Wednesday, June 30, 2010

After 40 years, Susan Hall unveils new work

Artist finds freedom through painting


By SABINA DANA PLASSE
Express Staff Writer

“Atmosphere II” by Susan Hall. Acrylic on canvas at The Open Room.

When creativity is part of one's being, expressing oneself through art is a life-long process that has no manual or guide to follow—at least not for Susan Hall.

Hall is having her first major exhibition in more than 40 years in Sun Valley. She has been a valley resident since the mid-1970s and has been working as an artist, designer and teacher while living in the valley. Hall's open mind to expression through creativity has taken many forms and career paths. She has worked as an award-winning fiber and textile artist, a ceramic artist and a painter.

Hall's creative eye and sense of style led to an interior design business, which gave her much success in creating her popular Farmhouse Collection furniture line. In the early years of The Community School, Hall received an endowment grant to create and implement the school's first art department.

Today, Hall's painting draws inspiration from her Elkhorn home, where light streams in through the windows and her view of the sky allows her to meditate on the moving clouds and the beauty of Idaho that surrounds her home.

The title of her show, "Palimpsest," is a direct correlation to her approach to painting.

"It means text and scrolls written over and over," Hall said. "I allow all my spontaneous and very big ideas to come through my work, which is clean and in control."

Hall has worked with well-known valley artist David deVillier, inspiring her to open a studio, get out the brushes and paint.

"This is something I needed," she said. "There is no clock or cell phone, and I get physically tired."

The layers upon layers of paint Hall has placed on the canvas are from her mediations and an interpretation of her own feelings.

"Painting is freedom," Hall said. "Once I see something, I feel it, and the hardest part of painting is to finish."

Hall's show, "Palimpsest: The Act of Revealing," is on exhibition through Aug. 28 at The Open Room on Walnut Avenue Mall in Ketchum. A Gallery Walk reception with Hall will take place on Friday, July 2, from 5-8 p.m.

Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com




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