Muddy Creek Artist: Q & A with Susan Lennon

As part of a monthly series on local artists, Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch has teamed up with the Muddy Creek Artists Guild to focus on the arts scene in the area. The guild currently consists of about 100 local artists in mediums including photography, painting, textiles, jewelry, woodwork, metalwork and more. For information on upcoming shows, visit the Muddy Creek Artists Guild website. The guild has two"musts" for their artists: they must live south of the South River, and their art must be original.

This month we interviewed Riva artist Susan Lennon, whose exhibited work with the guild is primarily torn paper collages. Because Lennon has worked as a kite maker, she frames all her pieces so that they can either be hung on the wall as traditional art, or hung near a window so that as the light changes throughout the day, the appearance of the piece will change. In addition, the individual pieces of paper and other objects that are used in the art are intended to give insight into something else on close inspection.

"Each piece is snapshot of a moment in nature and also a reminder that every individual moment is made up of countless other moments; that human concerns are timeless," Lennon says on her blog.

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How long have you been an artist working in the medium: 5 to 7 years

What was your earliest recognition of your talent/skill: When I was a little girl and my older sister didn't want to draw a toucan for her homework, but I did.  I think I was 3 or 4.

How did you get started: Initially, I was trying to find a way to make a paper kite that would have detailed art on it—sort of like an applique, fabric kite, but all paper. 

Who inspires you: Honestly? My dad. He started with almost nothing,and has accomplished much.  He's never given up.  He's always told me that our experiences will eventually come to benefit us. . . so I try anything.  And he's been right. My past experiences have converged into how and what I do now.

How do you approach a new piece: Either I wait until I see something that really sparkles for me, I might be driving down the road and some trees at sunrise will just glitter and be unforgettable, or maybe I'll see a heron standing in a marsh and I will have to recreate that scene—or, I just draw and draw and draw in my sketchbook until I want to do one of my sketches.  I prefer the former, but I've not yet figured out how to make those kind of moments happen.

What is the range in price for your work? $300 to $3,000 (the $3,000 amount is because I'm currently working on a large diptych). [Editor's note: a diptych are two flat panels that are connected, typically by a hinge]

Why do you do what you do? Making art has always been a compulsion.  But I think that I started this style of work when I was working two jobs and one was riding horses at the Bowie training center.  Some days were rather dangerous.  And life there is lived close to the edge. I met the bravest and craziest people there.  But at the end of the day, I really found the method of making my collages was very relaxing.  Working with racehorses is thinly controlled chaos, so to sit and be very deliberate and have a quiet control over something was great.  That's probably the reason I started making them.  My life is much calmer now, though, and I still enjoy my collages.

Is there anything about this area that you regularly incorporate into your work? Great Blue Herons are stunning creatures and I love that I can see them from my window and patio.  People probably don't consider horses being a Maryland-specific thing, but if it wasn't for racing in Maryland, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to spend so much time with horses.  Horses are frequently the subject in my work.

If you could be another artist for a day, who would it be and why? While, I truly admire Edward Hopper, I don't think I'd want to be him.  I think I'd want to be Frida Kahlo, while her personal life was crazy, she lived life very fully and it was full of risk.  But I'd like to be able to be a little choosy in the day. I would not want it to be a day when Diego was cheating on her, but one of the really full days, maybe when she was hanging out with the surrealist painters in Paris or something.

What is most rewarding about being an artist? Being able to share what I see that moves me and then watch people as they see it, too.  There are times when I can tell someone might actually be seeing something the way it appeared to me.  I like to be able to convey the feeling of a place or time.

What is most frustrating about being an artist? Not being able to afford a full-time housekeeping staff to clean up after me—my work is pretty messy.  Furthermore, when I get working I tend not to do any household chores, it gets pretty awful but I don't notice until it's really, really a mess.