ART STUDIOS
SUSAN M. PARKINSON
AWA, OPA, UWS
Susan Parkinson delights in bringing the outdoors indoors. Her hope is to dramatize the ordinary in nature—things that you might pass by unnoticed
when walking or driving—bringing these simple but intimate images into your living spaces to make your walls come to life. She knows that paintings set
a mood in a room; and they touch us even when we’re not totally aware of
them or their extraordinary significance in our lives.
She is more interested in being a poet-philosopher than documenting place.
”I want the painting to invoke a deeper experience with the natural phenomenon surrounding us every day—the intent is to capture insights which help us pause and think about the magic of this ongoing creation, why we are here, and how
we might value and preserve these natural systems and organic wonders.” She especially enjoys expressing different moods, pushing light and shadow, feelings, and atmosphere as she celebrates skies and gives life to ordinary landscape milieu. On the other hand, she also playfully creates abstract compositions using natural objects: capturing the rhythm of tree shapes, leafs and florals located in various places she has lived and traveled.
“Growing up in the wide open spaces of Utah began this love affair with nature and sky. Maybe it started with the hours spent as a young girl climbing and daydreaming in our front yard walnut tree. We became pretty close friends,
that tree and I; it was one of many intimate connections with the outdoors which have always given me solace. Raising a family, I spent another twenty years immersed in the countryside in Huntsville, Utah; and now I enjoy a home nestled against the mountain in Provo, Utah, surrounded by the fascinating natural shapes, colors and texture of even more trees, bushes, flowers and grasses. These amazing creations, like people, have individual personalities; and glimpses of unique little scenarios continually catch my eye as I walk and drive; so to me, my paintings are more like portraits than landscapes. Painting these glimpses
is a calming, spiritual experience for me; it is my way of celebrating our life
source, and I hope that it will bring the same joy to others.”
Susan is an energetic artist and educator who enjoys working with oil paints, watercolor and multi-media. The daughter of a successful western artist, Lee K. Parkinson, she has been exposed to art since her early childhood and has done professional gallery work as well as teaching for over twenty-five years at Utah Valley University.
"Sometimes it is frustrating trying to perfect certain passages, reaching toward higher skill levels and intricacies in developing my personal style and deeper meanings in my work, but when I am able to spend a few hours a week painting,
I lose track of time, relax, and can handle most of the stress that arises naturally
in life. I love art; I live art. I have spent hours pouring over books and walking through galleries and museums observing masters like Corot, Bierstadt, Church, VanGogh, Monet, and modern realists like Clark Hulings, Robert Bateman and Wilson Hurley. Their landscapes are not only well-executed, they have a tendency to move one's emotions; that is the ultimate goal. Whatever the results in my work, I can’t imagine my life without art or the slowly disappearing beauties of nature shrinking around us. Thank heavens we can still plant trees and flowers around our homes (and on our walls)."
SCHOOLING:
Utah State University Master of Art Degree, Spring 1990
Brigham Young University Educational Leadership Doctorate 1993-2001ABD
WORK EXPERIENCE & HONORS:
1990-1993 Viewmont High School Art Teacher; Advanced Placement
1993 Viewmont Outstanding Teacher of the Year
1993 Davis School District Art Teacher of the Year;
1993-1994 Timpview High School; Advanced Placement and Commercial Art
1995-2008 Reader and Presenter for National Advanced Placement Art Portfolios
Presented at over 30 A.P. Teacher Workshops in Utah, California, Colorado and Arizona
1994-2018 Tenured Associate Professor, Utah Valley University
2000 Excellence in Service Award, Utah Valley University
2015 Outstanding Teacher of The Year, U.V.U. School of The Arts.
2015 Utah Artists.com Featured Artist for the month of April
Associate member of Oil Painters of America and
American Women Artists Juried Association; Utah Watercolor Society
GALLERIES & REPRESENTATION:
Robert Kelly Home, Park City, Utah
Lund's Fine Art Gallery, Park City, Utah
Red Plum Designs, Provo, Utah
Verga's Gallery, LaGuna Beach, California
MOST RECENT ART SHOWS & AWARDS:
May 2016 Special Award Woodbury Museum "Art of the Century"
May 2016 Purchase Award Zion's Bank Invitational group/solo Show
Feb 2016 AmBank group/solo Invitational Show
Dec 2015 Springvile Museum Religious Show
Jul 2015 Verga's Gallery, Laguna Beach, Calif. One man show
Jun 2015 AmBank group/solo Invitational Show
May 2015 Zion's Bank Juried Group/Solo Show, Provo, Utah
Jan 2015 Presidential Board Room, Utah Valley University
Jan 2015 Holladay Juried Art Show
Dec 2014 Springville Museum Religious Show
Dec 2014 Eccles Art Center Miniature Show
Nov 2014 Purchase AmBank group/solo Invitational Show
Nov 2014 One-Man Show—Huntsville Snowberry Inn
Oct 2014 Woodbury Museum UVU Faculty Exhibition
Aug 2014 Eccles Art Center 40th Annual Statewide Competition
Jun 2014-15 Award: Utah Arts Council Traveling Show
May 2014 Utah Watercolor Society Spring Open Exhibition
May 2014 Zion’s Bank Juried Group/ Solo Show, Provo, Utah
April 2014 Three Artist Show, Scerra Historical Gallery, Orem, Utah
April 2014 Oil Painters of America On Line Spring Competition
Mar 2014 Solo Show, Terra Nova Gallery, Provo, Utah
Mar 2014 Bountiful/Davis Art Center Annual Statewide Competition
Feb 2014 Solo Show, Peteetneet Museum & Gallery, Payson, Utah
Feb 2014 Honorable Mention, Utah County Art Board Juried Show
Feb 2014 “Red” Invitational Show @ Terra Nova Gallery, Provo, Utah
Oct 2013 Woodbury Museum: UVU Faculty Exhibition
Sep 2013 AUW Utah Women Artist’s Exhibition, SLC, Utah
Jul 2013 Third Place, Professional, Steel Days in American Fork
2013 Hermitage Art Gallery Summer Show, Paris, Idaho
2013-14 Award: Utah Arts Council Traveling Show
2013 Utah Watercolor Society Spring Open Exhibition
2011 Dean’s Purchase Award, Woodbury Museum, UVU Faculty Show
2011 Davis County Invitational Art Show
2010 Honored Artist, North Ogden Cherry Days