During the months of May and June, Migration: A Gallery will feature the paintings of renowned Connecticut artist Suzanne Howes-Stevens. Join us this First Friday, May 2 from 5:30pm to 8:00pm for a reception with the artist. Earth Openings is Suzanne’s second show at Migration and will run through June 27, 2008. To honor the artist’s commitment to protecting the beauty and health of our endangered waterways, Migration will donate a percentage of the sales made during the exhibit’s May 2 opening night celebration to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Suzanne Howes-Stevens' work combines beauty with a mission. Working oil paints so that the opaque medium takes on the spontaneous and delicate quality of watercolor, Suzanne captures scenes of the world at its edges, where the water meets land - primarily images inspired by her lifetime spent living along the New England coast. She uses maps as a background and a border to ground her work with a sense of place and meaning.
Suzanne regularly searches for inspiration while paddling in her kayak or canoeing through various New England waterways, taking her camera along to record these hidden life-giving places. Then in her studio, Suzanne refers to the snapshots and creates her pristine worlds. Suzanne’s use of maps as her "canvas" allows her to emphasize the borders that exist between water and land. Those spaces that we love so much are disappearing; this is often reflected in the water scenes drifting into the map area. Hers is a potent imagery with a poignant feeling and innate beautify that will not leave you unchanged.
In Suzanne’s words:
For many years I have been attaching maps and nautical charts to canvas and panels and layering oil painted images over them. I seek to merge the topographical aspects of the maps with the visual expression of the layers of land and water and light. The maps provide grounding or an anchor for the landscape images, serving as a metaphor for our connection to the earth and our journeys across it. They also help me to establish the structure of the painting and often suggest the physical elements of the places mapped; the water movement, the trees and grasses which seem to echo the actual lines and grid works within them. Trees become roads, grasses and foliage become topography lines, lines of latitude become horizons, and so on.
Occasionally the maps are completely covered over or are only faintly visible beneath the paintings. These works are most often inspired by the marshes and swamp lands of New England. During my childhood, playing in and exploring the tide pools of Cape Cod Bay, I developed a reverence for the sea and shores, and a deep connection to my seafaring ancestors. In my adult life, somewhat landlocked in Connecticut, I have learned to love the marshes and swamps, which I see from most highways throughout New England. These places of humble beauty and silent regeneration are always present and near, but hidden and unvisited at the same time. They are only noticeable during the late fall and winter when the foliage has fallen.
If you look at any topographical map of the eastern United States you will see vast areas of undeveloped wetlands. I call them "Marginalia" referring to the fact that they are, like the coastal marshes, the edges of the earth or the margins, which hold the secrets of a universe quietly vibrating with new life. I like to think of my paintings as gentle reminders of the unseen fragility of "waterlands" which are often totally unprotected from development and ultimate destruction.
Suzanne’s skillful and sensitive paintings become feasts for the soul as well the eyes. Watery scenes are rendered by delicate brushstrokes filled with the tenderness and passion she has for these fragile habitats. Despite the quiet and reflective tone of Suzanne’s paintings, their transcendental qualities generate a tremendous amount of power. Each piece is a moving and respectful reminder of the absolute beauty unspoiled Nature possesses.
About Suzanne Howes-Stevens:
After studying fine arts at Massachusetts College of Art (BFA) and Hartford Art School (MA), Suzanne taught painting and drawing at Manchester Community College from 1973-1997. During those years, she also created an extensive body of work. An early retirement from teaching in 1997 allowed her to focus completely on her painting. The grants she has received include a Connecticut Commission on the Arts Grant, a Greater Hartford Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, a Weir Farms Visiting Artist Award, the Ruth Chenven Foundation Grant, and the George and Helen Segal Foundation Grant. Suzanne's work is represented by the finest galleries on the Eastern seaboard and can be found in numerous public and private collections, including the William Benton Museum, AT&T, Fidelity US Trust Co., Meditech, and Northwestern Community College. Suzanne’s honors and excellent reviews are numerous.
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