Susan J. Harris, Artist Bio

Susan, born in Bristol, VA, has lived in North Carolina the majority of her life and calls North Carolina home.  She and her husband lived in Jamestown, NC, for 30 years where they raised and home-educated their two now-grown children. After years of working in the corporate world, raising and home-educating her two children and caring for elderly parents, in 2004 Susan decided it was time to pursue her childhood dream and began painting full-time.  She currently resides in the Greater Piedmont area outside of Greensboro in Randolph County overlooking 150 beautiful acres of rolling hills and farmland where she experiences fabulous views of sunrises and sunsets which provide inspiration for many of her paintings.

Susan has had eight years of art education consisting of five years of academic training and three years of private study and mentoring under a professional artist.  She continues her art education as opportunity permits.  Susan’s art education and working with multimedia have provided her with a broad spectrum of understanding and appreciation for all aspects of art enabling her to serve as juror for fine art exhibitions and on judge’s panels for multi-grade art fairs.  Although she has produced artwork in numerous mediums over the years, her preference is acrylic mixed media and is best described as abstract expressionism.

She is an accomplished and internationally published mixed media artist and her artwork can be found in publications such as:  “BEST OF WORLDWIDE MIXED MEDIA ARTISTS, VOL.II” (2010);  “INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF ARTISTS” (2011); and “BEST OF THE BEST WORLDWIDE ARTISTS” (2012).  She maintains gallery representation and has exhibited in national juried shows, solo exhibits, museums and various galleries across the state of North Carolina.  Her fine art can be found in private and commercial collections throughout the US and Canada.

ARTIST STATEMENT: 

Since early childhood, Susan’s heart desire was to be an artist.  She loves to create art which conveys a message of encouragement.  Beginning with a single concept, often a simple observation of nature—the striking color of a sunset, the labyrinthian texture of a leaf—she uses texture and color, applying layer upon layer, taking the initial inspiration in an ever-evolving direction.  Each painting comes from the heart and becomes an exploration of identity, capturing mood, layers of emotions and the subconscious with an intentional purpose to evoke the viewer’s own interpretation. The majority of her paintings take weeks, some even months, of layering to achieve the finished product.  Each painting is a search, a journey, an experiment and carries a message of its own.

Susan says, “To me, art is an individual expression of the inner self.” In 2011, Susan noticed that circles of various sizes and colors seemed to have found their way onto many of her canvases.  She took an introspective look to analyze why these circles kept appearing and concluded that painting from the heart does, indeed, have a tendency to reveal who she really is—as an individual and as an artist.  For Susan, circles represent a promise of commitment and truth—top priorities on her list of important characteristics to exemplify in life.  Each painting she creates now incorporates at least one circle, maybe more.  They may be in the painting itself or on an outer edge, pronounced or subtly embedded.  The circles symbolize her promise to collectors of her art that she has stayed true to her commitment to paint from the heart and made every effort to produce the highest quality of art she is able to achieve.

Gallery Representation:

GALLERY OF ART AT THE CHAMBER
    342 N. Elm Street, Greensboro, NC
AUBREY HOME
    3500 Old Battleground Ave, Greensboro, NC
CIRCA GALLERY (Past)
    150 Sunset Avenue, Asheboro, NC.
GALLERY OF THE ARTS (Past)
    Winston-Salem, NC  
HEART OF LIVING HOME GALLERY (Past)
    Greensboro, NC  
UPSTAIRS GALLERY (Past)
    Greensboro, NC

Publications/Recognition:

BEST OF WORLDWIDE MIXED MEDIA ARTISTS VOL.II, 
    pp 77 & 78, Kennedy Publishing, 2010
INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF ARTISTS VOL. 1,
    pg 155, World Wide Art Books, 2011
BEST OF THE BEST WORLDWIDE ARTISTS,
    pp 110 & 111, Kennedy Publishing, 2012

Commercial Installations:

CONE HEALTH CANCER CENTER,
    501 N. Elam Avenue, Greensboro, NC