Artistic Control and Intuition: Art by Susan Sharp
Untitled #2, acrylic and oil on MDF panel
Susan Sharp is an artist based in Connecticut. Working with paints and mixed media on panels, Susan creates works that combine the natural behavior of paint with artistic control and intuition.
, gouache and graphite on yupo
Susan works in an intuitive fashion with fluid paints which allow the pigments, once applied to the substrate, to flow in whatever natural path gravity takes them. She usually works on wood, MDF or paper, surfaces that have minimal texturing allowing the paint to go even further.
I enjoy the artist’s choice of color – Susan commonly works with a base of relatively light, less-saturated colors, adding tighter, more deliberate and darker layers in a process that’s as experimental as it is experienced. In most of her works, she leaves obvious evidence of the artist’s hand through highly visible brush marks, made in layers of color that are sometimes slightly translucent. The contrast between the layers of pigment and composition in each work creates really interesting visual tension. In many works, thin lines of dark paint create the look of a form that has been stretched taught across the canvas.
