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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS |
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Watercolor West XXXIX Juried exhibition, Riverside Museum, Los Angeles National Association of Women Artists Annual: Miriam Schorr Memorial Award for Works on Paper National Watercolor Exhibition, New American Gallery, New York, NY, Honorable Mention Watercolor West XXX National Annual Exhibition, La Brea, CA Pennsylvania Watercolor Society 20th International Juried Exhibition, Lancaster, PA Hilton Head Art League National Juried Exhibition, 5/5 – 6/10, Hilton Head Island, SC Montana Watercolor Society 17th Annual National Exhibition, Bigfork, MT Eastern Washington Watercolor Society National Exhibition, Richland,WA Bedford Gallery Water+Color Juried Exhibition, Walnut Creek, CA Marin County Fair, Fine Art Exhibit, San Rafael, CA, First Place Award, Best in Class WASCO Aqua Areas ’00 Annual Juried Watercolor Exhibition, Peoples' Choice Award California Watercolor Association Winter Exhibit, Third Place Award Society of Western Artists Annual Exhibition, Academy of Art College Gallery,San Francisco, CA San Bernardino Art Assoc. Inland Exhibition XXXVI, 5/17 – 6/24, San Bernardino, CA Society of Western Artists National Open Competition, Merced, CA “Celebrate Agriculture with the Arts” Madera Arts Council, Madera, CA First Place Award WASCO Aqua Areas ’99 Annual Juried Watercolor Exhibition, Honorable Mention Mother Lode National 33rd Annual Art Exhibition, Placerville, CA |
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GALLERIES |
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New American Gallery, New York, NY Bigfoot Gallery, Bigfoot, MT Fairmont Gallery, Sonoma, CA San Bernardino Museum, San Bernardino, CA Lily Rock Gallery, Idyllwild, CA Lancaster Art Museum, Lancaster, PA Blackhawk Gallery, Danville, CA Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA Walter Greer Gallery, Hilton Head Island, SC Riverside Gallery, La Brea, CA Academy of Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa, CA Loanna Clark Gallery, Petaluma, CA |
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AFFILIATIONS |
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National Association of Women Artists Watercolor West (Juried Member) California Watercolor Association Society of Western Artists Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County Cultural Arts Council of Sonoma County Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Association |
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PUBLICATIONS |
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The Best of Flower Painting, Kathryn Kipp, North Light Books, 1997. |
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FESTIVALS |
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Bellevue Festival of the Arts, Bellevue, WA Southwest Arts Festival, Albuquerque, NM San Diego Arts Festival, San Diego, CA Saratoga Rotary Arts Festival, Saratoga, CA La Jolla Festival of the Arts, La Jolla, CA La Quinta Arts Festival, La Quinta, CA Sausalito Arts Festival, Sausalito, CA Mill Valley Arts Festival, Mill Valley, CA Palo Alto Fine Arts Festival, Palo Alto, CA Fine Art Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA Salute to the Arts, Town Square, Sonoma, CA Marin Art Festival, Civic Center Lagoon, Marin County, CA Los Altos Rotary Fine Art Show, Los Altos, CA, Mayor's Choice Award International ArtExpo San Francisco, San Francisco, CA Capitola Arts Festival, Saratoga, CA Sacramento Fine Arts Festival, Sacramento, CA Napa Valley Mustard Festival, Napa, CA Palm Springs Art in the Village, Palm Springs, CA Celebration of Craftswomen, San Francisco, CA ARTrails, Sonoma County Cultural Arts Open Studio Tour |
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EDUCATION |
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Sonoma State University, Bachelor of Arts, Music College of Marin, Associate of Arts, Music Penn State University, University Park, PA, English |
| BIO | Susan Adams grew up in eastern Pennsylvania. She studied English literature at Penn State University and holds a degree in Music from Sonoma State University.
Motivated by curiosity, confidence and a steadfast optimism, Adams' journey has been a varied one. Her talent as a musician led to much success writing music and composing soundtracks for animated films. She performed in several rock bands and also played piano in her own jazz trio.
Before becoming a full time fine artist, Adams spent many years as a senior animator and background illustrator for a nationally recognized software company where she gained recognition for her award winning work. Susan’s watercolor paintings have won numerous awards including the Miriam Schorr Award for Works on Paper from the National Association of Women Artists, New York. Her work has been exhibited in many national and international exhibitions. She is a featured artist in The Best of Flower Painting, North Light Books. Susan is a juried member of Watercolor West, a member of California Watercolor Association, Society of Western Artists, the National Association of Women Artists, Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County and the Sonoma County Cultural Arts Council. Adams has studied with the following artists: Skip Lawrence, Arne Westerman, Fran Larsen, Katherine Lui, Christopher Schink, Jeanne Carbonetti, Frank LaLumia, Mary deLoyht Arendt, John Robichaud, Alex Powers, John Salminen, Richard Williams (master animation), Jean Grastorf, Jane Hofstetter and others. Susan maintains a working studio in the Petaluma countryside, where she also teaches classes and workshops. |
| STATEMENT |
"As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life." -John Lubbock My mission is to build a bridge between viewers and myself. As a visual poet, I use images to awaken the recognition of universality and oneness among us all. My art walks the wide path between abstraction and realism, between a thought and a thing. My mission is to fuse emotional content with technical skill in order to build a bridge between the viewer and myself. As a visual poet, I use images to awaken the recognition of universality and oneness among us all. My philosophy is based on the belief that it is essential for an artist to have a thorough understanding of the fundamentals. Mastering the fundamentals of any art form is liberating, giving one the freedom of effortless expression, whether abstract, representational or a blend of both. My early representational still life work responds to the beauty I see in the silent life of everyday objects. Still life is the most abstract of the representational idioms. Composing arrangements of ordinary objects is like placing colors and shapes in a collage. My still life work imparts a sense of weight and structure not often associated with the watercolor medium. The compositions resonate with color and vibrant shadows. My figurative work speaks to the inner life that unifies ordinary people. I use color, line, texture and shape to portray mood and feeling. My landscape and nature paintings honor the spiritual presence of living things in nature. I try to keep it simple: reflected light on a leaf, the glow in a shadow, sunlight in the forest, rain in the city—all excerpts from life's universal panorama—the art that colors my life. My more recent work walks the wide path between abstraction and realism, between a thought and a thing.
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