Janice Sugg’s Songs of Nature

Fresh-hued, richly textured, meditative landscapes layered with birds, bison and horses

BLUE HORIZON WITH BIRDS 
Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches
janicesugg.com
sorrelsky.com
marywilliamsfinearts.com
miradafineart.com
lovettsgallery.com

THE ARTIST: Janice Sugg

KNOWN FOR: Fresh-hued, richly textured, meditative landscapes layered with birds, bison and horses. 

FROM CLAY TO PAINT: “I was a career potter for 20 years  before becoming a full-time oil painter. The clay and the thick paint that I use now, it all kind of goes together: Clay is really fluid, and the reason I chose oil is it’s got that consistency that’s thick, and you can move it around and you have time to play with it. A flat surface isn’t appealing to me as much as more of the texture and the layering. I’m always trying to get that three-dimensional kind of feel to things—like what’s around the corner or what’s underneath.”

INSPIRATION ON THE FARM: “Growing up in Colorado and raising my children on a horse property in Longmont provided many inspiring painting opportunities. On the farm I would wake up to the birds— I would hear the birds, I always saw the birds. To me they were deliverers of the songs, the sounds of nature.”

MOODY BLUES: “I paint using unpredictable palettes—a  spectrum of color that often challenges well-worn clichés (the sky is blue, the land is green, etc.). A lot of times I try to make it look atmospheric because I think that emotion is ethereal—the vastness of where we live, the sky here. I love being here under this big blue sky. It’s just that feeling of expansion and openness.”

CAPTURING CALM: “Landscapes, birds and bison are the subjects I love to revisit again and again. When I’m doing that kind of work it’s meditative; it’s deeply satisfying. When I look at my work, I get the feeling of calm. I hope that my paintings provide a way to  escape this busy world we live in and find a place of serenity.”