Having grown up in South Carolina, my visual language was formed by the expansive grassy fields, stormy ocean waves and geometry of arbor canopies that characterize our state. In my twenty years as a painter, I have explored landscape through different means; representation to abstraction in varied media; ink, pastel, oil, and encaustic.
My formative years benefited from programs in art-centric public schools as well as attendance at the S.C. Governor’s School. I chose a more conventional route in college, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of South Carolina(1996). After graduation, I moved to the mountains near Asheville. Through a year of introspection, while living in the woods and working professionally in the city, I chose to return to school and seriously focus on my art. Western Carolina University offered a talented faculty with varied experiences and a nurturing environment. I studied painting and ceramics there and completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2000.
After graduation, I spent years living between east and west. While living in the urban environment of Denver, I gained exposure to a spectrum of contemporary art. This influence combined with the very sensory experience of living a year on Edisto Island caused a shift in my work to an explorative treatment of landscape. In December 2004, my husband, Reggie, and I moved to Charleston. In February 2008, our son, Athan was born. I try to balance my time with his care, making art and sharing ownership in cone 10 studios, a ceramic gallery and workspace. My painting studio is in our home on upper King Street. It’s tucked away on a sun porch in the trees. This summer I had a transformative two weeks at Penland School studying encaustic painting with Fawn Potash. I am very excited about this new medium and I am in the process of creating a body of work combining wax, oil and xerox-transfer that explores the human-nature connection.
Artist Statement & On Process and Balance: My paintings are process-oriented with an exploration of media in ink, pastel, oil and encaustic(wax). I enjoy developing the surface, whether on paper, canvas or wood, in a series of layers. Pieces often start with a silhouette, shadow or expansive vista and move into a focus on formal qualities. Having grown up in South Carolina, my visual language has been formed by vast grassy fields, translucent ocean waves and the geometry of arbor canopies. Through my studies, influential painters have been Arthur Dove, Pierre Bonnard, Helen Frankenthaler, Gabriele Munter, and local favorite, Brian Rutenberg. Having an academic background in art, I appreciate the historical context of painting. Paintings were once a major form of entertainment, as the media functions today. I want my work to provide a similar quality. Rather than offering a distraction for instants, a painting gives the viewer a place to optically and cerebrally linger for years.
My latest work involves encaustic on wood with themes of the human-nature connection using the wax medium and Xerox transfer. I am continuing with my landscape language and juxtaposing it with mechanical/man made imagery. I find the formal repetition in nuts, cogs, tire tracks, etc. interesting and not unlike what we find in our natural environment. There is also a symbolism and irony that I am exploring with the painterly quality of the surface and the industrial component in the Xerox transfer. I often study through life drawing in charcoal and carry a notebook to jot down thoughts or visual moments caught throughout the day. There is balance of familiarity and mystery in nature. I enjoy when that edge is translated into art.
Clay Background: Eudorabora Pots are a creation of Susan Gregory, an artist who works both two and three-dimensionally. With an emphasis on ware for entertaining in contemporary forms and color, the high-fired porcelain pottery is fully functional and brings art into daily life. Susan lived several years in the Denver, Colorado area. Her pottery’s namesake comes from a moment of career clarity while residing on Eudora Street and working daily as a receptionist for a mortgage company. In Denver, Susan was a member of Bicentennial Art Guild in Aurora, Colorado. She is currently pleased to work as a full-time potter, wheel-throwing instructor and operating owner of Cone 10 Studios in downtown Charleston, SC.
To Learn More About Susan C. Gregory & Cone 10 Studios
http://susancgregory.blogspot.com/
