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Published in Le Régional December 17,
2005.
Scratching the Surface
Susan Lee - Painter
By: Ilania Abileah
Susan Lee is an artist who funnels her inner world, through paintings,
prints and the written word. When she paints, she uses her strong
drawing skills, applies bold oil paint strokes to large-sized and small
canvases, no matter what size they are, they emanate power and make one
delve into another world. Many of Susan Lee’s creations are inspired by
the trees, moonlight, deer, and other animals that roam the area. Some
of her paintings maybe described as a narrative of dreams.
Susan’s new body of work includes monoprints and paintings, many of
which depict all those natural wonders that surround her. The images
show the changing seasons and the light reflected by the sun and the
moon at different hours of the day. The work is both figurative and
abstract and provides a view of Susan Lee’s strong contact with the
cosmos.
On December 15th, Susan Lee is opening an exhibit of
paintings and monoprints entitled “Scratching the Surface”,
Vernissage, Friday, December 16th 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Café
Au Trécarré, 79 Boul. René Levesque, St. Placide, Tel. 450-258-1171, the
exhibit will be open 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, until
January 13th, 2006. Susan Lee is a member of Route des Arts
since 2003.
***
This was
published in Main Street in 2004, Spotlight on Susan Lee, Painter. The
images within the text may not be enlarged. See below images of the
series of Susan Lee's abstract paintings discussed here.
Susan
Lee is a painter engulfed in her own abstract world of colour, form and,
movement. She paints, writes and, loves music, gardening and animals.
She also writes Children’s’ stories accompanied by detailed, very
figurative illustrations. See her website at: www.susanlee.ca
When you reach Susan’s place, you see her garden and her
horses grazing in the field. In such pastoral settings she is inspired
to love the world around her. This comes through quite clearly in her
artwork. However, when asked to talk about her work she says
"I just paint!"
After my visit in
September, impressions and visual memories of her canvases lingered on
and still do. Susan paints large 6-foot canvases, yet I discovered
that Susan has the capacity to render a small 10-inch canvas into a
whole universe and, give the impression that you are looking at a very
large canvas. Viewing her colour-charged paintings with their bold
brush strokes, one is overwhelmed.
The compositions
are such that can be interpreted by the viewer to his own delight, no
title really necessary. The work speaks for itself, especially due to
her interesting choice of pallet. The painting entitled Bahama
is done with an unusual choice of colours: Pistachio green, Candy Pink,
Windsor Green, Phtalo Blue and specks of red and yellow. It almost
looks like a map but suggests pleasures of oceanic spots and summer
weather.
Orange Sunrise is done with orange and
yellow surrounded by small areas of light green, turquoise, alizarin red
and, rich textures of blue hues. It is as if Susan has captured the
moment. She takes the time to appreciate natural events and puts
them on canvas in her own language.
Fall
is another example of describing a feeling
that the season imprints on us. It is a simple composition, yet it does
give the suggestion of trees resplendent with colour by a body of water.
Ice Cream Summer
is yet another seasonal testimonial
with a colour range of banana yellow, grapes, red berries and, green
with a suggestion of cool light blue. It is as if one holds an
ice-cream cone and describes the senses that are evoked by it.
Susan’s love of music is quite evident with Homage to Miroslav, a
Czechoslovakian Cellist. Here, the shape of the musical instrument is
quite evident; it is painted in various shades of red, brown and, yellow
with a kaleidoscopic range of rich colours that swirl around it.
Another musically
inspired painting is Jazz Singer, which creates a sense of being
right there at the club. Black, contrasted with bright yellow, red and
even small strokes of green and mauve. The colour is applied with
interesting nuances, inviting us to share in this musical
interpretation.
Susan’s paintings may not lend themselves to black & White viewing as
well as I would have wished them to be…..All you can do is visit her
studio, this is one of the reasons Route des Arts exists.
