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Painting with Susan ~ Beauty, Joy, Light, Magic
My BrainTrust
"You need to find a Mentor," they say, "someone to help you navigate the waters of your career."
"Really?? And where does one find a Mentor?" I ask, "Pick one off the Mentor tree?"
It's a fabulous idea, in theory, an older, wiser, trusted individual willing to take on a novice apprentice to learn the ways of your chosen profession. I envision a young Luke Skywalker sitting at the feet of the cloak-clad Yoda. (He does have feet, right?) But you can't run a "Help Wanted Ad" to find one and if you asked a successful person, my guess is you would be lucky to get an hour of their time over coffee.
Then I read a book by Tim Ferriss called Tribe of Mentors. Apparently I'm not the only one to experience this challenge of finding a mentor, and Tim Ferriss never solves a problem in the same old way. He is a visionary, and his book The Four-Hour Work Week changed my life. If you are not familiar with Tim, check out his podcast dedicated to deconstructing world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, sports, business, art, etc.) to extract the tactics, tools, and routines you can use. This includes favorite books, morning routines, exercise habits, time-management tricks, and much more. I love it! He has even taken the interviews from this podcast to create the Tribe of Mentors podcast.
Tim Ferris scribbled down the names of more than 100 ideal mentors, he then emailed each of them the identical set of 11 questions. A small handful politely declined his request, the Dalai Lama didn't respond (Does he even have email?), but then the torrent of information from the world's most successful people started pouring in. And they weren't short, rushed answers either.
I took this idea and modified it for my needs, scribbling down amazingly talented people, both living and from history, to be my BrainTrust to counsel on specific areas where I could use the help. It's a twist on Tim's book and the old bracelet "What would Jesus do?"
It's a growing list, but here is what I have so far, in no particular order...
If you were building your Dream Team of Mentors, your personal BrainTrust, who would you choose and for what area of expertise?
“Every great athlete, artist and aspiring being has a great team to help them flourish and succeed - personally and professionally. Even the so-called 'solo star' has a strong supporting cast helping them shine, thrive and take flight.”
Wishing you all the success in the world! And sending wishes for a lovely summer full of Beauty, Joy, Light, Magic.
Susan
PS. Please forward this newsletter to a friend and share the fun!
PSS. And just for fun, follow this link and leave a comment for your chance to win a free historical fiction book by one of my favorite authors, Jan Dearman, set in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1838 during the systematic removal of native Americans from their ancestral land, and the grit and determination of three woman to not only survive, but thrive.
* Monthly Calendar: A few of these dates and locations were tentative at time of newsletter publication.
For more information on classes and workshops, call or text 615-668-8263.
Yes, the calendar is too small to read, so place your cursor on it and right-click. Now save it to your computer and enlarge it for better readability. Or click here.
Painting with Susan" Painting Workshops and Weekly Classes in Spring Hill, TN
Join us for Painting with Susan and attend painting classes offered in acrylics, oils and occasionally in watercolors at our Winchester location in Spring Hill. Help your skills catch up with your creative vision, have some laughs, make new friends, and create a colorful legacy!
Beginners are welcomed. The only requirements are passion for painting and an attitude of joy. I want to help every student discover his or her individual artistic personality and learn to build a personal process for painting.
Whether you choose a workshop or the on-going weekly lessons, claim your artistic license let me help you paint from the heart using logical steps to create paintings you'll be proud of and will help you paint your artistic vision. Anyone can paint. All it takes is a knowledgeable teacher with a heart for students and a little practice. You'll get both in any of my classes.
Painting classes are offered in the lower level of the Winchester Building located at 563 Maury Hill Street behind Spring Hill Elementary in Evan's Park. Please call 615-668-8263 to register or for more information.
1. CREATIVE SPIRITS CLASS will study PLANES OF A LANDSCAPE in June
Join other artists on Thursday mornings from 10:00-11:30am in June for laughter, insights, and artistic growth. Students will learn the Four planes of a landscape and the values associated with each. This lesson will not only help you in painting landscapes and painting en plein air, but also still life and interior scenes once you learn how light reacts to the planes it illuminates.
Offered by Spring Hill Parks and Rec and taught by Susan Elizabeth Jones, learning Planes of a Landscape will truly enhance your painting abilities. All skills levels are welcome. The class emphasizes the use of acrylics, but water-soluble oils and watercolors are welcome.
Class fee is $100 for 4 sessions. Students bring their own supplies and a supplies list will be provided at registration. Call 615-668-8263 to register today and learn what all the fun is about!
We will meet June 6, 13, 20, and 27.
In June we'll study Planes of a Landscape!.
In Creative Spirits class, students bring their own supplies. We typically paint in acrylics, but for the summer we'll have the choice between acrylics or water-soluble oils. If you don't want to invest in either of these and already traditional oils, you may use them in class. However, you'll need to bring Gamsol and a jar with a tight-fitting lid in order to take the solvent safely away. I'll provide a list of other items you'll need when you register. Class fee is $100 per one month session (4 classes) and you can take one-, two-, three- or as many months as you like. And plan to join us for lunch! Most weeks we either go out to a local restaurant or plan a pot luck meal at the studio.
You have FUN AND CREATIVE FRIENDS you haven't even met yet!!
ART DATES:
June students in Creative Spirits are invited to join the class on 2 exciting Art Dates in June. The first is an overnight stay at a lake house and boat ride full of fun, painting, and communing with artist friends and nature.
The second is a day spent in Amish country, visiting several farms and purchasing hand-made items and produce, as well as lunch at the Mount Pleasant Grille.
More details will be discussed in class on June 6.
2. PAINT-ALONG "MAKE & TAKE" CLASSES
Private Paint-Along Parties may be scheduled at your location or at the Winchester Studio in Spring Hill with a minimum of 15 students. Great for Church Groups, Book Clubs, Reunions, Team Building for the office. All supplies and instruction are included for $50 per student. Please call 615-668-8263 for more information. Wide selection of reference paintings to choose from.
3. PRIVATE PAINTING LESSONS
Never painted before? Not sure which class is best for you? Want more individualized instruction? Scheduling a private lesson may be the choice for you.
Private lessons are offered by Spring Hill Parks and Rec and taught in the Winchester Studio. Students bring their own supplies and reference photo. You'll enjoy personal assessment of your work and specific instruction for improvement. Private Lesson fee is $149 for 2-hour lesson and you may bring a friend at no additional charge. For three or more students, please add $50 for each additional student.
Private lessons are an excellent choice for college prep.
Call 615-668-8263 to reserve your private lesson.
4. BASIC PAINTING 101 WORKSHOP, June 22 10am-4pm
Take a break from the Every Day and spend a Special Day immersing yourself in the joy of art. Invest a day to rediscover your Inner Artist and renew your heart, mind, and creative spirit in this Basic Painting 101 Workshop. You'll learn the logical process of painting in five easy steps and the painterly techniques to loosen up and create beautiful, colorful, and engaging paintings.
The workshop consists of demonstration painting, instruction, critique, and lots of painting time. Material is presented in a logical, easy to understand manner, along with large doses of encouragement. We are all students at different places along this journey to become the artists we are destined to be. Great for beginners in need of basic skills and self-taught artists looking for a framework on which to apply their skills.
Workshop fee is $149 and students bring their own materials. Tables, chairs, and easels provided. If you prefer to have your supplies provided, please add $25 to workshop fee. Registration is limited to ensure plenty of individual attention.
Call 615-668-8263 to reserve your easel.
5. ILLUSTRATED NATURE- and TRAVEL-JOURNALING WORKSHOP, RIPPAVILLA, May 31
And this little piece was created to commemorate a trip to Maine.
And an example of a page created from my own back yard.
Friday, May 31, 2019
Susan Elizabeth Jones and the Art of Nature Journaling
Description: Have you ever taken a walk in a spring meadow or ridden your bike on a country lane or visited a formal garden or any other experience that was so beautiful you wanted to capture it to savor at any time? The sights, sounds, and feelings of nature are inspiring, and what could be lovelier than to preserve the moments of inspiration in a nature and travel journal?
Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Prince Charles are just a few journalers who kept nature- and travel-themed notebooks. Peter Rabbit and all his furry friends were characters that emerged from Beatrix Potter’s nature journals.
Nature and travel journaling was a more popular activity in a simpler time… before encyclopedias in every home, before technology and the internet, in a time when curiosity, imagination, and a lazy afternoon to explore creeks and gardens offered immense entertainment and self-reflection.
Join Susan Elizabeth Jones at beautiful and historic Rippavilla in Spring Hill to spend the day exploring the gardens, historic cemetery, historic structures, “witness trees” and documenting the many treasures that will be discovered on this 98-acre estate that has been preserved through the Land Trust of Tennessee.
Time: 10am-3pm Student Fee: $50 for members and $70 for non-members and a $12 site fee
To Register, go to ChestnutGroup.org.
Location: Rippavilla Historic Home, 5700 Main Street, Spring Hill, TN, 37174, just one mile south of Saturn Parkway off I-65S
Type of Workshop: Full day from 10am-3 pm
Student Levels for this workshop: Anyone
Student Limit: unlimited
Supply List: Blank page journal or Notebook, Black ink pen, Pencil with Eraser, Travel Watercolor set with brushes and washer cup OR watercolor pens OR Color Markers OR Color Pencils OR Combination of all of these, Backpack or Tote, Camera (optional), Picnic Blanket (optional).
Students may also wish to pack a lunch and picnic on the grounds or take a break and purchase a meal from “Marcy Jo’s on the Go” located in the kitchen at Rippavilla on Fridays and Saturdays this summer.
1. SPRING HILL DOG PARK RIBBON CUTTING MAY 31 at 3:30 and
2. SPRING HILL DOG PARK GRAND OPENING JUNE 1 from 10am -1pm
Come celebrate the Ribbon Cutting and Grand Re-Opening of the improved Dog Park in Evan's Park behind Spring Hill Elementary School on May 31 and June 1. Besides offering a great place for your furbaby to meet other canine friends and play, there will be pet-inspired vendors,too.
3. ART EXHIBIT AT SQUARE MARKET, COLUMBIA, TN in JUNE 3 - JULY 1
I love painting American Flags and other patriotic-themed paintings. Make plans to dine at Square Market Cafe in June to see some of my newest patriotic and summer-themed works.
4. SWANKY PLANK VINTAGE MARKETPLACE at RIPPAVILLA, JUNE 6-8
Swanky Plank Vintage Marketplace is one of Tennessee's best pop-up barn sales of vintage and hand-made items, including art, jewelry, pottery, and more! I will be there representing Spring Hill Parks and Recreation Art Classes and have on display many paintings we have created in our painting classes. Come out and see us!
5. DOG-A-ROO CELEBRATION JUNE 15, 10am-2pm, COLUMBIA
Dog-A-Roo is an event for Dogs and their People hosted by "Teach Your K9" and located at 1140 Santa Fe Pike in Columbia on June 15 from 10am to 2pm. Admission is free!
You'll enjoy Dock Diving Demonstration, Agility Demonstration, 60's/70's Costume Contest (For Pets and their People) $5.00, Best Trick Contest $5.00, Sack Auction, Door Prizes, Adoptable Dogs, Games, Food Trucks, and more!
6. PHOTOGRAPHY AND PAINTING COLLABORATION EXHIBIT AT SQUARE MARKET, COLUMBIA, TN in JULY
The artists of Creative Spirits painting class are partnering with photographers from Maury County to pair up a beautiful, Maury County-inspired photo with a painting inspired by that photo, and these photo-painting pairs will be on exhibit at Square Market Cafe in July. I'm very excited about this pairing and anxious to see it myself. Join me!
7. CHESTNUT GROUP ART SHOW at RADNOR LAKE
The Chestnut Group partners with Radnor Lake every other year for good reason. It continues to be one of the biggest and most popular of the Chestnut Group shows. We will be painting there for the next year and the show will be in the autumn of 2019.
While on your many adventures, please stop by the shops and galleries that sell my work and tell them I sent you....
Quincy Avenue Arts, Seaside, Florida
Rippavilla Plantation, Spring Hill, Tennessee
Loblolly, Columbia, Tennessee
My French Chateau, Atlanta, Georgia
Rowan House, Corinth, Mississippi
And always on the hunt for more!! Recommendations welcomed!!
Photos of precious smiles I got to see while painting in the May Classes, Workshops, and Private Lessons.
These paintings and many, many more are for sale through Daily Paintworks. If you are local and purchase a painting, please let me know so I can adjust the shipping fee. To see the paintings for sale, click here.
When you commission a Pet Portrait, 10% of the commission fee will be donated to the Animal Rescue of your choice.
Class sizes are limited, so we ask you give us 48 hours notice if you need to cancel. Cancellations should be made by phone or text, 615-668-8263. This provides us the opportunity to fill the space. No refunds are available, however class fees for reservations canceled at least 48 hours in advance may be credited to another class.
For inclement weather, announcements on canceled classes will be posted on Facebook. If in doubt, please call us before traveling in bad weather. Canceled classes will be rescheduled.
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Watch Painting Demos on YouTube
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Running List of Favorite Books
And don't forget my eBOOK "Learn to Paint in 5 Steps" is available on Amazon
And I'm happy to announce new note cards are available depicting the Fillmore Street Chapel, Corinth, Mississippi. Packages of 4 cards and envelopes are $10, with free shipping in the US.
