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“Confetti Cavallio,” day four’s painting, her first folk art piece. Courtesy photo |
Comments (3)Truckee's van Gogh
Artist Susie Alexander completes 40 paintings in 28 days
By Lis KorbPublished: March 11, 2010
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DiStill Life
This is one of those months that I wish I had 8,000 instead of 800 words to write about art since my subject is just so inspiring, talented, prolific, fun, and a million other happy adjectives. I’m talking about Susie Alexander, the Truckee painter who embarked on a serious adventure last month: to best van Gogh’s legacy of 75 paintings in 70 days by churning out 40 in 28 days.
Alexander, primarily known for her murals, had some time off after returning from a commission in Europe. “I thought, ‘What have I always wanted to do?’” she says of her decision to devote February to painting purely for pleasure. And her sons convinced her to share her experience with the world. “It’s like if you sing in the shower but no ones hears it,” says Alexander. “I decided to celebrate my gift, and let others enjoy it, too.”
So Alexander set up shop in Truckee’s Brickelltown, devoting some 12 hours or more each day to her endeavor, and inviting the community to stop by her studio. She decorated her makeshift space with colorful rugs and homey lounge chairs, and even kept a sleeping bag in the closet in case she was too tired to drive back to her Russell Valley home. When I first popped in on her back in mid-February, she was ecstatic. It was 12 days in, and she had completed 17 paintings (and we’re not talking small scale nor technically simple — she challenged herself, experimenting with a range of styles, mediums, and surfaces). “Everyone asks me if I’m tired yet,” she said then, “but I say I’m just getting warmed up!”
And, boy, was she. Her contagious enthusiasm and daily updates via email, her website, and her Facebook page produced a following of some 500 fans, myself among them.
Day one, she started off strong, painting the 30- by 48-inch “250,000 Souls Ascending at the Same Time,” which she dedicated to Haiti. Ninety percent of its sale will benefit Haiti relief efforts, and 10 percent will go to Tahoe Forest Hospital.
Day four she explored folk art with “Confetti Cavallio," inspired by a figurine she picked up in Mexico. Day six she took on an impressionistic style for “Squaw Valley,” and confessed via email, “I have a hard time keeping my palette under control because I love ALL the colors — probably why I'm a terrible cook; I throw in every spice on the shelf.”
Alexander’s daily updates were endearing and confessional; it was like watching a reality show pan out. Would she complete them all in time?!
By day seven, her dirty dishes were piling high, and laundry was overflowing. On day nine, though, she was finding her groove. She wrote, “I now believe everything I've done artistically for the last 20 years has brought me to this, painting all these ideas and images — I could spend a lifetime exploring each one!”
For painting number 30, on day 21, she dabbled in watercolor (instead of her traditional acrylic paints); for her 35th piece, she traded her representational style for pure abstract. And for her final work, she threw a big, gawking ear (a nod to van Gogh) on a bird she was working on when too many people came in the door for her to finish it seriously.
I visited her again on March 1, the day after her victorious open house, which was, surprisingly, her first art show ever. It was the first time she admitted to being tired. When I asked her what she’d miss most now that her painting binge was complete, she surprised me by saying the social aspect: “I will miss the daily interaction most, of 500 people online waiting for me. I felt a responsibility to that. Halfway through, the curveball was that I was entertaining. There was this expectation for me to produce something new and different, which stretched my imagination in a new way.”
Alexander’s followers became collaborators in her work, as well as revealers. For “Aspen Trees #1,” she took a neighbor’s suggestion to add a bear claw mark on one tree. A Facebook fan from India opened her eyes to seeing Ganesh (the elephant-headed Hindu god signifying the clearing of obstacles and learning) in the wildfire smoke she painted in “Horrible Beauty.”
On Feb. 28, Alexander’s Facebook post read: “Besides feeling grimy, I am feeling sad sad sad that this is over. I will miss dipping my paintbrush into my tea instead of sepia by mistake, I will miss rushing to share the latest creative explosion, and then falling dead asleep fully clothed — ski hat, jacket, and all.”
We’ll miss you, too, Susie!
Alexander will continue to work at her Brickelltown studio space through March. Visit her at 10382 Donner Pass Road, Suite 4; numerous works are still available for purchase, including the Haiti benefit painting. She is currently working on prints of her 40 paintings, as well as a book documenting the adventure. See the full project at van-goghingthedistance.com. Contact Alexander at (530) 277-3669 and susiealexander.com.
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