“This image recalls the dark bars and clubs where the only light is on the star of the show, the dancer, as she moves her body, uninhibited, as if the music were coming from inside her. I played the music of flamenco as I painted, let the feeling and passion of the song and memories of the movement of dance flow through me as I worked. Cheers to art inspiring art!”

Size: 36 x 36
Medium: Mixed media
Price: SOLD

To purchase Stephanie’s paintings, click here.

The newest member of the SSA Team is Stephanie’s assistant, Jessica Stone. A self-described “people person,” Jessica works with anyone interested in obtaining Stephanie’s art — from individuals to galleries to the vineyards who feature Stephanie’s lively creations. She is passionate about art and design, and feels at home in her new role. When not working for Stephanie, she can be found at Salon Re (http://www.salonre.com), where she perfects clients’ hair with amazing color and cuts.

Meet De anne Walters: She’s the face behind the maintenance of my website, my graphics work and all of my “tech needs.” Thank you, De anne, we would be lost without you!

About De anne: For over 16 years, De anne and DWATCS (www.dwatcs.com) have been serving the greater Grand Rapids metro area. From logo creation to expo design, from website design to search engine optimization, De anne’s 16+ years of experience has offered her many opportunities to explore, and satisfy, the creative needs of her diverse customers.

Electronic communications have become the largest part of her creative business. She specializes in the creation, maintenance and hosting of web sites, the setup and maintenance of the social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linked In, etc.) to support them, and the search engine optimization/marketing (SEO/SEM) strategies to promote them all.

De anne has extensive knowledge of the creative design process of books, booklets, packaged materials, brochures, CD’s, business cards, annual reports, invitations, letterheads and catalogs. For more info, visit www.dwatcs.com.

Each month, Michigan By The Bottle Tasting Room in Shelby Township — which has a long-term exhibit of my work in its main space — focuses on a different painting, giving guests the story behind it. The latest one is “Dancing Through the Vines.”

The story: “Celebration of life is a recurring theme in my work. When giving me advice, my wise mom, on more than one occasion, said, ‘Don’t take life, or yourself, so serious,’ and so in my typical fashion (I cant help myself), I took that seriously. Her words are something I have to work at, and remind myself of. My paintings help me do that: They are reminders to me to focus on celebration and the pure thrill of being alive.

“The title of this piece could have been many things: ’Dancing to the Beat of My Own Drum’ or ‘Dancing Through Life’ or ‘Without a Care in the World.’ But I chose to put her in the vineyard, tying her to another theme in my work, which is wine country — another place for joyous celebration. ‘Dancing through the Vines’ is meant to remind us all of my mom’s sage advice: ‘Don’t take life or yourself, too seriously.’ Remember to take time to celebrate, to honor your own aliveness and the special people in your life.

‘She is created in acrylic, and her body has been collaged from my palette. I paint on a plastic that you can peel your paint off. The more interesting leftover paint — or acrylic skins, as they are called — end up as collage in my work, as it does here. The wine label is also a skin.

“Now that you know the story behind ‘Dancing Through the Vines,’ today I raise a glass to you, encouraging you to celebrate the small victories, and your own aliveness. Cheers!”

Size: 20″ x 20″
Medium: Acrylics
Price: $320

To purchase this painting, visit the Michigan By The Bottle Tasting Room. To purchase other paintings, click here.

The words of my mentor, teacher and friend Bob Burridge continued to resonate in my mind long after they were spoken in my figurative art course today.

“What a luxury you have today, painting from a live model,” he told the class. “This is a time-honored tradition; it goes back to cave paintings.”

His description got me thinking about what a time-honored tradition it is indeed. Some people collect coins or baseball cards; I collect art books, poring over the works and stories of those who went before me who shared my passion for making art.

Think of your own favorite artists from the past …now Google them. They all work from live models at some point, both drawings and paintings — further proof of the undraped model’s relevance in art’s foundations and evolution.

This art history buff gets giddy just thinking about visiting the paths of my art heroes. Rembrandt, Picasso, Goya — they are all masters of the figure in art. So today, pondering Bob’s words, I felt a kinship with my teachers from the past and yet an owning of my own tradition, a journey that takes me deeper into my own artistic voice while nodding to the greats of art history.

Here’s the thing about life drawing or painting: It teaches you to see. The human figure is not easy to re-create; you really have to look, find proportions, study the shapes and spaces around the figure or negative shape. It’s a challenge that stretches you as an artist, makes you better by forcing you to look, and then demands that you have seen with each mark you make.

The figure, a human element in art, is not just exciting to me because of the nod to the past and the exceptional way it teaches you to master your skills. It’s about humanity. Mastering the figure is a way to enter a painting from your own point of view. By this, I mean: We are all human, so it puts the “us” factor in the art. As I continue my week of study, this will be my goal, to honor the life in all of us, the connectedness we have as humans. Here’s to being alive!

“Marie Antoinette, it turns out, was misrepresented in history. I can’t be sure, I wasn’t there, but many historians say her reputation was villainized from reality starting in her own lifetime. Our modern day American culture glorifies the sacrificing female role model to the point where many modern women feel guilty for doing almost anything for themselves. Marie is the antithesis of what we glorify today, and I say perhaps she has something to teach us. I’ve always felt the kindest thing anyone can do for the ones they love is take care of themselves. You can’t be any good for anyone else if you are not good to yourself first.This painting was directly inspired by Marie Antoinette as a symbol of it being “OK” to take care of yourself, to enjoy life, to celebrate the joy of womanhood, and to embrace being alive as a occasion in itself.

Manet’s “Olympia”

“Referencing Manet’s “Olympia,” I borrowed from history in the creation of this work. It’s a classical theme in a rebellion against modern demands on the feminine, in this unique time in history when we an have come so far and yet we have a ways to go in owning our equality. In the meantime, ‘Let them eat cake.’”

Size: 36 x 36
Medium: Mixed media
Price: $1,000
To purchase this or other paintings, click here.

I’m traveling to the Sedona Center for the Arts this week to take a “Figurative Painting from the Undraped Model” class with my mentor, Bob Burridge. In college, I enjoyed classes that used an undraped model, as this technique taught me more than any other. This time-tested method teaches many important considerations, including perspective, shading, foreshortening, lighting, line and design, all in one class.

The topic of nudity also arose in the art history classes that had me on the edge of my seat, hanging on every word. It’s there that I learned that the nude was present in art from the beginning. Today, it is still an important part of any art education.

Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” (1538)

Manet’s “Olympia” (1863)

Perhaps it’s due to studying the historical, cultural and technical relevance that I never considered nudity in art improper in the least, and felt completely at ease exploring it through my own artistic pursuits. Nevertheless, I felt shocked and dismayed when I once heard someone comment on my figurative art as “inappropriate.”

My travels have led me to believe that this seems to be predominately an American issue. All the nudes on display in the worlds’ museums, and a general ease with the body found globally, set the stage for an acceptance of the unclothed human figure in art. What are your thoughts on the nude in art? I invite you to join me this week in my studies and explore this subject with me.

“This piece is inspired by Josephine Baker and Paris in the Roaring 20′s; it’s a celebration of life. Josephine Baker posed and moved in a way that exuded a passion for life, a mischief, the kind that comes from knowing joy. Paris, like many of the world’s great cities, was experiencing an artistic boom, jazz was alive and well, and flappers were all the rage. Life was light and the celebration of living was honored.

Women of my generation have a pressure to fill a lot of roles — to be ‘superwomen’ — and as a culture, we glorify this image of the self-sacrificing woman to a fault. In a painting like ‘Paris Follies,’ we can be reminded that joy, dance, song and celebrating life are important — I’d say even necessary. This painting says, ‘Save the serious stuff for tomorrow; today, we will dance.’”

Size: 36″ x 36″
Medium: Mixed media
Price: $1,000
To purchase this or other paintings, click here.

Size: 24″ x 24″
Medium: Oil pastel on board
Price: $450

To purchase this or other paintings, click here.