Women ROCK!  Men are cool too, but I have been thinking a lot recently about all of the extremely fantastic women I know (and those I have met in the last few weeks).

Last Friday was my birthday and as I was reflecting on my life, I have come to realize that while I donʻt dig the wrinkles, I love being 52!  I have a great husband, an awesome daughter, sweet dogs, wonderful friends, a super fun art career, two very fun volunteer projects (more about that later), very little drama (not fond of drama) and it just gets better all the time!  Basically I love my life.

You may wonder what this painting has to do with anything.  It just adds a bit of color and reflects my current mood

So… women.  Last week I was invited by a very nice new friend, to meet some of her women friends.  Normally, that would send me running to the nearest closet. Frankly… and please donʻt share this with anyone, I am a bit shy in medium to large groups, however, the hostess of this gathering had attended Obamaʻs inauguration and was going to share her photos.  I couldnʻt miss that!  As it turned out, I had a wonderful time!  Our hostess was a wildly talented and creative architect and all the women were interesting, dynamic and very welcoming. Big bonus.

Then there are the women in my daily life.  Wonderful friends who have supported me through all of lifeʻs ups and downs.  I have managed to surround myself with artists, writers, designers, teachers, therapists, child advocates, health care professionals, students, directors, producers, agents, committed volunteers, terrific mothers (who have been life saving mentors to me), grandmothers and all around incredible human beings (yeah mentors) who have awed me with their strength and wisdom. These women have suffered the loss of health, beloved family members and confidence, yet they rally with such grace and dignity, it gives me great hope.  I am so proud… and once again blessed to be in the company of such incredible women.

Thank you to all of the women in my life!  You have helped make my life very special.

Susan

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There are several things that I am passionate about… besides my aforementioned family.
I think it is incredibly important to be a volunteer. In whatever way each of us can do it, we need to give back. There are many perks to being a volunteer. You feel warm and fuzzy. You meet wonderful people. Sometimes you create relationships that will last a lifetime. Sometimes you meet wonderful people who will be in your life forever, because they made it possible to meet your daughter. I mentioned Linda in my adoption post. She is the amazing woman who literally changed my life forever. Linda asked me to help her with a project that is near and dear to her heart. Since I would do ANYTHING for Linda, I jumped on board when she said that they needed artwork for a new receiving home for children in foster care.

It was an interesting challenge. It had to be appealing to boys and girls in all age ranges. It also had to be painted on the walls.

We decided on flowers. Hawaiian flowers.

I brought in my dear friends who I met many years ago (yes, while volunteering) and we helped create a warm environment where children could come and feel safe and protected.

Here are some pics.

Before…

During…

and after…

On Saturday they had their open house and on April 1st they will be open for the children.

Please read the newspaper article to learn more:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903210324

And check out the news coverage:

http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/15321/40/

Thanks goodness that there are people willing to invest so much time, money and energy into projects like this. I feel blessed to be a tiny part of such an outstanding project.

Bonus:

Besides feeling warm, fuzzy and energized, I got to spend time painting with my friends and met Yvonne and her staff, who went into an empty house full of boxes and bags last Monday and in one week, created new friendships and a home.

It really doesn’t get much better than this.

Susan

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As you know, I have been working on fire.  I’m actually “on fire” with this whole fire painting thing.  However, I needed to take a time out.  I also needed to use the fire colors for something fun.

As you know, Ipo was one of my first acrylics.

Ipo | Acrylic | 24 x 20

So… I decided it was time to tackle Malia.  Again.

Big Chihuahua

Malia is a 3-1/2 pound Chihuahua who actually thinks she is a Pit Bull.   When we walk the beach, she will go tearing up to all the big dogs trying to get them to cower in her presence. Fortunately the dogs on Kailua Beach are almost all very tolerant of Malia.  They ignore her (or they don’t see her because she is so tiny) and so to save face… since she knows she can’t really beat them, she walks away… head held high.

So… I decided it was time to tackle Malia.  Again.

I have looked into her cute little face for 10 years and while this painting is sweet.  It’s not the complete picture of Malia.

Here is the one I painted several years ago…

..

Malia | Watercolor| 13 x 10

Now THIS is Malia…

Malia | Acrylic | 12 x 12

Now I feel better!

Have a great day!

Susan

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As I told you a few posts ago, I have been working on the painting for the cover of the new novel, “INAUSPICIOUS” by Renee L.K. Eastabrooks.  I’m rereading the novel now.  It is fantastic!  I can’t wait until she gets her blog up and running so can share excerpts with you. I wasn’t going to show you until it was done, but I’ve never painted fire before and I am having so much fun, I thought I would show you a sneak preview.

Fire

It’s so intense.

Now I will go back to playing with fire.

Have a great day!

Susan

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Several people have asked me how I was able to get my painting on the cover of the Hawaii phonebook.

That was truly a lesson in perseverance.

1998 GTE Hawaiian Tel phonebook cover

The first time I visited  Hawaii and saw artwork on the cover of the phonebook, I was blown away.   I announced to Steve that I wanted to do THAT!

Shortly after that, we moved here.  I decided to find out how to make my goal happen.  Now, this is not my usual MO.  I am not very good at self promotion… in fact, I am very… hmmm what’s a good word for fearful, intimidated, resistant… oh… reticent… nice way to put it.  I am reticent about promoting my own work.  To say the least.  However, for some reason I had a burst of self confidence and went for it.

I contacted Hawaiian Tel and found out what the process was.  I submitted photographs of my work and waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  When I spoke to the wonderful woman who was heading up this project with the president of Hawaiian Tel, Warren Haruki,  she kept telling me that they were pushing the selection process back.  I was regularly  in contact, sending her photos of new paintings that I was doing (remember, I had just moved here and was a bit blown away by how stunning everything was) and little notes to remind her that I was still out here waiting… and waiting… yup, and waiting some more.

Finally, several months later  she called on a Friday to tell me that the president was trying to choose between me and another artist.  He would have his decision by Monday.  You can imagine what that weekend was like.

On Monday I waited patiently (patience also not one of my strengths) until she called at 5:10.  It had been a long day.  It took all my self control not to scream in her ear when she told me that Warren had chosen my work.

He chose a painting that he felt represented all the islands and not just one specific location.

A couple of days later, Steve and I went in to meet with him to show him the original and convinced him to let me create another painting that would look better when it was wrapped around both sides of the phone book.

He said okay, as long as I could have it done by the end of the week.  NOW we were on a tight deadline.

And that’s what I did.  I was a painting fool.  Boy the pressure not to mess up was intense.

However, big fun!

Now, the hard part.

I was not allowed to tell ANYONE for 6 weeks until the phonebook was released.  They had a tradition of not telling anyone what the new cover would look like.  So, here I was wanting to shout the news from the top of the Koolaus while doing my happy dance, but I couldn’t tell ANYONE.  Needless to say, it was torture.

The painting was unveiled at The Academy of Art during a reception and exhibition of Hawaiian Tel’s collection of paintings representing 25 years of their phone book covers.  That was very cool.  And very scary.  I was terrified of people gasping and fainting in the aisles when we unveiled the painting. Then I was worried about my fainting if they asked me to say anything.  Fortunately Warren covered for me.

Thanks for everything Warren!

It was a very cool experience.

And an excellent lesson in perseverance, patience and just a bit of hard work.

Susan

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