___Susan Lynn watercolors
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About the Artist
Painting primarily with transparent watercolor, my current body of work depicts the landscape of the American West and the Midwestern prairie. Drawing subject matter from my own photographs and on-site sketches, my compositions are an interpretation of the landscape, rather than a strict depiction. As in much of rural America, a human presence is felt in my paintings through the subtle intrusion of the occasional fencepost, haystack, or the pattern-making of plowed fields and planted crops. The work often enters a realm of heightened, abstracted colors, and the unique qualities of transparent watercolor lend the paintings a sense of luminosity that I believe cannot be duplicated with any other media. Watercolor poses special challenges for the painter. Unlike oil or acrylic paints, watercolor is transparent and unforgiving, making it nearly impossible to correct an error or change a composition once the painting has begun. To achieve the brilliant, glowing color that is watercolor at its best, one must “get it right” the first time. Forgoing the more common watercolor technique of glazing layers of transparent color to build value and chroma, I prefer instead to apply the paint with intense, saturated color, often allowing areas of color to bleed into one another to create color and textural transitions that echo those found in nature. I work toward finding a balance in each painting between those spontaneous, fluid bleeds and the sharper edges that more clearly define the subject. Exploring the impact of color and its ability to establish an emotional resonance with the viewer is an aspect of painting that continues to fascinate and excite me.
Gallery Representation:

Phoenix Gallery Topeka, 2900-F Oakley, Topeka, KS 785-272-3999 www.phnxgallery.com

Leopold Gallery, 324 W. 63rd St., Kansas City, MO 816-333-3111 www.leopoldgallery.com
Resume:

Education:

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Kansas State University, 1985

Solo Exhibitions:

Cloister Gallery, Grace Episcopal Cathedral, Topeka, KS, February, 2008

National Agricultural Hall of Fame, May, 2005

Roeland Park City Hall, January, 2005

The New American Gallery, www.newamgallery.com, July, 2004

WRS Architects Gallery, Kansas City, MO, September, 2001

Unitarian Church, Kansas City, MO, March 1996

Thornhill Gallery, Avila College, Kansas City, MO, November, 1995

Two-person and Group Exhibits:

The Rice Gallery, Overland Park, KS, October, 2006

Phoenix Gallery, Topeka, KS, September, 2006

Red Raven Gallery, Big Sky, MT, August, 2005

Red Raven Gallery, Big Sky, MT, February, 2005

Phoenix Gallery, Topeka, KS, November, 2004

The Rice Gallery, Overland Park, KS, July, 2004

The Rice Gallery, Overland Park, KS, November, 2003

Phoenix Gallery, Topeka, KS, March 2002

Phoenix Gallery, Topeka, KS, September, 1999

Phoenix Gallery, Topeka, KS, April, 1998

Roeland Park City Hall, Roeland Park, KS, February, 1996

Juried Exhibitions:

2006

Western Colorado Watercolor Society 14th Annual National Exhibit

Art at the Center Juried Exhibition

Missouri Watercolor Society 6th Annual Open Exhibition

Juried Art Exhibition of Kansas and Missouri Women Artists

2004

The NewAm Open, National Juried Exhibition

2003

Kansas Watercolor Society 8 State Exhibition

Kansas City Artisits Coalition Regional Exhibition

2002

Art at the Center Juried Exhibition

Point Gallery Painting II International Juried Exhibition

2001

Kansas Watercolor Society 7 State Exhibition

Realism 2001 XIII Annual National Competition

1999

Art in the Woods ’99 Juried Exhibition

1996

46th Spiva Annual 9 State Regional Exhibition

Art in the Woods ’96 Juried Exhibition

Kansas Watercolor Society 7 State Exhibition

1995

Midwest Watercolor Society 18th Annual National Exhibition

1994

Art in the Woods ’94 Juried Exhibition

1992

Kansas Watercolor Society 5 State Exhibition

Aesthetics ’92 Juried National Art Exhibition

2nd Annual Kansas City Competitive Art Exhibition

Juried Art Fairs:

Uptown Art Fair, Minneapolis, MN, 2008

Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO, 2006

Art Fair on the Square, Madison, WI, 1996, ’97, '03, '04, '05, '07, '08

Power & Light District Art Fair, Kansas City, MO, 2008

Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair, Peoria, IL, 2007, '08

Laumeier Art Fair, St. Louis, MO, 2006, '07

Salina Arts Festival, Salina, KS, 2007

Art on the Square, Belleville, IL, 2006

Omaha Summer Arts Festival, Omaha, NE, 2003, '04, '05, '06

Westport Art Fair, Kansas City, MO, 1994, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, '04, '05, '06

Naperville Arts Festival, Naperville, IL, 2004

Brookside Art Fair, Kansas City, MO, 1994, ’95, ’96, ’97, '02, '03

Artsplash, Sioux City, IA, 1997, '03

Mountain Artists' Rendezvous, Jackson, WY, 2002

Town Art Show, Leawood, KS, 2002

Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, MO, 1997

Prairie Village Art Fair, Prairie Village, KS, 1993, ’95, ’96, ’97, '04, '06, '08

Hidden Glen Arts Festival, Olathe, KS, 1993, ’94, ’97

River Valley Arts Festival, Topeka, KS, 1996

Midwest Salute to the Masters, St. Louis, MO, 1995

Awards:

2007 Invitational Award, Art Fair on the Square

2006 Award of Merit, Laumeier Art Fair

2003 Purchase Award, Kansas Watercolor Society 8 State Exhibition

1996 Purchase Award, Hidden Glen Arts Festival

1997 Purchase Awards (2), Prairie Village Art Fair

1995 Purchase Award, Midwest Salute to the Masters

1994 Featured Artist, Hidden Glen Arts Festival

Purchase Award, Hidden Glen Arts Festival

1993 Best 2-Dimensional, Hidden Glen Arts Festival

Professional Affiliation:

Signature Member, Kansas Watercolor Society, www.kansaswatercolor.com

Member, Kansas City Artists Coalition, www.kansascityartistscoalition.org

Member, Missouri Watercolor Society, www.mowsart.com