paint what i see



i wonder what my work would look like if you plucked me out of my world and plopped me down in another. i respond to my surroundings and the people i come across. when i lived in south florida my work was altogether different, but even today a move there would have a big impact. such strong light that the shadows become shapes of their own. here in the pacific northwest i don't have that problem most of the year! so i can focus on color and not so much on value.

2 comments:

katie said...

I saw this painting on your site and it really struck me - maybe because I am asian,european and black and had been thinking about all that it means.

You can interpret a painting like you do a dream because they have a similar source.

You can see clearly the white girl in the front first serve with all the options,with everything.The asian girl has the second status she has merit and reward,but the black girl has nothing only anticiptation and promise.

Funny when you are all three of those girls and have played their parts to see it so well represented like this.Bravo.

susan said...

katie - thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. i am so often astounded by the narrative that viewers bring to my paintings. i can't claim that i intended it that way - i am always so focused on the formal aspects of the painting that everything else must truly be happening on a subconscious level.