LIVING WITH ART BLOG

When Fareed Zakara, one of my favorite global thinkers, mentioned in a recent television broadcast that he was re-reading John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden, I was intrigued. When he went on to say that “East of Eden” was in his mind “The” great American novel, I grabbed a copy and started re-reading it myself. It is indeed an extraordinary and powerful novel. The multigenerational story makes it a must read for anyone interested in human behavior. Steinbeck, winner of both the Pulitzer and Nobel Award for his writing, based the plot of this book on the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Just as in “Grapes of Wrath,” the characters in “East of Eden” are fully drawn and totally unforgettable. But the quality I love in this book is a quality one also finds in Steinbeck’s other books and that is a sense of place. It is impossible to read any Steinbeck novel without breathing the air, smelling the dirt, seeing the horizon, or getting burned by the sun.

Artists, whether they be writers, painters, sculptors, or musicians have always employed a sense of place, either knowingly or unknowingly, to give their works authenticity. They are influenced, just as you and I are, by their own families of origin, the country or neighborhood where they grew up, as well as their relationships with other people. When we think of Monet, we think of his garden and home in the French village of Giverny. He painted what he knew. When we listen to one of Vivaldi’s compositions, we are transported to Italy with all its flourishes.  Anyone who has read or seen the musical, “Oklahoma” believes they know exactly what Oklahoma and Oklahomans are like because of the musical’s originality and its strong sense of place.

There are two painters in my Gallery with radically different backgrounds and life experiences both of whose work exemplifies a sense of place. Carol Beesley primarily a painter of large colorful landscapes, who I met very early in my gallery career when I enrolled in a University of Oklahoma painting workshop in Santa Fe entitled, “Painting in the Land of George O’Keefe.” It was a plein air workshop, so novice that I was, I purchased umbrellas, a fine collapsible easel, a tarp, view finders, and a multitude of other items that the catalogues said that one needed to paint outside. Sometimes the class was almost over before I got set up. Although I am sure I tried her patience, Carol was great, the class was fun and I learned a great deal. But my lasting memory of that summer is the impression her work had on me and her strong, sensitive, vibrant sense of place. Carol loves the majesty of the land particularly the land of the Southwest. She has studied the land, walked the land, sketched and charted the geological formations of the land and taken endless photographs of the land.  Later, when painting the rock formations, the sky, and the uniqueness of a particular scene, she can successfully convey that sense of place to the viewer. Her paintings, even the most abstracted among them, make you feel like you are in the Southwest.

Michi Susan was born in Tokyo, Japan, but Oklahoma has been her home for 39 years. Educated at Japan's Women's University and Hosei University, Susan continued her studies in the United States while visiting major European Art Centers. An award-winning artist, she is internationally exhibited and recognized. Michi knew when she was five years old that she wanted to be an artist. Fortunately, her parents nourished her interest and talent. At first she was attracted to the work of the realists, but as her art evolved she explored the forms of collage and mixed media, blending the delicate and the detailed in an extraordinary way. Historic Living Magazine wrote of Michi Susan, "Asked about the integration of Oklahoma landscapes into her work, Susan says everything is a landscape, including people, places, ideas and experiences. She considers all her work 'landscapes,' and she has become less concerned with making a philosophical statement with her art." "Everyone interprets art differently and it speaks to people in many ways. If you feel a certain way from somebody's painting, that's it. That's what it is." Well, I certainly feel a sense of place when I look at Michi’s landscapes of torn paper, found objects, oriental calligraphy, and color pigments in all media, I see a special place, a place Michi created, that perfectly marries the familiarity of East and West.

Image: Carol Beesley, "The Wichitas, Early Morning," Mixed Media, 48 x 48 in., $6,912.00

Image: Carol Beesley, "Emerald Lake, Foot of Rockies Near Schofield Pass, CO," 2014, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 30 in., $2,700

Image: Carol Beesley, "Lone Mountains," 2017, Mixed Media, 30 x 30 in., $2,700

Image: Michi Susan, "Birdsong 211-11," Mixed Media, 24 x 30 in., $1,500

Image: Michi Susan, "Poem 153-01," Mixed Media, 10 x 10 in., $450

Image: Michi Susan, "Landscape 206-12," Mixed Media on Paper, 24 x 30 in., Sold