ABOUT
Susan specializes in original oil and acrylic painting. Her expressionistic and abstract images are inspired by her imagination and by nature.
Susan was born in England in 1954. She moved to Canada when she was eight and has lived in New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
After majoring in visual art at the University of Victoria, BC, Susan worked as a cartographer, and became a Special Projects Coordinator for the BC Ministry of Forests Inventory Branch, which was the first department to use computer graphics for maintaining forest inventory.
In 1982, Susan moved to Toronto to raise a family. She volunteered teaching art to schoolchildren and worked in set design and painting for the theatre.
In 2009, Susan moved back to Victoria, BC, to become a full-time caregiver to her parents and have a hiatus from her artwork. She now divides her time between working as a strata council member and as a professional artist, creating her own visual art.
STATEMENT
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have a love of expressive visual imagery. Moving a lot in my youth, I turned to my sketchbook and found a constant companion. My art became a perfect outlet for self-expression and communication. A bout with postpartum depression turned my art into therapy and I realized how creating or just viewing art can help in the healing process. There is now such joy for me to immerse myself in the process of creation.
It is thrilling for me to create visuals that come from my imagination, as in the abstract SQUARES, DOTS, & LAUNDRY Series.
The LAYERS Series are also abstracts, inspired by lush West Coast scenes.
Inspired by geology, my love of rocks (see ROCK Series) invokes me to portray them as soft and sensual.
In the NEBULAE, PITS & PORTALS and SHELTERS Series, I use warm, organic shapes, to convey the human relationship with our sanctuaries.
And finally, integrating the forms and colours of natural and constructed beauty, the URBAN LANDSCAPES Series shows cities that become contemplative, but still dynamic.
EXHIBITIONS & GALLERIES
2015 - Sidney Fine Art Show - Juried, Sidney, BC
2014 - Sooke Fine Art Show and Sale - Juried, Sooke, BC
2013 - Mt. Tolmie Studio Tour, Victoria, BC
2011- 2013 - The Gallery at Mattick’s Farm, Victoria, BC
2010, 2011 - Look CACGV Art Show, Victoria, BC
2010 - Moss St. Paint In, Victoria, BC
2010 - The Village Restaurant, Oak Bay, BC
2006, 2007, 2008 - The Kingsway Annual Art Show, Toronto, ON
2007 - Queen West Art Crawl Art Show and Sale, Toronto, ON
2006 - Colour and Form Society Show - Juried, Toronto, ON
2005 - Imagination Show - Juried, Mississauga, ON