About the Artist
Originally from Tennessee, Susan Weeks has lived in New Mexico since 1980. Before becoming a full-time painter, Susan was a teacher, a librarian, and a lawyer. An award winning watercolorist who has participated in over fifty juried shows, Susan is a signature member of the New Mexico Watercolor Society. Her watercolors are painted in a hyper-realistic style, detailing subjects that often come from her travels. Susan has exhibited her artwork at the New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair for over ten years and has exhibited in the Weems Artfest for the last four years, both in Albuquerque. She is represented by Patrician Design.
Artist’s Statement
I paint to capture the excitement of something I have seen. I think of painting as a visual language. The more I practice, the more connections I can make. This language allows me to travel to the edges of my own ability and take creative leaps. Since my process is rather tedious, I like to challenge myself by painting new subjects or by revisiting familiar ones with a different viewpoint. I consider painting a passion I am lucky enough to work at full time. I revel in the connections my artwork gives me to other artists, past and present, and to the people who view my work.
I use traditional watercolor layering techniques, but with my own sequence for painting the various elements. After doing a very precise drawing, I begin by painting light washes. Often, I paint my background first, starting at the upper left-hand corner and ending at the lower right-hand corner. Lately, I have been painting my image upside down and sideways, because this allows me to see the shapes and values in a fresh way. My last area to paint is my center of interest. I do not feel that the painting "gels" until I am very close to the end. After I have finished painting the total surface area of the paper, I take time to make adjustments until I am satisfied that the values are correct, the edges are as soft or hard as I want them, and there is the right amount of contrast. I use photographs as my source, sometimes as composites and sometimes as rearranged or cropped images.
The images in my paintings are "extracted" ones. By this I mean that they are ones that naturally occur in the world as I observe it. Occasionally I will set a scene for a painting, but I prefer capturing scenes that I stumble upon. I look for those scenes that stop me cold in my tracks with a gut feeling that there is a painting in what I am seeing. I like colorful, bold, dramatic scenes. Whatever my subject, I concentrate on the play of light and shadow. I often use crisp, in focus positive spaces and out of focus, negative ones. I take pleasure in creating a tension between the recognizable and the abstract.
Upcoming Events
From March 22nd through June 6th, 2009, Susan will have paintings in the “Life in Full Bloom” Exhibition at the New Mexico Cancer Center.
Susan will be exhibiting two paintings in the Masterworks of New Mexico Exhibition in April at Expo New Mexico (the Fairgrounds) in Albuquerque. Those paintings are the Biemme Parmigiano Reggiano Factory and the Bottlescape V - Huile d'Olive, which is the image on the home page of this website.
The painting “Tunnel Vision” will be exhibited in the 34th Annual Western Federation of Watercolor Societies Exhibition from May 1st through May 31st, 2009, in San Diego. Susan’s painting is one of eight selected from New Mexico to be included in the show that consists of works by artists from the eleven states represented by the Society.