Susan Fehlinger

Artist Statement

I think my 35 year career as a television producer in New York City taught me how to see. I learned about composing within the frame and the magic of light. I spent hours watching a director setting a scene —placing objects within a set, lighting them, creating focal points, and finding a way to invite the viewer in. After many years I quit my job, moved to Cape Cod and started to explore my own creativity.
I discovered the palette knife early on and found that I could apply oil paint on a canvas quickly, thickly, and spontaneously. I loved the textures I could produce with the knife and I loved no brushes to wash. I am a self-taught artist. I try to capture the light, push the contrast, play with point of view, scale and negative/positive spaces. I want to create a strong sense of place, a familiar but somewhat abstracted place, a place we feel we’ve been in before. My joy as an artist is showing people the beauty in the familiar.