Susan Livengood

This looks different from yesterdays work because it was UPSIDE DOWN.  We discovered that this morning as we swapped places w/it and Chemo Today.  My studio space is small, and I wanted the screen closer to my tabouret(fancy French word for painting table).  Chemo is heavy but we were able to slide it.  Imagine my surprise when we set “A Good Marriage” right side up, and the reverse was upside down.  Anyway, I said I wanted to be more abstract, so now that is a red shadow or something in the grass.    Who cares?  I’m experimenting w/ Galkyd med. which is why some parts are more shiny.  And we have to work on my light fixtures.  They do NOT stay pointed where I want.   All considered, I’m glad I’m painting and not doing something else, like fighting a war or cancer.

The NYT asked artists what they were doing doing this recession.  Most are doing whatever to hang on, sales are down, to say the least.  Most said they were using the time to be creative and explore, because they aren’t trying to please anyone but themselves.   People gush about “talent” when I say I’m an artist.  Maybe the word should be “compulsion”.   Creators need to create.

This is on the reverse of “A Good Marriage”.  I had thought of doing a theme called “Not a Good Marriage” with poison ivy climbing the corner between the two walls.  But I think about this in any setting besides my studio, and I want it to be positive.  What about a rock wall is positive, I can’t say, yet, but I’ll think of something.  Most of all I want to give myself permission to go very abstract.  This is the beginning, the skeleton.  I’m betting the fleshed out piece will be quite different.  Happy 22, the twenty second of every month is my lucky day.

Forget about Mexican swine flu, we are in the middle of a cancer epidemic.  So far the flue kills hundreds.  Cancer kills thousands and bankrupts families because so many have lost their health insurance.  Why does the US persist in believing that killing off the poor is evolution?

I’ve decided to change the title of this painting.  I don’t want to give Ken Lewis credit for destroying America.  Someone said to me that it was my fault that my rate jumped to 26.9%.  My contention is that I’d never missed a payment until the economy went down the chutes.  And I did not cause that, although F. says I am responsible for world hunger.  This one IS NOT MY FAULT.

I think it’s because we had a drought last year that the dogwoods are so WHITE this year.  I do not like white houses, or most things white, but I’m impressed by the trees.  Also, the fact that they are part of the cycle of nature that moves along regardless of people.  Unless some knothead cuts them down.

I’m doing this for the money, not some lofty goal of art.  The dogwoods were stunningly white this year.

This is an ongoing discussion w/ Gregg.  He’s a cinematographer so depth of field is one of his most important tools.  I seem to be flat as a flitter.  Reading about Romare Bearden helped.  He said African and some ancient art was not even interested in perspective.  The quilts of Gee’s Bend are flat, and incredible!

I’ve been thinking of an image to paint on the back of “A Good Marriage”.  This was an idea.  I like this painting, but it’s tooooo green for the screen.  I am thinking about cutting it down the middle line( when it dries) and mat it as tow paintings.  I used a little Galkyd medium.  I’ll do more experimenting, because I use a pallette knife, a lot, and I haven’t quite figured out how to use them together.

We are tweaking our rain barrels.  We need a float and an overflow.  Luckily we are getting rain, so we have something to work with!

We picked up Bobbi’s calendar yesterday, and I borrowed from it for the calendar in Chemo Today.  I also made a collage from some of the info distributed by hospitals.  Then I started adding in the hats, belts, and  scarves.  I’m getting close.   However, since the emphasis is NOT on mastectomy, will people think I missed the point? Have I?  I think the point is a specific effort to deal with one day of chemo.

I normally have at least two paintings in progress at the same time.  My work on Chemo Today kind of disrupted that process, but not completely.  So as I am wrapping up Chemo, I started a new image.  I’ve been thinking about painting the reverse of A Good Marriage, to make it a screen that could stand in an open space, not just in a corner.  The dogwoods are in bloom above the cabin.  I moved the stone wall to give a break to a huge green expanse.  I have drawn a line down the middle to give me an aspect of the screen.

I’ve changed the doorway on the left of BofA, for the third time.  Sometimes a work can be in progress for a long time.  I’m glad I have the time to let them percolate, though I still rush.

Also cherry blossoms.  Kira, look what you started!

I’ve got to sell something soon, or say I’m an amateur!