SUSIE'S QUEUE - a painter's daily diary by Susie Gregory
a daily musing about my family, my life, but mostly about art - how i will try to paint every day - even while my house is falling down around my ears and my five grandchildren are clamoring to paint with me. thank god my husband likes to cook and that he and nellie and ruby, our golden retrievers, have infinite patience. we'll see.....
Thursday, May 20, 2021
and finally...Lindsey George
so this is Lindsey George!.. the last in this seven-portrait series... I had so much fun doing this for Rosemary.. and she was so patient with me through a long struggle! I have to say it's not the easiest thing capturing these little peeps..but those eyes...those eyes...
Monday, May 17, 2021
and here's Keller!
so here's Keller.. more of those gorgeous blue eyes!.. unbelievable!.. it was fun to work from photos of them at about the same age.. they're all much older now and so Rosemary is happy to have these memories of a certain time...
Sunday, May 16, 2021
this is Owen
So this is Owen!.. another gorgeous child with those mesmerizing eyes!! We are home from a week on St. Simons and have so much to do...re-entry gets harder and harder.. for one thing.. we're not used to it with covid..no place to go...and for another ..EVERYTHING is harder the older you get!..but i am so happy and grateful to be getting older!!!
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
This is Lilly...
So this is sweet Lilly.. all of there paintings are 6x6 before framing.. My friend Rosemary has finally hung them on her wall and i think she's happy. We just spent a week in our old stomping grounds, St. Simons Island, Georgia where we played four rounds of golf, ate and drank, played tons of mah jong and i cleared out a bunch of paintings from Glynn Art while they are repainting. They'll be going back but for now they are staying with my friend Jiffy. She's been visiting the island for many, many years and has just moved there.. she feels like she's on "permanent vacation"! And, as we're just returning from a week away, there is so much to do in the way of re-entering. And then there's napping too!!
Sunday, May 2, 2021
next is Charlie
so this is Charlie.. same gorgeous blue eyes.. they don't have the dark rims around them as much as all the others do.. such gorgeous babes! i managed to get that Milo commission done and now we are taking a small break..i may be able to post but i may not..stay tuned@!
Saturday, May 1, 2021
emergency commission!! this is Milo
So this is Milo.. as you can see, he's a very serious "blue nose pit".. i think i might like to have him guarding ME!!.. i'm so used to golden retrievers. .definitely NOT the best guard dogs.. unless you want them to lick someone to death!!.. so the reason i say "emergency"... my friend Carrie texted me on Thursday, asking about a commission of her dog as a birthday present for her hubby.. i said sure...we chatted about size, etc.. then i had the forethought to ask: "when IS this birthday, anyway?" she laughed and said "Sunday!!"...so.. miracle worker that i am...i said let's see if i can get this done for you!!..and i did!!! that's part of what i love about what i do!! her momma picked it up this afternoon..in plenty of time for the big birthday celebration tomorrow!.. so much fun!!!
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
and this is Ella Rose
So here's the second in our series.. This is Ella Rose, another gorgeous girl!.. Honestly, the eyes on these peeps...mesmerizing! I had some fun today.. I ventured out to Timbergate to play golf with the girlies.. There were only four of us but it was perfect!!.. I took a lesson last week from Jeff Smith.. hadn't in a few years... he's now based at Timbergate and we worked on my grip and stance and holding my angle and using my body...when it worked it worked.. but when I flipped..as is my wont..just same old same old!.. I highly recommend him!!.. great guy and great teacher! I did get one birdie..which was nice!! maybe some painting tomorrow..maybe some yardwork... we'll see what the weather does!
Monday, April 26, 2021
Time has Flown!!! and here is Liesel framed
.. So this was the very first part of a very long project. I posted just the painting before but here she is framed. My friend Rosemary has been more than patient as I've gone through this last painful six or seven months. She's been patient and supportive and really caring. I was determined to finish this project and, in the end, she even asked me to frame them for her. I packed up all seven framed pieces and she received them..in good shape.. over the weekend. She's happy! So I'm happy too!! I have to leave soon for my second three-month checkup.. bloodwork, scans and I'm staying positive!.. Thanks to all who've supported me along the way! I couldn't be more grateful!
Thursday, October 15, 2020
i guess i need to come clean...
well peeps...this has been one long haul...one year ago today i noticed blood in my urine...when i got in to see my urologist, the first thing he asked was " did you ever smoke?" the answer is yes.. i started in 1963, my freshman year in college.. in fact, the way my parents found out..i had to have emergency appendectomy surgery near the end of the year.. my parents drove to pittsburgh from south bend and didn't make it in time but they were there in the recovery room.. as i was coming out of the anesthesia, the first thing i said was "does anyone have a cigarette?" oops!...and i was a good smoker.. i loved to smoke.. in fact,, i would go home from parties if i was running out of cigarettes.. i smoked through pregnancies (we didn't know better back then..), illnesses, flus..back then we smoked in restaurants, air planes..you name it..
and then on october 23, 1983, almost 20 years from the day i started, God had another plan for me..i developed something called palatine neuritis..(i can still feel the sensation today)..i was visiting my mom in south bend..the nerves in my palette got inflamed.. may have been staying up late the night before doing "elephant calls" with two of my best friends.. may have been the scotch, the cigs, or the chocolate donuts i had the next morning..but i, for the first time in 20 years, was actually physically incapable of smoking! pretty sure God had other plans for my life..(my mom died in 1985 at age 62 from heart disease)..so here's the cautionary tale.. i smoked for 20 years but i quit almost 40 years ago...didn't matter...smoking is probably the main causative factor in bladder cancer!
i'm sorry... but this may get long...trying to make a long story short, then...i had a biopsy both in october and again in november..they showed carcnoma in situ in the wall of the bladder.. not having progressed to the muscle.. so i underwent 6 weeks of immunotherapy called BCG..they instilled a TB bacterium into my bladder..i had to hold it there for three hours..rolling around so all sides of the bladder would get their fair share.. then every time i peed, i had to drop 2 cups of bleach in the potty and wait 15 minutes before flushing.(dangerous stuff, TB..)..then i had to wait another six weeks to let my bladder die down .things seemed to be looking good.. in the meantime i was consumed by my roving indiana project..(sort of life-saving actually..)painting sheep, sheep and more sheep.. and some alpacas, of course...many of which i posted here earlier this year..so i had a check up in april.. it actually was NOT good. they found the cancer had progressed to the muscle.. so i had meetings with my oncologist, had a port placed to facilite blood draws and chemo.. i started chemo in july.. was scheduled for four rounds but only made it through three because my kidneys' weren't tolerating the platinum-based chemo that worked best against this type of cancer..so my surgery was moved up by about a month..september 24th. we missed some of the best fall weather ever!!). i had what amounted to three radical surgeries in one seven hour surgery. they removed all my lady parts that could conceivably cause me any trouble down the line..then they removed my cancerous bladder and 36 lymph nodes in the area.. THEN they fashioned a new (neobladder) out of a portion of my small intestine. i was in the hospital for nine long days..some of them in excruciating pain due to the harvesting of all those lymph nodes.. i had two nerve blocks to try and ease that pain..and i still had a recurrence the day i got home on the 3rd of october..so i've been home since then.. very slow going i have to say..i nap a lot.. i'm supposed to be up and walking several times a day..i do stairs when i can..i'm down to using just my own leggers.. no cane or walker.. i DO use a walker at the airport where we take the girls..(our two goldies) every afternoon at three..(they seem to wear watches!).. i am quite the sight hobbling around for what started as one lap and now i'm up to two and yesterday two and a half..very windy yesterday.. i had visions of myself being blown up into the trees and trying to make my way down.. did i mention i've lost a good deal of weight?.. they warned me it could be 20 pounds..and my hubby is feeding me like a queen!!..
anyway..my surgery was three weeks ago today.. seems a lifetime ago.. and there were times, we've both admitted to each other, when we weren't sure we'd ever be back in our home together.. but here we are!..it's going to be a long road back..i have follow-up appointments scheduled with both my local oncologist and my surgeon at Simon cancer center in indianapolis. hope to be getting my catheter out then but in the meantime we need to irrigate it 4 times a day,,.now that i've posted this..(and i will NOT post to facebook).. maybe i can keep you a bit more up on what's happening.. i also have a caring bridge site ..www.caringbridge.org/visit/susiegregory i also am far away from getting back to my studio..and i have some projects i know i need to get done.. but my clients have been very understanding..i WILL be back and we will look back on this as just a really bad dream!! .love you all and thanks for listening!!
Thursday, June 18, 2020
one more doggie...this is ANNIE!!
Sunday, June 14, 2020
"Major"...a golden smile!
Saturday, June 13, 2020
here's another..."Muttley"
Thursday, June 11, 2020
"Toto"
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
"Ellie"
Monday, June 8, 2020
"Lacie"
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Harper and Henry
Saturday, May 16, 2020
"Liesel"
Monday, April 27, 2020
"Max" for Mike and Judy
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
"Gus"
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Saturday, April 4, 2020
"Shadow"
Friday, April 3, 2020
"Dorie"
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
"The Rest Stop"
Sunday, March 15, 2020
"Piper"
Friday, March 13, 2020
back to work...with "Bacon"
Friday, March 6, 2020
today's Roving...
so yesterday i was at village yarn in zionsville and chatted with some lovely people.. knitters all..they have super comfy chairs for the regulars to hang in..then i was with nomad yarns in plainfield at a fabulous coffee house..timber city coffee roasters.. then today i traveled to black sheep in noblesville where i left two sheep paintings on consignment.. then on to tabby tree weavers in fishers.. and this photo is of my new friend sandi and her "just have to have this" painting " white faced alpaca"!.. as i've always said.. i LOVE when a painting of mine finds a good home!!... and sandi is a delightful person.. and tabby tree is all about weaving.. they have real LOOMS there and she tried to help me understand the process..i think this is the only loom/weaver shop in the mid-indiana area.. people come from all over to access her expertise!!!.. all in all it was a good day and i'm finishing up tomorrow at mass ave knitters in indy.. i'll be ready to rest for a bit and then get back to my regular commissions.... and you know who you are.... 😊
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
still Roving...
Sunday, March 1, 2020
"Wayne"
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
"Leister Ram Yearling"
Saturday, February 22, 2020
"Attitude!!"
Friday, February 21, 2020
Susan McCall's sheep
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
"Growing up in Colonial Williamsburg"
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
another Roving Indiana painting: "Ram"
Monday, February 17, 2020
"Sleeping Lamb in Colonial Williamsburg"
Saturday, February 15, 2020
delivery for a client "In the Pasture"
"Silly Alpaca"
Sunday, February 9, 2020
"Ole Blue Eyes"
also.. here's a link to the participating shops with hours listed: http://www.rovingindiana.com/services/
Friday, February 7, 2020
"Kiss Me, You Fool!"
so here's another original for the yarn crawl.. this is 12x24 and framed..i'm not sure this can be turned into a note card but i sure like it as a stand-alone!!..here is a list of participating yarn shops..hope i'm not leaving anyone out!. i'm starting to figure out the days i will be at some, if not all, of them..i'll list that in coming days!
Always in Stitches 1808 conner st. noblesville,
The Black Sheep yarn and fiber 1355 s. 8th, noblesville,
Broad Ripple Knits 6510 n cornell ave, indy,
Clay Purl, 58 e. main suite 3, nashville,
Mass Ave Knit Shop 862 virginia, indy,
Nomad Yarns 218 e. Main st, Plainfield,
Shabby Sheep and Ewe 1113 16th st. columbus,
Star Struck Cat Studio 3130 meridian parke dr, greenwood,
Village Yarn 209 s. main st. zionsville,
Willowes Yarn Haus 226 w. main, greenfield,
Tabby Tree Weaver 9832 north by northwest blvd, fishers
Thursday, February 6, 2020
another Roving painting
so this is "Two Sheep".. it's 14x11 original oil on panel and will be framed. i am in the process of finding out all the shops included in the yarn crawl and i'll post them here soon.. meanwhile.. you can check out the "roving indiana" facebook page.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
another "roving Indiana" painting
this fellow is 9x12... oil on panel. he will be framed and available during the yarn crawl or before if someone wants to grab him up!!. i've been working on my website all morning and i think it's finally ready to go!.. www.susiegregoryfineart.com i've had so much fun working on this project the past several months and it's finally HERE!!!!
Friday, January 31, 2020
the big reveal!!!
Monday, January 27, 2020
another hint....
Sunday, January 19, 2020
super secret....
Saturday, January 18, 2020
"Hogan"
Monday, November 25, 2019
Ziggy and Stardust
so this started as a donation..size 6x6..and the fellow wanted a larger size..so now this is a Christmas commission!.. i think i'm finished but still waiting to see if some tweaking is needed!
Sunday, November 10, 2019
"Kava"
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
"Star" for my friend Steve
Sunday, October 6, 2019
a special commission
Monday, July 1, 2019
The Art and Soul of Bloomington
so I painted these three pieces for the annual Art and Soul of Bloomington. the top one.."Practice, Practice" The Hoagy Carmichael sculpture (24x20) was juried in to the show) the other two.."The Birth of Venus (24x24) in the Showalter Fountain and "Freshly Shorn at Marble Hill" (30x40) will be at the gallery as well..just not in the special show area!..i obtained permission to paint these lovely sheep from the folks at marble hill .. a local sheep and heritage wool farm located at 8101 S. Victor Pike in Bloomington...The opening for this special show is this Friday at 6 pm. I'm hoping to see some of my peeps there.. come out if you can..i'm sure the show will be great.. only 25 pieces have been juried in and I'm delighted to be a part of this!