Classically trained at California College of Arts and Crafts, I began my art career in Textile Arts under the guidance of Trude Guermonprez. Leaving textiles behind, layers of delicate glazes of color form the basis of my acrylic paintings. I incorporate hidden images from repurposed papers and text. Using bits and scraps gathered on the streets and from other people’s throw-a-ways, my focus is Nature’s dignity and elegance. Exploring the passage of time recorded in multi-views, I often work in diptychs and series expressing the relationship between moments. Lately my work has taken on a grid format where nuances of light and shadow haunt what is taken often at face value.

Moving to the coast of Southern Oregon over twenty years ago has infused my subject matter with the sense of movement, color palette and wonderment of the beautiful scenery around me. When traveling from the coast inland even a few miles, I am impressed with the complexities of the Oregon landscape and weather patterns. These events find their ways into my work, often intuitively. My beginnings are simply to paint and layer until an image begins emerging. The work is viewed at all angles. Working on strengthening compositional elements, a black and white framework often lies beneath the surface. Forests, mountains, and waterways appear throughout my art work; even when cities or manmade elements appear, the strength and beauty of Nature always seems to triumph.

See Susan’s Resumé.