A career STEM educator, Susan worked at Harvard University for 22 years overseeing educational outreach programs for youth and teens, and working with all levels of Harvard students on teaching technique and science communication as they serve the surrounding communities. Prior to Harvard, Susan taught high school biology and was an associate producer for several PBS science television series. A fervent believer that art is essential to conveying information about the natural world, Susan enjoys engaging all ages in pursuits that connect art, science, and the outdoors.
Susan received her B.S. from Cornell University and M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Susan studied painting with artist Kat O’Connor from 2004 through 2019 at the DeCordova Museum and the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. In addition, Susan frequently participates in workshops with Kat O’Connor and other teachers in locations such as Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, Skopelos, Greece; Juracon, France Cinque Terre, Italy; and more locally in New England. She has been juried into the Society of Animal Artists and is a Signature Member of the New England Watercolor Society. She resides in Portland and South Bristol, Maine.
Statement
My current watercolor paintings seek to portray familiar animals, especially those essential to Maine’s farms and fisheries, from new perspectives. While I want my subjects to be recognizable, I minimize their environments, concentrate on negative space, and try to tread the line between realism and abstraction. I am interested in how light, reflections and shadows capture gestures and animate interactions, and how integrating small glimpses of the environment portray individual roles in a larger drama.
I take my own source photos and create sketches on site for later studio work. Vibrant mackerel fade immediately upon being removed from water, so I transfer them into a small aquarium in the bow of my boat and capture their iridescent shapes in that small, sunlit space before releasing them. Creating a photo library of alewives migrating up fish ladders while ospreys circle overhead, or notebook sketches in the middle of a sheep pasture, enables me to draw on those intimate, tactile experiences of place while I compose paintings.
After a 30-year career in life sciences education, I have reconnected with who I was as a nature-loving child: dwelling in that joyful, hyper-aware, process of discovery that accompanies sitting quite still and drawing or painting. By visually depicting the animals in front of me or the environment that surrounds me, I better my own understanding, and I hope my viewers will pause to look and learn along with me.
All images © Susan L. Johnson. Any duplication or use of text or images without Susan L. Johnson's permission constitutes copyright infringement.
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