We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
Steve Hillier, Otto Schmidinger and I will be showing our work again at our group show, Triple Vision 2019, at the Robina Community Centre gallery from Tuesday 29th January until 11th February. Here are some brand new pieces that will be shown there for the first time.
Go to the Artsy Shark webiste here
I read once that the principal task for an artist is to find their own work and do it. “You can’t do anyone else’s work,” the author said, “and no one else can do yours.”
But finding out just what it is can be a lifelong quest.
For me, the answer came when I tried just putting all the things I loved most together–brilliant colour, repetitive pattern, see-through layering and realistic painting, especially of birds. Things started to click and people began to respond positively to my work.
My approach is driven by process and philosophy. Everything in the universe is really one thing, and I am a part of that thing, too. I am always looking to develop a feeling of connectedness with nature.
The backgrounds in my work are very important. Rather than the viewer having an experience like looking at a photograph with everything laid out with equal clarity, I try to create the sensation of being inside an environment surrounded by receding semi-transparent layers of half-glimpsed shapes and patterns.
My bird subjects, painted in oils in a realistic style, are intended to “pop out” of these backgrounds, a contrasting counterbalance to their environments.
It is a three part painting process.
First, I lay down a loose, fluid and intensely coloured background layer in which the mingling of pigments provides the chance for happy accidents.
Then I start work with aerosol paints and/or airbrush and my ever-growing collection of custom made stencils and masks. I work very much by intuition here, with no pre-determined plan, just layering colour and pattern until a satisfying composition is achieved.
Then I look at it for a good long time and see what bird subjects the canvas suggests to me. The final stage is tweaking and tonal rebalancing where necessary.
Artist Susan Skuse invites you to follow her on Facebook and her Gallery Website.
No-one could have been more surprised (or delighted) than me when my painting, Rainforest Dream was announced as the winner of the Art Lovers Australia art prize last month. The painting will soon be on its way to a new home, as well, which is also very pleasing.
It feels as though I’ve been very busy since the beginning of this year, and taking some time to update this page with my 2018 works to date, I can see why.
Last week was a very busy one, with one half of the team (Sue) up in Brisbane for the Brisbane Art Prize and Life Art Worldwide Expo, while the other half (Steve) manned the gallery. What can one say? Well, no experience is ever entirely wasted, and it was a great opportunity to meet and chat at length with wonderful regional artists such as Lyne Marshall, Kym Barrett and Beatrice Prost. Perhaps we could consider an invitational Art Expo at Hillier Skuse Gallery some time next year? What do you think?
Our first twin exhibition openings are coming up in a little over a week. We are excited about the wonderful works our two artists have been producing, and we think you will be too. It should be a great show and a fun night.
Every day lately, wonderful new works have been coming into the gallery. Striking and innovative work from David Warren, beautiful romantic works from Tony Duarte and atmospheric seascapes from Leisa O’Brien, just this week.
Our two featured artists have very different ways of reacting to the landscape around them, but love of the natural world is paramount for both of them. We hope that you will find something that resonates in this show, whether your taste runs to the contemporary, or to the traditional.
For anyone seriously on a mission to acquire that special piece of artwork, pre-show viewing can be arranged by contacting us at contact@hillierskusegallery.com.
Susan Skuse
HILLIER AND SKUSE GALLERY
This is a painting I did for the large group exhibition we have on at the gallery at the moment. I was aiming not so much for a serious depiction of a horse as something about the symbolic power and grace of the animal. I was also after a bit of a surreal feeling. You can see the whole catalogue of wonderful equine-themed artworks here: http://hillierskusegallery.com/
susanskuseart 