New painting, getting ready for Radium Girls exhibition, and Kombucha goodness...

I've got a new Women in Water painting in the works....I stretched and gessoed the canvas myself and decoupaged tissue paper (and my last remaining piece of tissue-paper thin dress pattern), so I can get the desired surface to paint on.

Five of the seven Radium Girls masks....the exhibition is coming up quickly! We install on
Monday, 1/13/14!

I got a Kombucha Start Kit from Cultures for Health. I am so excited to be making
my own Kombucha, but it will take awhile....

The SCOBY in the sweet tea (with white vinegar to inhibit bad bacteria). This will need to sit
30 days before it is reactivated.

Beautiful Snow and Other Things....

So, it's a beautiful day here in the Northern panhandle of West Virginia, that is, if you like snow. Here are some pictures of our backyard and the farm property. Under that, is a picture of a new Woman in Water: Corrine and the Far Away, which I hope to finish soon. Right now, I'm copyediting a book about Russia's Golden Age of Literature, so art production has been a bit slow here. I'll be getting back into the full swing of things next week!

A pic of the beautiful snow. Yes, yes. There is a toilet in our back yard. I know. What can I say?
Do we sit on it during the summer when we're outside? Sometimes, yes. Yes we do.

Another picture of the beautiful snow. I missed the turkeys. They were
picking through the field on the hill about 15 minutes before I got the camera.

New Woman in Water drawing: "Corrine and The Far Away" in progress!

Fred in the new coat Grandma got him for Christmas. Jasper has one, too,
but everyone was more interested in eating dinner than modeling fashions.

A glimpse of part of the Radium Girls installation....

Some Pics from the Studio!

Here are some pictures of the Radium Girls masks in relation to the
fabric that will be part of the January installation at Future Tennant Gallery.

Another shot of the Radium Girls masks.... two in the back are unfinished.

Here, I'm working on a linocut for the Pittsburgh Print Group online gallery.

"Rocket Girl", a framed, mixed media work, is on its way to a
collector in Mission, Kansas.

"Women in Water: Freckled Mrs. Goldsmith" is also on its
way to a collector in Mission, Kansas! Hooray!!

Featured Artist in Boxcar Poetry Review!

I am honored to be the featured artist in the Fall 2013 issue of Boxcar Poetry Review! Check out the issue's wonderful poets by clicking on the link in the literary journal title just above.

A screen capture of the Boxcar Poetry Review front cover!
Unfortunately, I couldn't get the whole front page in my screen
capture, so check it out at the link just above (click on the literary
journal title).

"Ms. Osbourne is Forlorn" is also part of the Fall 2013
Boxcar Poetry Review. You can see her at BPR here.

Radium Girls exhibition, Woman in Water, and Light Grey Art Lab's 2013 Art Swap!

Working on Radium Girls exhibition pieces. Under the larger drawing may look
familiar. It is a page from the graphic novel in progress,
titled "The Color of Silence is Radium Green".

This drawing will be part of the Radium Girls exhibition that will appear
at Future Tenant Gallery this coming January.

Another "Women in Water" drawing is underway!

Savannah is participating in Light Grey Art Lab's Holiday Art Swap!
My art swap partner is Minneapolis-based illustrator Sam Lorang.
I can't wait to see what he creates!

Things are happenin'!

This week, while waiting on a new manuscript I'll be copy-editing, I've been
working on finalizing some of the drawings for the Radium Girls exhibition,
which will appear in the windows of Pittsburgh's Future Tenant Gallery next
January. I'm not in the studio here, but in the living room, watching all those fun
court shows (like Judge Matthis) that run on network television during the day.
So entertaining!

"Magic Snail" has been accepted into Limner Gallery's
"Small Works" exhibition. The show will run between the end of
January and the end of February at Limner's Hudson, NY location.

"Women in Water: Pisces" is on its way to a collector
in Kansas, along with....

"Women in Water: Jeanette Dreams of Laundry". They
should arrive today!

Some studio shots....what's been happening lately...

More Radium Girls masks are underway...also, I've been making some linocut prints
in anticipation of my Pittsburgh Print Group meeting in mid-November.

So I've been really busy lately, especially since I've begun copy-editing manuscripts for a press in New York (Yippee! It's a really nice gig.). However, today, I got some studio time, and I'm continuing to work on the Radium Girls exhibition pieces. Here are some studio shots!

Shown here is the under-painting on the Radium Girls masks. I build color up layer by
layer.....these both have a ways to go.

And a long view of the studio space....

More Radium Girls Masks!

Mask #3 is complete, except for its protective top-coat, and Mask #4 is underway...

You can see Mask #3's freckles a little better in this image.

Mask #5 fresh from the oven!

Images from the Studio - Radium Girls Masks....

 Both last week and this week, I've been working on elements for the January Radium Girls exhibition at Future Tenant. Just below are two of the seven polymer clay masks that will be part of the exhibition....

New Radium Girls Drawing and homemade pizza for dinner....

Another drawing for the "Radium Girls" exhibition installation that will appear
at Future Tenant Gallery in Pittsburgh in January 2014

 So I'm continuing to work on pieces for the Radium Girls exhibition that will appear at Future Tenant next  January. I actually finished this image on Monday, while waiting for the gas man to check for leaks in Pittsburgh. I'm working on other images now, which I'll share very soon.

Yesterday, our 'boyz', Jasper and Fred, went to Oak Ridge Boarding Kennels for a 'spa treatment'. Well, let's face it, Jasper,  a shepherd collie mix, is a veritable hair bag, and we have him shaved so I don't go insane chasing dog-hair-tumble-weeds through the house with the vacuum every day. Angelo and Jody, who run Oak Ridge, have a chicken coop and a wonderful garden, where Angelo grows fig trees. He shared some figs with us, and I made a 'dessert pizza' with them (pic below!)

Pizza for dinner! At left:  Pesto eggplant and the queso blanco we made on
Monday night and at right: queso blanco with figs and honey. YUM!

What's happening in the studio right now....

Working on pieces for the January Radium Girls exhibition at
Future Tenant Gallery in Pittsburgh!

Making Pies....

...well, not literally (at least not this week anyway...making pies in my house happens quite often though, especially during blackberry season in July and August). I happen to like Patty Griffin's song, "Making Pies" and, as part of my "Women in Water" series, I made a "Making Pies" rendition. A little surreal, I know. But here it is, with the song just below.

Savannah Schroll Guz "Women in Water: Loretta and Pies in the Sky" (2013),
ink on paper, 9"x12"

North Carolina, New Women in Water, and New Linocuts

 So! After an extended hiatus on the blog here, I will explain why I've been away so long. Michael and I went to Asheville, North Carolina for our anniversary, and we had a fantastic time. We spent two days visiting Biltmore (had an amazing dinner in their dining room, a picture of us on the veranda just before we went downstairs for our amazing four-hour dinner is just below); visited the amazing Battery Park Book Exchange (and champagne bar), got to take a train trip on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad; went gem mining at Rose Creek Mine in Franklin, NC (and had the best banana pudding and cream of broccoli soup ever at the wonderful Sunset Diner nearby); went to the Ruby City Gem Museum; and spent some time at Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley, NC, and were lucky enough to be in town for First Friday, when all the galleries and shops were open late...among a ton of other things. It was a wonderful trip, making the 9-hour drive totally worthwhile. Asheville is a beautiful town (I was there for an undergraduate research conference back in 1996--eek! That's nearly 20 years ago.) There are so many young people and so much great energy. I can't rave about it enough! Also, a shout out to the great Julie Armbruster, whose amazingly cool work I got to see outside her (sadly, closed--we stopped in on a day when she wasn't working there) studio in The Wedge Co-op, above the Wedge Brewing Company in the River Arts District.

In more local news, I am really excited to announce that an installation of my Radium Girls art will appear in downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District in January 2014. Hooray! I'm working on the pieces that will be part of the exhibition now. More on this to come...exciting details on the where will follow soon, I promise!

Also, (so much good news!) some of my Women in Water works will appear in an upcoming issue of Boxcar Poetry Review. I am so honored to be part of this wonderful online literary journal!

And finally, I've started making linocuts, and I've applied to join the Pittsburgh Print Group, so I can join other printmakers. It's been years since I've made prints, and although I've used some etchings and aquatints as the basisfor some of the work that now hangs at GalleriE CHIZ, I haven't actually made any new prints until last week, when we got home from vacation. It's a new-ish and exciting medium for me and the possibilities seem endless.

Now, some pictures....

Michael and I on Biltmore's veranda in Asheville, North Carolina just before our
fantastic anniversary dinner.

Me outside Biltmore, George Vanderbilt's gorgeous mansion, messing with the lion. :-)

Michael and me in the outdoor palm court at Biltmore. We meant to get those Blue
Ridge Mountains in there, but our heads are sort of in the way. :-)

Michael and me in Bryson City, before boarding the Smoky Mountain
Railroad train trip.

"Women in Water: Evie with Pitchforks and Hammers"
New! Finished while we were on vacation....

"Gravity's Rainbow" (2013) linocut print on handmade paper

"Starry Night" (2013) linocut print on handmade paper

"Tribal Stripes (2013) linocut print on handmade paper

"Women in Water: Louisa in her Fur Coat" (2013), ink on paper

Two New Women in Water and One in progress...

Savannah Schroll Guz, "Women in Water: Ms. Osborne is Forlorn" (2013), ink on paper

Savannah Schroll Guz, "Women in Water: Freckled Mrs. Goldsmith" (2013), ink on paper

New Women in Water drawing underway....

 

New Drawing - Women in Water: Jeanette Dreams of Laundry

"Women in Water: Jeanette Dreams of Laundry" (2013) ink on paper, 10" x 10"

Available at Saatchi Online: http://www.saatchionline.com/art/Drawing-Pen-and-Ink-Women-in-Water-Jeanette-Dreams-of-Laundry/539877/1710829/view