Field sketching at Orog Nuur, a Gobi lake, in 2010.
I am proud to announce that I have recently been accepted as a Fellow of The Explorers Club!
The Club, founded in 1904, has always been the premier organization for explorers and also scientists who do research in the field. Its members have included Admiral Peary, Jane Goodall, John Glenn, Dian Fossy, Lowell Thomas, Chuck Yeager, Sylvia Earle and Roy Chapman Andrews (who has been a personal inspiration to me for my travels in Mongolia and who received the Club’s highest award, The Explorers Club Medal, in 1932).
I am honored to join a number of my Society of Animal Artist friends and colleagues as a member, one of whom graciously consented to sponsor me.
“Ullswater” by William Heaton Cooper (http://www.heatoncooper.co.uk/)- My favorite painting by one of my most favorite watercolor artists.
Although oil painting is my first love, I also have done watercolors on and off over the years and have decided to use them for my location work in Mongolia. I’ve been down with a flu/sinus infection/staph infection for almost a month, so have gotten no painting done. I don’t want to expose myself to the fumes from oil paint and solvents just yet, so decided to brush up on my watercolor skills now that I’m up and moving again. I’ve built up a pretty good collection of books on the media over the years and have been going through them. I thought that I would share with you a list of what’s in my library.
TECHNIQUE: Watercolor…Let’s Think About It! by Judi Betts- Aquarelle Press, 1984 Watercolor with Passion by Alvaro Castagnet- International Artist Publishing, 2000 Watercolor by Design by Mario Cooper- Watson-Guptill Publlcations, 1980 The Watercolor Bible by Joe Garcia- North Light Books, 2006 Mastering the Watercolor Wash by Joe Garcia- North Light Books, 2002 Water-Colour Guidance by J. Hullah Brown, A. & C. Black, Ltd. London, 1931 Painting Watercolor Florals That Glow by Jan Kunz, North Light Books, 1993 Figure Painting in Watercolor by Charles Reid- Watson-Guptill Publications, 1972 Painting What You Want To See by Charles Reid- Watson-Guptill Publications, 1987 Portrait Painting in Watercolor by Charles Reid- Watson-Guptill Publications, 1973 Pulling Your Paintings Together by Charles Reid- Watson-Guptill Publications, 1985 Fundamentals of Watercolor Painting by Leonard Richmond and J. Littlejohns, Watson-Guptill Publications, 1978 Breaking the Rules of Watercolor by Burt Silverman, Watson-Guptill Publications, 1983
WATERCOLOR ARTISTS: Irises and Other Flowers by Elizabeth Blackadder, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994 Mackintosh Watercolors by Roger Billcliffe, Carter Nash Cameron, 1978 Mountain Painter, An Autobiography by W. Heaton Cooper, Frank Peters Publishing, Kendal, Cumbria 1984 Sir William Russell Flint by Ralph Lewis and Keith S. Gardner, David and Charles, London, 1988 Margaret Merry’s Cornish Garden Sketchbook– self-published, 1994 English Watercolors by Graham Reynolds, New Amsterdam, 1950, 1988 The Glory of Watercolour: The Royal Watercolour Society Diploma Collection by Michael Spender, David and Charles, London, 1987 Nature Into Art-English Landscape in Watercolours by Lindsay Stainton, British Museum Press, 1991 (exhibition catalog) Turner Watercolors– The Tate Gallery, 1987
The list has many books from England, both because watercolor has always been an accepted, important media there and because my husband and I traveled to England quite a few times in the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, so I regularly brought books back home with me.
Morning at Hustai 16×24″ oil (available at Mazaalai Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar)
I am most pleased to announce that I will now be represented by Mazaalai Art Gallery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. I delivered 29 paintings to them before I came home, the same ones which were in my exhibition last month at the National Gallery of Mongolia.
“Mazaalai” is the Mongolian name for the endangered Gobi bear. Quite appropriate for me as an animal artist.The gallery is located at:
Sukhbaatar District
1st Khoroo, Jamyangunii Street 5/3
Marco Polo Place Building
(This is the same building that Millie’s cafe and the Xanadu Bookstore is in, across from the Museum of the Chojin Lama.)
Opening ceremony with long singer and morin khuur player
I’ve been interested in what it’s like to do an exhibition opening in Mongolia as opposed to in the USA. I like the way it’s done here.
With crews from two Ulaanbaatar tv stations filming it (I did at least five interviews during the evening), the opening ceremony began with Erdmaa Davgaa, who was my contact person at the National Museum of Mongolia, giving a short introduction. Then I said a few remarks, pausing every few sentences for her to translate. Gaadan Dunburee, who I met last year, is one of the WildArt Mongolia Expedition Mongol artist participants and is a highly honored artist in Mongolia, also spoke about me and my work. Finally, there was a one-song performance by a long singer and morin khuur player. The doors to the hall were then opened and the reception was officially under way.
Ready for the guestsGuests arrivingGathered around the refreshment tableDunburee chats with other guestsjan Wigsten (center) and a number of staff members from Nomadic Journeys were there. Also, all of the Expedition artists; seen here- Oidoviin Magvandorj (left), Tugsoyun Sodnom (center with back to camera) and Batnasan Davaasambuu (right)OIdoviin Magvandorj, unidentified woman, journalist Michelle Tolson, AldraaPosters for the exhibition and with information about meThe National Museum of MongoliaClose-up of the big banner poster for the exhibition
Done for the Day oil 17×30″- one of the paintings in my upcoming exhibition
I am proud to announce that “My Mongolia: The Paintings of American Artist Susan Fox” will be hosted by the National Museum of Mongolia from August 9-16. The opening ceremony will be on Friday the 9th from 4-6pm.
The exhibition has literally been a year in the making since the seeds of it were planted when I in Mongolia last year.
I will be showing at least one painting from each of my seven trips, over two dozen in all. The subjects range from argali to Mongol horses to herders, horse trainers and Gobi landscapes. All are original oils created from my experiences, memories and the thousands of reference photos I’ve taken over the years. A number of the pieces have been juried into various national shows, sometimes more than one.
If you live in, or will be in, Ulaanbaatar I hope that you will come by and share a little of my Mongolia.
California Condor 10×8″ oil I think this is a great piece and was hoping the small size would turn the trick for a first time acceptance. Uh, nope.
My colleague and fellow SAA member Sandra Blair has written a great blog post called “Salon des Refuses” taken from the original exhibition that a number of the French Impressionists and other “modern” artists mounted in 1863 when their work was rejected for the Salon of the French Academy, which was a bastion of traditional realistic painting and sculpture.
Sandra’s topic is the artists who were rejected by the jurors of this year’s Birds in Art competition, the most prestigious bird art exhibition in the world. And I’m one of them. For the eighth year in a row. I’ve never gotten in. But as you will see if you click through to Sandra’s post and scroll down, I’m in very good company indeed. And don’t miss the comments. Kathy Foley, the Director of the museum which hosts the exhibition, has posted some thoughtful observations.
Our respective posts are absolutely not intended to take away anything from the artists who have had their work accepted. Many of them are our friends and colleagues and we are thrilled for them. But rejection stings, particularly with social media like Facebook, on which one sees the happy announcements of acceptance while waiting with hope fading that the magic email will arrive in one’s own inbox. And doesn’t. Sigh. Another rejection.
Raven on Big Head Rock, Ikh Nart oil 30×20″ I thought this was a great piece and was hoping that a big “wow” painting would turn the trick for first time acceptance. Uh, nope.
The important thing to remember is that if one doesn’t get into a show it means…..that one didn’t get into the show. Life goes on. There will be more shows. It’s crazy to take an exhibition rejection personally. Don’t do it.
Also…don’t make excuses. I have always taken the rejections as a challenge to get my work to the next level. That seems to be incredibly difficult for many artists to do. But if you can face the fact that maybe the reason you didn’t get in is that your entry wasn’t good enough, it provides the opportunity for growth. Blaming the jurors for being “subjective” or excusing yourself because you don’t have an “in” with the “right people” will not.
So, here’s a plan. Let yourself utterly wallow in self-pity for, oh, say, ten minutes. Let all those thoughts about how unfair it is and how the jurors are blind idiots who wouldn’t know good work if they were smacked along side the head with it bubble up. Cry. Snivel. (Carefully) throw something. And then get back to doing the thing you most love in the world, making art.
The WordPress template I use, Twenty Eleven, includes lots of features and widgets that I haven’t had time to fiddle with. But now that this site is going to become my website, I’m seeing what is there that I want to use. If you look at the right side column, you’ll see a variety of new content. The two posts below this one use the “Aside” and “Image” post formats. I can now do the same things I’d do on not only a blog, but also a website, Tumblr and Twitter.
Sunrise, Orog Nuur, the Gobi; the new year and my next trip will take me and the WildArt Mongolia Expedition on new roads, but we might get back to this place again
Thanks to my Mongol friends on Facebook, I’m picking up some Mongolian here and there, like the phrase in the title. I see written Mongolian in both the Latin alphabet and Mongolian cyrillic every day and sometimes I can read all or most of a sentence now, which is fun.
Earth road into the Hangai Mountains; happiness is a Mongolian earth road leading out into the deep countryside, knowing that something wonderful might be just over the next rise or around a bend
There’s plenty coming up for me in 2013. I’ll be entering a number of juried shows, including a few new ones. All my entries will be of Mongolian subjects. In March, I’ll be flying down to Tucson for the opening weekend of the Sea of Cortez exhibition at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. In April I will be going to the 2nd Annual Plein Air Convention and Expo in Monterey, California and shortly thereafter flying back to the east coast for the spring board meeting of the Society of Animal Artists. I’ll also be doing an event in New York to promote the upcoming WildArt Mongolia Expedition, but the exact date hasn’t been set yet. In June there will be a WildArt Mongolia event in the San Francisco Bay Area, final date also to be determined. And, as currently planned, I will leave for my annual trip to Mongolia around the beginning of August. The Expedition is scheduled for late August/early September. I’ll have a couple of weeks at home and then it’s back to the east coast again in early October for the opening weekend of Art and the Animal at the Bennington Center for the Arts and the fall board meeting. I’ll be posting more on all of these events as the dates approach.
I’ve spent most of my life in northern coastal California. And love it here. We’re within the sound of the ocean and only a half hour from Redwood National Park.
We went for a drive on Solstice in between storm fronts and found some lovely light, rainbows, Roosevelt elk and crashing waves.
Here’s an “album” of my favorite photos as a holiday gift from me to you, my friends and fans. Thank you for your interest in my goings-on and I hope you have a great 2013!
Roosevelt elk bulls, hanging out together again after the yearly rutRoosevelt elk bulls can weigh up to 900 pounds.Rainbow at Dry Lagoon State Park with Goat Rock in the background.Rainbow over the Pacific Ocean.Storm clouds coming in.Surf’s up.Every winter the ocean breaches the spit between it and Stone Lagoon.Redwood Creek was running full. Usually we can continue down the gravel onto the beach.This vernal pond, backed by red alders, was hosting some hooded merganser ducks.On the way home, we could see the next storm coming in and we got caught in a short spat of heavy hail.
Susan Fox, American Artist 