Susan Kennedy Art

I don't know why why why working on this cow head has been inspiring, but it has been. A drama friend got a dried, bleached skull to me, and I gooped it up and started layering paper mache on top...mesmerizing! The cardboard and chopsticks won't stay in Milky White's ears, but they are keeping the ears from curling inward. As you might guess, this is for a "Milky White" puppet for Into the Woods, which is what our local troupe is doing. : ) But seriously, falling in love with the paper as a medium, and thinking all kinds of strange thoughts like maybe I should sculpt. And it's funny, building a cow head on the real skull makes me feel so much sympathy for the gentle animal that was using that skull! It does make me happy that she has another life on the stage now. Have to finish her up with some toilet paper cellulose clay and figure out in puppet terms how to make her jaw OPEN only when a mechanism is triggered. I think I have noodled it out, but it s

I've got two new classes starting next week (Sept 2012), Tuesdays and Thursdays! Can't wait! Tuesday at Old Atlanta park, we've got watercolor, and we're going to branch out to some floral and still life elements as well as landscape, this time. It's only $80 for four classes, once a week for two hours, so call 770 781-2215 to sign up. Oil class starting on Thursday from 1-3 is a similar setup, but it will be at Fowler Park, not Old Atlanta. Stand by for a cool photo of what I've been working on this week, it's paper mache! Can't put it down, I'm flippin obsessed! I'm finding that paper mache is so flexible! So easy to mold and sculpt, so forgiving. And cheap! I'm thrashing about experimenting with new media like ahem, cartoons, and well, paper mache, but I must say, it's thrilling. Send your comments and have a super arty day! 

Here's my latest, I finally finished it after redoing it about 5 times. I love water scenes, and haven't been doing realism a lot lately, but this one called out to me. That turquoisey sky almost looks like a postcard from 1955, I didn't mean for that to happen, but kindof like the wistful look. I love painting water in very thin layers, it seems like I get in trouble every time I try to use thick brushstrokes with a watery scene.

I'm so excited about collaborations!! Erin, if you read this, I need to trade paintings back and forth in the mail with you! My other daughter and I did this abstract together as a collaborative work. She started it, with the idea being a conflict of opinions and ideas. I don't know that it really ended up looking full of conflict, but it's certainly full of contrasting colors and details. If you're into painting, try collaborating! The older I get, the more interesting abstracts become, and I had no idea how inspiring collaborative work could be. Shannon and I paint for 10 minutes or so, then trade places. It is like bringing another muse into your head! The other artist does things to the piece which you never would have done, and all sorts of rabbit trails form which take on a life of their own. I love it! I'm not sure we've figured out a title for this one, but it will be on Shannon's etsy store soon. In the meantime, you can check out  susanke