Susan Gainen's nanoscapes: 5 Things you need to do after a painting is finished

nanoscapes: created with Painstaking Exuberance

Making art is a solitary activity for me. I don't count Phil-the-Cat who chases erasers across the canvas or Max-the-Cat who thinks that sable brushes are toys. I hope that you will join me as I explore creativity, find inspiration, and make paintings that make people smile.

I discovered watercolor in 2006, spent some summer days by the Mississippi River painting water and trees, realized that I would never happily share space with insects, moved my painting indoors, and never looked back.

The original watercolors are called nanoscapes because I started painting on postcards and only reluctantly moved to larger pieces because a friend said "I love your work, but I can't put a post card behind my sofa."

I create the "other visions" by scanning tiny original watercolor paintings into Photoshop and making digital magic.

The dozens of "small friends" who inhabit or visit my studio have their portraits and stories at their own website, which is also the place to find The Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul.

What is the School of Painstaking Exuberance? It describes how and why I work. Painstaking Exuberance is a 5-step process that begins with a detailed pencil drawing. I then paint every line with Davy's Gray, paint inside all of the shapes, outline each shape with contrasting watercolor, and then outline the whole piece.

That's the "painstaking" part. That I love every single minute and every single brushstroke is the "exuberance."

Every painting is a journey. And every painting is fun.

Susan Gainen
susan@susangainen-nanoscapes.com

Nanoscapes & Small Friends on the road

Powderhorn Art Fair
With The Art Shoppe at Midtown Global Market
August 2-3, 2014

Art Shoppe at Midtown Global Market
Minneapolis
Artist of the Month - July-August 2014

UCare Skyway Center, Minneapolis
Artist of the Month - July 2014

Anoka County Library - Mississippi Branch
May-June 2014

SE Hennepin Library (Minneapolis)
30 Whimsical Creatures
1/16 - 3/29/14
Opening reception: 1/25 1:30-4:30

WARM Juried Members Exhibit
Celebrating Women
College of St. Benedict
10/11-11/22/13
Two Cave Rhinos

Saint Paul Art Crawl
Lowertown Lofts Apartments
10/4 - 10/6/13

Vine Arts Center Member's Show
Get Behind the Work
9/28-10/26/2013
Philodendron 3

Minnesota Watercolor Society Fall Show
Colonial Church, Edina MN
9/8 to 10/25/2013
Paper Mosaic Parrot #3

Exhibitions Without Walls
Your Choice Juried Exhibition
Ax-Man Gizmo 10th Gear
8/19-9/17/2013

Powderhorn Art Fair
(In the Vine Arts Center booth)
Minneapolis, MN
August 3-4, 2013

10x10x10 Tieton
Tieton, Washington
Ax-Man Gizmo Third Gear|
8/10 to 10/19/13

Como Fest, St. Paul
7/20/13

Twin Cities' Roots, Rock &
Deep Blues Music Festival
Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis
July 13, noon to 7

Hopkins Center for the Arts
Lost Cave Paintings "Off the Wall"
7-9 - 8/12/2013

St. Agnes Bakery, St. Paul
Featured Artist
July 6, 10-noon.

Hopkins (MN) Farmers Market 2013
Saturday mornings 7:30 - noon
6/15, 8/17, 8/31, 9/21, 10/5, 10/19. 10/26

St. Anthony Arts Festival
Saint Paul, MN
June 1, 2013

Northstar Watermedia Society
11th Annual Art-on-a-Line
May 16-19, 2013

Oakdale (MN) Library
32 nanoscapes & small friends
April-May 2013

Art-for-Shelter 2013
Benefit for Simpson Housing Services
8 Tiny Wild Parrots of Saint Paul

Hopkins Center for the Arts
Spring Member Show
Puzzle Pieces
4/25-6/5/13

Minnesota Watercolor Society
Spring Show
Cave Horse
4/4 - 5/4/2013

"Straight Trippin"
Altered Aesthetics Gallery, Minneapolis
Fractured Glass 3, All the Colors & Paths 1
2/28 - 3/28/2013

River Walk Artists LLC, Grand Forks, MN
1st National/Intl Juried Art Show
Lost Cave Paintings of St. Paul
Jungle Cat #1
2/27 - 3/22/2013

5th Annual Saint Paul Winter Carnival Art Show
Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul
Jungle Cats 1 & 2; Cave Penguin
Black Dog Coffee Cafe
1/1 to 2/3/2013

Vine Arts Center Holiday Sale
Minneapolis, MN
12/15 - 12/16/2012

Northstar Watermedia Society
2012 Fall Show "Reflections"
Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul: 2 Rhinos
11/15-12/8/2012

Minnesota Watercolor Society
2012 Fall Exhibition: Finding Minnesota
Lost Cave Parrot of Saint Paul
9/30-11/2/2012

Hopkins Center for the Arts
2012 Fall Members Juried Exhibition
Lost Cave Paintings of St. Paul: Jungle Cat #1
9/22-10/20/2012

Hopkins Center for the Arts
Hopkins, MN
25 small friends go "Off the Wall"
6/23 - 7/14/2012

Northstar Watercolor Society
Art-On-A-Line Show & Sale
nanoscapes & small friends
MN State Fairgrounds Fine Arts Bldg
5/18 - 5/20/2012

Manhattan Arts International
Online Juried Competition
Positive Art That Lifts the Spirit
Winner, The Sail #1
Online: 5/14 - 6/30/2012

Exhibitions Without Walls
"Abstractions"
Finalist "Round Boxes Dots"
5/1 - 5/31/2012

Square inches of Love:
benefit for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Trilobyte Four By Five (small friend)

Still Point Gallery: The Abstraction Distraction
On-line exhibition: 11/16/11 to 2/14/12
Balloon (nanoscape), Purple Glaze (nanoscape)
Trilobyte Four by Five (small friend)

Richeson 75 Small Works 2012 Meritorious Selection
Grand Green Dragon

Northstar Watercolor Society Fall Show
October 31 - December 3
Century College, Woodbury MN
Stained Glass Cat

Minnesota Watercolor Society Fall Show
September 25 - November 4
Grand Green Dragon

Wisdom Walk 2011 - Woodbury (MN) Parks & Rec
Watching Paint Dry: A conversation about creativity
October 26, 2011

FrameWorks Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Rings, Links & Connections
July 9 - November 5, 2011
11 Rings & Links Paintings

R.H. Stafford Library, Woodbury, MN
"Getting Started With Watercolor: a workshop for kids!
July 12, 2011

Savage (MN) Arts Council Spring Juried Show
June 10 - July 14
The Tall Silo of Iowa

Still Point Gallery: Never Enough Nature
On-line exhibition June 1 - August 9, 2011
Nebraska Fields from the Air
Indiana Fields from the Air

Art on a Line, Northstar Watercolor Society
May 13-15, 2011
MN State Fairgrounds Fine Arts Building

Hopkins Center for the Arts Spring Members' Show
Hopkins Center for the Arts
April 21 to May 22, 2011
Peter Pangolin (small friend)
Long Square Rings

MN Watercolor Society Spring Show "Rejuvenation!"
Minnetonka Center for the Arts
April 7 to May 5, 2011
Long Rings #1

R.H. Stafford Library, Woodbury, MN
January 10-February 28, 2011
Solo Show: Geometric Abstracts & Small Friends
Artist's Talk & Demo: "Watching paint dry can be fun"

Sunday, January 29, 2012

5 Things you need to do after a painting is finished | Kyle V Thomas Fine Art

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