Paintings Rooted in Joy

After decades as a poet, publisher, and teacher, Susan turned to painting which quickly became her passion. She spent ten years learning composition and colour, tools and techniques, taking in-person classes and the Creative Visionary Program on line. But mostly committing to studio time, a daily practice of trial and error, sometimes wanting to quit and at other times completely at peace. These days painting is easeful efforting. No longer intimidated by any aspect of the process, painting has become a part of life. The work feels spontaneous and combustible as no mark or colour or shape or movement is safe until the work is complete. Spaces of calm and wonder, collections of chaos and bravado. Intuitive. Tender. Trustworthy. Susan’s poems and paintings are deeply personal, but also shaped by her family, husband-novelist Bill Stenson, her children and grandchildren, and Vancouver Island, this place she calls home. Writing. Painting. Family. Gardening. Reading. Tai chi. Bodytalk. Music. Silence. Weather. Memory.