Guest Artist Susanna Schwab

Altered Pages
is Honored to

introduce

Susanna Schwab

 

  

I was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. Art has been part of my life from an early age.  I was introduced to the city theatre and attended performances often. When I was 4, I knew I wanted to become an opera singer when I grew up. I also started taking ballet lessons.

 

My mother had a number of art books at home, I was drawn to them, perusing them over and over again for hours.  Art seemed to be out of reach, since I could never draw well. For Christmas when I was six, I remember wishing for water-soluble artist chalks.  I still use them today.

 

In my teenage years I began with more intuitive painting. When I became a mother, I discovered creating photo albums. Also card making was always something I enjoyed. Then there were many years, when I did hardly any creative work.  As a single mother of 3 boys (age 14, 11, soon 3) creative time was a rare opportunity. A year ago I discovered Smash Book and Art Journaling. Suddenly there was a way for me to express myself the way that suited me best under the circumstances, both keep me connected with my inner self.   In my art I can find new energy for my challenging everyday life. I am now versatile crea(c)tive, making my life more multicolored. 

 

We asked Susanna few questions!

Do you find physical life or spiritual life more inspirational to your art?   I believe that all art is something spiritual, since it comes from somewhere deep in ourselves or even beyond. Since my body is the tool to express ART, I can't separate those two things from each other. I feel grateful to have found a way to create something out of myself, which helps me to deal with the physical life.

Can you remember when you started creating art?  Yes! I could write and read at a very early age.  I had my first diary at 6, which I used almost daily.  At the same time I started to paint, I remember that I liked to send cards to everyone… so the red line was drawn…

What is your favorite tool for creating?  i.e.  paint, gesso, glue….  First, I'd say I love paper!!! Then my next all time favorites are for sure the unique versatile Gelatos by Faber-Castell, followed by Inktense Pencils by Derwent and tool Gel Medium!

 

If you could use only one color in your art what would that color be?  Wow, only one color that would be kind of a punishment!  I probably would choose green. 

~~~~~

 5 rhythms

  

How this page was born...

When I got the invitation to be a Guest Artist at Altered Pages, I was thrilled! For the first time I would be seen by a large number of people. I knew that I wanted to create something new, also to say thank you for the opportunity.

While I was looking at the many Altered Pages collage sheet lists, I had an idea to do something about dancing. When I discovered the wonderful vintage images, the inspiration to create "5 Rhythms" was born.

I like to start my project more conceptual, in order to create myself a frame, from that I can move artistically free, the idea to take the "5 Rhythms" - dance movement as a base was obvious to me. I wanted to embody the five stations by the dancers. For this I used images from Altered Pages collage sheets.

To create my page I used white gesso, gel medium, my dearly beloved Gelatos, the Altered Pages collage sheets and embellishments from my craft stock. Susanna Schwab, Switzerland, August 2014

 

 

 

 

See more of Susanna's Art on her blog:  Art & Weise
Connect with Susanna Schwab on Facebook HERE!