PUTNEY — The moment of artistic inspiration is a fleeting experience. Now, put the artist out into nature, where encounters with animals are even more fleeting.
Artist Susan Brearey has pursued these elusive images of nature for many years. Her paintings currently on display at the Putney Public Library capture the essence of this phenomenon.
“The Putney Public Library exhibits diverse work throughout the year. I selected Susan Brearey's artwork for the bold beauty and tenderness that mark the spirit of the winter season,” curator Nancy Storrow said in a news release.
According to the Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M., “Born in 1964, painter Susan Brearey is known for her unique, iconic depiction of animals. In Brearey's works, primal, totemic images take the place of the photorealistic visual details found in some other works of wildlife art.
“Animals become primeval shapes, rudimentary and almost featureless, set against abstract surfaces. Brearey's evocative approach was inspired in large part by the cave paintings at Lascaux, France. Brearey first saw the paintings in the mid-1980s as a college student, an experience that turned her into a serious painter.”
An art teacher at The Putney School, she holds an MFA in painting and printmaking from Rhode Island School of Design. Her works have been shown internationally and are held in collections across the U.S.