Spring Color on the Rio Grande
9 x 12 in., oil
Plein Air Artists Colorado Show at Sorrel Sky, Durango, CO Oct/Nov, 2018
Susan is represented by Sorrel Sky, Santa Fe, NM; Wilder Nightingale, NM; and Silver Street Gallery, Lake City, CO.
Plein air painting is the ultimate artistic experience for me as an artist. This genre of painting is the ultimate learning experience; increasing the skills of drawing, color, design and paint application. In the field, one has to be quick because of the changing light patterns and it is a test of the artist’s painting and drawing skills. I love imparting life to a painting on canvas by giving a sense of light to the shapes of nature. I would have to say that capturing the light is the most important goal that I try to achieve when painting, outside as well as in the studio. -Susan McCullough
Susan is an oil painter, painting plein air landscapes as well as large studio paintings. Reflecting a heightened sense of color and focus on design, Susan has a passion for painting and solid technique to build an exemplary body of work.
Susan McCullough grew up in Colorado; in her younger years she lived in Sterling, Colorado, and in her mid teens moved to the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado. She found that the San Luis Valley is a great place to live as an artist with the amazing diversity of the landscape. Susan says that art has always been a part of her life. She remembers drawing anything and everything as a child and won her first competition at the Logan County Fair at the age of 11 years old. She transitioned from her pencil drawings to painting in high school with the world of color opening a new dimension in her art.
Susan has the passion and determination to paint outdoors in all seasons and conditions. She has a superb eye for color, form and light in nature, sharpened by years of observation and painting outdoors. Her deep awareness of the natural world, combined with a sensitive handling of paint, from delicately touched passages to bold strokes with thick paint, results in paintings of depth and inspiration. Susan uses her plein air landscapes to embark on a studio painting adventure, using inspiration from the small paintings to push color and design into large studio paintings. “I use the plein air paintings or ‘studies’ to translate the ideas into large studio works by sketching different scenarios into design sketches, choosing the best elements to produce the desired look for the painting.”
Susan belongs to New Mexico Plein Air Painters- Signature Member, Plein Air Artists Colorado, Oil Painters of America and American Impressionist Society. She has been accepted into many national and international shows. Susan has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine, and accepted into the prestigious CM Russell show in Great Falls, Montana. She has also been invited to participate in many plein air events such as the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Artists show “Plein Air for the Park” in Grand Teton National Park in 2017. Susan recently won the Artist’s Choice award at the Plein Air Artists Colorado Show at Mary Williams Fine Arts in Boulder, Colorado.
View more of Susan’s work at SusanMcCullough.com.
