Although I studied and practiced traditional painting techniques, now I take liberties with my landscapes. They are now both representational and abstract, my interpretation of what I see in nature. Expressive brush strokes imply the contours of the scenery and the elements of the landscape. In recent years, my paintings have been less about the scene and more about the shapes, edges, lines, patterns, and colors that suggest the scene. My paintings in this show suggest landscape and summarize the intersections of circumstance and place that affect my expression as a painter.
Years spent in Homer and Halibut Cove and on commercial fishing boats also contribute to my love of landscape and how I express what I see. Informed by winters in Vermont and Alaska and years on the water, I use muted edges and layers of color to meld images of snow, water, branches, rolling hills, and open space. I combine shadows on snow with trees that have web-like branches and trunks reminiscent of dock pilings.
My paintings are influenced by my childhood in Vermont and my adult life in Alaska.
I began painting as a child on plein-air excursions with my grandmother, an accomplished artist. My interest in landscape as subject and inspiration is shaped by fond memories of those excursions.
Biography
Formerly of Homer and Halibut Cove, Anchorage painter Suzanne Dvorak uses layers of color, expressive brush strokes, and interesting shapes and patterns to describe landscapes in her contemporary paintings.
Suzanne studied art at Boston University before moving to Homer in 1981. Now that her two boys are grown up and she is no longer involved with commercial fishing ventures, she has turned her attention back to art and painting.
Having studied traditional painting techniques, up until recently Suzanne was recognized as a conventional studio and plein-air landscape oil painter. Her current acrylic paintings are still considered landscapes, but her focus and interest have changed from trying to replicate what she sees in a landscape to interpreting and expressing it.
