Susan Fahrni emerges from the Columbia Valley: What's been happening

Artist Statement

I love nature and I love to try to capture it on canvas. Everything I paint means something special to me, whether it’s a scene I’ve tried to capture before it disappears, a view that holds special memories, or a glimpse of a part of our valley that I want to share with others who might not otherwise have access to it. The places I paint are real and as I paint I am ‘there’ be it perched on a mountain ridge, sitting by a lakeshore or standing upon a tussock of grass in the wetlands.
I generally work from photos, however, for me, capturing the images in paint on canvas gives them an importance, value, and even permanence that I feel photography can not.
I begin a piece by drawing key shapes on the canvas then washing a thin layer of paint on to block in the major features. I then start working from the background making my way forward envisioning what is behind and hidden by each slope, tree, etc. before I paint it. For me this working in layers gives each scene its veracity and depth.
Sunlight and its effects fascinate me. I have always admired the stained glass of medieval Europe and I love the way the sun illuminates it and shares the coloured glow with the world below. It is a man-made tribute to God and the world He created. However, His work cannot be surpassed as sunlight gives life and purpose to the colours of the real world giving them an “unearthly” glow.
When my work is going well, I feel a sense of awe and wonder and a thankfulness that I have been allowed to capture and recreate our beautiful world. Having said that, I am not certain how it happens and feel that I’ve been witness to magic as the work paints itself having merely allowed me to mix the colours and hold the paintbrush.
As I work, in my mind I see the birds and insects, feel the warmth of the sun, the caress of a breeze, and hear the rustle of leaves, the buzz of insects, the chirp and call of birds. I am transported to whatever scene I am trying to capture.
I have come to realize that my art represents who I am: passionate, realistic, yet orderly and a stickler for detail, and very ‘down-to-earth’.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

What's been happening

It's been a crazy few months since the Tour of the Arts. The chair that I painted went for the highest bid of $650 raising a tidy sum for Columbia Valley Arts.

Weekends for the rest of the summer were hectic as I set up a booth at the Invermere Farmer's Market with a fellow artist.

Then we were busy cleaning up the yard and house before heading off to Europe to visit family and friends.
Since coming back I've had a large order of cards and prints to fill, the art display at Strand's Restaurant to refresh and rearrange, painting sales to deal with, and yes! finally I have started painting again.

I really missed painting and it's good to be back at my easel. I'm currently working on little scene of an old homestead up near Harrogate but I have a small commission awaiting my attention and an entire stack of canvas begging to be filled!

I am also trying to get ready for the annual Christmas Craft Market in Invermere December 2nd & 3rd.

Busy times!

Susan Fahrni emerges from the Columbia Valley

Contributors

Artist Statement

Art Galleries in the Columbia Valley

Purchasing

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

What's been happening

No comments:

Followers