Artist lecture #2

       I went to the UNH Art Gallery to hear Suzanne Schireson talk about her paintings and drawings that were displayed. I've had Suzy for two studio classes, both of my intermediate painting classes so I've already seen some of her work before it was exhibited. Although i saw her painting of the bubble in a slide before it was exhibited, i was completely taken away by it. Its the first painting you see in the exhibit and i was drawn in. I think i starred at it for a good 15 minutes. 

       I am in love with all of her works, I can say she is one of my favorite artists, and favorite teachers. She is new to UNH but i don't think anyone thinks of her as new. She is great at what she does. I feel like she does not limit herself. Most teachers here do not want you working for photographs, which Suzy can always tell when i work from a photograph but she still does sometimes and uses observation also. In her painting of the bubble, some was from a picture, some from memory, and the rest from observation. I also like that she doesn't limit herself with tools. One of her favorite things to do is use a squiggy to whip out blocks of color which i think is a great idea because pieces tend to get muddy after working on them for awhile, and you can get a fresh start. 

      I also love that most of her paintings have a narrative, that is mostly what she talked about. Her big bubble painting was inspired by her memories as a child. Her mother use to take her to a lake house and they would make giant bubbles, and she wanted to recreate that. Her painting of the dead man in a bathtub was her way of having a funeral for her friend that passed away. I never saw this painting before but she told me about this man. So i felt like i knew more about the narrative because i knew of their relationship and how she painted him every Friday. I have seen other painting that she did of him before.  So it was sad to know he passed and she worked on making a painting in his memory. 

     She also had a painting of her and her boyfriend, i loved the perspective and the composition. She said they use to sit for hours for each other while they painted each other. I loved how she was peeping through in the background too. Overall I'm glad i went to see Suzy talk because i love her work and there is always something more to say about the paintings that i did not know before.