About The Artist
Most recently, I made acrylic abstract works starting with rough under-paintings. Often I remove paint with sandpaper and razors. Most recently, the work we use here in fashion, I create work that has glass-smooth surfaces, reflecting my move into being in The Flow. Each series represents feeling and lessons learned as my life took severe twists and turns.
I capture moments of calm using steady flow of water and wind coursing through time. In many paintings, I often add geologic references not purposefully, but because geology and geophysics became embedded in my experiences of life. I stretch beyond art to find answers to the big questions. It becomes a metaphysical merger of two fields and still there is no definitive answer; just the path of enormity and humility.
I'm still on the path with a basket full of strange stories trading a search for the Big Toe (Theory Of Everything) for shamanic training. I feel more connected and certain in this uncertainness than ever before as I let myself evolve into the spiritual artist I am today.
A long, long time ago, I painted with oils with my father in his basement studio. He used coffee cans for cleaning brushes in turpentine. The cans were deeper than my arm was long. The feeling of the little hairs on my arms regaining their place and intense smell as the old-style turpentine dried off my skin is to the smell of kitchen tastes and smells to most others. Over my lifetime, I’ve enjoyed exploring and working in many series, including portraits and landscapes. At this point in my career, I feel my deepest thoughts and feelings are best expressed in the abstract form where color theory and composition are now immersed in the creative process rather than planned and carefully laid out as I had done in the early days.
- susan.kraft <at> gmail.com
I capture moments of calm using steady flow of water and wind coursing through time. In many paintings, I often add geologic references not purposefully, but because geology and geophysics became embedded in my experiences of life. I stretch beyond art to find answers to the big questions. It becomes a metaphysical merger of two fields and still there is no definitive answer; just the path of enormity and humility.
I'm still on the path with a basket full of strange stories trading a search for the Big Toe (Theory Of Everything) for shamanic training. I feel more connected and certain in this uncertainness than ever before as I let myself evolve into the spiritual artist I am today.
A long, long time ago, I painted with oils with my father in his basement studio. He used coffee cans for cleaning brushes in turpentine. The cans were deeper than my arm was long. The feeling of the little hairs on my arms regaining their place and intense smell as the old-style turpentine dried off my skin is to the smell of kitchen tastes and smells to most others. Over my lifetime, I’ve enjoyed exploring and working in many series, including portraits and landscapes. At this point in my career, I feel my deepest thoughts and feelings are best expressed in the abstract form where color theory and composition are now immersed in the creative process rather than planned and carefully laid out as I had done in the early days.
- susan.kraft <at> gmail.com
The art in this website represents decades of inspiration. You can see and read about my two most recent series, Break Through and Ethereals, on this website.
More details:
My first major shift came while I was running the Art21 gallery in Palo Alto. I changed from painting abstracts and back-lit trees because suddenly and unexpectedly, I saw burqas as a symbol that many of us use to cover our true identities. I fell deeply into this series and didn't reemerge until the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California featured the whole series in a courageous exhibition.
My second major shift was joining Women's Caucus for Art and gaining real-time history lessons of the current art world. I became the President of the Silicon Valley chapter for nine years and through this chapter, I organized dozens art events, some at national levels.
Background:
I grew up in a small midwestern factory town with summers on the family farm in northern Wisconsin. I started an art major in early '79 then turned around and took a gap year18 months later. In 1981, I found my love of math and science studies which led to my life in Silicon Valley from 1985 until present. Starting in 1997 I opened and ran public art venues and outreach programs, such as Artistic Adventure in Menlo Park, Art21 Gallery in Palo Alto, and a studio in the Chelsea Art Building in New York City. I also produced and hosted Talk Art, a cable television show. Click here to watch an episode of Silicon Creativity September 2017.
Today, I paint in my an art studio, designed and built inside my home. This is where I also host the Sunday Salon generally on the 4th Sunday of each month.
You can see my art in the studio in Redwood City, CA.
You can see my art in the studio in Redwood City, CA.
Videos of social involvement:
I organized the Honoring Women's Rights conference in 2012 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Women's Caucus for Art. I kept the ball rolling and kept going to, volunteered, organized, and ran a few more social change and political consciousness raising events. Here are a few selected videos and images from those days.
I organized the Honoring Women's Rights conference in 2012 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Women's Caucus for Art. I kept the ball rolling and kept going to, volunteered, organized, and ran a few more social change and political consciousness raising events. Here are a few selected videos and images from those days.
|
|
|
|
"Study in Waves I" Acrylic, 24x18-inches
|
artist Susan Kraft next to "Dreams"
|
See Kraft's CV