Susan Wahl, Watercolorist

"Wahlflowers"

 thewahlnut@aol.com

I once attended a creative writing seminar where a guest instructor was Terry Kay, a well known Georgia author.  He said, if you're a writer, you want to write every waking minute of your day.  There were moments in my life where his words rung true, but never so much as when I began to paint, after half a lifetime without a brush in my hand.  While yet a child, pencil or pen was always in my hand.  Sometimes a poem left the tip…sometimes a sketch.  Even during my higher education, the margins of my spiral bound notebooks were filled with small pictorial vignettes reflecting objects or people in my classroom.  Some might say this was my own distracted mind, unable to concentrate on matters at hand, yet I graduated with a 4.0 in English Lit and Journalism, all the while doodling!  Art and poetry were in absentia during the busy years of motherhood and helping to run a family business.  Through my adult years, creativity and longings of the spirit found tranquility in being close to nature, when time allowed.  Thoreau, Donne, Keats and Shelley were constant companions while gardening, hiking, or golfing.  Now that I once again have time for my art, my love of nature is manifested in my subject matter: blooms of flowers, landscapes and scenes from "the trail" and the lush accoutrements and varying greens of golf courses.  Augusta, with its veritable nursery of azaleas and dogwoods is, of course, a favorite subject.  Susan Wahl is an artist who is drawn to the luminosity of watercolor and pastel. She has studied under renowned artists Elise Hammond, Cindy Murphy, Linda Pflug, Terry Madden of Madden Galleries, Stuart, Florida, Herbie Rose, Ringling School of Art and Design, celebrated collage artist Vae Hamilton, Carlton Galleries, and Robert Halm of Blandon Galleries. She is a certified instructor for the Terry Madden Watercolor Methods and the Madden Color Theory. Susan is a member of Southern Heartland Art Guid, Monroe Art Guild, and the Water Media Society in North Carolina. She serves on the Board of Southern Heartland Arts, Inc. and is financial director and purchasing manager for Southern Heartland Art Gallery and Frame Shop. Susan is the publisher of “The Artisan,” a quarterly newsletter for members of SHA, Inc. About her art, Susan says, “Like John Muir, I finds solace in nature and express myself in watercolor and pastel, painting landscapes, flora, and fauna. As a golfer, I appreciate the green of the grass, tree lined fairways, and the lovely, fluid movement of the golf swing. Subject matter relating to golf is another expression of self.” For enjoyment and on a commission basis, Susan creates lovely renderings of antebellum homes and other architecturally interesting structures.