Creative Spirits Soar!

Dance the Orange

I love color. Bright, beautiful color. Even soft, muted color. And of all the colors, it's hard to pick a favorite, yet one resonates with me more right now than all the others. Orange.

Orange happily transitions from the vivid orange of summer to the richer, moodier orange of autumn, my favorite season. It's full of energy, warmth, and rambunctiousness.

 

Can you imagine the color Orange didn't even have it's own name until the 1500s. It was simply referred to as Yellow-red, but eventually after the first orange trees were transported to Europe from Asia in the early 16th century, the color was named after the fruit. (And they fruit must have been extremely popular. It didn't take long for Europeans to figure out how to create heated greenhouses to grow their prized orange trees. These greenhouses were called what else? Orangeries, of course.)

 

Random minerals and clays were utilized to create orange paint over the millennia, such as realgar and orpiment. As artists we owe a debt of gratitude to the French scientist Louis Vauquelin, who in 1797 discovered the mineral crocoite, leading to the invention of synthetic chrome orange pigment and enlivened our palettes forever. 

Pomona painted by Nicolas Fouché in 1700, is often depicted in the secondary colors of orange, purple, and green, with orange being the dominant color. She was the goddess of fruitful abundance in ancient Rome. I love how the secondary colors work together in the most beautiful of triads.

 

Orange has become an important color for all impressionist painters, especially those who paint en plein air. Orange is the color of sunsets, and even light itself in the late afternoon, tinting every object it lands on with a warm glow. It lends itself to the exotic landscapes and seascapes of the Mediterranean as well as the charming, provincial pumpkin in a simple, country garden.

Matilda Browne's plein air painting In the Garden from 1914 also utilizes the secondary triad beautifully. I love how the organic hues of the woman's face and the shadows against the wall are equally as chromatic as the synthetic colors depicted in the woman's robe. Stunning.

Bullet Point Blessings August 21, 2020

Artists are different. 

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic. 

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world. 

I am such an artist.

__________________________________________________________________________________

♥  Opelske

I love words. In fact, each year I choose a "Word of the Year," a word I have inscribed on a bracelet that I wear most every day. This year's word is Veriditas, a Latin word meaning "greening" like in in the spring... youth, vitality, freshness, health.. it also has the connotation of physical and spiritual health. Last year's word was Eudaimonia, a Greek work meaning "human flourishing" implying happiness and well-being. 

This is the earliest I've decided on the next year's "Word of the Year," but if you are like me, you're ready for this year to be packed away in the books and to welcome a new, safer, healthier, more prosperous year ahead. My 2021 "Word of the Year" will be Opelske, a Norwegian word meaning "cherished to health and vigor" typically used in terms of gardening, but I love the possibilities of a bigger meaning.
 

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
~ Rudyard Kipling

 

"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary.

Thoughts live; they travel far."
~Swami Vivekananda
 

♥  Limoges

I love beautiful bone china, and could never choose just one or two patterns to collect. I love them all. My latest obsession is French Limoges china. I counted 99 Limoges factories and studios that have been in business for nearly 200 years. The pieces I've collected from charity shops and dig stores can be found for $1.99 each. They don't match each other, but they still go together beautifully. Several of the treasured pieces I've discovered are from the 1880s, some from the 1910s, 1920s, and 1940s, which can be identified by the details of their marks. 

The little Limoges salad plates are perfectly sized for breakfast, and the teacups and saucers are divine!

♥ An Island Garden
For the past month, we've been studying the American Impressionists, and how in the summers they would congregate near the sea to form Artist Colonies to paint, garden, and escape the heat of the city. I was thrilled to discover the book An Island Garden by Celia Thaxter, an American writer in the late19th century who lived on Appledore Island in Maine at her father's hotel The Appledore House. Here she welcomed literary and visual artists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Childe Hassam, and William Morris Hunt. 

In her book An Island Garden published in 1894 Thaxter writes,
"Year after year the island garden has grown in beauty and charm, so that in response to the many entreaties of strangers as well as friends who have said to me, summer after summer, "Tell us how you do it! Write a book about it and tell us how it is done, that we may go also and do likewise." I have written this book at last." 

She goes on to write, 
"Of all the wonderful things in the wonderful universe of God, nothing seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the blank earth and the result thereof. Take a Poppy seed, for instance: it lies in your palm, the merest atom of matter, hardly visible, a speck, a pin's point in bulk, but within it is imprisoned a spirit of beauty ineffable, which will break its bonds and emerge from the dark ground and blossom in a splendor so dazzling as to baffle all powers of description. The Genie in the Arabian tale is not half so astonishing."

The book is also beautifully illustrated with paintings by Childe Hassam.
 

"God Almighty first planted a garden.
And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures." 
~Francis Bacon

 

♥  George Washington

For the past month and ever since seeing the musical "Hamilton" for the first time, I've become obsessed with the learning more about the founding fathers, specifically George Washington. His story is amazing! And one I honestly don't remember learning in school other than he was the first President of the United States, which he graciously accepted after refusing to become monarch, emperor or king. 

Just the fact that he led a small group of unskilled, untrained state militia men to victory against the undisputed, greatest military force in the world at that time whose sole purpose was to colonize the world for the British Empire, is hard to fathom. The United States should have never won the Revolutionary War. Talk about an Underdog!

But they did win, and then were faced with building the foundation and scaffolding of a new, independent nation as a Republic with democratically elected officials and the peaceful passing of power every four years. It should have NEVER worked, and for the longest was referred to as the "American Experiment." My research over the past month has put so much into perspective.

Now I want to visit Mt. Vernon. 

 

“Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”
~ George Washington

 

 

♥ Tomato Pudding
My dad always talked about this tomato dish that was always served at Milan Plaza Court Meat & Three, the restaurant with the town's motel on the corner of Highway 70 and Liberty in Milan, Tennessee, next to the Big Star market and Dairy Dip ice cream drive-in. As a young boy in the 1940s, Dad loved dining here and would order the meat of the day, plus 3 sides of the "stewed" tomatoes.

Fast forward twenty years, and Dad wanted to make this recipe at home, but every recipe for Stewed Tomatoes disappointed him. He could not find a recipe to duplicate the tomato dish he remembered and loved from his youth. 

Until one day....

While waiting to be seated at the local Cracker Barrel restaurant in the early 2000s, Dad picked up a recipe book and started flipping through the pages. To his delight, he discovered a recipe for Tomato Pudding. Could it be???

Using this recipe as a base, he tinkered in the kitchen and was able to recreate the tomato side dish of his dreams.
 

Tomato Pudding

INGREDIENTS

• one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 cups  brown sugar
• 1/2 cup whole butter, melted
• 8 slices white bread, cut into cubes

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Pour the canned tomatoes into a medium sized mixing bowl with brown sugar, half of the melted butter and half of the bread cubes. Mix well and pour into buttered casserole dish. Some folks add a little salt and pepper. 

Top with remaining bread cubes and pour remaining melted butter on top. 

Bake until bubbly and golden brown.

Delicious! But Dad's recipe is much simpler. Throw it all in a bit pot, stir and simmer stovetop until hot and bubbly. This variation is just as delicious, easier, faster, and with less clean up. I'll be making this recipe stovetop from now on. 

 

"You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces,
just good food from fresh ingredients." 
~ Julia Child

"People who love to eat are always the best people." 
~ Julia Child

"Cooking well doesn’t mean cooking fancy."
~ Julia Child

 

 

________________________________________________________________________________ Check it out...     susanejones.com     The work continues on my new website and just this week I've added a blog!  Please visit often and share it with your friends.    Let's Paint!! The new session of Creative Spirits painting classes in acrylics starts September 3 at 10am in Spring Hill. Join us at 563 Maury Hill Street, lower level. Registration required, 615-668-8263. In September we will be studying several paintings from the American Impressionists and painting our own versions of each.  Here is a painting we completed in Creative Spirits painting class in August. The original is titled Peonies by American Impressionist Matilda Browne.     To keep everyone safe, we will be observing social distancing, and the wearing of masks is encouraged. Class fee is $100 for four in-person sessions. Or you may prefer to watch the instructional videos from our classes at home on Patreon. Visit my Patreon Channel to subscribe, and please share with all your creative friends.  Please call me if you have additional questions or would like to purchase a gift certificate or register for class: 615-668-8263       The Watercolor Painting Classes at Southern Springs in Spring Hill continue to be postponed until the threat of the virus has passed. We are all praying that day will arrive quickly.  Please continue practicing at home. A few watercolor videos are available on my YouTube channel.  Links you may be interested in... My ETSY Shops... Colorful and Charming Art and Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe Do you enjoy receiving a personal, hand-written card in the mail? Do you know someone who would, maybe a friend or family member away from home or now living in Assisted Living or a Nursing Home? Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe is my Etsy shop that offers a subscription of 1-, 6-, or 12-handwritten cards, one each month, depicting an object or scene from my hometown, Columbia, Tennessee, aka the Dimple of the Universe or from around middle Tennessee, and delivered in a colorful envelope with a delightful US postage stamp. It's a charming and unique gift for yourself or someone you love.  Recommended Supplies lists... Supplies List for Creative Spirits Classes,  Adventure Awaits Supplies List,  Back Issues of Bullet Point Blessings at Creative Spirits Soar! blog. The Whole Kit & Kaboodle List of Lists

Primary Colors in Art

The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. The primary colors, plus black and white, are the essential ingredients for mixing all the other colors. You cannot do anything to mix pure blue, yellow, or red. They just exist.  However, artists will argue among themselves which red, and which yellow and which blue is the best. 

I've studied the palettes of more than 50 artists and have found that most select a cool and a warm of each primary color. For example, Cad Red Light is a warm red where Alizerin Crimson is a cool red. (This has nothing to do with the ambient temperature but whether or not the color leans towards a yellower version of itself or a bluer one.)

The problem with this strategy is you can never mix a perfect violet or a perfect orange. Both will be dull since a trace amount of the third primary color is present. So it's a constant quest to find the perfect primary colors on which to build your palette. 

While most artists will mix their colors from their primary palettes, many are famous for using their primaries neat. The first to come to mind is Piet Mondrian.

 

Another is Mark Rothko

And Pablo Picasso

And Henri Toulouse-Lautrec

And I have a few as well....

And, of course, one titled Primary Colors

 

Impressionism in America

On Monday a few students gathered to resume studying color and how it was used by the Old Masters, specifically Monet. During the lesson, I mentioned Monet never took students, but he come to America to do painting demonstrations at his friend's art school in New York. 

However, I wasn't sure where I got this information, so started researching it. 

In 1896 Charles Hawthorne became assistant instructor to William Merritt Chase at his Shinnecock, Long Island, outdoor “plein air” painting school where the lessons of the French Impressionists were first brought to American shores. In 1899 Hawthorne opened his own outdoor school in Provincetown, Massachusetts, called the Cape Cod School of Art, and was the first school to teach outdoor figure painting. Upon Hawthorne’s death, Henry Hensche opened The Cape School of Art.

Monet never took students.  Although Giverny became an artist colony, Monet kept a private existence and was not eager to socialize with devoted artists who were fascinated by his bright, sunlit canvases and energetic palette. 

According to Camille Przwodek whom I had a conversation with during the Olmstead Plein Air Invitational in Atlanta several years ago, Monet did travel to the US and demonstrated his painting style, if I understood her correctly. William Merritt Chase, Charles Hawthorne, and later Henry Hensche learned and taught Monet’s Impressionist style of seeing and painting color with the influence of light. 

As it turns out Claude Monet did have several exhibitions of his work in the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s, namely the New York Exhibition in 1896, exhibits at the Durand-Ruel Gallery in New York in 1899, 1900, 1908, and 1924. He had a exhibition of his work in Boston in 1911. So this potentially places the painter in New York and Boston during the last years of the Shinnecock Hills School of Art and the first years of the Cape Cod School of Art. But did he visit their schools? I still have not found this fact documented. 

Summer Morning at Cheekwood

My friend Kim and I explored Cheekwood Gardens on Friday and collected reference photos to use in painting our submissions to the upcoming exhibit at the Mansion of selected works by Chestnut Group members.

Ideally we would have painted on site, but neither of us had time to pack gear and spend the day painting en plein air. Hiking the grounds and trails and snapping photos was the next best thing, and what a lovely day! Although the temps were near 90*, the humidity was practically non-existent. 

After months of self-isolating, social-distancing, and every fun and worthy event cancelled, a morning among the gardens at Cheekwood were just what this creative soul needed for inspiration and rejuvenation.

Here is the highlight reel from our morning's adventure...

And the photos are stunning! Such a beautiful location just west of Nashville, Tennessee, every vantage point looked like a postcard. It was impossible to snap a bad photo. 

 

Bullet Point Blessings for May 8, 2020

Artists are different. 

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic. 

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world. 

I am such an artist. _____________________________________________________________________________________

"An egg today is better than a hen tomorrow."

~Benjamin Franklin

♥ Farm Eggs

Little things mean a lot. I'm so happy to have a connection to fresh farm eggs. I don't know what kind of chickens these beauties came from, but was delighted to find a variety of Easter Egg colors in the two dozen I purchased. Included were dark brown, light tan, a variety of pale blues and greens. 

And they are delicious!

Can't wait to use them in the vintage cake I plan to make my Mom this weekend for her 80th birthday. Lovin' from the oven!

 

 

 

"A party without cake is really just a meeting."

~Julia Child

♥ Vintage Cakes

Just the word "Vintage" makes my heart skip a beat, so to discover the Vintage Cakes cookbook, it didn't take long to decide to purchase it. Included are recipes for Daffodil Cake, Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake, Honey Bee Cake, Kentucky Bourbon Cake, Chiffon Cake with Brown Butter Icing, Watergate Cake with Impeachment Icing, and a myriad of other delicious sweets. I plan to make Old Vermont Burnt Sugar Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting first for this weekend. My family will be celebrating both Mother's Day and my mother's 80th birthday. If there ever was a time for a celebration, this weekend is it!

I haven't made it yet, but will take photos and document it on my blog Charm of the Carolines. So click over for a visit next week and hopefully I'll have the post written and published. 

For a treat today, allow me to share this recipe for Shoo-Fly Cake which looks amazing. 

Shoo-Fly Cake

INGREDIENTS

CRUMB TOPPING

• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small cubes

CAKE

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup blackstrap molasses
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2¹/2 cups (12¹/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¹/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup warm coffee (can be reheated from the morning brew)

DIRECTIONS

Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350^*F.

To make the crumb topping, combine the brown sugar and the flour in a small bowl. Toss in the butter cubes and, using your fingertips, pinch the butter into the dry ingredients to form crumbs. Place the bowl in the freezer while you make the cake.

To make the cake, whisk together the sugar, butter, molasses, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.

Blend in the eggs one at a time.In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, then whisk the ingredients by hand to ensure they are well mixed.

Using a rubber spatula, stir the flour mixture into the batter in three additions, alternating with the coffee in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Pour the thin batter into the prepared pan (9 by 2-inch round cake pan, greased with 1 tablespoon of soft butter) and sprinkle with the chilled crumb topping. Bake in the center of the oven until the top is firm, about 45 minutes.

Cool the cake on a wire rack for about 30 minutes before serving warm from the pan.

 

"You're slower than molasses in winter."

~Old Southern Expression

♥ Molasses

Molasses is a thick dark syrup. The British call it treacle, which is a generic term for any syrup made as a by-product of refining sugar cane. Molasses was a popular and economical substitute for refined white sugar in the eighteenth century. By the end of the nineteenth century, it competed with maple sugar and white refined sugar as America's chosen sweetener.

When sugar prices dropped after World War I, molasses and maple sugar both fell in popularity. but not at the Jones house. I remember my granddaddy would take a tablespoon of butter and a big spoonful of molasses and smash it all together on the side of his breakfast plate in a very unappetizing goo. Then he would spread it on biscuits, lovingly prepared by my grandmother and hot from the oven. The butter in the gray-brown paste would melt, and at some point magic happened. 

(Please excuse the stock photo, but it is much more attractive than a photo of butter and molasses mashed together which doesn't photograph well at all.)

 

"If you love me, feed my sheep."

~Jesus Christ

♥ Olde English Babydoll Southdown Lambs

The Olde English 'Babydoll' Southdown is a breed of sheep developed in the United States to reflect the original type of Southdown brought over to North America by the early settlers.

Today, my friend Dianne invited me to the farm of her friends John and Linda to feed these somewhat timid lambs. The Swiss Valais Blacknose sheep were much friendlier and would eat out of the palm of my hand. So did the Scottish Blackface. The best I could accomplish with the tiny Babydoll was to feed her from a bucket. 

 

"Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful and most noble employment of man."

~George Washington

 

"My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, and a preacher. But every day, three times a day, you need a farmer."

~Brenda Schoepp

 

"Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals & happiness."

~Thomas Jefferson

 

 "We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the highest order, a kind of artist."

~Wendell Berry

 

"What is a farm but a mute gospel?"

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

____________________________________________________________________________

In keeping with current CDC health recommendations for social distancing, we have canceled all in-person painting classes for the duration. I am praying for everyone's good health and well being.  Hopefully soon I will be able to publish a full roster of classes and paint with you again. (I'm keeping fingers crossed that will be in June.)

Please visit my Patreon Channel or  YouTube channel for painting demonstrations and inspiration. 

Please call me if you have additional questions or would like to purchase a gift certificate or register for a future class:

615-668-8263

       
These are a few of the paintings I've been working on. What's on your easel?? Post to social media and tag me to see #paintingwithsusan.

Links you may be interested in...

My ETSY Shops...

Colorful and Charming Art and Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe

Do you enjoy receiving a personal, hand-written card in the mail? Do you know someone who would, maybe a friend or family member away from home or now living in Assisted Living or a Nursing Home?

Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe is my Etsy shop that offers a subscription of 1-, 6-, or 12-handwritten cards, one each month, depicting an object or scene from my hometown, Columbia, Tennessee, aka the Dimple of the Universe or from around middle Tennessee, and delivered in a colorful envelope with a delightful US postage stamp.

It's a charming and unique gift for yourself or someone you love. 

 

Recommended Supplies lists...

Supplies List for Creative Spirits Classes, 

Adventure Awaits Supplies List, 

 

Back Issues of Bullet Point Blessings at Creative Spirits Soar! blog.

The Whole Kit & Kaboodle List of Lists

Painting at St. John's Episcopal Church en plein air

Sunday morning after FB Live church services, I was anxious to get out of the house. Quarantine will do that to you. Even alone, I didn't feel lonely painting en plein air at St. John's Episcopal church in Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee (formerly Ashwood).

 

Built in 1839, this exquisite historic church building was made with slave labor on 6 acres donated by Leonidas Polk, one of the Polk sons of Col. William Polk who settled the region after winning a very large tract of land in a bet with the governor of North Carolina on a game of chance called Rattle and Snap.

 

Leonidas built on the land gifted to him by his father a fine plantation home called Ashwood Hall. His brothers contributed the materials to build the "family chapel." The cemetery behind the church is the final resting place for several Civil War generals, plus Bishop James H. Otey (the first Bishop of Tennessee) and four other Bishops, plus members of the Polk family.

 

If it wasn't so close to the Mt. Pleasant Highway I could swear I stepped back in time 150 years while alone painting with the birds, trees and spirits of departed southerners whispering about me. I love this section of Tennessee, lovingly referred to as the "Dimple of the Universe" or "God's Garden."

 

Was also very thankful to make it home about an hour before an unprecedented Derecho storm hit, blowing over massive trees in its wake. I returned the next day to see if any of the "witness" trees at St. John's suffered any damage or the church building itself, and luckily all was well. Limbs blown everywhere, of course, some even very large, but all in all it fared well.

 

And before I hear any criticism of my work, I was painting WITHOUT YELLOW paint. Must have "borrowed" it from my plein air backpack over the winter. Bought a new tube this morning.

Colorful & Charming Mini Art ~ Note Cards

Did you know?

 

Most of my paintings are available on 4.25 x 5.5 notecards for only $10 per package of 4 cards & envelopes, including free shipping. That's four small prints on card stock perfect for sending an encouraging note to your four best buddies, or sisters, or mother or grandmother. Who doesn't love getting a personal note in the mail? I like to pair mine with beautiful stamps which can be ordered online as well.

 

If there is anything I've learned in the past month, it's that there is beauty in the mundane and joy in the ordinary. Embrace your daily rituals and simple pleasures. 

I have two Etsy shops. Etsy Shop One is Susan Elizabeth Jones. This is where paintings, prints, and note cards are available depicting images of my oils and acrylics paintings. 

Etsy Shop Two is Dimple of the Universe and this is where paintings, prints, note cards, and Fun Mail subscriptions are available of my watercolor paintings. Here you can also subscribe to my monthly service to send a personal note to the recipient you choose. This guarantees a personal note in the mail each month to someone you love. Note cards are laser imaged on 4 x 6 100# Cougar Smooth paper and suitable for framing.

 

 

Which Square is darker, A or B?

 

Which Square is darker, A or B?  And yes, it's a trick question.

 

Color and Value are simply an impression made on the optic nerve attached to the brain. That impression or perception is altered depending on the relationship of the color and value to other colors and values around it.

 

Nothing has illustrated this point more to me than the Edward H. Adelson photo of a green cylinder casting a shadow on a checkerboard, all in gray-scale.

 

As artists, we know shape and value are the most important elements to convey accurately on our paintings. But is it Value, how light or how dark to mix our color, that is the most troublesome.

 

Green is not simply green. The acid spring green of trees as they begin to leaf out can be more akin to yellow than to green, and the green of a Magnolia leaf in shadow is closer to black than to green. Both are green, yet one resides on the high end of the value spectrum and the other on the low end.

 

Practice looking at Values this week, and the relationship between them. Work that muscle, and it will pay you back in dividends for years to come in your paintings.

 

And if you ever feel something is "off" in your painting, you can bet it's either shape or value, and more likely. it's value.

Bullet Point Blessings for April 3, 2020

Artists are different. 

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic. 

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world. 

I am such an artist. _____________________________________________________________________________________

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough."

~Anonymous

♥ Front Line Warriors

It is with the deepest gratitude I dedicate this issue of Bullet Point Blessings to our World War C front line workers. Where would we be without the Doctors, Nurses, Medical Staff, First Responders,  Environmental Services workers, Police, Firefighters, Elected Officials, Pharmacists, Bank Tellers, Grocery store workers, Mail Deliverers, Journalists, Truck Drivers, Restaurant workers, Volunteers to hand make hand-sanitizers & masks & teach on-line & add humor and do needed service work of all kinds of activities? Many people don't have the choice to shelter in place and many who do choose to serve anyway.

Where would we be without them?

I'm also grateful to you who are obeying the "Safer at Home" order and assisting the effort to stop the spread of the virus. You are doing your part, and I am grateful!!

"I get by with a little help from my friends."

~The Beatles

♥ Friends, Family, Students, and Big-hearted Acquaintances

I am humbled and amazed at the kind and generous donations that have been donated steadily to my "rainy day fund."  With the pandemic and required social distancing, my in-person art classes came to a screeching halt along with the majority of my monthly income. Immediately I got to work creating online painting videos that I offer for free on YouTube with the option to make a donation through Venmo (@susan-jones-346) or PayPal (susan@susanejones.com), and a gift to those feeling the same financial pinch to enjoy the classes with my blessing. 

And for those who want more classes with more in-depth instruction and service, check out my new Patreon on-line painting classes. Some of these classes are offered for free and others require a subscription.  Now, not only can you enjoy my painting classes from home or on vacation or anywhere you may be as long as you have internet access and your supplies, but others who are not local or have access to the in-person classes taught in Spring Hill can join the fun as well. 

Please help me out and share this newsletter with all your creative friends. Your recommendation means the world to me, and it will boost a small business during this crises we are all experiencing as well as increase the world's quotient of joy, color, and creativity. Be sure and tag me in the photos of paintings you post on social media  #paintingwithsusan. I am grateful to You!

"Necessity is the mother of Invention."

~Old English Proverb

♥ The Internet

How did people survive the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 with the internet??? I mean for real! The internet is how this "shelter in place" artist is staying in touch with friends through Facebook and Instagram.  I am entertaining myself in the evenings watching "Escape to the Chateau" on YouTube, teaching on Patreon and YouTube and considering live online classes through Zoom. 

I'm finding humor from other creatives, like this family in the UK. We are trying to teach my parents to purchase pantry items from Amazon Prime and perishables through the Kroger Curbside Pick-up app. Kids are going to school through Google Classroom. The Spring Hill Library has removed the password from their WiFi so anyone can park near the building and have free access. The Spring Hill Police department is parking patrol vehicles in all the Spring Hill Parks and turning on the car's MyFi for the public to use. (The username and password will be written on a piece of paper on the car's window. DO NOT TOUCH THE POLICE CAR.) I'm even attending church online. 

When you can't be there in person. The internet is absolutely the next best thing. What a blessing. 

If you are spending time binge-watching Downton Abbey, grab your free digital download of my eBbook The Downton Abbey Lexicon Primer, my gift to you free on April 5 only, just one British costume drama addict to another. 

 

 

 

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be hoarding toilet paper."

~Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice, re-imagined first line

♥ Toilet Paper

It occurred to me that Toilet Paper may have been the most taken for granted item in the US a month ago, and today is one of the most coveted. My friend Sonja proudly displays her "catch" after a long day of searching and visiting several stores. 

"I bagged a big one!" Sonja exclaimed gleefully. I don't think she could have been any more excited even if she had just caught an award-winning trophy fish. 

And just when you thought there was nothing fun about toilet paper, my friend Christy introduced me to the brand she buys.... Who Gives a Crap?... environmentally friendly, recycled paper toilet paper wrapped in decorative paper. But the real story is this company donates 50% of its profits to building toilets for those in need. They have donated nearly $2 million to date to charities serving communities around the world suffering from malnutrition and lack of sanitation, something most of us take for granted even when we are spending time at home appreciating the little things we enjoy, or did, and will again. 

Unfortunately, they are currently out of stock, too. 

"Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants."

~William Osler

♥ Soap

Is there anything more elegant than soap?

Soap is made out of two simple ingredients, animal fat and an alkaline solution that allows for the process of saponification.  It's easy to make, inexpensive to purchase, hasn't been emptied from the market shelves by hoarders, yet it's the best thing to clean ourselves, our clothes and our homes, giving us better health and longer lives. 

 

♥ World on Fire

The last World War is the topic of Masterpiece Theater's newest production airing on PBS beginning this Sunday evening, April 5.  The premier of World on Fire has been on my calendar for four months!

World on Fire is a seven-part epic drama about the lives of the main characters during the first year of WWII. It was filmed in five countries... Britain, France, Germany, Poland and US. We owe so much to the Greatest Generation, and it make World War C not seem so bad in comparison. Can. Not. Wait.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay home everybody!!

 

"One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats."

~Iris Murdoch

 

"Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul."

~Amy Collette

 

 "When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around."

~Willie Nelson

 

"Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty."

~Doris Day

 

"What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude."

~Brene Brown

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In keeping with current CDC health recommendations for social distancing, we have canceled all in-person painting classes for the duration. I am praying for everyone's good health and well being.  Hopefully soon I will be able to publish a full roster of classes and paint with you again. 

Please visit my Patreon Channel or  YouTube channel for painting demonstrations and inspiration. 

Please call me if you have additional questions or would like to purchase a gift certificate or register for a future class:

615-668-8263

 

These are a couple of paintings I've been working on. What's on your easel?? Post to social media and tag me to see #paintingwithsusan.

Links you may be interested in...

My ETSY Shops...

Colorful and Charming Art and Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe

Do you enjoy receiving a personal, hand-written card in the mail? Do you know someone who would, maybe a friend or family member away from home or now living in Assisted Living or a Nursing Home?

Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe is my Etsy shop that offers a subscription of 1-, 6-, or 12-handwritten cards, one each month, depicting an object or scene from my hometown, Columbia, Tennessee, aka the Dimple of the Universe or from around middle Tennessee, and delivered in a colorful envelope with a delightful US postage stamp.

It's a charming and unique gift for yourself or someone you love. 

 

Recommended Supplies lists...

Supplies List for Creative Spirits Classes, 

Adventure Awaits Supplies List, 

 

Back Issues of Bullet Point Blessings at Creative Spirits Soar! blog.

The Whole Kit & Kaboodle List of Lists