Utopia Irises Hill
48 X 24 inches
Oil on Canvas
'Utopia Irises:
Storm II'
48 X 24 inches
Oil on Canvas
York Geranium
Oil on canvas
26 x 56 inches, 66 x 142.2 cm
Interior: 2
Oil on canvas
48 x 24 inches, 122 x 61 cm
Van Dorf Window
Oil on canvas
24 x 48 inches, 61 x 122 cm
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Susan Oomen was born in Smith Falls,
Ontario and grew up on a farm outside Kingston, Ontario. She now
lives in Utopia, a community west of Barrie, Ontario. Susan
graduated from Queen’s University in 1976 with a degree in Fine Art.
Susan has been involved in arts
education for over twenty years as a teacher, resource coodinator,
and workshop facilitator through workshops for students and teachers
in local public and separate schools.
Susan’s paintings feature landscapes
which are sometimes combined with still life, and shadows of
children.
"My earlier work explored the light and
mood of interior spaces occupied by household objects, flowers or
shadows. The paintings of children’s shadows attempted to capture
fleeting moments during a time when my children were young and when
we spent most of the day together. My time with my children when
they were small was often frantic and busy, but I sensed also that
it was precious and limited.
A move during winter to an isolated
rural home about twelve years ago changed the focus of my
observations. I came to see that my new surroundings seemed to
reflect my physical situation and state of mind. This realisation
resulted in a series of winter landscape paintings. These paintings
focused on the unique quality of winter light and the creation of
atmosphere through the dissolving of detail and colour, with mist
and snow. Although there is a sense of isolation, or feeling of
disconnection from the civilized world, the paintings represent for
me the presence of a still and silent space in an increasingly busy
and chaotic world. They include smaller windows, which recall
intimate and familiar spaces that may be somewhere within the
landscape, or just within the viewer’s memory or imagination.
Newer work involving a water theme is a
continuation of earlier interests in exploring the creation of mood
through quality of light. The rambling boathouses and cottages are
colourful and haunting. They occupy shore spaces that represent
individual havens of solitude and peace. Where the water paintings
describe a more subjective place of solitude, the winter paintings
describe a solitude that is more to do with imagination and memory.
My interests also include an element of narrative. There is a
mystery and excitement in exploring the possible history or story
attached to the buildings and assorted objects of colour on these
local horizons or waterways.
Susan Oomen Biography
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