Secret Art Sale at the Aldrich

I recently donated two portraits to the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum for its Secret Art Sale. The event, on November 21, raised funds for the Museum. All works were the same size; each was for sale for $350. Only after a work was purchased was the artist's identity revealed.

Both portraits sold. One is of Richard Klein, Exhibitions Curator at the Aldrich (above; top). Richard gave me my curatorial review four years ago at the Aldrich as part of its Radius: Emerging Artists program. His comments and advice have affected me immensely.

The other portrait is of Gregory Peterson, who purchased a work of mine two years ago at the same event (above; bottom). Gregory, a corporate attorney who sits on the Board of Trustees at the Aldrich, is a collector of contemporary realistic art. Visit his website at http://www.petersoncollection.org/.

City-Wide Open Studios

This fall I participated in City-Wide Open Studios Art Festival (CWOS) in New Haven, Connecticut. I hung out with a number of my paintings at Hello My Name Is Gallery in Westville, talked with a lot of people, and saw some great art.

One of my works, Christine, is on display through December 13 at CONNcentric (a juried exhibition that is part of CWOS), at Artspace in downtown New Haven. I was mentioned favorably in a review of the show by Judy Birke in the New Haven Register: "Susan Carson's portrait of "Christine," resonates with the eye and the mind, Carson a keen commentator of the human condition, painting a portrait of raw physicality that reflects personal experience and state of mind." Here's the link to the article: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/10/19/entertainment/doc48fab9bd2cb31719750046.txt

Nathaniel Kahn

Nathaniel is a former classmate from Germantown Friends School. My father, David Karp, worked for his father, Louis Kahn (you know, famous architect?), for a number of years. My dad's father, Leon Karp, and Lou were childhood friends. Nathaniel writes and directs. I was grateful for an opportunity to spend time with a fellow alumnus I didn't know all that well, despite having spent 9 years with him. We met at GFS (at his suggestion), for the photo/video session.

Chrissy Conant

I've known Chrissy since college. We both became graphic designers in our twenties. Now we are both artists. The link to her website is http://www.chrissyconant.com/. Chrissy was in a tremendous empowered state when I took the photograph for this painting.

M Blash

M Blash is Chrissy Conant’s nephew. I had met him briefly a few times before asking to paint him. M wrote and directed the film Lying.