tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668510083398460242024-02-19T10:12:10.942-05:00Trusting DelightField Notes on the Adventure of Being MyselfSukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.comBlogger199125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-31499402287517607042012-02-18T08:38:00.000-05:002012-02-18T08:38:35.538-05:00Big, Bold, Colorful Paint: what happens when the weather is gray
Praise to the Morning (work in progress), oil on canvas, 30" x 30"
When the weather is gray, the primary colors come out. At least that's what happened this week. That, plus I finally decided to put color to the large (30" x 30") canvas that's been standing around, waiting, for months.
I've been wanting to dive into the large white square but have been holding back. Unsure. A bit Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-91171380298768324232012-01-03T16:28:00.000-05:002012-01-03T16:28:21.773-05:00Year's End: Last Radishes of 2011, paint, colors, radishes
Radishes on Blue Dinner Plate, © Sukie Curtis, 2011, oil on canvas
The same bunch of radishes lasted me through several paintings and a few of my classes at Artascope Studios in South Portland, Maine. I haven't checked recently, but I have a hunch they are still occupying some space at the back of the refrigerator, much faded in color and certainly more puckery than smooth-skinned.
Though I Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-89574407743367394202011-12-24T08:36:00.000-05:002011-12-24T08:36:31.510-05:00Night of Radishes! Holiday joy! painting radishesRadishing, oil on canvas, © 2011, Sukie Curtis
Yesterday a friend and fan of my paintings sent me a link to the morning's installment of the "Writer's Almanac," Garrison Keillor's daily NPR program, which had noted that last night was the Night of Radishes, Noche do Rabanos, in Oaxaca, Mexico!
Here's the brief description: "Tonight in Oaxaca, Mexico, folks will be celebrating the Noche de Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-58182847372292855982011-12-18T11:01:00.000-05:002011-12-18T11:01:35.909-05:00Artful Holiday Giving (shameless commerce division): Art, Painting, holidaysRadishing, 8" x 10", oil on canvas'Twas six days before Christmas, and all ‘round the placethe thoughtful delayers were starting to pace."Yikes! I've done nothing!" was heard here and there."If only I'd purchased those radishes or that pear!" Pear on Yellow, 8" x 8”, oil on woodOK, maybe that's a bit of a stretch. But just in case you're still wondering what to do for a special gift or two, Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-51655894869980301922011-12-03T09:14:00.000-05:002011-12-03T09:14:37.145-05:00Gone Radishing Again: painting, radishes, colors, delight
Radishing, oil on canvas, 9x12", © Sukie Curtis, 2011
More radishes! This time with a decidedly Christmas-y feel, now that we're in the season of red and green decorations.
One fellow painter on Facebook commented that this could be "red boulders in a landscape;" do you see it? The red boulders aren't so convincing, but the radish foliage does have the look and feel of hilly shapes. AndSukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-70103699880961610402011-11-21T08:20:00.001-05:002011-11-21T11:43:39.216-05:00When Death Comes: Mary Oliver, oak leaf shapes, oil paint, red leaves
Oak Leaf Shapes, oil on canvas, © 2011, Sukie Curtis (unfinished?)
Yesterday, on a very mild November day, with a gang of tufted titmice scolding us and nuthatches chattering from the overhanging branches of evergreens, we buried the ashes of my mother-in-law in a cemetery in South Weymouth, Massachusetts. This recent painting, inspired by an oak branch in a bottle, seems somehow appropriate toSukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-12224506554732534222011-11-05T06:53:00.000-04:002011-11-05T06:53:15.557-04:00Painting Radishes 1Small Square Radishes, oil on canvas, © 2011 Sukie Curtis
I paint radishes more than I eat them. That's just the way it is!
I can hardly resist buying new bunches of them at the farmers market, even when I have an older bunch at home. But I've learned that they keep an impressively long time in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, and can be my painting models and muses many times over, Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-48717536428985117842011-10-14T11:06:00.001-04:002011-10-14T11:17:03.506-04:00Sneak Preview: Paintings, Yarmouth Art Festival
Radishes with a Peach, oil on canvas, 10" x 10"
In The Garden, oil on canvas, 30" x 24"
Peonies in a French Vase, oil on canvas, 12" x 12"
Here's a sneak preview of three of my paintings that will be on display and for sale at the Yarmouth Art Festival, October 19 to 22, sponsored and hosted by St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Yarmouth, Maine.
If you're in the area, please come Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-89952068210453941892011-10-06T07:33:00.000-04:002011-10-06T07:33:05.668-04:00Painting Make-over: Sharpie and More Paint!Radishes, © 2011 oil (and Sharpie) on canvas
One of the great outcomes of teaching a class called "Expression in Paint" at Artascope Studios in South Portland is discovering what matters most to me in my own painting. What elements are (at least currently, since things do change) so essential to my own way of expressing myself in paint that I neglect them to my peril.
I can't say exactly how thisSukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-55135453876124251682011-10-01T08:51:00.000-04:002011-10-01T08:51:51.768-04:00KISSing this Blog Hello Again© Sukie Curtis, 2011, ink on paper
I know it's bad form (and just plain boring) for a blogger to comment on how long it's been since she has blogged, but sometimes it shocks me to see just how long.
And though I didn't grow up as a Roman Catholic (far from it, in fact, as a Unitarian!), I suppose it's my twenty-five-years-plus sojourn in the realm of Christian religious practices that accounts Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-25957709622054299782011-08-17T15:47:00.000-04:002011-08-17T15:47:23.553-04:00Showing Up with PaintPeonies in a French Vase, © 2011, oil on canvas, 12" x 12"
"Are you willing to show up with your paint and just 'be' with whatever happens?" a coach once asked me years ago when I was feeling in something of a slump with my painting. I had internalized someone else's negative opinions about my paintings, handing over all authority (and responsibility) for my art-making in the process. I very Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-9122372546844454882011-08-04T10:25:00.000-04:002011-08-04T10:25:15.502-04:00In the Garden with PaintIn the Garden, © 2011, oil on canvas
I delivered this painting yesterday to the Yarmouth Frame Shop and Gallery, just in time for their next show, "Dog Days of Summer," that opens Saturday, August 6. If you happen to be near Yarmouth, Maine on Saturday, come by (720 Route One) the Gallery for an opening reception from 4 to 7 pm. The show features work by thirty artists, so there's plenty of Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-1813063971894425842011-06-20T21:11:00.000-04:002011-06-20T21:11:30.550-04:00Ten Random Things about my DadI meant to write this yesterday, but I figure that only one day after Father's Day (which we didn't really celebrate in my family when I was a child, maybe because it hadn't yet gained official status) is good enough. I don't really know what my "ten random things" will be; this is a blogging adventure in which I trust I will find out.
1. My dad's birth and death were near each other, both Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-50041162404749871572011-05-08T09:34:00.000-04:002011-05-08T09:34:42.389-04:00Ten Random Things about my MotherWell, it's Mother's Day, and this morning I read a little piece that Caitlin Shetterly wrote about her mother for Oprah's magazine. (I didn't know Cait was now writing for Oprah, since I don't read O, but that's great for Cait!)
It got me thinking about things my mother always says, and it makes for a strange list, very much impacted by her diminishing memory. Our phone conversations (I call Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-20198953161014960862011-05-06T17:52:00.000-04:002011-05-06T17:52:21.458-04:00More News from Bekah in KenyaHere's another installment in my daughter Bekah's blog from Kenya. As you will discover, this one is about her group's trip to Tanzania about a month ago.
Meanwhile, she and her group are now back on the coast of Kenya in the town (city?) of Malindi on the shores of the Indian Ocean. They will be there several days for the presentation of all of their Independent Study Projects--the culmination Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-63175583908435957202011-05-04T09:57:00.000-04:002011-05-04T09:57:00.194-04:00Art is for Mothers and May and...
Pink Door, Yellow Fruit, ©Sukie Curtis, 2011, oil on canvas
This painting is one of several that will be on view and for sale at the Yarmouth Frame Shop and Gallery at 720 US Route One in Yarmouth, Maine beginning this Saturday! If you are in the area, be sure to stop by for the opening reception between 4 and 7 pm on Saturday, May 7.
I am one of twenty-eight artists (!) whose work will be Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-28509476893944076942011-04-14T09:27:00.000-04:002011-04-14T09:27:22.746-04:00Mud Season in Nairobi: more news from Bekah!I thought to check Bekah's blog this morning, knowing she has been back in Nairobi for a while (most recently from Tanzania). And I was pleased to find a new post!
There's so much going on--glimpses of Swahili lessons, what's big in the news in Kenya that barely earns a blip on the screen here, and what inspired this particular group of college students to have a sleep-over to watch The Sound ofSukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-30215215840394927952011-04-05T16:07:00.000-04:002011-04-05T16:07:34.246-04:00So, what's spiritual direction, anyway?
Sunflowers, Late September (detail), ©Sukie Curtis, 2011
So, what's "spiritual direction," anyway?
Spiritual direction is collaborative, personal detective work, or like a treasure hunt in which the treasure to be found is you--and the Spirit who dwells in the depths of you.
It is giving ear and voice to the conversation that your life keeps inviting you to have.
How is spiritual directionSukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-49942812099068856942011-04-04T20:53:00.000-04:002011-04-04T20:53:07.760-04:00Progress Report: What do you do?I realized this morning with a small jolt and a sliver of regret that yesterday was an important personal anniversary for me and that I'd forgotten to mark it in any way. I hadn't paid much attention to the date, and it just didn't really sink in until today.
What anniversary? The third anniversary of my "leap to freedom," otherwise known as the day I renounced my ordination and returned to the Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-21173040280995227652011-03-23T10:05:00.000-04:002011-03-23T10:05:24.599-04:00Yoni: Remedial WorkOne of my Facebook indulgences is to play a slow-paced game of Scrabble with an old friend. I often wish I were more of a Scrabble regular--real-time Scrabble, that is, with the enjoyment of the lovely wooden tiles and actually holding letters in my hand while I search my imagination. But Scrabble on Facebook allows me some helpful cheating, like checking the dictionary, and being able to move Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-31668866439317691202011-03-21T11:34:00.000-04:002011-03-21T11:34:27.440-04:00Spiritual Affiliation: LIFEThanks to a conversation of comments on my last blog post (comments that were posted on Facebook--feel free to find and "friend" me there!), I've made changes to my profile for the Spiritual Directors International directory known as the "Seek and Find Guide". Among the comments that helped to convince me to go back and choose that "Other" option that I had paused over before were these:
"Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-196969210453115792011-03-19T11:02:00.000-04:002011-03-19T11:02:24.860-04:00Interspirituality?or Other?Last month when I officially joined Spiritual Director's International and was filling out my online profile, I got stuck at what I imagine for many would be a simple question to answer--my "spiritual affiliation."
The profile form provided an extensive drop-down menu of choices for indicating one's spiritual affiliation. By extensive I mean 56 different choices! And more than forty of those Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-46134091243739778852011-03-17T14:03:00.000-04:002011-03-17T14:03:44.586-04:00More from Bekah in KenyaMore news from Bekah in Kenya! She is back from her weeks in the village of Shirazi on the coast near Mombasa. And there are two new blog posts that bring us up to date on that experience.
Swahili lessons beneath a mango tree, eating sweetened spaghetti, watching inventive children at play, and the sounds of goats and the Muslim call to prayer. Bekah says in many ways it was a "regression into Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-77632671354114018412011-03-15T10:08:00.000-04:002011-03-15T10:08:49.129-04:00Falling on my Knees, Thinking of JapanI've actually got lots of posts lining up within me waiting to be written. At least that's how it feels some days. As if this not-writing has gone on long enough and until I get going again, I'm going to be a bit stuck.
Something about letting creative forces flow where they will. Even if I think I ought to be or would rather be painting just now, if I keep stuffing these writing ideas, sooner Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-466851008339846024.post-75843616378370856762011-03-02T11:17:00.001-05:002011-03-02T19:29:11.581-05:00Spiritual Direction: hanging my shingle Pink Tulips, © Sukie Curtis, 2011
I think it was probably five or more years ago that a friend of mine first suggested that I join and list myself with Spiritual Directors International, since spiritual Sukie Curtishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15261127654652802027noreply@blogger.com4