Hi, I'm Susanne

I'm an artist who loves to paint, create Collagraph Handprints and Sculpt. I also find faces fascinating to draw and paint.

One of the joys of my life is to share my passion for art and the life enhancing effect of creativity, by teaching workshops for art clubs, working with people in my online course and giving personal instruction in my lovely studio. 

My overall vision for my life is to become more compassionate as a person and reduce suffering upon this planet.  In my art life it is to create well considered, uplifting and authentic art and then have it go out into the world to bring joy and pleasure to others.

EARLY LIFE

I am sitting beside my father at the kitchen table watching him draw. 'What would you like me to draw next" he would ask.  An animal or some other fun thing would pop into my mind and he would quickly make it appear on the page.  He seemed to be able to draw almost anything and as a child it was absolutely magical to me. Right then I knew I wanted to be an artist and weave that powerful magic too.

​As a child I was always drawing and making things. I remember building small clay figures and painting a huge spaceman backdrop for a school play.  Creating was such fun and very exciting.

​But when I finished high school and wanted to attend art school sex and drugs put a damper on it all! 

This is what my parents thought I would get into if I went away to study art so as you can imagine I wasn't supported in that idea. Also there were very few jobs in the creative field in NZ at the time so they encouraged me to pursue other options where I stood a chance of actually earning a living.

Over the years I often dabbled in art but it was not until my three children were teenagers and we came to live in Toronto that I really started taking it seriously. 

By complete serendipity, I found my way to an Art Therapy course at Arscura. The teaching was based on Rudolph Steiner of Waldorf School fame. Part of the course training was to re-teach what we had learned, to our own clients. I had never thought of myself as a teacher but I found that I really loved teaching and the interaction it provided with other creative minded people.

After a move to Ottawa I spent eight years teaching a variety of courses under the name Art Insight. These courses were focused on using art to grow in both creativity and as a person. I used some of the art therapy material and incorporated other great personal development information. This was gained through exposure to an amazing business course developed by Lou Tice and his wife Diane, called "Investment in Excellence".

A five year stay in the UK provided more art training and the new medium of Collagraph Printmaking which I studied under the fantastic printmaker Peter Wray RA.

Back in Toronto again and with a lovely studio to work in, my work really got underway.

My absolute joy in life is to go into the studio and paint.  It is what I have always wanted to do.  Painting really is a form of meditation to me.  It's a time of single-minded focus where all else drops away.  Time passes without me being even aware of it.  

MY ART PRACTICE

I work completely intuitively reacting to what has gone before and letting the shapes that arrive suggest the next mark to make.  I never have any idea of what I am going to paint except for choosing the colour I want to work with. I often look back on a painting that I have done and wonder how I actually managed to do it!  Somehow as I work it seems to magically appear and take on a life of it’s own.  If I love the piece I am scared that I may not be able to make one as good again.  It’s a VERY mysterious process.

Over the years my art has changed and I have moved away from semi realistic work.  I now find non-objective or abstract painting the most difficult, exciting and compelling form of art-making.  To me, it's making the unknown visible. Working intuitively, lines, shapes and colours emerge from somewhere deep.  It seems wondrous that there is an endless supply of imagery to be discovered, mined and shaped.

I love going into my studio and the pure joy I get from working there. I want my work to express harmony, joy and connection to something deeper. Most people want this in their lives and although the imagery comes through and is personal to me, I know that others pick up on these feelings and also resonate deeply to them.

When someone buys a piece of my art I want them to love it and enjoy the creative and uplifting energy it brings into their environment as well to them personally when they pass by it in their home or business.

WHAT I BELIEVE

I have been a vegetarian for forty years but recently I have been awakened even further to the absolute horror and suffering of animals, the planet and humans caused by the food we choose to eat. This has caused me to change my diet and eat only plant based foods and become primarily vegan. The only time I step out of this is when it would cause upset to someone who has prepared food for me not knowing I prefer to eat this way. This happens very rarely as most of my immediate family and friends also eat this way.

The other theme that has always featured strongly in my life from a very early age is an interest in the other dimension of our being, the spiritual.  This is not a religious affiliation but a belief that encompasses age old wisdom from many different sources.  

My desire is to try and live a life where I treat others with kindness and respect and use my gifts to serve and help others.  I think where our passion lies is an indication of how we can do this and because my passion is art this is the area in which I want to assist others.