NOBLE TRUTHS OPEN STUDIO August 10, 6-8pm 3441 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN Why even do this? Artists do “open studios” for a variety of reasons. Wait! What is an “Open Studio” anyways? Oh! Sorry! An OPEN STUDIO EVENT is basically an opportunity for the public to visit your place of work. […]
How Shows Travel or the value of a body of work! How do my shows travel? By UPS!!! Duh! […]
On some level, the work of an artist is never done.Or another cliché: Old artists never retire. Completing a Commission The Work of an Artist. Sometime ago I received a commission from an art consultant out of Atlanta who had been trying to find a fit for my work. We had been communicating for several months before something landed. The commission came in, requesting that I make 12 “bookblocks,” all different, but in a muted palette of indigo, beige, misty blue and some black. And could I do it in 3 months? Was that doable? probably not unless I began the testing before the contract was signed and delivered! […]
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait Or so they say. Actually it takes paying attention and rattling a few cages sometimes. I first started working with Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Art a couple of years ago. They are a gallery and publisher out of Barcelona. I was intrigued with their exhibition program as well as their design work. […]
Can Beauty help us? Perhaps a manifesto Can Beauty help us? I make art to learn what I am thinking and feeling. While it is always an internal investigation, I am engaged with the world and culture around me. I am a quiet contemplative, a delayed emotional reactor, a visual glutton. I think and mediate, I get mad the next day and I just simply have to look…all the time. From this essential disposition and with study and thought I have adopted a theory for my artmaking that I call “radical beauty.” So, here goes! Starting with a few appropriate quotes. […]
Mentoring and things | Musings Why are all these people so happy? We all just began a big new experiment: COACHING PROJECT FOR A BETTER WORLD Mentoring and things . Earlier this summer, while I was on vacation, my dear friend and coach Peggy told me about this opportunity with Art to Change the World. And then my friend Layl invited me to apply for the grant, to be a mentor. Perhaps the universe was trying to tell me something. I really do love mentoring! So, I applied. I was accepted! […]
Life is always full of Twists and Turns. So is my new artwork. More years ago than I care to count, I lost my husband to a freak accident, leaving me with a two year old. Sad? yes. But there is always learning to be had. The day after his father’s death, I told my son that his Daddy would not be coming home. His 2 year old response,”OK. Let’s play zoo.” So many unforeseen bridges were left to cross ahead, but the imperative, as demonstrated by a two year old, was “going forwardness,” to continue to grow, learn and live. Those imperatives do not disappear.Creativity is our birthright. It has survival value. We need it to grow-up and into our lives, no matter what they may be. […]
Where Does New Work come from? Vacation? Climate change? Vacation is a bit different for me than many people.I don’t go for the hiking and boating, although I might do both. Well, maybe not the boating. My stiff knees makes getting in and out of my preferred watercraft, canoes and kayaks, hard. […]
Where does new work come from? Somewhere between Pebble beaches and Urban Living. read about the development of New Work at Susan Hensel Projects Not too long ago, I got back from vacation on the shores of Lake Superior. To me, it is the greatest of all the Great Lakes. It is cold, deep and wild! Rarely swimmable and always dangerous to inexperienced fishermen and boaters. I go there every year to decompress, hear myself think and “wash off the city.” […]
