Good Advice from a Real Professional Artist: Susan Lenz



Above: In Box LXXV. Unframed 15" x 11";
framed 19 1/4" x 15 1/4". By Susan Lenz

  Not long ago I emailed Susan Lenz with the subject line: How Much!? I wrote:

Hi Susan,



I want to own a piece of your art. I saw your post about your boxes series and wondered what price range and sizes for pieces in hat series. You know I adore everything you make and I want a piece of your work hanging in my house. So tell me how much so I can start saving up. A REAL price! You know what I mean.

She replied with what I thought was an excellent response that all artists and quilt makers and crafts persons should read. With her permission I have posted it here.

Susan wrote:

(Above: Window XVI. Unframed, approximately 11" x 9 1/2";
Framed, 17 3/4" x 15 3/4".) By Susan Lenz




This is so sweet and so complimentary that I don't even know where to start this email message. Wait a minute! Yes, I do! I'm forever telling myself to try acting like the artist I want to be....professional! (Okay, the cat's out of the bag! I have always suffered from low self esteem issues and my lack of a proper art degree is one of my worst stumbling blocks!)



 Anyway, I'll professionally answer the question! My "In Box Series" come in two basic framed sizes: 19 1/4" x 15 1/4" for $225 and 35 1/2" x 23 1/2" for $525....plus tax and obviously plus shipping. These are the same prices that are charged at the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville. The "Faux-stained Glass" pieces come in two framed sizes: 17 3/4" x 15 3/4" for $265 and 64 1/2" x 24 1/2" for $1200.



Susan and Stephen Chesley



 Ten years ago I forcibly down-sized my still growing custom-picture framing business in order to pursue art. Despite the fact that I had created just about nothing and had no background in the field, I already had an artistic mentor. 

The mentorship started the day after I fired my head mat cutter. I went to him for advise....questions about "how to become an artist." He was one of my framing clients....and still is. He paints incredible, impressionistic landscape oils from memory, not from actual locations unless he's "in the field".

His name is Stephen Chesley and his studio is now across the hallway from mine at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios. He's been self-supporting for over 25 years.

Open studio in Stephen's studio

When I asked Stephen about "becoming an artist", his answer was, "You already are one". Then he advised me to "do the work". It was that simple; it is that simple.

In a sense, we are all artists by the fact that we are alive and must make creative decisions everyday. Some people decide to make art; they are professional artists. Some decide to get an art degree, but that piece of paper doesn't make one an artist. It is just a statement of fact about a field of knowledge.

Stephen Chesley and his art

Being an artist, a REAL PROFESSIONAL ARTIST, is a lifestyle of doing the work. "Doing the
work" is a priority which becomes as essential as breathing or eating. For me, it is also a spiritual practice.....doing the work that God meant for me to do. Lots of people now say that I'm very prolific....but....I'm just DOING THE WORK.

At that very first mentorship meeting....sipping tea over Stephen's kitchen table....he also gave me a few brochures for rather local and state-wide juried exhibition opportunities and showed me his inventory book. He told me to keep track of everything I ever made in an ordinary ledger with a thumbnail sketch, the date, the price, the measurements, a catalog number, and any other notation about interesting materials or shows a piece has been in. Fortunately, I took all his advise.

Susan Lenz at Grovewood Gallery

Two years ago my husband Steve and I went to the National Gallery of Art to see the Hopper show. I walked into one of the rooms and saw a large, table-sized pedestal covered in a Plexi-Glas cap. Inside were three ordinary ledgers with thumbnail sketches, date, price, measurements, a catalog number, and notations about the final sale of each piece. I was stunned.

The next week I told Stephen about this. He laughed and said, "Did I forget to tell you that I keep a ledger like this because, 'if it were good enough for Hopper, it was good enough for me' ?"

Then I laughed...because I had been doing this because "if it was good enough for Chesley, it was good enough for me"! So....I'm unwittingly part of Edward Hopper's legacy....not bad!

It's So Hard to Say Good-bye, Grave Rubbings series by Susan Lenz

Chesley's advise is always RIGHT ON TARGET. There's a constant stream of local artists who just happen to come by Chesley's studio to "sit and talk".....get advice, get inspiration, get "on track"....whatever. Our studios are divided only by partition walls. The ceiling is another eight feet above the top of the wall....so I can hear just about everything said in Stephen's studio....because neither of us listen to any music when we work. We both prefer total silence.

Anyway, I once heard an artist complaining to Stephen about gallery commissions. Stephen said, "You know, if you can't afford to pay the gallery the commission they worked for, then you simply need to improve the quality of your work."

The artist was indignant, of course.....but Chesley is right. A good gallery is WORKING for the commission. To sell the same sort of piece for less is undermining your own representative....sort of like "biting the hand that feeds you!"

Sister Support from Decision Portrait Series by Susan Lenz



Stephen went further and said, "The artwork itself should determine its own price, not the framing, not the hours spent, not the supplies.....but the quality of the artwork itself. Clients should be able to buy with confidence."

There are always lawyers and other big shots coming through our space saying things like, "Chesley, I should have bought one of your paintings when they were only $600." Stephen replies, "Well, when I was charging $600, they were worth $600. After another couple years, I got better and the price went up. Now, I sell them at $1000 because they are worth $1000."



Chesley only gives a discount of 10% to former clients or when more than one piece is being purchased.....period. His oils are priced exactly the same in the galleries in which he's represented. Clients may buy one of his paintings from anywhere....for a consistent price and with confidence that they aren't getting ripped off. It is a good policy....one that many first rate galleries (like the Grovewood Gallery!) insist upon and have their artists sign a contract with these stipulations.

Basically....I only have a "real" price! Quality, professional artists SHOULD only have a real price. I am so very, very lucky to have a mentor like Stephen Chesley.



Susan







Susan Lenz needs our help!

Susan Lenz needs our help -- and fast!

She has a solo exhibition fast approaching (Sept. 10-October) at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park in Charleston. It will spotlight her Decision Portrait Series during the MOJA 2010 Festival. Susan's work was selected not because it "fits the theme" but because it is contemporary, thought provoking, and incorporates all people. (The word "moja" means "one" in Swahili, suggesting harmony in a global community.)


The exhibit location is gigantic. Susan said, "I'm talking several rooms spread over TWO stories." And that leads to the dillema and the request for your help. She has more than 45 finished pieces, but needs 45 more!

Susan has a blog that is specifically for the Decision Portrait Series. It is HERE! The blog opens with a "wish list". But, Susan is happy to consider just about any decision....big or small....on the list or not. [Photos are of pieces in the Decision Portrait series. First is Susan's self portrait. For more detail check out her blogsite or click on the photo. Photo 2 is Happily Ever After. Photo 3 Overcoming Domestic Abuse. Photo 4: Marked for Life. Photo 5: Behind on the Mortgage.]

Susan said,  "All I need is a signed model's release and a digital image. I'll provide the model's release and a self-addressed, stamped return envelope for those in the USA. Those living outside the country will have to furnish their own postage! Every time I finish a portrait, I share it via email with the "model" and include a "rough draft" of the intended blog post. This gives each participant the opportunity to see the work first and make suggestions about the wording that accompanies their image. Of course, all participants will be invited to the exhibition and any other future show (yes, I'm still submitting for other solo opportunities)."

Contact Susan via her email.

I've included her WISH LIST here, but please visit the blogsite to see the 45 she has finished -- you will  leave changed, touched by the faces and the simplicity of these quilts telling such meaningful life-changing choices that the people have made.
MODELS NEEDED FOR:

Title: Midwife. (Preferably someone who both delivers babies and has had a child at home!) Stitched words: Helping and having babies at home.

Title: Homeschooling. Stitched words: Both mother/father and primary educator.

Title: Good Samaritan. Stitched words: I changed a flat tire for a complete stranger.

Title: Terms of Marriage II. Stitched words: I signed a prenuptial agreement.

Title: 20/20 Vision. Stitched words: I had Lazar eye surgery.

Title: Dieter. Stitched words: I lost weight. (Must be a lot of weight....I'm envisioning one of those "before" and "after" sort of images...or the model inside of or holding a very, very noticeably larger pair of pants.)

Title: On Call. Stitched words: Hotline crisis volunteer

Title: CEO. Stitched words: My decisions affect hundreds (I'd prefer a rather large company!)

Title: Smaller. Stitched words: I had my stomach stapled.

Title: Hitch Hiker. Stitched words: Thumbs up!

Title: Smoker. Stitched words: Two packs a day (or something like this....must be someone who really enjoys smoking and isn't trying to quit.)

Title: On Fighting Cancer I and II. Stitched words: I chose chemotherapy over a mastectomy and I chose a mastectomy over chemotherapy. (I am interested in any other type of medical decision!)

Title: On Fighting Cancer III and IV. Stitched words: After Chemo, I wore a wig and After Chemo, I didn't wear a wig. (I am interested in any decision regarding hair loss....due to cancer or any other situation.)

Title: On Aging I. Stitched words: I've dyed my hair for years.

Title: On Aging II. Stitched words: I've had a tummy tuck.

Title: On Aging III. Stitched words: I've had a face lift.

Title: On Aging IV. Stitched words: I've had botox.

Title: On Aging V. Stitched words: Viagra

(I am interested in any significant decision that deals with a pursuit to ward off signs of aging.)

Title: I am a Woman. Stitched words: I was born a man. (Also, vice versa....any gender decision, including transvestism are of interest.)

Title: Creationist. Stitched words: Darwin was wrong and/or The universe was made in seven days.

Title: Adoption I. Stitched words: I contacted my birth parent(s).

Title: Adoption II. Stitched words: I contacted the child I gave up. (I am interested in any other decision regarding adoption, especially people who have adopted special need children.)

Title: Enhanced. Stitched words: I took steroids.

Title: Unfaithful. Stitched words: I cheated.

Title: Injured. Stitched words: I didn't buckle up. (This needs to be someone who, not wearing a seat belt, was permanently injured as a result of a car accident. Of course, it would be my honor to also stitch a photo of someone who unfortunately died....with permission from his/her family.)

Title: Thinner. Stitched words: Liposuction.

Title: Divorced. Stitched words: Irreconcilable Differences (Ideally, this would be both people...a mutual decision.)

Title: Whistle Blower. Stitched words: I turned in my employer

Title: Learning to Read. Stitched words: I taught; I learned. (Ideally, this would be two adults in a literacy program.)

Title: Marijuana. Stitched words: High on high.

Title: Astrologer. Stitched words: Spiritual advisor and/or It's in the cards.

Title: Surrogate Mother. Stitched words: I gave birth for someone else's family.

Title: Draft Dodger. Stitched words: I refused to go to war or Conscious Objector

Title: Vegetarian or Vegan (or one of each!). Stitched words: No meat. (The list could go on and be quite impressive! I'd like someone whose lived with this decision for many, many years!)

Title: Overcoming Domestic Abuse. Stitched words: I pressed charges. (This one is actually complete but I'm leaving it on the list as I'd love to stitch Dealing with Domestic Abuse with stitched words, "I didn't press charges" or another variation.)

Title: Graffiti Artist/Vandal. Stitched words: (symbol of the "tag")

Tile: DUI. Stitched words: I made a mistake.

Title: Gang Member. Stitched words: I wear my colors

Title: Neo-Nazi. Stitched words: Master Race

Title: Public Servant. Stitched words: I ran for office (Must be a non-career politician! I have a lead on this one...I hope!)

Title: Homeless. Stitched words: No Fixed Address (This can't be someone with a mental disease but someone who chose to live this way!)

Title: Illegal Immigrant. Stitched words: I want the American Dream (I don't need to picture anyone's face.....an image hiding one's identity would be perfectly fine!)

Title: Voters. Stitched words in front of three people: Republican, Democrat, Independent

Tile: Runaway. Stitched words: I left home.

Title: Shoplifter. Stitched words: It wasn't mine.

Title: Nun. Stitched words: Married to Christ.

Title: Monk. Stitched words: A Vow of Silence. (Or other wording depending on vows.)

Title: Prostitute. Stitched words: By the hour.

Title: Exotic Dancer I. Stitched words: Single mother providing for her kid(s)

Title: Exotic Dancer II. Stitched words: Paying for my college tuition

Title: Speeder. Stitched words: Too many mph

Title: Relief Worker. Stitched words: I went to Haiti to help

Title: Cremated. Stitched words: My daughter/husband/friend scattered my ashes

Title: Peer Pressure I. Stitched words: I got into a car with a drunk driver

Title: Peer Pressure II. Stitched words: I called my parent(s) for a safe ride home

Title: Accepting Help. Stitched words: I never thought I'd need food stamps

Title: Drop Out. Stitched words: I quit school

Title: Custody. Stitched words: I fought to raise my child/grandchild

Title: Boomerang. Stitched words: I moved back in with my parent(s)

Title: Bike Rider. Stitched words: I don't even own a car

Title: Volunteer. Stitched words: Giving my time for _____ (Name of cause or group....prefer someone who is a very serious volunteer donating regular hours over a period of years.)

Title: For Science. Stitched words: I donated my body to the medical school.

(I'd like a Hindi...because I don't even know how to phrase these!)

Susan adds: "I am open to creating new portraits that are similar to any that are completed....another way of depicting a similar (or even the same) decision." Contact Susan via her email. And thank you!

Whos Who of Subversive Stitchers at Art Quilt Elements!

It is thrilling to announce that so many guest bloggers and members of Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles will have their work included in the Art Quilt Elements exhibit from April 17 through May 19 at the Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA.

Jurors who made the difficult choices for this exhibit are highly respected and strike fear in the hearts of fabric artists. OK, more like AWE in the hearts of fabric artists. Jason Pollen, Robin Schwalb, Deborah C. Warner.

Photo: Susan Shie's The Food Scales/Justice which has a long and interesting journey studed with awards and near misses on its way to this exhibit. Check out her blog.

Below is the list of  PARTICIPATING ARTISTS with the name of their entry:

Natalya Aikens* NY Piter I

Elizabeth Barton GA Strange Beauty

Linda Beach* AK Dawn

Regina Benson CO Night Bloom

PHOTO: Virginia Spiegel's Boundary Waters 48

Dawn W. Boyd* CO Le Croix de Guerre

Peggy Brown IN Changing Colors III

Benedicte Caneill* NY Units 19: Cityscape

Cher Cartwright* CA On the Other Hand

Paula J. Chung* NV Japanese Anemone I

Jette Clover BEL White Wall 1

Linda Colsh BEL Cabinet of Curiosities

Yael David-Cohen* UK Musical Explosion

Wen Redmond of NH -- Perspective of Trees. For more of her work visit her site.

Fenella J. Davies* UK Shadows

Helene Davis KY Incarnation

Sandra T. Donabed* FL Evil Apples

Linda J. Engstrom* AZ Web of Life

Dianne Firth AU Cell Structure #7

Denise M. Furnish KY Nine Patch

Leesa Z. Gawlik ITA Timeline II

Lutgard Gerber-Billiau* BEL Black Hole #I

Dianne K. Hricko* PA Urban Rhythm

Jeanette Jacobs* RI Splash

Terry Jarrard-Dimond SC Joy and Sorrow

Jess E. Jones* TN Ligament

Anita Kaplan* CA Graffiti III, Cappadocia

Katherine Knauer* NY Katrina

Paula Kovarik* TN Spring

Pat Kroth WI Pathways

Liz Kuny* NJ A Steady Beat

Judith Larzelere RI I (Heart) Summer

Eileen Lauterborn NY Afterimage

Susan Lenz of South Carolina with her first art quilt for this exhibit: Father and Mother, part of her Grave Rubbings series.

Susan Lenz* SC Father and Mother

Susan L. Lumsden* MO Slipstream Adventure

Libby & Jim Mijanovich* NC All In

Lori S. Moum VA Kimono Form #4

Sharon Nemirov* AZ Leaf Flakes

Wen Redmond NH Perspective of Trees

Toot Reid WA Aug 5, 2008 - March 28, 2009

Photo: Leslie J. Riley IL Chutes and Ladders (she also won first prize at Quilts=Art=Quilts)

Leslie J. Riley IL Chutes and Ladders

Luanne Rimel* MO Touch

Deidre Scherer* VT Into Light

Susan M. Shie OH The Food Scales/Justice

Diane Siebels* VA His Remembered Tree

Mary Ruth Smith* TX Crossover

Virginia A. Spiegel IL Boundary Waters 48

Daphne P. Taylor NY Quilt Drawing #11

Amy Thomas* WA Quilt No. 1

Bette Uscott-Woolsey PA Passing Fancy

Cynthia L. Vogt* VA Ishi-Datami

Kent Williams WI Light Emitting Fabric

For more information about the exhibit and the artists, visit ArtQuilt Elements 2010 site.

New life for cemetery art: grave rubbing quilts

Susan Lenz found her way from custom framer to artist via Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way." And it wasn't until recently that she stumbled upon the realization that she creates art quilts. The epiphany came while in a cemetery. She's turned her cemetery findings into a series of art quilts that presents the past for us to consider now and in the future. [ Photo: Grave Rubbings Quilt "17 Killed Instantly"] As I post this, she is in England where she just found a grave dated: 1659.

Here is Susan Lenz, in her own words:

My name is Susan Lenz.

Like everyone else, I'm many things: wife, daughter, mother, business woman, homeowner, taxpayer, embroiderer......but until last fall I wouldn't have included art quilter.

Working in this new medium is an extension of my love affair with needle and thread as it intersected a particularly inspirational page in Jeanne Williamson's The Uncommon Quilter. On page 85 one can find the following words:

"When you were a child, did you ever make gravestone rubbings?.....rubbing a big crayon over the surface....This same basic technique can be used to create textures on fabric. To make the design
permanent simply iron it in place."

I read this passage while at the MacNamara Foundation artist-in-residency program in the fall of 2008, on Westport Island, Maine. I had been awarded a six week opportunity to simply "make art....all day....everyday". (Heaven!) This was an incredible gift of time; time to explore new ideas, including a secret fascination for the world of art quilts.

Maine is full of old cemeteries and there were several family plots within a short walk. I simply had to try this unique idea, grave rubbings using a crayon on fabric.The first piece was Patience. I used the only plain, light colored fabric I brought to Maine. It was tea-stained muslin that I use for another series called Decision Portraits. Believe it or not, it was there in Maine, reading The Uncommon Quilter and Robert Shaw's definitive 1997 tome The Art Quilt, that I realized the Decision Portraits were all technically "art quilts". I had already finished the first twelve....three layers fastened with stitches! I just didn't recognize them as such!

Somehow the notion of quilting still didn't seem part of my repertoire; yet, collecting more grave rubbings was really appealing. So, I bought a pile of silk remnants and struck out into the local cemeteries. [Photo: Grave rubbings on silk yardage]

I had fantasies of making art with the results. It all seemed so bohemian and exotic --dancing alone in a cemetery with yards of silk fabric and a child's brown crayon. Dreaming about the art quilts I'd make. Letting nature and a sense of eternal peacefulness take control. Somehow, in the autumn sunsets and the picture-perfect setting, I thought this was just wishful thinking.

Logically, I thought I'd regret purchasing the fabric and wasting a perfect afternoon pursuing an idealized image of an "art quilter". I honestly hoped to make art...but never would have bet on actually doing it. The "censor" in the back of my mind chided me...saying, "You'll never really DO anything with all these grave rubbings".But, I did....and I still am....and likely always will be! [Photo: First of the series: Patience]

The Grave Rubbing Series was born from this early experience and is an on-going project.Making the rubbings is a wonderful experience. Collaging them with vintage linens and lace is even better. Meditatively stitching them is simply the best. The kantha styled quilts to which I'd been exposed while attending the Swedish Embroidery Symposium in the summer of 2008 with fiber friend Annica Linsten became my natural approach for these pieces.

Wikipedia's definition is perfect: "Kantha stitching is also used to make simple quilts. Women in Bengal typically use old saris and cloth and layer them with kantha stitch to make a light blanket or throw or bedspread, especially for children."

[Photos Father Mother Grave Rubbing and (2) below of close ups from Father Mother quilt and 18th Century Angel quilt, showing the traditional Kantha running stitches.]

What appeals to me about this approach to art quilting is the concept of recycling material and stitching by hand. More importantly, words on a gravestone are often selected by those mourning a deceased loved one. They create a memory of the past and are meant to speak to future generations. Using recycled and vintage materials with the rubbings expresses these sentiments perfectly.

Some of the materials I've used include a severely light damaged, heavy curtain salvaged from an old office; a felt covering used to send a kayak to a local outdoor store (it becomes the batting); damaged card-table clothes, aprons, and household linens; vintage buttons and lace; and even an old sepia photograph of an unknown little girl. Most of the pieces are stitched by both hand and free motion machine embroidery.

I started entering pieces from the series into national juried exhibitions and have been thrilled with acceptance. Memory is currently on display in Rocky Mount's Imperial Center, part of the all media exhibit juried by Anne Lemanski. Father and Mother will be in Art Quilts Lowell 2009 at the Brush Gallery in Lowell, Massachusetts from August 5 through September 19 but earlier was awarded "Best of Show" in the South Carolina fine craft show "Palmetto Hands", juror Cynthia Bringle of Penland. The Just By Faith Shall Live Again was most recently selected by jurors Eugenia Barnes and gallery director Roger Smith into the 2009 National Small Art Quilt Works exhibition in Groton, NY, July 23 through September 6.

With all this, I've had to readjust my thinking: I am an art quilter!

Other Grave Rubbing Series quilts have been submitted for other exhibitions; I'm waiting on results. It is very, very exciting; and yet, the best is that the series is on-going. I've created additional rubbings in Colma, California....a city with seventeen cemeteries; Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia; in the military cemeteries in Arlington and San Francisco; in two pet cemeteries; in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston; and elsewhere. I haven't even started with the large cemetery only two and a half blocks from my house! [Photo Grave Rubbings quilt "The Just by Faith Shall Live Again."]

These quilts will also be part of a solo show I'm mounting at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios next February. This location is an artist cooperative setting with thirteen studios and a large, professional exhibition area. My studio is there.

The rental agreement entitles me to two free weeks of gallery use. Earlier this year I mounted CYBER FYBER, an international fiber show celebrating the global supportive community of Internet connected fiber artists. These were my "two free weeks" for 2009. Though I'd hoped to mount CYBER FYBER 2 in 2010, funding realities forced me to cancel almost immediately.

In its place, I decided to have my own show: Last Words and the Blues. Blues Chapel, an earlier installation, will fill the main gallery. It will have just returned from two months in the Greater Denton Gallery of Art in Denton, Texas. Blues Chapel transforms a space into a sacred setting focusing on twenty-four early female Blues singers....complete with church pews, triptychs, an altar, and plenty of fiber art. Since I've already "built the church", I'm now at work on the adjoining "cemetery". My vision includes the Grave Rubbing Quilt series coupled with a hanging installation of collected epitaphs free motion embroidered on the sheerest chiffon. These will be in the 80808 Gallery atrium.

I can hardly wait to see the art quilts together, creating the peaceful, serene environment that I feel when collecting the rubbings and stitching each work.

[Lenz's photo by Brett Flashnick, freelance photojournalist. Photo taken at Cyber Fyber.]