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Susan Schrader

Susan j Schrader

susanjschrader.com

 

Member profile details

Membership level
Artist (Individual)
First Name
Susan
Last name
Schrader
Business/Organization Name
Susan j Schrader
 

Personal information

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Website
susanjschrader.com
Directory listing text
I paint in an abstracted whimsical style that focuses on the figure and emotional connections. My ceramics are hand painted, each a unique piece of art. These useable works of art are anything from mugs, vases, pitchers, plates, bowls and platters. The imagery often portrays wildlife and marine life surrounded by repetitive colorful patterns and shapes.
 

Artist Info

Medium / Media
  • Painting / Drawing
  • Mixed Media / Assemblage
Artist Bio or Résumé
I am a Visual Artist and Book Illustrator living in Marblehead, Massachusetts USA. I received a BFA(’93) at Queen’s University, in Canada and a MFA(’96) at Illinois State University, USA where I studied drawing, printmaking, painting and art history. I have shown my work throughout Canada and the USA and my work is in numerous private collections. I have worked as a printmaker’s assistant, and enjoyed various drawing, printmaking and painting teaching opportunities over the years. My passion remains in my studio where I am able to create my own drawings and paintings.

Over the past few years I have been working on gaining attention from the local community. This effort has resulted in solo exhibitions, many group shows both locally and in the US. I also have a strong social media presence and have made connections with people and companies from all over the world. I am also a Book Illustrator and our first book was published Fall 2016, "The Sweetest SuperHero!" The book contains 16 of my ink and watercolor paintings.

Currently I am working on a new series of drawings and paintings on canvas and paper. My work contains whimsical pen and ink drawings that focus on these fanciful creatures in a city-like landscape that are rich in color, full of creative patterns and bizarre movements. My recent series is focused on abstracted human figures that float and dance about on the surface of the canvas.

Raising our two boys and dog as well as soaking up the culture and art during several extensive family trips has added fuel to my creative fire. These trips to India, South Africa, Australia, Hawaii, Florence and Namibia for example, have given me much inspiration! Throughout each adventure there was so much to take in and absorb. Each country had different colors, sounds, smells and energy. These tactile memories are now bubbling up within me and finding their way onto the surface of the canvas. Each of my figures have their own story to tell. The viewer is part of this storytelling because we bring our own stories and our own history to the painting. What is your story? How would you draw it?

Now that our boys are older, I have found a renewed energy and focus within myself. This rejuvenated creative drive is reflected throughout my drawings and paintings. Thank you for taking the time to view my Art. It truly is a pleasure to share my work with you!

Susan.
Artist Statement
My work is about life. About release. About letting go. About giving oneself up to what life has to offer: happiness, love, friendship, wonderment, grasping/releasing. My paintings show my love of drawing! I draw very organically with the India ink on the blank canvas and see what creatures will come to life. Then I begin to add my color – I’m in love with bright, vibrant colors and loads of detail — dots upon dots!

My paintings are about life and love and friendships. They are about relationships within yourself as well as with other people and moments in life. I communicate emotions through the simplicity of my quirky, little figures. These creatures live amongst themselves on their own or together in a moment in time. How they themselves interact with each other upon the surface of the canvas invites us to perhaps ponder how we feel when we are faced with a moment in our own lives that brings us connection to someone or something.

I enjoy the work of Klimt, Picasso, Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeious, Chagall, Alice Neel, Matisse, Cy Twombly, Giacometti and Quentin Blake to name a few. Each of these artist focuses on the importance of drawing, composition and emotion. Their use of color, texture and line build towards a single snapshot of our world. My drawings/paintings on canvas are created intuitively and organically. My paintings are about mark-making and the activity that happens right on the surface of the canvas. There is hardly any depth or implied perspective. It is created with drawings done in India ink, and painted with acrylic paints, varnishes and textured mediums.

My work is about plunging into the moment with my pen nib and ink. My method relies on my reaction to the first figure that finds his/her way onto the surface of the canvas. I am aware of both the positive and negative spaces as I am drawing and how these spaces relate to the marks and the development of textures and color. The spontaneous gestures and movements of the figures allows the viewer to see their own connections to themselves or to another.


Susan
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