Suzanne

Suzanne Havens is a mixed media artist who lives on the Gulf Coast of southwest Florida.

Jul 082013
 

In between rain storms that have given us over 13 inches of rain in the past week, the plants in our garden continue to bloom!

This Gardenia has been blooming since mid-April.
This Gardenia has been blooming since mid-April.

8-Lily-of-the-Nle-with-Bea
Many bees visit the agapanthus.

7-Monarch-and-Penta
This monarch sipped pentas as if they were cocktails.

6-Butterfly-and-Penta
This butterfly enjoys the pentas as well.

5-Canna-cu
I like how the sky shapes compete with the canna lilies for my attention.

4-Amaryllus-cu
Jody’s amaryllis bloom close up reveals such beautiful colors.

2-amaryllus
Jody’s amaryllis flowers are spectacular.

1-hibiscus
Double red hibiscus blooms continue to enchant me year after year.

May 312013
 
Ascension explores light energy without form

Ascension explores light energy without form

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To me the light is like flames, wings, petals, waves and clouds–always moving, affected by surrounding colors, joyous and playful. My watercolor painting is installed behind glass and therefore reflects images around it, which makes the matting seem much more complex than when seen locally. The paintings on the sides are dimensional, with layers of water color collage rippling out. Its installed dimensions are about 40″ x 80.” Usually I add paintings to the gallery, but when I updated the gallery software, it no longer accepts my uploads, so until I can find some remedy, I’ll just introduce you to my creative expressions through new posts.

Mar 112013
 

An eagle caught my attention as it flew over the pond behind our house.  Soon it dove and disappeared behind the ridge and appeared to be checking for interlopers.

An eagle caught my attention as it flew over the pond behind our house. Soon it dove and disappeared behind the ridge and appeared to be checking for interlopers.


As I moved closer the eagle took off with its half-eaten dinner still in its claws.

As I moved closer the eagle took off with her half-eaten dinner still in her claws.

Mar 052013
 
A bird eats sugar from my hands

A bird eats sugar from my hands

In spring 2009, while we were sailing in the Exuma chain of the Bahamas, we anchored at Wardrick Wells at the Land and Sea Park. Wild birds flew onto our sail boat and perched on the life lines. After a little while they hopped into the cockpit. Then one explored the cabin. We shooed her back to the cockpit. We had seen birds resembling these in the British Virgin Islands feeding at an open bowl of sugar. We brought out some sugar to the cockpit and she immediately started nibbling. I then handed the camera over to Randy, put the sugar in my hands, and Randy took a few photos. He was concentrating so much on the bird in my hands that he ignored the background: the inside of the cockpit. Wanting to learn Photoshop in 2009, I decided to merge the bird in hands with our view of the colorful water and sky. Somehow the picture was lost. I stumbled upon it this week while rationalizing my photo libraries. I wasn’t happy with the masking, so I started over, re-masked the foreground and finally found the directions on how to re-merge them. Now I just have to keep using/learning Photoshop so I don’t have to start over!

Feb 252013
 

When I buy a catleya orchid in bloom, I do it because the blooms touch me with their color, form and scent. When the blooms are done, I keep watering and feeding the green sturdy plant, seeking an optimum environment, hoping someday to see more blooms. I was rewarded by my persistence. After a few years (I can’t remember exactly how many) the plant decided to make 21 new blooms. It’s name is “Paradise.” How appropriate. I have moved the plant from place to place posing it: inside in the evening; in the lanai under bright sun; and in the studio with indirect light with a backdrop of my painting, “Fog Rising.” The color changes in front of my eyes dependent upon the light and the reflections.

Paradise-Catleya-Orchid-outdoors
Paradise-Catleya-Orchid-with-Shadow
Paridise-Catleya-Orchid-closeup-with-flip
Paridise-Catleya-Orchid-diagonal
Paridise-Catleya-Orchid-closeup-green-stem
Paradise-Orchid-closeup-with-blue

Feb 212013
 

On the coolest morning of the 2013 winter, we were fortunate to have a guided tour of the Myakka River State Forest in Southwest Florida, with a highly accomplished retired botanist/naturalist, Dr. Bill Dunson, who volunteers his expertise so that we may treasure our planet. The foresters regularly burn the forest in the winter when it is dry, which keeps some plants from dominating, but also destroys some of the wetland plants. Dr. Dunson also showed what happens when the shallow aquifers are drained to provide water for people and crops. The palmettos flourish and wetland species disappear.
Many of the flowers of the forest are tiny. The soil is silica washed down from the mountains and nearly sterile, so the lakes are very clean and the plants that grow here have various strategies for getting nutrients. for example, the red bladder wort dissolves insects that land on it.
Dreaded-Brazilian-Pepper
pine-cones
thistle
flight
white-flowers
flowers-of-the-forest
palmetto-patterns
after-the-burn
violet-flowers-against-palmetto
yellow-flowers-and-burned-palmetto
green-bee-web
orange-and-yellow-flowers
wild-flower-2
glimpse-of-the-Myakka-River

Sep 122012
 

We flew to SeaTac (Seattle/Tacoma Washington) on Sunday, June 17. Our first stop was the Hotel Murano in Tacoma. The contemporary hotel features a marvelous art glass collection throughout: entrance, lobby, corridors, meeting rooms, restaurants, elevator lobbies, rooms and even the bathrooms. The afternoon was chilly and gray outside, the U.S. Open golf tournament was on TV, so I amused myself for hours, treating the hotel like a glass museum. A glass sculptor was featured on each of the 21 guest room floors, so I traveled to each and admired the sculptures, read the artist statements, and looked at some of the photos showing the myriad processes.
Murano-Hotel-Entrance-Sculpture
The entrance sculpture, “Greek Orizon,” is by Costas Varotsos.
P1030555
Toots-Zynsky-Red-Vessel
I’ve admired Toots Zynsky’s works for many years.

The next morning we walked to the Museum of Glass, via Union Station, across the Chihuly pedestrian bridge that connects the museums on Commerce Street to the Museum of Glass on Dock Street. Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma in 1941. Although not the first U.S. art-glass sculptor, his shop is one of the most prolific and popular.
Tacoma-Skyline
Union-Station-Interior
Union Station is now a court house and features many glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly.
Chihuly-Bridge-Ceiling
Dale Chihuly provided many sculptures for the bridge from his collection.
Chihuly-Bridge-beforeChihuly-Bridge-drama
Since the sky was cloudy, I decided to visually interpret this Chihuly sculpture with Photoshop.

Next stop is the Hot Shop at the Museum of Glass.

Sep 072012
 

Quixote-Winery-Entrance
Quixote Winery was created as a boutique winery by Carl Doumoni, the owner of the neighboring Stags Leap on the Silverado Trail in Napa, California. Doumoni persuaded “the delightfully witty Viennese artist, architect, philosopher and environmentalist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000)” to design the winery.
Hundertwasser-Portrait
Hundertwasser and Doumani worked together from 1988 – 1998 on this marvelous creation.
Quixote-Turret
Hundertwasser avoided straight lines, used bright colored ceramic tiles and columns, planted the roofs and capped buildings “with a golden turret to elevate man’s sense of himself.”
Quixote-Logo--on-Barrel
Our tour guide, a self-described Napakin, gave us our first tasting in the welcome room. We carried our glass throughout the tour and received additional pours of their various wines, all delicious.
Quixote-Tasting-Room
The tastings continued in the tasting room, paired with sharp cheeses and crisp crackers.
Quixote-Winery-Patio
After the guided tour we continued exploring outside the winery enjoying the gardens and quirky architecture. The guide said the owner has put Quixote on the market for $35 million. If you want to tour, make a reservation. They have been known to turn away people who think of themselves as VIPs.

Sep 062012
 

Mount-Ranier
…..June 20 was a glorious day at Mount Rainier.

June-Sledding-at-Mount-Ranier
…..We hiked in short-sleeved shirts and watched kids sledding. We searched for a trail head and found it still covered in 10 feet of snow.

Bird-in-Paradise

…..An anonymous bird hovered about the deck of the Paradise Inn, perhaps waiting for a snack.
Bird-at-Mount-Ranier-Park

…..The bird perched on a tiny tree, wary yet curious.
Ice-Clouds

…..Ice clouds turned the sky into ribbons of sherbet. Little did we know that a treacherous blizzard was on its way.

Sep 022012
 

I grew up in Lansing, Michigan. My dad closed his business for a week each August and our family went on vacation at one of the beautiful lakes in the northern part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, including Walloon Lake and Higgins Lake. My dad drove, hauling our ski boat. I remember sitting in the boat in a hot life jacket with the motor roaring in my ears watching my parents slalom, waiting my turn to jump into deep cold water and paddle around in my life jacket while they rested. I learned to water ski at 10 (a year before I learned to swim without a life jacket). Even now I hate the sound of motors and prefer sailing to motoring. The farthest I ever traveled as a kid was to the UP (Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) and to Windsor, Canada with my grand parents and sister, which I thought were great adventures. The rest of each summer I “traveled” by reading books, explored the neighborhood on my bike, and drew pictures.

I continue to love to read, travel, make pictures and try to share those experiences with family and friends. This past June we flew to Sacramento to stay in Sonoma, California then on to SeaTac, Seattle/Tacoma, Washington for a tour of the area National Parks, botanical gardens, art and craft galleries and museums, and local restaurants as well as visit with family and friends. In August we drove to Michigan to visit family and friends as well as see Lake Michigan, kayak in Pentwater Lake and sight see in the beautiful dune country we enjoyed as kids. I took way too many pictures to share at one sitting, so as I sift through them I will post some for you to enjoy. Maybe I’ll tackle making a DVD or two one of these days.
Jacuzzi-Winery
Jacuzzi Winery, Sonoma, California
artichoke-flower
Artichoke Flower, Cornerstone Gardens, Sonoma, California