"I started out incorporating animals into abstract designs and these then progressed into abstract realism..."
Susanne Darius is an innovative West Coast artist based in Centralia, WA. Accomplished in several mediums including pastels, acrylics and watercolor, her current work is primarily in oil and cold wax. In addition to her transition in techniques, Darius has recently set aside portraiture, still life and landscapes to pursue her fascination of abstracts and abstracted animal forms. This new and bold body of work reveals the strength and softness of her imagination. Susanne’s latest work is featured at/in Art House Designs, Olympia, WA, and Rectangle Gallery, Centralia, WA.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am happiest spending time in my studio – time slows down, distractions leave my mind and I get into a flow, much akin to a meditative state. Sometimes entire paintings pop into existence in a single day and other times I must keep mining the depth of my experience to finally achieve a cohesive painting. My artistic journey has led me from oils to pastels to acrylics to watercolor and back to oils again. In addition, I have painted portraits, still life, landscapes and now I am fascinated by what I can do with abstract. Intermittently my personal artistic expression is freed from all adherence to form, allowing me to totally engage with my inner self and grant my creativity permission to flow into my work. Painting abstracts and abstracted forms in oil with cold wax medium is a great revelation to me as it seems to have opened me up to possibilities that were not there before. The effects and textures possible with this medium are endless. The mystery of this mixture of oil paint with cold wax medium is that it starts out soft and buttery during the application phase and dries to a smooth satin sheen, leaving the viewer with few clues as to how effects were achieved.
RECENT WORK
Here are some examples of recent work. The painting on the right, titled, THE DELEGATES, recently sold at ArtHouse Gallery in Olympia, WA. The painting on the left, titled, AZURE BEGINNINGS, is being exhibited at the Cole Gallery in Edmonds, WA.