The Artist

Susan is a portrait artist

Love seems to reveal itself through the eyes, the love the child has for the sun and the soft breeze on a warm summer day, or the cat for the many exciting twists and turns of it's own tail. This is the self I am trying to capture in my portraits, and after many years of study with portrait artist Al Domene and various teachers at Florida Southern college and Translvania University,  I began to accept my own commissions. This was a scary prospect !

When I begin a portrait, I photograph my subject in various situations, usually in their own environment, asking questions and trying to connect in a relaxed, comfortable way. With animals the owner allows me to spend time stroking, talking softly, just enjoying the relationship, and I always ask children to show me their favorite toys.  Adults are sometimes more difficult, because we all seem reluctant to reveal ourselves to strangers.

Many of us forget to have likenesses of those we love immortalized until it is too late, and a large percentage of my portrait experience comes from painting the portraits of deceased people and animals from photographs supplied by their families.  This is challenging, of course, because I am forced to invent colors and expressions I am unable to see, but over the years I seem to have developed a feeling for the personality of all of my subjects, whether I can actually observe them in person or not.  

I then decide the appropriate size for the painting, whether it should be on canvas or masonite board, in oil or acrylic, with chalk or pencil, and I take the combination of photos I  feel best represent what I have in mind.  I then let an image form, and once it is there, it seems to stay.

Famous faces have always been of interest, Albert Einstein in particular, and over the years I have sold more of his likenesses than of anyone else's. I especially love the combination of deep thought and playfulness in his eyes, and that overbearing nose that seems to dominate his face like a mountain in a Renaissance landscape.  Walt Whitman, Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain are also of interest. I accept commissions for these portraits, and also specialized in portraits of animals and people of my own inspiration.

After a work is finished, I immediately place it to dry in the big front window of my studio at 312 East High Street.  There the public can watch it evolve.  I drive around the block to try and catch a glimpse of the work as others will see it, and then decide what changes need to be made. Many of the children in the area refer to me as "The Window Lady," and Halloween is a favorite time when large black cats take center stage in the studio window and set the scene for Trick or Treating. 

I love to teach drawing and painting to those around me, and offer classes for both children and adults at my studio.

It is my belief that most people don't go to galleries and museums, but can get a good feeling for the processes of art making by watching a local painter struggle day by day. It also gives me a sense of connection with the public to display my work in various stages of completion.  I try and connect personally with the public through my five Gallery Hop presentations each year here at the studio.

The Hops are unique in that my studio is in a private home on a busy street in the downtown area (as opposed to being in a gallery or museum), and I try to keep the home atmosphere throughout the shows.  My buffet is not the usual cheese, cracker and wine offering, but delicious contributions added to by my sister Jane Gravitt and friend Dorothy McGoodwin. I often include poetry readings along with the art offerings.  

Lately I have attempted to paint landscapes as well as musical instruments and jazz figures, and I am also interested in photography and digital imaging.  My photos of Beijing, China, taken in April of 2008 as the city hastily prepared for the Olympics, are currently on display in my studio and can be viewed any time by calling or e-mailing for an appointment. 

My attorney husband Frank and I bought the historic downtown property from the estate of one of his clients in 1977, and it was used for several years as a dormitory for my son and his friends.  At that time Frank and I lived on the north end of town.  When Frank died I moved into the downtown property, turning it into both a working studio and a home.

I recently digressed into the realm of poetry, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree from Spalding University in Louisville, and since graduation have taught poetry at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, joined a private poetry group, and facilitated poetry discussions at various institutions.
 
Hopefully publication will be part of my future!