I belong to several online Artist Communities and am often asked how/where to get a website that's designed just for artists that is also not wildly crazy price-y. The party bonus here is that you can also PROMOTE, MARKET & SELL your work through this site with just a couple mouse clicks, no pain, no strain. A 12 yr old could do it, no fancy-schmancy techie tricks needed, just pretty much point n' click and upload your images, BAM ! You're live and thrivin'.


Check it out if you need a website, it's awesome, I'm tellin' ya~ :) Just click on the little white rectangle below that says "Artist's Websites". :)

P.S.---this is an Oil on Masonite Panel I did of one of my favorite Parisian scenes~ Hope it puts a little France in your day~ :)

I've seen alot of artists asking questions lately about where to get an effective website...I'm posting this link below for you to go take a buzz around & look....it has worked very well for me, give it a peek, see what you think.....Best Wishes, Susi

  ---just a bit of what I've been doing lately, seeing as how I never seem to have time to update my dear, neglected blog. *sigh* Thank you for looking, though... :)

http://fineartamerica.com/pressreleases/susi-franco-signed-to-art-publishing-company.html


 I am delighted, thrilled, dazzled and not just a bit overwhelmed to announce I've been signed by an Art Publishing Company who will be offering my work for sale on major dot-coms such as Amazon, Overstock & Wayfair, to name a few. It is a huge commitment of work for me, tons of image-editing I must do to optimally prepare the images, but what happy, happy work !!!

I suppose I would want to say, in humble gratitude, that it is possible to start from nothing, with nothing more than your dreams, and create something substantive of them. Don't give up, don't let the negative messages in your head dissuade you, just stay true to your goals and keep on plugging. Other people have success, why not YOU ?! :)

My latest project---hope you get a smile out of it. :) The blizzard was waaaaaaaay too scary, I had to make some fun of it & have a little laugh on myself.  :)

So, I've started making textile designs ! These were inspired by my ancestry...two years ago I learned I am descended from French, Scottish & English Kings; my heritage goes all the way back to Charlemagne. This was a starling revelation and it has inspired my work. I love researching their eras, from Medieval times to the 18th century, seeing the architecture and clothing. This line is a result of that research, my own take on it, so to speak. These are wonderful as wallpaper, fabric, wall decals and can be used to make lamp shades, throw pillow,chic quilts, potholders etc, if you're a DIY'er like me. :) Enjoy~

Source: spoonflower.com via Susi on Pinterest

Artwork - FINE ART BY SUSI FRANCO

Artwork - FINE ART BY SUSI FRANCO


Just a l'il peek at one of my websites---hope something here pleases your eye~ :)  Just click on the link above and THANKS for your interest~ :)

     
So, 2013 has started off with a bang, a sort of creative hit-the-ground-running.

 
I am looking into a couple writer-artist residency programs, feeling STRONGLY that being somewhere I don't have the responsibilities I have here on the farm may allow me the creative energy to attack both my book, "Forespoken" as well as further explore the endless possibilities painting affords me. Tasks like shoveling snow, indoor winter plant care, photographing anything that catches my eye, the continued interior design refurbishing of my cottage, just answering the durned phone & talking to family-friends are all activities I mightily enjoy, but they also tend to steal alot of hours out of my day.

The photo below is of one side of my dear living room I enjoy so much, see the new Mac my son Nick gave me for Christmas ?! :) I sit here on the daybed ( only partly showing) sipping my freshly ground & brewed coffee to write.  (Excuse the blue heating pad, joint disease demands I keep it nearby, not glam, I know )

 

 I need to radically draw in my focus and intensify my efforts to get something of substance done with the 300 or so pages of notes on my book getting translated into actual text as well as furthering my oil painting self-study program.


I often find myself happily distracted from work by re-arranging rooms/flow/energy, refurbishing a piece of furniture, fine cooking, being with my animals, geneaology research,studying foreign languages, taking iTunes courses from Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge in Creative Writing, Fine Art, Anthropology, Law and more. Reading is a HUGE need, I must feed the brain and I love the wordy anesthesia books are. This is of course, lovely, but doesn't get my book written does it ? Below is a shot of my farm from the last big storm of 2012, happened last wk. LOVE the blue bias snow has~  You see, of course, how easily I am distracted. *sigh*

I think sometimes people think I'm kidding when I say I am a recluse. I really, truly am, you know. I love and cherish my solitude, I get SO much done within it's precious confines ! I think my personal motto is that phrase from Wordsworth about "the world is too much with us/me". There are times it feels so....heavy...to have to talk to another human being, especially when I'm loading-feeing the brain with images,words, sensory input like the long blue shadows in the snow on my farm, the way the trees softly roar in the winter winds, the flash of a glittering whirlwind of snow that trails the train as it whizzes by the end of my property...these things arrest my attention but also demand my quiet and fixed contemplation. Sometimes, it is too much work for me to speak because my brain is so joyously busy, caught in it's own rapture from the marvels of Nature and Literature and Art.
( that doesn't sound too awfully crazy, does it ? :)
I suspect I am hugely ADD because I don't tolerate distractions well, and there are SO damned many of them ! :) The smallest things cause me a paroxysms of solitary delight, like frozen drops hanging from a winter-black tree branch...and I feel it is only fitting to worship that moment, to galvanize it in my image catalogue. That takes time, peace, quiet in order to process it. I often feel my relationship with Nature is intimate, ardently private, as if I am the only one seeing these wondrous sights, and that too demands time.

The image below is of a corner of my bedroom; this is what I awaken to each morning, and I find it glorious. I adore the dappled light, the shadows, the reflection the items on the dresser have in it's lacquered finish. You see how a person can get caught up in this, yes ? :)

 
I have "x" amount of days-wks-months-years to get my work done before, as my ancestor Valentin Sasla Pfost said, "God takes me from time".  The pressure of this is very real, very urgent. I realize many people don't get that, either because they're not at the stage of life I am or perhaps do not have the To-Do List I have, not saying that's a bad thing, mind you. I likely put more pressure on myself to get projects completed than anyone else would ever assign me.


It feels very important to complete this work. I have so much to do and get such intense satisfaction & fulfillment from the doing & completion of it.


Having said all this, I'm hoping you'll be able to forgive me if I don't answer the phone as often, don't respond to emails right away and maybe lay off the frequency of social networking for a while.


Yes, a residency program, so I am not pulled away from work by all the beauty I am so blessed by & besotted with here at Al Di La.




Happy 2013 .

http://www.zazzle.com/susifranco*">SUSIFRANCO


Well, despite my fervent vows to do better, I have been a VERY bad blogger. * sigh * No matter how determined I am, the day whizzes by, becomes another week, then suddenly a month has elapsed and I still haven't updated my blog. Boogers. 

Sacre Bleu ~!!

  Does it get me any slack that a 6 acre farm is ALOT to keep up with all by myself ??? How's about the 3 dogs I run around after ? My twin grandbabies keeping me happily distracted from work ? That I'm still cleaning up from Hurricane Sandy ?? No ?
Arrrggggggggggggggggghhhh.~

Well, I've got something to show for my absence, at least...go take a quick peek at the store I'm building on Zazzle.com, using the link at the top of this post...I've made up a number of pretty cool products using my Artwork, such as iPhone covers,laptop sleeves,Droid covers, notecards & greeting cards, Postage stamps,which the US Post office authorizes,totally legit, very cool. 

If you make a purchase, please be sure to come back and let me know how you like it, hear ? I'm all about quality control, Baby. :)

Back to the drawing board. More later...like, a few weeks max...seriously...I really mean it this time.

A Slideshow of my Interior Re-Design Biz---ENJOY~

Impressionist & Contemporary Oils & Interior Designby Susi Franco Fine Art & Interior Re-Design

PrevNext

ALLOWING FOR GROWTH

Despite my careful ministrations, my lovely Hibiscus tree did not survive it’s indoor  wintering. It’s bony branches reach futilely upwards, grasping for…? It is a stark grey skeleton that suggests failure.

Late Spring I planted Morning Glories in it’s soil & placed bamboo skewers for it to climb upon; soon the blossoms will yield Technicolor Joy.

I must be more like this Hibiscus tree; able to support a new way of being, a new essence which allows for thoughtful growth.

The Blood of Kings

Ancestral Crests from
Bruce,Campbell,Stewart,DeVermandois,
Capet & Our Family's Other Royal Forebears by Susan Bruce DeVermandois  Pfostaka Susi Franco | Make Your Own Book

This is my newest book, "The Blood of Kings", which took two full years of research to be able to write. I am adopted, was given up at one year of age to abusive Appalachian parents; I did not attend school some days because I had no shoes; went in the trash to recover food scraps for myself and my three younger sisters. Imagine the stun of shock to learn, after I found my biological family & began working on geneaology research, that I am directly descended from a long direct bloodline of  many generations of Scottish, French & German Kings, Queens, Dukes, Countesses, Princesses, Barons and even a couple of Emperors. This little book provides a concise peek at the royals who populate my ancestry, whose very names make me weep, understanding that finally I do belong to a family, one more extraordinary and wonderful than I could ever have dreamed. I invite you to preiview it...although I wrote it for my children & grandchildren, you may find it historically interesting too. It is proof positive that fairy tales DO come true~ :)

Susi Franco in TIMES SQUARE !! CLICK "collect" to help get me on the digital billboard !

Susi Franco

Hi again~  This is a special ArtWanted.com competition. If you click on the link above and then choose "collect" ( it's FREE !) my work will be shown in a slideshow in Times Square on a 26 ft high digital billboard ! This is a very special opportunity I am hoping my friends and collectors will be able to assist me with. All you have to do is click, no purchases, no giving away your info, none of that, just click and then "collect"~ THANKS so much for helping me with this project~
Warmest Regards,
Susi

a l'il sampling of what I'm up to....

create & buy custom products at Zazzle


---just click on it to take a closer peek.... :)

another CUSTOM iPod Touch cover for you I designed---

Imagine iPod Cover by SUSIFRANCO
See other iphone cases

you can click on the link to buy this cover for your iPod Touch or as a gift for someone special~ :)

ARTSY FARTSY MOVIE F'YA~ :)

FIRST SNOWFALL at AL DI LA FARM & STUDIO

hope this puts a spot of lovely in your day~ :)

What I'm up to now----- :) A PostScript to Prior Post on Enamelling Glass----

it

This started out life as a glass "bowl" chandelier...I got it at a yard sale a while back. You can read the post below ( with the window) to learn more about the technique of enameling glass, I just wanted to show you this chandelier, used the same enamels & technique as the window seen below.

To be able to see the design THROUGH this bowl, I had to spend a couple hrs and a box of Brillo scrubbing off billions of micro-speckles of cream-colored paint the manufacturer had sprayed on to make the glass more opaque, the exact opposite of what you want in any painted glass project.


After I got all the micro-speckles off, next came a thorough wash & dry, making certain there were NO fragments of dust or lint, which the enamels will pick up, colorize and magnify.
The pic below shows my sketch in the bowl, done with Pebeo glass markers. The paper sketch I mapped out for the design is standing behind the bowl. It's very important to be certain of your overall placement BEFORE you begin; sketches really help~

Here she is after about 14 hrs of painting. It has been thermally cured ( described in next post) and is ready to hang~  I used iridescent enamels to give some of the flowers a little more definition.
As a rule, you work with only one color at a time. This view is looking down into the bowl.

To see the design as it will be when it's illuminated, I put it on top of a pasta pot and photographed it from below.

You can see the difference in color intensity when viewed through the lit glass...it is much fainter, which is why you must build many layers of color to get a rich depth after it's lit. If you paint in pale colors or too few layers, it will be very difficult to see your finished images through the glass.

This is not a technique for subtleties...if you want your enamel work to show up, gotta make it bold~

Like Nailing Jello To A Tree----

Well, now that Santa has gone the hell back where he belongs ( ahem) I can get back to work as usual~  :)

I am pretty much constantly exploring new techniques, although in some cases they may be new only to me, such as enamel-on-glass. The technique has been around since the Byzantine Era, but I've only recently resumed playing with it, tried once before & failed miserably. :(

It's kinda like nailing jello to a tree at first, til you arc through your learning curve, but after that it becomes very enjoyable to create your piece IF you can be patient & meticulous. These are enamels, not paints and they are formulated strictly for painting on glass; they are about the consistency of light cream, hatefully thin, and exasperating to control. But let me begin at the begin at the beginning---

First thing is to get your piece of glass. For me, it's primarily old wooden windows, which people discard when they do their renovations in Spring; I religiously log a presence at each construction site, begging for the old windows, my hands held palm up saying "Could I have some more please, Sir ?"  :)

Usually they're happy for me to take them, unbelievably, no one wants wooden windows any more.

So I bring 'em home, clean 'em up & store them until I'm ready to work on them.  usually sand the wooden frame smooth, almost always paint the wood, too. Although I usually do that first thing, I was so excited to get busy with these enamels that I left the wood finish til later. Not a good plan, really, means taping paper over the painted designs to protect them from splatters. But do-able....

I make it a point to thoroughly scrounge through yard sales & consignment shops for old glass light fixtures, the bowl sort of glass chandeliers or flat glass light fixtures are especially good for a new life as hand-enamelled glass objet d'art~ 

I put the window on stryofoam blocks while I work on it, and tape white paper to each pane so I can best visualize the design. You can paint on glass without paper taped to the back but it's diffcult to see your design because of the window's reflection. It is imperative that you clean each pane or glass piece THOROUGHLY, any little wee bits of gluck you leave behind will show up prominently in your enamels !

Because of their extremely light viscosity, you must paint in layers to get any depth to the colors. That means using a hair dryer between layers to dry each layer as you go. That's where the patience comes in. If you make a mistake with these enamels,you must immediately correct it because being so thin, they stay "open" a short time, and although you use a dryer to move things along while working, the first thin layer will scare you with how fast it dries. Take home message: correct errors quickly as you go !

You can use these enamels ( Pebeo Vitrea 160) to paint on any glass surface, really. Only one catch: to make the images permanent, you must cure them ( these are called therma-cure enamels) with heat,which entails putting them in a cold oven and allowing them to bake at the specified temp for 30-40 mins. When the piece has completed it's cure time, do NOT take it out of the oven; instead turn off oven, open the door and allow the piece to come to room temp on it's own. You risk having the entire piece shatter/crack from sudden change in temps from oven to much cooler room temp, esp during cold seasons.

After that happens to you once, thereafter you'll find something else to do for a couple hours while you let it cool as described. ( guess who had to learn that lesson the hard way ??)

When your piece has cured and cooled,you can then hang or display it and it'll be pretty much impervious. To clean, use a damp, wrung paper towels and gently wipe it down. Yes, it really is impervious, but why risk damaging your art work ?? No scouring pads, of course. 

Hope you enjoy this mini-tutorial and thanks for taking time to look~  :)