oil painting
It has been such a mild summer here on our piece of coastline. I’ve been wondering when the hot days would arrive. So often we get a good blast of heat in October and as the summer ticked away, with cooler than usual temperatures, I kept wondering if September and October were going to be blazing. The heat always shows up, it’s just a matter of when.
Evening Sizzle, 14x14”, oil on birch panel
Summer Solstice marks the first day of of the new season, the season of blue skies, heat, and running to the shoreline, lake or mountain tops to cool from the radiating summer sun. Sundance has a new collection of paintings celebrating the season, big sky and cool ocean colors or mountain pines with night skies.
A warm thank you to Sundance for showcasing 16 new paintings online. Represented are paintings from seashore to mountain top, estuary birds and cloud filled skies.
Wild Pines, 12x48” Oil on Birch Panel
My show concluded at the end of September of this year and what an amazing show. I felt like I ran a marathon at a sprint putting together the 54 pieces that were delivered to the gallery in July.
By the end of the show all the gas had been consumed from my tank. My normal pattern would be to celebrate by traveling somewhere and filling my eyes and heart back up before returning to the studio. Alas, it has been another grounded year.
Life continues and despite being home there are shows still on the horizon. Right now at Sullivan Goss you can find my work in both the annual 100 GRAND exhibition as well as the Winter Salon.
Sky Sea 40, 4x4”, Gouache on Arches Board - 100 GRAND Exhibition at Sullivan Goss Santa Barbara
I hope the season finds you all well and thriving. May your creativity find you hard at work. Happy Holy Days.
Campus Tide 5, 28x40”, oil on cradled birch panel - Winter Salon, Sullivan Goss
Every day alchemy
details of new work with mixed color on palette
I love to be hanging with friends and beloved colleagues.
Coastal Fog can be viewed now at Sullivan Goss through July 26, 2021 beside the works of John Nava, Nathan Huff, Patricia Chidlaw, Phoebe Brunner, Angela Perko, Colin Campbell Cooper, Lockwood DeForest and many more.
Left to right, Nathan Huff “A Sudden Lurch to Help”, Angela Perko “Refugio Beach, West End #2”, Nicole Strasburg “Coastal Fog” and John Nava “Summerland 4-2”.
Detail work in progress
Frequently I’ve been asked “as an artist, how have you been affected by the pandemic? Has it changed your practice?” Most artists live a solo life in their studios, spending hours of time alone making, trying, striving to move their craft forward. In that regard, not a lot has changed. I am still in my studio every day but the one thing that is different is the lessening of outside distraction. There are no appointments to rush off to or times when a museum visit is scheduled, the days just melt into one another.
The downside for me, with all the solo hours regular studio practice usually includes visits with other artists to talk about work, travel to recharge the creative well, seeing other creative people in their pursuits of dance or music, writers talking of their craft. These pursuits are all ubiquitously missing. The resounding quiet does make it challenging on some days to find the creative thread.
Rather than dwell too long on the hunt for creativity I try to find ways to distract from what’s outside the studio door pressing in. I return to school days exercises like limiting your palette, changing substrates, or playing with color charts to keep the brushes fluid. Almost every time, when it comes to painting, I’m rewarded and I fall in love all over again.
Detail work in progress
color charts/color mixing
Pacific Coast Fog 60x36” was recently finished and installed into the home of a happy client. They had been looking for the perfect something for this location and when they found it the painting was just too small. We figured out the perfect size and recallibrated the image for the new dimensions and zhuzhed up the color. Happy holidays from Santa Barbara.
Pacific Coast Fog 60x36”, oil on birch panel ©2020
Sign up HERE be the first to hear about upcoming shows and sales.
New landscapes images of mountains and sky by Nicole Strasburg.
Sky Sea framed gouache paintings by Nicole Strasburg.
Miniature gouache of Antelope Valley Pronghorn by Nicole Strasburg.
The Summer Salon at Sullivan Goss has officially opened. The exhibition will run through August 31, 2020. The gallery is open to stop by however better to make an appointment and have the 3 galleries to yourself to peruse all the new shows on the wall.
Road to Water Canyon Beach, Santa Rosa Island (22x17.5” oil on panel) on display with Ken Bortolazzo, Joseph Goldyne, Eric Beltz, and Will Simons.