SUSAN ELKINS: IMAGES OF LIGHT & COLOUR

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Susan Elkins, "Mount Athabasca," n d

oil on panel, 23" x 28"

Susan Elkin’s skill with light and colour is recognizable. She uses colour to express the arrangements and harmonies of her subjects, whether it is mountain peaks, still life or sun-filled flower gardens. Her concern is with effect, layers of colour, calm balance, and strength of light. The appearance of a spontaneous approach belies the constructed nature of her oil paintings, where she seeks to capture the colour and light in front of her easel rather than focusing on the subject. She paints plein air (directly from nature) and strives to express the beauty and subtleties of nature in her work.

"I was taught to see colour first, then the object…"

Born in Montreal, Susan Elkins studied at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Sir George Williams School of Art (Montreal) and the Cape School of Art (Provincetown, Massachusetts) in the late 1960s through the 1970s. She has dedicated herself to painting impressionistically since that time. She moved to Banff more than forty years ago. 

“…it is light and atmosphere that create the color key in nature – the most important element in a painting…”

She has participated in solo and group exhibitions across Canada and in the USA. Her work is represented in a number of Canadian and international private collections as well as corporate and public collections, including the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (Banff), the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Gulf, Shell and Texaco, and the Calgary Petroleum Club