Susan Dorf

Biography

Susan Dorf has been making art for as long as she can remember. She is known for her richly layered oil and acrylic paintings and imaginative imagery. Inspired by her immediate surroundings, she incorporates elements from the natural environment into her paintings, including plant forms, birds and patterns, often dividing the picture plane to juxtapose imagery and color fields. She enjoys the alchemy of pushing paint and color around, manipulating the surface texture and discovering the essence and abstract quality of form, relying on memory as well as her own imagination. “The closer I observe my environment, the more aware I become of the divine perfection of form and pattern in the natural world. When this awareness meets the playfulness of the creative spirit, my paintings are born.”

Susan was raised in California and attended the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. Starting as an Illustration major, she began taking more and more classes in painting, printmaking and sculpture and ended up graduating with a BFA in Fine Art. Her sense of design and color as well as her personal painterly style combine the best of both worlds.

Susan has traveled widely, and has spent much of her time in Mexico, where she is deeply influenced by the colors, textures, and magical sensibilities of the land and culture. Her historical influences range from Art Nouveau and French Impressionism to the California figurative painters. She views the creation of art as a collaborative act between artist and viewer, sharing an experience that takes one into a deeper level of awareness that transcends our everyday lives.