BIO

Susan maintains a full-time art practice at her studio in Lake Ann, Michigan. She resided in Chicago, Illinois for 35 years where she exhibited while also working as an art therapist. Her interest in art and determination to be an artist began in her teen years living outside Washington, D.C. Visiting museums and galleries were an important inspiration. She learned methods of art making through private classes at an early age and initiated a life-long interest in art history.

In 1977 Susan received a BFA in painting and printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. She experimented with different media before committing to abstract painting as her primary form of expression. Her work has evolved over the years to include collage, assemblage, and mixed media art. Her primary medium is oil on linen in medium to large formats.

In 1985 Susan received an MA in art therapy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Her experience of using art to help others express their inner thoughts and feelings has reinforced her belief in the power of art for people coping with obstacles, angst and alienation.

Susan’s work has been exhibited in galleries in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin;  the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan, and is included in private collections in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and the Midwest. Susan retired from her therapist career in 2016 and now devotes herself fully to working as an artist.

STATEMENT

I have loved art since I was a kid, whether it’s reading about art, looking at other artists’ work, or making my own art. Since moving to northern Michigan in 2016, I have befriended many local artists who enjoy talking about creative ideas and sharing our art. Sometimes we travel together to see exhibits in Detroit or Chicago. I find being an artist a lot of fun while I also get to engage my serious side.

My abstract work is not always easy to understand. “What’s it about?”

The idea behind abstract art is that it’s the physical reality of the work that is essential. What materials I choose and how I use them is the way I express feelings, perceptions, memories, and stories. I love putting juicy oil pigment onto stretched linen. The basic material, paint, is how I make art. Color is everywhere in the environment and in our inner worlds and interpretations. I approach painting as an experiment to see what happens as I move paint around.

My art practice is a multilayered experience: there’s involvement of visual perception and bodily sensing; an engagement of what I know and think as I make decisions; a meditative state of being present in the moment; and unconscious and conscious references. I believe artists have an important role in interpreting, enacting and creating new forms that express our human experience and understanding. This multilayered process extends to the emphasis I give to layering shapes, lines, and colors in my paintings. The painting becomes a metaphor for life that evolves from an earlier history to a point of consolidation and questioning.

Abstract painting may not have clearly recognizable images, but it may feel familiar. As viewers, we don’t get a lot of pre-definition but we do get to find our own associations and meanings. It may sound strange, but I believe that art has a life of it’s own. I create paintings with my body, mind, and soul. When working I enter into a flow. Usually music accompanies painting. Once the paintings launch into the world, it’s up to others to take the time to see and visit a world of beautiful color, unique composition, and imagination.