Susan Maakestad
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Artist Statement

Picture
I am a bird watcher and a sky watcher.
I long to be outdoors but if I’m inside, I look out the window. 
If there is no landscape to view out the window, I look for one online. 
 
Nature is a solace. 
 
And yet the reports about nature are grim. For example, since 1970 nearly three billion birds have disappeared in North America. This is a sad commentary on how humans have altered the landscape. The collective will to fix the planet is not strong enough. I want to be an informed citizen but it is exhausting to stay current when the news is so bleak.
 
And so I paint. I make paintings filled with exaggerated color and space that reflect the awe I feel when I am in nature looking at the sky, feeling the wind, listening to the birds. Rather than express my feelings of sadness, I celebrate nature and the arts. Landscape abstraction is my means to represent what’s good about being alive right now on this broken planet. 
 
Painting is a solace.




Text and images © 1995-2021 Susan Maakestad, unless otherwise noted