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Strasburg Studio Archives: Falling Quiet

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Strasburg Studio Archives: Rediscovery in the Stacks

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F A L L I N G Q U I E T

OCTOBER SPOTLIGHT: "KELP TIDE"
48 x 36", oil on birch panel, 2009.

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Thank you for joining me on this monthly trip through the archives of my studio. 

Kelp Tide, 48 x 36”, oil on birch panel.

I found my inspiration for this month’s spotlight, Kelp Tide, while wandering a favorite shoreline. Mesmerized by the gentle push of the tide against the large swath of seaweed in the tidepool, I felt myself lulled by the swaying kelp and captivated by the colors and layers of transparency in the fog-filled morning tide.

The title of this edition of studio archives, Falling Quiet, was meant to reflect my intention of discussing the coming time change, the retreating light and my perennial desire to hibernate through the darkening months. However, a recent gift from a friend - a book titled “Unquiet Landscape”, a collection of essays about ideas in twentieth century British painting - shifted my focus to the broader questions of creativity and process.   

In the opening few pages, headed “The Landscape as Emotion” the author, Christopher Neve, states:

“The painter goes through the land and sees what nobody else has seen because landscape comes from inside not out. It depends on entirely who he is…. It finds its way into his imagination via all his senses; it becomes part of his spirit, and then, with great care and sensitivity, it may be brought back again by hand into the visible world and somehow recognized.” 

“Inside not out”, perfection.

 As artists and makers, we serve as both conduits and filters, absorbing the world and refining our vision through our unique perspectives. For as long as I can remember, I have sought peace, quiet, and balance. As a small child, I found this calm in the back of closet, away from the bustle of a busy house and as I grew older the outdoors filled this need for quiet connection. Painting later became the physical manifestation of these personal experiences.

How does all this come back to a clump of seaweed in a tidepool? For me, it embodies the feeling of interconnectedness found in the hushed sound of the waves, the silent sway of kelp in water; it is the moment of recognizing the beauty in the mundane and celebrating the extraordinary in the ordinary.

As we transition into this season of retreating light, I invite you to join me in reflecting on your own landscapes—both external and internal. By embracing the stillness of the coming darkness, perhaps we can mute the noise of the holiday season, discovering connection in the small moments and inspiration in the gifts these moments offer.

Kelp Tide initially started with drawings of the seaweed mass encountered at the tidepool. I did a lot of printmaking at the time and had every intention of making the images into etchings. I loved the composition so much I decide first to make a painting.

Kelp Tide made its debut in 2009 in an exhibition titled Air I Earth I Fire I Water at Sullivan Goss in Santa Barbara. I can't recall if this beloved painting ever made another showing on a gallery wall. It is definitely pulled out often to show in my studio but has yet to find its rightful place in the world. I did eventually make etchings but my heart is still warmed by the painting.

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 Strasburg Studio Archives: Rediscovery in the Stacks

 One treasure. One story. Once a month.


I look forward to sharing the hidden gems in my studio in this monthly series.
Feel free to forward to other treasure seekers and art lovers.

Strasburg Studio Archives: JUNE GLOOM

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Strasburg Studio Archives:Rediscovery in the Stacks
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J U N E  G L O O M  

Thank you for joining me on this monthly trip through the archives of my studio. 

June SPOTLIGHT: "Campus Tide 04", 40x40" oil on birch panel, 2005.

Campus Point, Santa Barbara California, original oil painting by Nicole Strasburg

Campus Tide 04, 40x40” ©N Strasburg

Oh May, you have been so drizzlingly damp and grey!

This month’s spotlight, Campus Tide 04, aims to inject a bit of summer sunshine into the dense marine layer that has enveloped the south coast for a month.

Traditionally, June rolls into Santa Barbara, fog shrouded, mist covered and dull, only surrendering to the sun late in the day.

 “June Gloom”, as the local forecasters love to pronounce, is a predictable summer staple on the south coast. Students excited about the end of school term have historically been met with cold weather and long stretches of wet soggy mornings, dampening the enthusiasm of summer break.

This year, May rushed in dragging the marine layer with it, leaving us enduring long days without a ray of sunshine capable of cutting through the wall of clouds. Winter seems to have stretched its long fingers into spring, holding on tight.

Campus Tide 04 is not representative of the dull colorless mornings experienced recently on the coast, but is a scene infused with the colors I experienced on my first visit to the Big Island of Hawaii. Everything is full volume in the tropical climate, the smells, the warmth of the air and the vibrancy of the hues that knock you down when stepping off the plane into the glow of island life.

I brought that heat and warmth home with me one winter and painted our local coastline with hints of the island still beaming through my memory. Sunshine radiates off the sand and cool blues remind us of the salty respite from sun drenched days spent at the shore.
 
Let’s hope the sun can soon shake off its heavy cloak of misty marine layer bringing with it warmth on the breeze of the approaching Summer Solstice. 

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Campus Tide 04, along with several of its siblings, were never formally exhibited. They were produced in my former studio/gallery, 30 Arlington, following my first exhibit, PACIFIC, at Sullivan Goss in Santa Barbara in June of 2004.

 October of the same year was my first visit to the Big Island of Hawaii and I arrived home brimming with ideas and salt from the islands still fading on my skin. Many of the paintings from this grouping were sold from the gallery as they were finished. Campus Tide 04 has travelled to outdoor shows with me and spent time on the wall at Susan Street Fine Art in Solana Beach before returning home to the studio.

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Locals Know:  Campus Point, home to UC Santa Barbara students, locals and traveling surfers, sits on the point of the UC Campus. The winter swell draws in hundreds over the surfing season. No matter your skill level or riding style, Campus Point and its surrounding breaks offer some of the best surfing. @ gogoleta.com

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 Strasburg Studio Archives: Rediscovery in the Stacks

 One treasure. One story. Once a month.


I look forward to sharing the hidden gems in my studio in this monthly series.
Feel free to forward to other treasure seekers and art lovers.

Remind me when we met?

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A week has passed since the opening of SURFACING at Sullivan Goss in Santa Barbara. With the show successfully launched, life now turns toward other, more mundane, pursuits; the long forgotten and neglected chores, the unglamorous tasks, that accumulate during the swirling excitement of completing a body of work and the subsequent installation at the gallery.

One luxury, post-reception, is time.

First to fill my calendar: take a long walk with a friend, followed by a plunge in the Pacific.

As we meandered the cliff and shoreline at Campus Point and while scurrying around the craggy rocks during the advancing tide, I was reminded of an image I painted from two decades ago. Still, this view surprises, inspires and holds my attention.

Every. Single. Time.

How does it do that?

Campus Point, Santa Barbara, CA, 2023

I created several versions of this view, small studies and a larger format oil painting, which caught the eye of my then “soon-to-be” husband. I created one last rendition in a size that would fill a wall in our dining room where it has lived for two decades, still bright, still shiny, still inspiring.

And, this morning, standing in front of the muse as it, once again, sparkled and posed, I caught my breath as the vision spilled its fairy dust reminding me that amidst the ebb and flow of life, some things always remain the same.

Point Break, 30x72”, oil on panel 2003

Post Show Disappearance

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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