Amidah: Is Art An Act Of Devotion?

Artist, Susan Barton explores spirituality through her art in, Amidah: Is Art An Act Of Devotion?, August 19th, at Lissner Hall, Shaare Tikvah B'Nai Zion, 5800 North Kimball Avenue, Chicago.

Artist and Curator, Cyd Smillie, presents local artists who consider the act of creating art, as silent devotion.

London Artist Group to Show At DANKHAUS-German Cultural Center

Susan Barton, Laura Keeble, Sally Swingewood and Amanda C. Cox will show their work October 12-November 15th, 2007 at DANKHAUS-German Cultural Center in Chicago. The exhibition, Germans In Mind; A Celebration of German Thought has been included in the Chicago Artists Month 2007, along with the 2007 Art Walk Ravenswood, 6th Annual Tour of Arts and Industry. For more information about the various art exhibitions included in the Art Walk Ravenswood, see www.artwalkravenswood.org

Germans In Mind

DANK-HAUS PRESENTS PREMIER ART EXHIBITION GERMANS IN MIND

Chicago, IL--September 11, 2007--DANK-HAUS, German Cultural Center, presents a premier exhibition, ' Germans in Mind; A Celebration of German Thought Through Art', October 13th-November 16th in both the Scharpenberg and Rough Space Galleries. Featuring the work of 23 international and local artists, the exhibition focuses on unique and original visual perspectives inspired by prominent German philosophical themes, prose and iconic figures. Chicago artist and curator, Susan Barton, introduces emerging artists who artistically incite visual dialogue to classic German themes through their work.

The Scharpenberg and Rough Space Galleries are located on the 4th floor of the historic DANK-HAUS, German Cultural Center, 4740 North Western Avenue, in the heart of Lincoln Square. An opening reception will be held Friday, October 12th, from 6-9 pm. The venue is free and open to public, Saturdays, from 11-3pm, with additional viewing times available by appointment.

DANK-HAUS, German Cultural Center is part of Chicago Artists Month, the twelfth annual celebration of Chicago's vibrant visual art community. In October, more than 200 exhibitions of emerging and established artists, openings, demonstrations, tours, open studios and neighborhood art walks take place at galleries, cultural centers and arts buildings though out the city. For further information, call 312/744-6630 or visit www.cityofchicago.org/CulturalAffairs, or www.chicagoartistmonth.org
Chicago Artists Month is coordinated by the Chicago Department of Tourism with additional support from 3Arts.

As featured on Jeremy Vine

Just got off the 'phone from being on Jeremy Vine. I was not a random caller but someone who e-mailed and got picked!
I was going to be on BBC News 24 about my ADHD but this got shelved. So when I heard that this was going to be a subject on Vine I contacted them with a short synopsis and they invited me onto the programme.
It was pretty nerve-wracking but once I got started it seemed very very brief and I really wanted to say more and give some support to the kids and adults out there who suffer not only from the symptoms but from ignorance and misunderstanding from society: I wanted to leave with an important final word but time just runs out on these things, I really should have tried to say to people not to concentrate on the things kids cant do but the things they CAN do. And that applies to everyone, not just people with a neurological disorder.

To see what I managed to squeeze in, click on Listen Again for Tuesday 28th August on the above link, it should be available from Wednesday 29th. I'm on about an hour and 5 minutes in. Tell me what you think, I'll be interested to find out how I came across. I'd like to do more public speaking on this subject because it is so important to me personally and in the wider world.

Upcoming Shows

Just putting the finishing touches to my work that is going into a joint show at the Bhavan Indian Cultural Centre in London.
As soon as I have designed the flyers I shall display more information.

This as well as Susan's show means hopefully 2007 will finish on a positive note!

Degree Show!

Hi there!
Its my degree show soon. I will be posting images but if you are in the area you can come and see my work and lots of other stuff from very talented people -
http://www.camberwell.arts.ac.uk/33604.htm

see you there!

Sacred Lights

Every Image Has A Story - "Sacred Lights"
From Laura:
"I'm currently looking in to the world of magical thinking, that of belief systems be it regarding religion, superstition, obsessive disorders and advertising, each of which controls the thinking of an individual by potentially negative assumptions i.e I am not worthy/guilt/sin/ideals.
I have been looking at stained glass windows and how they are installed to let only sacred light through them in to the vacinity of the holy area, whilst depicting holy scenes or preaching holy scripture as to how one should behave and live their life, this in turn had me look at billboards and how they too preach 'scripture' and depict how one should behave and live their life. So to the job in hand I set out for my first project : to transform a bus shelter billboard (lit at night) to a stained glass window asa comparison between the two 'sacred lights'"

see pics here on the wooster collective site
http://www.woostercollective.com/2007/04/every_image_has_a_story_sacred_lights.html#mail

Hello Loves!

Well its the last term of my degree and the studio is already open in the last week of the holidays for us 3rd years only. Its nice and quiet cos only a handful of us bothered to take advantage of this!!
A rogue 2nd year has left an obscene sculpture in my area, I cant be bothered to move it because the guy is such an arse and life's too short!
Have a look at my other blog to see what I'm up to.
Cheers :)

Sally Swingewood and Susan Barton have received an art award by the Independent Artists Group.

Members of IAG - International Artist's Group who earned the Award for Outstanding Dedication and commitment to the group this year include; Susan Barton, ArenA, Andrew Douse, Lar Shackelford, Maeve and John Wright, Paul Bowring, and Sally Swingewood. The award is an annual honor and presented by Charlotte Thomson following a secret vote.

Look for the IAG banner denoting this high honor in the Artist's Listings, About Me pages, in blogs, on web sites, and where ever IAG artists are being seen!

Many thanks to our special Artists!
- Charlotte Thompson-
IAG - International Artists Group

Susan Barton chats in an online article for the Independent Artist's Group blog.


As a child Susan Barton was an apparent artist when she got an easel and very large box of Crayola crayons for Christmas at the age of four. She says "It was all downhill from there", and laughs. Susan furthers, "My other siblings couldn't touch the crayons and they were color and hue coordinated. I could always tell when one of them was messing with my stuff. I have a lot of siblings! In kindergarten it mattered very much to me that the teacher acknowledge that I was an artist. Parent teacher conferences were an interesting event for my mother!"

Thus, Susan began to realize that she was a bit different, just being an artist. When asked if people outside the art community have difficulty understanding artists, she says, "Yes and no. How is that for a middle of the road answer? I think that people outside the art community don't understand the amount of time and scheduling effort that goes into producing art. We don't punch a time clock the way in which others conduct their work schedules", Susan explains.

Susan has been with the IAG - Independent Artists Group about a year and a half, "I had just come back from Paris and London with my family and I always go into a funk when I return home from the UK. I just love it there...especially London...the whole family does! So, to combat my homesickness, I joined IAG, not only to chat, but to network with working artists in the UK. It was the first art group that I have joined", she explains.

Obviously Susan made a good decision, as Susan's just been named one of the Artists of the Year with IAG for the second year in a row. She volunteers her efforts with IAG on an ongoing basis and is of great help as a curator to the online community. Susan is however, very particular about the art that she uses in her curation efforts, preferring to work with artists who are in a word kind to their fellow artists as well as talented.

Susan is very well liked amongst her peers, "ALL of the IAG'ers are very talented and knowledgeable about their craft! Just amazing talent can be found amongst the members".

"I quietly support and acknowledge all of them for their uniqueness and talent." She's very dependable with that quiet support, willing to lend a hand, looking over a partially finished piece and ready to suggest a color to highlight an artist's work when her experience is more vast and worldly but not willing to tout herself in that respect, Barton is helpful to her fellow artists behind the scenes and her artistic eye is immeasurable.

Barton's background is as diverse as her many talents, "I was born and raised outside of Detroit, Michigan and spent a lot of time out on Lake St. Clair. I love being on or near the water. Some of my fondest memories are of the call and responses of the freighters on the lake traveling up the channels. I started showing in juried art shows while I was in high school and produced a line of greeting cards that were sold locally in boutiques."

"I went to the University of Michigan, School of Art where I double majored in photography and graphic design. I moved to Chicago after university and worked as a free lance photographer for 20 years. Working strictly commercially for that length of time, left me yearning for my roots, and that is drawing and painting. So, I have been painting and showing for the last 5 years. I have so missed it!", she explains. Barton realized as far back as when she was fourteen that she wanted to sell her art, "When I was 14, I sold my first order of handmade greeting cards. I was shocked getting a check from it!"

When asked about a favorite art style and the mediums that Barton uses she says, "I have no favourite art style. My blog is appropriately titled, 'Art Escaping Confinement' because I have no set style or subject matter. I have had to listen to too many art directors in my many years of shooting! The sky's the limit in producing my art now", she says laughing. "I love oils, watercolour and pen and ink. I call them my Holy Trinity of usage. I always seem to go back to these media. I have a mish mosh of favourite master artists...Picabia, John Singer Sargent, Turner, Botticelli, all 3 generations of Wyeths, Whistler and Man Ray", Susan adds.

Barton's family accepts her Artistic talents, "It's just who I am to all of them. They're very supportive and VERY opinionated", she exclaims.

We asked Susan what she would do to change the world with art if it would help to ACTUALLY change it. She says, "Very hard question because I think that ego should come out of art and that changing the world with art can only mean creating art that takes away the horrors, suffering and emotional wants of the viewer. I think that art has taken such a negative turn in the past century with the angst of the artist and a certain shock factor as center stage. Art needs to come back to some sense of spirituality on canvas. I see a lot of art that is devoid of anything beautiful."
As for the future of children who glamorize the thought of being an artist, we wondered what would help them realize what they REALLY might be headed for, "I volunteer teach art history for children at a private school here in Chicago. I include an art lesson along with the art history portion of class. It is their ONLY art class and art instruction!"

"During that time, and with many classes taught, I have only had a handful of children tell me that they want to become an artist. They're very level headed about it and in most cases, it has been discouraged by their parents as being an unacceptable profession to be! So, I never discourage. I encourage any child that wishes to have art in their lives. A lot of them do not glamourize the profession, but rather are very matter of fact about the possibilities and pitfall the profession can hold for them. Ah, kids these days!", Susan adds.

Barton furthers, "My nickname has always been Maverick. I'm usually the rebel with the cause. Artists need not have to suffer to produce art. It's a fabrication of the art world...it's easier to write about someone's mal adjustments than write about someone's positive affects on society. Although, some of my better paintings have come from personal struggles rather than triumphs", says Barton. "I rarely like anything that I produce enough to hang it on my wall. I do have two nudes that I can't part with just yet. Ten years from now? Barton says, "I'll still be a Mom...still walking my dog...still painting and enjoying every minute of it."

Barton says of her process, "I'm constantly singing or humming while I paint. I understand that it can be very annoying. But, the music is usually blaring and can be anything from Wagner to the Sex Pistols. I'm really my best when I am stressed and my back is against the wall in my creative process", probably referring to getting down to an art deadline for shows we surmised. When does Barton function best in her creativity? "I am a total night person, but this has changed since becoming a mother. I can't function, as in talk let alone paint, before 10 AM", she explains. Noting it's only 9:30 AM, we hand her a another cup of coffee.



Barton's next showing, along with the IAG Group, is from at the View from the Top Gallery in Nottingham, England (4th Floor above Waterstones Bookstore) January 9th through January 22nd.