ paintings. These are 8″ x 10″. Do I make thirty-six more?
I used to paint one dozen units in a series. Then it was two dozen, six dozen and now three dozen. While the fans were a dozen each of one shape, these are three each of a dozen shapes.
I will photograph them individually; maybe I’ll do that tomorrow. They are already titled too. I’d love to get them framed but that will have to wait until I decide whether or not I will continue the series.
Decisions, decisions….
So glad I documented my progress! I love seeing the evolution of the process. Some of the pieces were reworked quite a bit and others were pretty much nailed from the start. The paintings seem to tell me what they want; what they want to be/wish to be. It’s a vibe.
The Talent
Here is the flyer for the Member’s Exhibit at Baltimore Woods. The reception is on Sunday, November 2, 2025 from 2:30 – 4:00 PM. The show will run from November 1, 2025 to December 16, 2025.
I am exhibiting this butterfly painting. Baltimore Woods Nature Center is located at 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus, New York 13108.
Harvesting 2025
I spent the day selling artwork at this Harvest Festival at The Neat Whiskey Bar, 6706 E. Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville, New York 13078. The event included music, alcoholic beverages, food trucks and art. There were nine of us settled into a brand new event center.
Thank you to my fellow artists for a wonderful day (noon – 6:00 PM) and to all the amazing patrons. I enjoyed sharing my art with you.
I’ve got a couple of group exhibitions coming up. Stay tuned!
Edgewood in Color
Jim Ridlon, Tom Slocum and Rebecca Carr of Belle Pietre Designs are the artists featured in the latest exhibition at Edgewood Gallery, 216 Tecumseh Road, Syracuse, New York 13224. The show is titled Colorful Celebrations.
The art reception was Friday evening and by 8:00 PM many of the items had little red stickers on their tags indicating they’d been sold. The artwork is very reasonably priced with some of Ridlon and Slocum’s pieces going for $200 or less. The jewelry is cash and carry, as the small jewelry case can be replenished.
Jim Ridlon’s paintings dominate the space. It is amazing how prolific he is.
Tom Slocum’s resin infused wood sculptures are particularly interesting, whimsical and let’s face it – touchable. That resin looks like water and it is such a cool technique!
I wish there was more space for the jewelry. I’ll have to go back and revisit the pieces on a day when there are less people in the gallery.
Colorful Creations continues through November 14, 2025. The gallery and frame shop is open Tuesday – Friday 9:30 AM – 6:00 PM and Saturday 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
Lots of Clay!
Chuck Hafner’s Garden Center (7265 Buckley Road, North Syracuse, NY 13212) is like a garden lover’s Disneyland.
If you head over there today, be prepared for the crowds. I stopped by yesterday and I had to circle the parking lot twice before I found a parking space!
They will be open 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM for the second day of the Clayscapes Pottery Market. Vendors are housed in the greenhouse portion of the store.
It is so amazing how well designed these little mini ceramics stores look. It must take tremendous effort to install the shops for a two-day event and coupled with the fragility of the merchandise, I offer respect.
Oh, and P.S. – not sure what they will have left to sell today – there were a lot of transactions happening yesterday. Many people mentioned they were there buying holiday gifts!
One of these days, I will splurge on a Peter Valenti bird themed piece. Maybe in a few years once my Jamey decides he is bored with jumping up on counters and swatting things down (he has broken three pots and two glass shelves so far).
Zoe in the Flesh
Twenty-four-year-old Zoe Sauvé is more than just flesh and bone. She is a highly accomplished technician. Her line quality is Mary Cassatt proficient. Her color choices exemplify an acute understanding of the formal principles of art, color theory and synergy. I am blown away by the detailed power, as well as its emotional dynamic expressed in these paintings.
Am I biased because she was one of my art students once upon a time? I’d love to take credit for the small part I played in presenting this emerging figurative artist to the world.
Not biased, no. I both envy and admire Zoe Sauvé’s ability to bare her soul, to be such a brave and authentic artist. In these life-sized self portraits, Zoe insists we look at her raw yet vibrant image. She sketches herself in front of a mirror then proceeds to find any available work surface to paint on – repurposed plywood or random size canvas.
I forgot to ask her how she’d transported them to the gallery. Maybe a truck?
Art in the Atrium is located in City Hall Atrium, 201 E. Washington Street in downtown Syracuse, New York (13202) next to The Fish Friar.
The opening reception was today. There is one more day to view the work, as this venue has been doing micro pop-up events. You can still see the show by visiting tomorrow, Sunday, October 5, 2025. They will be open noon – 6:00 PM.
Bravo, Zoe! I am so proud of you! <3
Triplicates
Part of me thinks I should not share unfinished work. I am 100% not looking for criticism, help or anything in that realm. I’m sharing because I thought it might be fun to explore the progression of my work for myself and for those who like that sort of thing.
If you saw my last post about this series, you will notice some changes. I thought the stencil details were too busy and that I attribute to me getting into my head about what I think people would want (i.e. a nature inspired gallery) and what is authentic to me and my style.
I eliminated stems as well, and the little buds. I reworked the paper collage items and added more colors.
I ordered more encaustic paints from dickblick.com. I think they’ll be here Monday, if not sooner. I really needed to incorporate more blues into my palette. The original concept for these paintings was blue lotus flowers but I branched out into pink, yellow and white territory plus a few other more abstract choices.
I haven’t smoothed out any of the applications via a heat source. I will re-carve the lines of the iconography eventually, add more color, do the more textured bits and finally, make decisions in the found object assemblage department.
I painted for six hours today. When I am creating, it feels like the most important thing in the world. I feel very impatient, like, I wish I had all the supplies I need right now. But really, I just need fresh air and time to decompress in order to prepare for the next step.
