Blink First

Blink First/ watercolor/ 6 x 6

Another of my 6 x 6 watercolors. This one was exploring how to get the glassiness of the eyes with the contrasting light.

I am off to a workshop with Qiang Huang. If you goggle him, you can see that he is reported to be a great teacher and is certainly a wonderful artist. I have learned so far from Dreama Tolle Perry and Karin Jurick who are both excellent teachers but paint in a very different style.

I had hoped to have paintings to describe while I am gone. However, last week was just not a great week for painting....That usually means that next week will be better. back soon. Have a great week!!

In or Out

In or Out/ watercolor/ 6 x 6

I loved the reflections of the fish. I am not sure which was the fish and which was the reflection. In addition,  this crop makes the fish look like it is escaping....


http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/sue-churchgrant/in-or-out/174143

Bee's Eye View

Bee's Eye View/ watercolor/ 6 x 6/SOLD

Working on a 6 x 6 format for the next few days. This is a watercolor with varying depths of color (value) to give the flower petals form.

Chickadee Sketch

Chickadee Sketch/  watercolor/ 6.5 x 5/ SOLD

The birds are re-discovering the feeders as the days get shorter and cooler. Here is one of the returning visitors.
I am also reworking the tiny spots of color that define the mouth of my large commission portrait. What was most interesting was that as I carefully scrubbed out a little color "here" and added a little "there" , I began to see the family resemblance of the emerging reworked mouth. Still not ready to let you see it, but inching closer.

Market Sunflowers

Market Sunflowers /oil on board/ 6 x 6/ 

There is a time just after a painter finishes a painting, that the painter loses all objectivity about that particular painting. For me, that can be either that I am so "in love" with the painting that I miss all its faults. I can also be so burdened by a painting's challenges that I miss any of its positives. Therefore, I find that I have to "rest" a painting and look at it later with "fresh eyes".

 I spent most of my painting day completing a large commissioned portrait. Currently, I love it. However, it must now be put away to be reexamined later this week. Hopefully, I will be able to post it here then.


This small painting is a challenge to paint a 6 x 6 of market sunflowers. As much as I love sunflowers, I also find them challenging to paint, I have found that red somewhere in a sunflower painting is a plus. I also love to have some of the sun-struck petals use straight white. These sunflowers were stuck in a large white plastic container. I changed the container to make the painting more interesting.

Gaillardia Freefall

Gaillardia Freefall/ oil on canvas/ 7 x 13/ Low Country Gallery

These beautiful fall gaillardias were blooming when I went to water my fall vegetables. I decided to present them from an ant's viewpoint against the Carolina fall sky.

Artist Note: I painted the sky and allowed it to be dry to touch before painting the flowers on top. The canvas was glued to a masonite panel prior to painting.

End to a Busy Month

Hard to believe that September is over. What a great month! Adventures rafting the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Signature Status and an award at the National Show of the North Carolina Watercolor Society Show, interview with the Rocky Mount Telegram, fabulous artist demonstration event at Suttons Framing and Gallery's new courtyard, a fantastic new group of students at Saturday's watercolor workshop, and today a group of paintings were packed up for a brand new gallery in Hilton Head. I'll post details in a post soon!

For the next couple of days, I am working on large paintings and a large commission so I won't have a daily painting. Once I am caught up, I'll restart my daily paintings.....