Susan Singer, while at NES in Dec 2024 and Jan 2025, has been working to come to terms with the DARK, both here in Skagastrond where she was surprised by the 21 hours of pitch-black dark, and in the geopolitical situation in the world.
Her primary medium is Watercolor. Though she gave that sparkling, vibrant medium a valiant try, layering 40+ colors of paint to create the dense grey of the December sky, she quickly realized it wasn’t the best medium for conveying the stark landscape dominated by grey with black and white. Trying to come to terms with watercolor’s inadequacies, she skirted around the edges of work which generally offers her comfort such as Zentangles, but didn’t really find her way until she began to work in charcoal. The values and tones available in this medium worked ideally for conveying the rocky landscape, the smooth or turbulent waters, the pristine snow, the cloudy or leaden grey skies, and even the weeks-old snow and ice coating the streets. These pieces met her need to depict what she was seeing around her, but then she began to yearn for color so she started creating semi-abstract pictures of the woods around her house in Richmond, Virginia (USA) in Fall and Spring when bright colors are abundant.
When she returns home, she will get out her pastels to render Skagastrond because those give her color like watercolors do but also texture and depth like charcoal does. She will also get out her toolbox to help her address the darkness in the rest of the world, an issue which will likely not be solved as easily as introducing charcoal to paper, but which is considerably more critical so that our beautiful world will continue to exist so it can be rendered in any medium an artist can conceive of.
Susan is grateful for the many kindnesses she has experienced here in Skagastrond, both from people at NES and in the town. Thank you so much. https://www.instagram.com/susansingerart/
