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Susan Ashbrook

fine artist in acrylic and pastel

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International Artist Magazine has awarded Susan an Honorable Mention Winner in their 2004 international art competition.

The theme of the competition was "Flowers and Gardens". Susan's winning painting “Outer Sanctum” features her garden furniture on her deck overlooking the Ottawa River. It is early fall and the leaves have just begun to gather on the deck, foreboding the inevitable onset of winter.

“This is my sanctuary, I wanted to capture the peacefulness of this special place, while making a comment about its seasonal restrictions. ” Susan created the painting using a modern day adaptation of the old masters “grisaille” painting technique, often referred to now as “glazing".

Working from photographs, she developed a drawing of the scene, adjusting the composition and taking out some of the elements that interfered with what she wanted to show viewers. Having transferred the
drawing to her canvas, she created a black and white (grisaille) painting using acrylic paints, which when completed, looked much like a black and white photograph.

The next step was to apply the color in thin “glazes”, until they reached the desired intensity. When the painting was complete, Susan applied a final coat of varnish to protect it.

“Outer Sanctum” was featured in the April/May 2004 issue of International Artist Magazine, and also in the book How Did You Paint That? 100 Ways to Paint Flowers and Gardens, released in August 2004. In the book, Susan explains her inspiration, painting process, materials and offers tips to artists.

International Artist Magazine has editorial offices in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia. They feature artists from all around the world in their bi-monthly issues and also publish books on a wide variety of subjects of interest to visual artists.

Susan's winning painting (shown above) “Outer Sanctum” has been sold.

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