Susan with "Lyre"

Susan Kauffmann is a visual artist living in Northern Nevada. Her art has been shown in various galleries and juried exhibitions, and can be found in collections in both the United States and Canada. This blog starts off with some of the pieces in her "Geoganics" series, which grew out of a desire to make engaging wall art by combining geometric and organic shapes to move beyond the traditional four-sided frame. Once described as "Kandinsky gone 3-D", each piece strives to convey movement through a static medium. The pieces in this collection are made mostly of Baltic birch plywood, with some having accents of metal plate (copper or brass) or foil. The paints used are generally either opaque acrylics or translucent oils, the latter employed to allow the grain of the wood to show through. Susan is now looking into making some new pieces out of aluminum -- stay tuned!"

Aurora Borealis

The awe-inspiring grace and the interplay of colors of the aurora borealis cannot be adequately captured in any man-made medium. However, it is in our nature to try to give expression to that which moves us in this world. This piece is my tribute to the phenomenon some call the "Northern Lights", which I was privileged to see several times during my 20 years in Canada.

Lyre

"Lyre", believe it or not, did not start out as a piece intended to represent a musical instrument, or indeed music in any sense. It began with a simple sketched circle, around which I kept adding shapes that I found compositionally pleasing. Perhaps this is the subconscious influence of my musician brother and many musical friends. Most people immediately see it as an instrument of some nature, but I will never forget the baffled look of an elderly couple who were studying it in a gallery. The gentleman turned to his wife and said, "Martha, what in the begeezus do you think it's supposed to be?", to which she replied, "My goodness, John -- I haven't the foggiest idea." 

(Please note: I apologize for the lesser quality of this photo. These pieces are extremely difficult to photograph, and the shots seen in this blog were taken by different people at different times. Some came out better than others.)

Stride

"Stride" was originally inspired by a bunch of curly maple twigs I had in a vase in my bedroom. I kept seeing parts of a woman in the swirling, curving lines, and I decided this woman needed to come to life. Ultimately, I made this piece as a tribute to my mother, a beautiful, full-figured woman who loved to dance (and did so very well) in her youth.

Duinser Elegian

"Duinser Elegian" is my response to reading The Duino Elegies, by Ranier Marie Rilke. This same series of poems was the inspiration for the Wim Wenders film, "Wings of Desire". Both the film and my sculpture explore the relationship between angels and humans: the angels envy us because we have emotions, and we envy them because they are immortal. In this piece, the cool colors represent the angel, while the warm colors represent the human. Where the angel manages to briefly connect with the dreaming man, the angel's blue and the man's red blend into purple -- a hint of human feeling for the immortal one.

Duinser Elegian (detail)

River Jump

There have been two abiding passions in my life: Horses and Art. "River Jump" uses the simplest of lines to convey an interaction of two fluid entities -- that of the horse, and that of the water he is leaping across. The photo does not do justice to the incredible iridescence and grain contained in the fir used for the water portion. Once again, my artistic efforts are humbled next to the incredible beauty that nature produces so effortlessly. 

Red Does the Lindy

"Red Does the Lindy" was created after I had read the autobiography of Malcolm X. For some reason, I was particularly struck by Malcolm's recollections of a  happy time in his life in which he (going by the nickname "Red" due to his reddish hair) loved to dance the Lindy Hop. I guess it was the unexpected lightness and joy in the memoirs of such a "heavy" and intense political figure that made such an impression. I don't think most people are aware of that side of Malcolm X, and somehow, I think he would want them to know about it. 

Minotaur

Of all the characters in Greek Mythology, the Minotaur has always struck me as one of the most powerful -- both frightening and alluring. This sculpture is the first of several mythological beings I would like to explore...the next being Icarus.

Sketches for "Lyre II", proposed aluminum sculpture

While my previous sculptures have been made out of wood, I am now looking at making future pieces in aluminum. This is one I have been thinking about, here shown in two color combinations that give it a very different feel. I like to play with colors in this way to determine what the final piece will look like.

TERMINOMETRY

For a few years, I was living on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. This required taking a ferry back and forth to get to Vancouver or beyond, which in turn required a fair bit of waiting around in ferry terminals. One day, I happened to have my camera handy and snapped the following photos of various parts of the terminal at Horseshoe Bay. The opportunities to engage the camera with aspects of composition, form, color, texture and light were just amazing. I had a great deal of fun shooting these -- I hope you enjoy looking at them! Oh, if you click on any of the images, they'll come up a bit larger.

Terminometry #1

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Terminometry #20

And, just for the heck of it, here are a few shots I took of the urban landscape in Vancouver.

Vancouver #1

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Longhorn Poster "Misty Morning Visit", by Susan Kauffmann

Okay, everyone who comes into my home sees this image, which is a photograph I took of my neighbor's longhorns and made into a poster. So many people have said, "You should sell that!" but I've only ever offered it to family and friends. Well, after a bit more prodding, I'm now showing it here, and if anyone wants one, I can get it ordered for you in a variety of sizes, though 16" x 24" and 24" x 36" are likely the most popular. If you are interested, please note that the image you see here is framed; the actual poster has no dark border around the white part. If you click on the image, it should come up bigger for you.

Random art stuff...

Here are a handful of of random things -- A commissioned portrait of a baby, done in watercolor; another watercolor (detail from montage painting of David Bowie at different points is his career...painted when I was 18); a commission of a dog (watercolor); a little Friesian horse card; a life-sized snow sculpture of a Victorian woman; the poster from my short film, "Baby Killer"; and a commissioned charcoal drawing of a horse. How's that for a hodge-podge?