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Inside Windows
SHEARY CLOUGH SUITER
Artist's Statement
The paintings in this show reflect my
interest in causality, the relation of cause and
effect, how even the smallest choices in life can
alter the final outcome. Many contain figures poised
on the threshold, framed in the moment when they must
make a choice to step forward or retreat.
Another common theme is that of
shelters, which I think of symbolically as
representing refuge for seekers like myself, whose
quest is to understand their place in the world, be it
real or imagined.
I rarely pre-plan a painting,
preferring the spontaneity of building random patterns
of color, texture, and shape based on choices that
appeal to me in that moment. My intuitive response to
the chaos of the initial under-painting is to see
figures (seekers), architectural forms, and structures
(shelters).
From this point on, my painting
choices become more purposeful, seeking to create a
painting that expresses the inter-connectivity of the
world, that evokes thoughtfulness and emotion in the
viewer.
I am a mixed media artist,
incorporating watercolor, gouache, acrylic, mediums,
pastels, and collage on supports ranging from
watercolor paper to canvas. My most recent interest is
the medium of encaustics, an ancient media that has
recently begun to enjoy resurgence. A painting method
dating back to the 5th century BC Greeks
utilizing pure pigments embedded in wax that is burned
into the surface with heat, the technique is highly
conducive to layering, collaging, scratching and
carving. When viewed from a distance, the luminosity
of the polished wax gives the painting a three
dimensional effect.
Although my BFA and graduate work at
the University of Alaska, Anchorage was in Creative
Writing, after the birth of my daughter Lauren, I
re-directed my creative energies toward Visual Arts by
signing up for a beginner’s watercolor class with
local artist and teacher, Diane Gill. Now a signature
member of the Alaska Watercolor Society, my passion
for drawing emerged under Bill Sabo’s instruction,
and for the next ten years my painting skills
developed under the tutelage of master artists such as
Katherine Chang Liu, Gerald Brommer, Christopher
Schink, Mary Todd Beam, Maxine Masterfield, Pat
Deadman, Michael Schlicting, and Pat San Souchie.
Recent exhibitions and awards include The 2004 Annual
Peninsula Art League Juried Exhibition, Gig Harbor,
WA. (Dick Blick Art Award) and Northwest Watercolor
Society’s Waterworks 2004 Juried Exhibition,
Bellevue, WA. |
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