Susan Fraser Artist 613-584-4537
Guest at the studios of Tim Storey and Lydia Vanderstaal
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Susan Fraser Artist 613-584-4537
Guest at the studios of Tim Storey and Lydia Vanderstaal
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Susan Fraser was born and educated in the United States, where she worked at the campus greenhouses, botanical gardens and microbiology labs. Upon graduating she worked at the microbiology lab at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. In 1983 she hitch-hiked around Europe touring galleries, museums and churches. Her art career began while living in Germany from 1984 to 1988. In 1988 she immigrated to Canada and painted commission work based on the abundant migratory waterfowl of the Ontario flyways. A year on Vancouver Island afforded opportunities to paint Orcas and to experience the west coast art scene. Susan now resides in the Ottawa Valley, nestled between the Ottawa River and Algonquin Park where she is frequently visited by deer, owls, wolves and black bear on her acreage. Her charcoal drawings are a result of life long study of nature and of photography which captures the deer in their natural state. The most intimate poses are captured without awareness of a human presence. Choosing to draw a head and shoulder portrait reveals their state of emotion through their eyes and facial expressions. Susan has an amazing touch for textures, catching the velvet of the deer’s coat and the shine of the eye. The toned paper provides both the background and the medium tone of the subject. The shading and highlights are done with black and white charcoal respectively. Many layers of varying hardness of charcoal are applied, blended and lifted with an eraser to provide a depth of texture to the fur. “I am amazed at the openness of the facial expressions of deer. Their sensitivity to their surroundings is visible in every twitch of ear, side long glance or their overall demeanor. As a mother I feel a great connection to the deer on my property, which emerge as wide eyed fawns and grow into curious teenagers. Last year’s teenagers come back as young adults searching for opportunities to start their own families. The young bucks apprentice with the older bucks, learning what they need to survive. I hope to bring the viewer on my journey of understanding of the deer community.” |
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