About Susan Schneider

Susan Schneider
(617) 429-7398
susan@susanschneiderart.com

As an Artist...

My style of painting shows the influence of both realist and impressionist traditions. As a realist oil painter, I look for subjects in the natural world that inspire me. As an impressionist, the effects of light perpetually captivate me. Fleeting light contrasts are often an important design element in my landscape and still life paintings.

Over the past few years I have developed a passion for coastal scenery. The rocky cliffs of New England including Rockport and Gloucester, Massachusetts and Southern California such as Laguna and Newport Beach provide endless inspiration. I treasure the challenge that each locale's unique lighting, changing atmosphere and terrain offers for interpretation.

Another area of interest is the Southwest, particularly New Mexico. The vegetation and awesome rock formations and canyons sometimes juxtaposed against ancient pueblos in the formidable high desert provide contrasts of humanity's footprint against the constant ebb of time. My paintings are intended to preserve and respect unique vantage points and cultures as I came upon these majestic sights.

Plein air painting combines two of my passions: the opportunity to be immersed in the outdoors and to convey the unique experience of the moment through my painting. When it is not possible to paint on site, I will use sketches, color notes, photographic references and my memory to compose a studio painting. The excitement of my painting experience in the field often leads me to explore a much larger format (as large as four feet by five feet) in which I would like the viewer to feel as though they have stepped right into my scene.

As a teacher...

I eagerly look forward to each new student in my classes. Every individual brings a unique facility to the painting process. It may be an intuitive appreciation of composition and design, color mixing, or of perceiving and depicting value. It could be expressiveness of brushstroke, painterly application of paint or a creative conceptualization of subjects and images. A person may show up with or develop great technical skills in seeing, drawing and in perspective. I wonder what special unique talents and interests will be revealed and I delight in being instrumental in enhancing their growth.

I have consolidated all that I have learned through the years and have arrived at a system that simplifies the painting process yet addressing each individual’s goals and needs. Students are excited with their rapid progress.

I currently teach at the Hunakai Studio School of Fine Art in Foxboro, Massachusetts; I also have private classes.

Selected Exhibitions

Lucid Eye Gallery, Gloucester, MA Mostly Plein Air
Skipjack’s Restaurant, Boston, MA New England Seascapes and Boston Scenes
Town & Country Galleries of Pound Ridge, NY Ocean, Lake, River
Nadejda Gallery, Newport, RI Still Life and Newport Coastal Scenes
Depot Square Gallery, Lexington, MA New England Landscapes: Natural and Urban
Newton Free Library, Newton, MA Of Time and Place
Via Lago Restaurant, Lexington, MA Still Life Explorations
Daniels Gallery, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, Boston, MA Autumn in New England

Awards

Juror’s Best in Show: Art On The Common, ’95, ’96
Second Prize: Art On The Common, June ’95
Third Prize in oil, and pastel: Felix Juliani Gallery, Dec ’95

Collections

Marriott Hotel at Crown Colony Park, Quincy, MA
Fox Hill Village Corporation, Westwood, MA
Lexington Historical Society, Lexington, MA
Private Collections in MA, NY, CA, NM and Paris

Education

Columbia University, Teachers College: MA, Counseling; Ed.D, Special Ed Research
New York University: BA, Psychology
Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA: Life Drawing and Mixed Media
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA: Drawing and Painting
Museum School, Boston, MA: Life Drawing and Painting
DeCordova Museum School, Lincoln, MA: Drawing, Oil and Watercolor
Art New England Summer Workshop, Bennington, VT: Plein Air Landscape Painting
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY: Welding and Sculpture