Susan McDonnell
GALLERY BERGELLI
Susan McDonnell
It’s a beautiful spring day and I notice the heliotrope has the tiniest of leaves sprouting on its near dead looking stems. I’m thrilled. It has survived the transplant and the cold nights. Then I see the strangest looking bug. It looks like a toad the size of an apple seed. I get my camera. It’s gone; but perhaps I’ll paint tiny toads in a painting to record that moment of wonderment. Unusual birds pass through the garden in the spring and their songs stop me. I follow the sounds. There in the upper branches is a bird I’ve never seen, a red-whiskered bulbul. I will paint it to really see it. I will walk my brush over and get lost in the miniature world of every feather. My paintings are combinations of what I perceive as real and underlying unseen elements of nature. My perceptions of nature are often defined by its patterns, delicacy and astonishingly exquisite details. I record the process of contemplative observation in the garden where there are microcosms of interconnected systems, aligning and flowing in and out of each other. It is a continual work in progress. The gardens I paint are reflections of the works in progress we call “our lives”. Traditionally egg tempera is used to create very precise imagery, and I utilize that quality for my subjects. The subjects of my paintings are specific and the backgrounds are expansive – which I liken to the throwing of coins in the I Ching, to isolate the present moment. When different pigments are layered, pooled, rinsed, or sanded they combine and react to each other, and all the variables and possibilities collide to create one outcome. ~ Susan McDonnell Susan McDonnell’s paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in galleries throughout the United States, including the HAUS Gallery/Brewery Project, the Jose Drudis-Bada Gallery, and Random Gallery in Los Angeles; Klaudia Marr gallery in Santa Fe; and Artbanque Gallery in Minneapolis. She received a BA and MFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Dreaming Fawn 15 x 9 $2,600
Susan McDonnell
Siamese Garden 10 x 8 $1,800
Susan McDonnell
Garden of the Lost and Found 30 x 24 $5,300
Susan McDonnell
Mourning 12 x 9 $2,100
Susan McDonnell
Passion Flower 12 x 9 $2,100
Susan McDonnell
Transcend 30 x 24 $5,300
Susan McDonnell
Floating Garden 17 x 14 $3,000
Susan McDonnell
Bare 30 x 48 $7,200
Susan McDonnell
Down the Garden Path 18 x 24 $3,200
Susan McDonnell
Peony 9x9 $1,800
Susan McDonnell
Red Garden 9 x 12 $2,100
Susan McDonnell
Artist CV
EDUCATION 1991 MFA Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA 1982 BFA Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (*Solo Shows) 2009 Insight/Inside LA, Jose Drudis-Biada Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2008 Contemporary Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Still Lifes, Objects and Other Narratives, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2007 Contemporary Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM *Still Lives, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, Hausguests, HAUS Gallery/ Brewery Project, Los Angeles, CA 2006 Contemporary Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2005 Contemporary Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2004 *Susan McDonnell, ON Gallery, South Pasadena, CA 1996 Jose Drudis-Biada Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Secret Society of Dog Art Random Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1989 Artbanque Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 1988 Artbanque Gallery, Minneapolis, MN BIBLIOGRAPHY Elizabeth Cook-Romero, “Where Illusion and Reality Live Together,” Pasatiempo, April 6, 2007. Rinchen Lhamo, “Susan McDonnell: Still Lives: New Work,” THE Magazine, May 2007.
About Egg Tempera Paintings
These paintings are egg tempera on panel. Dry pigments are mixed into a paste with water and tehn mixed with egg yolk as a binder. Egg tempera paintings are known to maintain their brilliance of color through the centuries. Egg tempera paintings take about 12 months to cure. During this time the egg medium is hardening and becoming more water insoluble. It is not necessary to varnish egg tempera paintings but the surface is more delicate than oil or arcrylic paintings. Care should be taken to protect the surface from contact with fingerprints, extreme temperature changes, water, etc. As with any painting, prolonged direct sunlight should be avaoided. If necessary, dust with a clean, dry, soft paint brush or cosmetic brush.
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