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Fakes & Forgeries

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About SASLA~

Aaaaah, I'm in a rapture. The precious small packages arrive in the mail with sender addresses of Thailand, Australia, China, France, Canada, Czech Republic and of course the US, and it's like Christmas opening them !

I drool over the cool beauty of lace-patterned Sea Sediment Jasper in it's mellow rainbow of colors; Ammolite with it's fiery ancient dazzle, Mosaic Jasper with it's improbable Picasso-esque patterns and colors, Mystic Topaz with it's hypnotic shimmer; they all just blow my socks off and I handle them as Midas might handle his treasure. I pair them with known quantities, stones most jewelry lovers can relate to: Amethyst,Citrine,Topaz,Ruby,Emerald,Opal,Sapphire now and then a small Fancy diamond or two. I get a kick out of introducing gorgeous stones many have not heard of, like Amazonite, Aventurine,Carribean Larimar,Moldavite,Spessartite,Sphene,Boulder Opals, Koroit Opals,Ametrine and more.

I find the geological formation of each stone utterly intriguing. For example, millions of years ago Ammolite was actually living creatures, sort of cretaceous little buggers. Now they glow incandescently, mysteriously in extraordinary little slices of earth history. They happen also to be almost as costly as Opals, very price-y and, there is a limited supply. Ametrine is an uncommon formation wherein Amethyst and Citrine occur in the same crystal rock formation; the resulting polished and cut stone is spectacularly colored deep purple on one end that gradually fades & slips into a golden yellow on the other, just incredible~

Then there's the silver. God, I love the alchemy of silver and making it obey my command; hammering, twisting,wrapping,soldering,melting and re-shaping; simply luscious stuff, yummy to work with if sometimes tempermental.

When I finish a piece, it is a time for reflection, for considering the metaphysical properties of the stones I used and how they complement each other as well as the aesthetic of the piece. I wonder how the buyer will feel wearing it; if she'll feel as pretty and special as I mean each piece to be.

I am very mindful of the properties of each stone as I work. I reccomend to buyers certain stones for certain issues they may have in their lives.For example, Ammolite is known to help with personal protection and insight; great for law enforcement or emergency personnel, soldiers and others whose work puts them at phsycial risk; it is also well known to enhance insight and even to assist childbirth.

Coral is known to help with diplomacy,peace and intuition. ( I use only farmed coral,natural Coral is an endangered species so DON'T BUY IT UNLESS IT'S FARMED !)

Turquoise is known to be an amazing overall healer, fosters insight and serenity, fights infections and opens the Chakra for love and spirituality.

There are amazingly specific uses for each stone and buyers should choose thier jewelry not just for the color or design but mostly for the properties each stone possesses and use them to your best advantage, making your life more of what you wish it to be.

Well, I have a bench full of sparkling darlings waiting on me to give them a new life, a new shape, something to delight and assist their new owner.

My line, Sasla, is named for my great-grandfather's great grandfather, Valentin Sasla Pfost, can be purchased using PayPal or any credit card ( securely, of course). Write me at Circe2001@aol.com for details, extra photos and pricing.

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NEW~!! SASLA OOAK Fine Jewelry by Susi Franco

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Great Fakes and Forgeries

NOTE- The ptg above this line is the REAL Gaugin; the "forgery" is the one at the top of the page in a frame.

Long time no blog ! I've been a VERY bad blogger, just too frenzied with painting for an opening, then two big shows AND managing two websites; somehow Life gets in the way of my blogging. sigh~

It's one of my New Year's Resolution to be much more attentive to my blog, so be sure to come back and give me a shot at redeeming myself. :)

I thought it might be fun to show you how a painting gets made, or at least, part of my personal work process. For seven years now, I've been doing a big show titled "Great Fakes and Forgeries" at the famed Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, artist-owned and operated, very classy place.

The objective of the show is to invite artists to copy the Great Masters, either as a dead-on look-alike, or a dead-on look alike with clever little twists. One year a guy did one of Van Gogh's many self-portraits, but added a backwards baseball cap and earring to Vincent. The work was so astonishingly accurate that at first you thought maybe it was actually an undiscovered Van Gogh ! ( okay, maybe for only 20 seconds or so, but you get what I mean. :)

The show is great fun and annually draws a monster crowd from all over New England; it is quite a tradition to attend it each year. Some of the artists start a year in advance working on their "masterpiece". Mine took only two months, but here's how I did it.

Deciding what Master to "do" is always the biggest issue for me. I usually do Van Gogh or Klimt and have good success with them, but wanted to stretch myself a bit more this year. After several days researching online and at the library, I settled on Gaugin. I agonized over which painting of his to attempt; I found five I felt I could do a decent job with, then began narrowing it down to the final one.

I read as much as I could find about Gaugin; reseraching the artist is an absolute imperative to understanding their work. I learned lots I didn't know and that helps inform my work.

I began with a red underpaint; I am very fond of the cadmium reds. I use an acrylic underpaint because it acts as a siccative ( drying agent) for the oils, and does so very effectively. Use of an underpaint helps the work take shape so much more quickly, and I never get any bouts of EWCS ( Empty White Canvas Syndome).

Not much for pencil sketching, I usually employ a thinned dark color, like burnt umber and "sketch" with the brush directly onto canvas.

While that's still damp, I begin to add in my masses and shadows and start working up the values. I let that dry a bit and then begin adding the colors for each object in the work. At the very end of the painting, I add the highlights.

It was a hoot framing this painting.

I was so sure I had a 16"x20" frame in my studio that I could use for this show, that I didn't go check it out. Bad artist gets the dunce cap. The frame I was counting on had alot of "show wear" and dings, and the corner joints had separated a bit, not suitable for use as it was.

I had to fill cracks, sand, paint it with gold paint, then a triple-clear coat after the gold dried. I couldn't get the filled-in cracks to smooth out the way I wanted, even using a Dremel craft sander. Exasperated & determined not to spend amy more $$, I had a brainstorm: I'd use some fancy heavy rag content art paper I'd bought and stashed two years ago, sort of decoupage it over the ugly corner joints. The paper was a gorgeous black and gold marble. It came in large 8" squares, which I cut diagonally into triangles. I saturated each triangle with archival bookbinder's glue, and using a palette knife tip, worked each triangle over & around the corners. I hurried the drying time with a hair dryer.

After putting my label on the back, I noticed the frame was just the teeniest bit tacky, so had the genius idea to lean it close to my gas stove fireplace.
Of course, I went in the bathroom to get my face on, talking to Casey ( a little Brussels Griffon dog I'm fostering) as I dressed.

Maybe 5 minutes into it I smelled wood burning. I realized what it was and did a cartoon-character skid into the living room and snatched the ( very hot) frame away from the stove. To my amazement, it hadn't actually burned at all, but the paint was raised into an ornate sort of Art Nouveau design where the heat had made it blister, in a perfectly straight line across the bottom of the frame. I liked it so much that I decided to do the top edge, too, so I let it "simmer" for just a couple minutes.
( this is SO not a job for the faint of heart !)

Once again, the design raised up in heavy bas relief along the upper edge. The frame that had started out a beat up and ugly duckling had now been transformed into an elegant swan befitting my painting. Laughing so hard I had tears, off to the gallery I went. Of course, they admired my "unusual" frame ~~~~

Here are pics for you, of how I did the Gaugin. The painting I chose is titled "Two Tahitian Women On The Beach". My "forgery" is titled "Two Tahitian Women With Tunes", amd you'll soon see why. :):):):)

If you're in or around Newport for the month of February, do stop by Spring Bull on Bellevue Ave to check out my Great Fake and the unorthodox framing I did for it.

'Til next time, stay open, think creatively.~
Warmly, Susi

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A Little Preview Of New Works

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Rainy Days and Mondays---

My problem is not that I don't paint daily, because I do; I just don't always have time to upload work and post it daily. Aaaaaaaaah, for an assistant, my kingdom for an art intern !! sigh~

This little work is part of an 8 painting series I did titled " Rainy Days and Mondays". I had in mind the Mammas and the Pappas, their song. Although the song talks about the melancholy of rain and that dreaded first day of the week, I really liked the lovely melody and the harmonies, and sort of transposed that into the colors I chose. I used a knife and an impasto gel which allowed me to achieve a great deal of texture.

I also employ special iridescent and duochromtaic oils, very price-y but worth the incredible mineral effect they give. If you change positions while viewing the work, the color changes also, from blue to blue-green, or from violet to pink, adds just an amazing dimension to the work.

I wanted to show that rainy days aren't always cold and bleak and grey, that there can be warmth in the rain, that the pit-pat-pit of rain drops is pure music, and inclement weather is beautifully atmospheric, lends to contemplation and serenity.

I always promised myself I'd never become one of those artists that paint the samed durned thing over and over, that I wouldn't get caught up in that obsession. For me and my world, there are just too many wonderful things to paint, to attempt, to prevent ever getting tightly focused onto one subject only.

There are those who'd say painting one subject repeatdely makes you excellent at it. I grasp that concept and even agree, but it just doesn't work for me too often. I'll do series of things, maybe 5 or 6, rarely more than that, and then I'm done with it, onto the next idea, the next challenge.
I think I have Artists's ADD. :):):) .

This 6"x6" work is done on a Gallery-Wrap canvas, a satisfying two inches deep. The sides are painted as well, extending the images around the sides, meaning no framing needed.

This work is 65.00 and may be purchased by emailing Circe2001@aol.com.
I check my mail frequently and will process your secure CC or PayPal transaction asap. Shipping ( in USA) will be 9.95. International buyers email me with postal code for a shipping quote.
Thanks for taking time to look, and hoping you can enjoy some rainy days of your own !!

"The next time it begins to rain, try to forget what your Mother told you about "catching your death of cold", lie down on your belly, nestlke your chin in the grass and get a frog's-eye view of how raindrops fall....raindrops make the blades of grass bend down, then the blade pops back up again....the sight of hundreds of blades of grass bowing down and poppin gup like piano keys strikes me as one of the merriest sights in the world..." -Malcolm Margolin, The Earth Manual-1985

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SusiFranco's Page

Thurs eve,5-8 pm, I'll B @ Main St Art Stroll, Ea Greenwich, in front of Cafe Fresco, come preview my new work~ Warmly, Susi May 3

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Thurs eve,5-8 pm, I'll B @ Main St Art Stroll, Ea Greenwich, in front of Cafe Fresco, come preview my new work~ Warmly, Susi

May 2

I'll B @ Wickford Floral,Wickford 6,7,8; making 1-of-a-kind Fine Jewelry. Stop by & get some bling for Mama!

May 2

SusiFranco left a comment for Beth Johnston

May 2

SusiFranco and Beth Johnston are now friends

May 2

SusiFranco and Jay Egge are now friends

September 9, 2009

SusiFranco commented on Ken Rosenthal's group 'Fakes & Forgeries'

Here's my Great Fake for this year----usually I get all serious about doing a dead-on copy; this year, I went for a little levity, not unlike Sir Jonathan. :) There's a REALLY funny story about the frame I put on this work; remind me to tell you s…

February 8, 2009

Profile Information

I live in:

Washington County

Art on Display

www.SusiFranco.com

www.FineArtBySusiFranco.com ( open but still under construction)

Susbscribe to My Blog-Art As Meditations-Soothe The Spirit,Feed Your Eyes-

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Medium

Primarily oil, but often use acrylic for underpainting; infrequently do WC or pastel. I also do stained glass "paintings".

About Me:

Although I have a background in the arts, primarily music and writing, I painted sporadically, maybe one work every year or so. It was a love I did not have time to indulge very often , related to the responsibilities of rearing six children alone and working as an RN to support them.
Seven years ago my entire life was catapulted from its' usual path by a severe back injury which left me totally disabled, unable to work. Overnight everything I believed in was drastically altered; it seemed my life was stuck in re-wind. The rigors of constant pain and lost independence pushed me into an abyss of depression I was uncertain I had the strength to combat. Because I am allergic to most narcotics, I was also dealing with issues of chronic pain I was at a loss to cope with.
My sister remembered I had always loved to paint, and deeply concerned for my well-being, started sending me student-grade art supplies and subscriptions to various artists' journals to occupy me. It worked. The very first time I put brush to paper, several hours flew by and I realized how diminished my awareness of pain was. I started to study the journals voraciously, painted daily and totally immersed myself in the practice of art. I remembered what it meant to be happy.
I realized I had to make a decision whether to live or die, and I am not ashamed to say Art saved my life, provided me a desperately needed focus that took me outside myself, made me see my world from a different perspective.
What started out as pain-relief blossomed into first a passion and now a way of life, a new career. Art returned to me the desire to live and thrive and create, equipped me with the tools necessary to survive.
As you look at my work you are seeing my physical pain, only transmogrified into another form, just as ice assumes another form as it melts into water. Art is my vehicle for discharging the negativity of suffering; I believe it can do that for not only the artist, but the viewer as well.
My style tends toward Post-Impressionist with a strong Fauvist influence, and I am quite fond of Abstract Expressionism. I use old world classic techniques to create contemporary works. I make serious commitment to the study of art; I move in evolution through various periods in my work and absorb something of each one, further flavoring my art. My style is always changing; I am quite purposeful in that regard. I often show in Europe, won an award in an international exhibit in the International Bird Show in Bejing, China in ’05 and a second int’l award in The Associacion Internationale Ruiz Aznar in Granada, Spain, in ’06. My work was recently chosen by “Extreme MakeOver: Home Edition” for their Warwick, RI project, I am very proud to say. I‘m fortunate to have collectors from Oregon to West Virginia, from Maine to Florida.
Although the three dimensional qualities of oils consistently astounds & delights me, I find excitement in the potential of any creative medium and am always experimenting, learning, attempting.
Thank you for your support of living artists, and I leave you with the words of Pablo Picasso:
"Art washes away the dust of everyday living'....

I can tell you with authority, Pablo was right.

Warmly: Susi Franco

Website:

http://www.FineArtBySusiFranco.com

SusiFranco's Photos

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SusiFranco's Blog

EXTRAORDINARY painting video-You OWE it to yourself to watch this !!!

This fella's name is Ben McPherson, and this link is to a You-Tube video that will just blow your mind completely, in a GOOD way; in fact,in the best way possible. It takes a few minutes, but the further you get into it, the "wow" factor ups. You think it is an oil portrait demo in the beginning, but stick with it....well worth the pay-off. :) Pay attention to the title, it is an important hint.
Warmest Regards to all~ Susi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLHxcwVXW34&feature=related

Posted on December 12, 2008 at 10:39am —

URGENT ARTIST'S RIGHTS ISSUE-PLEASE READ !!!

In one of the darkest hours of human history,one of the children's barracks in Auschwitz, an astounding art drama unfolded. This is where children were kept before taking them to the gas chambers. Dina Babbitt was an artist in the camps at the time and one of the captive barracks captains asked her if she would paint a mural on the walls of the barracks to brighten up the lives of the kids. She chose Snow White knowing that if she were caught doing it she could be in big trouble. After the mural… Continue

Posted on September 2, 2008 at 10:41am —

http://www.inews3.com/play.php?first=Susi%20&last=Franco

Ahem----I decided to run for President. Take a peek at the above link to my video, see whatcha think......

:)

tee heee Susi~

Posted on August 28, 2008 at 4:38pm —

The Art Community in RI

Well, I think this site is just the cat's pajamas. Mr. Rosenthal, an accomplished & brilliant fine artist I am proud is from RI, seems to care very much that we have a fertile place to commune. I endorse that mightily; I love networking with other artists; every conversation with an artist can teach you something, and I'm always hungry for learning. Plus, I just adore the energy an artist exudes; it is a beautiful thing and I inhale it like oxygen.

I often wonder which came first: that love… Continue

Posted on May 10, 2008 at 11:45am — 13 Comments

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At 4:39pm on August 14, 2008, SusiFranco said…

WOW~ Have I been away a while or WHUT ???!!! I've missed you all, missed the amazing interactions and stimulating networking.

Hope you can forgive the absence; been very busy with the usual seasonal art fests, then heavily pre-occupied with marketing my new site, completing a new interior design client's project ( which snowballed from a bathroom to three rooms !), and out-of-state family coming to visit.

It has been an unusually hectic summer for me, and I'm looking forward to the quiet contemplation of the fall and winter.

Let's see...news...well, PBS has kindly asked me to be a Guest Auctioneer again this year. I think they liked my ad-libs. :)
Oh---a site I license my work to made a huge sale of four of my paintings to an apartment building owner in sunny Cal, VERY happy about that !
I am working on a new writing project, which will suck up alot of time in the coming months. I'm also determined to carve some time out for me-painting...you know what I mean, when you paint something just for yourself, not neccessarily for sale, but just because the subject intrigues and challenges you ? I have several of those lined up, and am itching to do them before I must commit myself to writing and then to holiday painting.
I was honored by being asked to serve on the Advisory Board of Discovered Artists.com, a wonderful new site that I am very excited about. They actually keep sales statistics, the number of views each of your works gets, etc. It is a very professional online gallery, dedicated to promoting artist sales ( as opposed to just using up bandwidth). I HIGHLY recommend it, and if you decide to visit and sign up, please tell Brian ( the CEO) I sent you.

So much has been happening...just this morning I was delighted to be chosen for interview/site feature by the PayPal Online Merchant's Network, for the success of my new site ( which is STILL being added to !)

You may notice that I've posted a little orange widget to allow you to subscribe to my Blogger Daily Paintings As Meditations blog...hoping you decide to visit with me through my blog, and you must write a quick note and let me know what your experience was with it.
Sooooooo...what's been happening with YOU ?? :) Hollah back !~
Warmly: Susi

At 4:15pm on August 14, 2008, SusiFranco said…: Subscribe in a reader

At 11:20am on June 10, 2008, Diane Hanna said…: Hi again Susi, What is a StarGazer? And thank you for telling me about Urbis--I'll take a look at it. Your kind words are so reassuring--I'll look at them whenever I need a little shoring up! That and your radiant picture of Italy that would warm anyone's day from the inside out!

At 10:05am on June 7, 2008, Marjorie Ball said…: thanks. especially the idea about postcards. I have my work cut out for me before leaving!

I will bring my paints and digital camera, but it will be very minimal. I am visiting my grown son and he and I will be spending as much time together as we can. He'll be working days, though, some days, so I will wander.

still working on my website so that will be done before I go also. I'm looking forward to it.

At 10:35am on June 6, 2008, Diane Hanna said…: Hi Susi, Thank you so much for your kind words and for telling your brave--and inspirational--story. Your work is exquisite. The paintings of the Italian landscape and also the American prairie are luminescent and full of wonder.

At 11:11pm on June 5, 2008, Marjorie Ball said…: Your story is very moving. I hope you stay focused on the art, which has been such a life-saver for you.

I have been painting most of my -- years, and still am only in 2 local galleries. too scared to stick my neck out further. So, congratulations on your hard work and sheer guts in putting it out there.

I will be traveling to Taiwan to visit my grown son this summer. Any tips for a neophyte on appropriate ways to show some of my art to people over there?

At 6:06pm on June 5, 2008, SusiFranco said…: Richard Grovenor, huh ? I feel bad you had to live that way. :):):):):) It happens that he is one of my personal heroes; every time I do a show at Spring Bull, I have to stop and gaze at his work, sometime to the point that they look ready to ask me to leave.
:)
I looked at your design projects...gorgeous, gorgeous gorgeous~!! I write for the magazine "So RI", and did a story on house/home staging back in April, I think was the issue. Too bad I didn't get to interview you ! Seems you & I have alot in common. :) I'm guessing that is your home in the photos ? I think you'd get a kick out of mine. I've been doing interior design for years for family and friends and myself, of course; faux painting, the whole shootin' match, love it; if I were to have a hobby, that'd be it. I always wanted to make a living at it, but after getting my Nursing degree, just couldn't find time to go back to school. Now, of course, I'm an artist full-time and seem to have even LESS time to study anything but Art. LOL
Your work is simply bliss !! I could just move right in and live in those pictures, they suit me to a tee !! :)
What a pleasure to make your acquaintance !

PS---I am working on my second book, might interest you: how we respond to color and can use it to have happier, more successful lives, called "BrushStroke Zen". I've been studying Faber Birren and Pantone. Awesome resources.
More later and thanx for your lovely note~
Warmly: Susi

At 5:36pm on June 5, 2008, Judith Perl Rosenthal said…: Hi Susi..
First, thanks for joining my group and for your honesty. Your story is fascinating. It amazes me how certain things that happen to us sometimes lead us to incredible opportunites we couldn't have imaged ... ain't life grand! My life as an artist has taken many twists, turns and detours. When I was 12, I started painting with Richard Grovenor. I studied Graphic Design and Dance/Movement Therapy in a few of my college careers. Right now my passion is interior design, but I am interested in design in all forms, what color and design communicate and how it affects us every day in many ways ...
I've finally had time to sit down and really explore this site. I love, love, love it!
Best to you,
Judith

At 11:25am on June 5, 2008, SusiFranco said…: Thanks, Steven....I can't spend that much in the run-up to a show, but I definitely will in the near future, save me a bundle !! Thank you for posting this info !
Warmly:Susi

At 10:43am on June 5, 2008, Steven A. McGarry said…: Susi,

The name of the company is Inkjetfly.com. The CIS system that I have at present is called the "Bigfoot" and has the capacity of 4 oz. per color, which is roughly the equivalent of 10x the amount of Epson cartridges. The cost for the entire system including ink is $169.00 all instructions to set it up are included and it is a piece of cake. Video instructions are also on the website. Here is a link for your Epson 2200 and the CIS system: http://www.inkjetfly.com/index.php?cPath=180_96

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