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A local artist who loves nature and cares about the environment uses these inspirations to create colorful, eye-catching artwork.
Originally from Missouri, Sue Friesz has a BA and MA in Studio Art and has been making art for decades. Friesz and her husband, who were hydraulic engineers before retiring to the Oregon coast, lived around the world, including Paraguay, Brazil and Egypt. She said the experience of seeing ancient art and architecture she had only read about in textbooks was life-changing. “I’m looking at hieroglyphs here,” Frith said. “It was amazing to see these things in person.”
In graduate school, she developed a fascination with Japanese screens and Parthenon frieze panels, which led to her interest in horizontal flow. “When I was in Brazil, I went up to the roof of a hotel and took pictures along the way. It was so beautiful, the tiles were so colorful, and I continued to work on the panels for a few years,” she said. The project created 13 paintings measuring 42 x 46 inches—over 45 feet in total.
Over the years, her work has evolved into more organic themes, such as terrain. This interest eventually led to miniatures of individual plants. “That’s where I’m at right now. When I get out of the woods and try to decide what to paint, pattern is really what I look for. Pattern, movement and balance.”
Friesz will start by drawing an outline of her subject. Outline drawing is when you focus more on the subject than the canvas, which makes it more loosely drawn, she explained. For her paintings, she replicates the paintings on canvas and starts filling the images with acrylic colors that she mixes.
Her current paintings are based on invasive species in nature. She symbolizes their aggressiveness by creating artificial patterns such as polka dots. So far, she has painted five in the series.
2D and 3D paintings, drawings, sculptures and assemblages make up her work. “It’s like you have a destiny and there are about four ways to get there,” Frith said. “It’s kind of like showing different ways to achieve the same thing. I love the beauty of nature based on harmony. Some of them are fun, but they all care about the environment.”
The sculptures designed by Friesz are also based on miniatures of nature. Like her paintings, Frith draws outlines of plants or trees. She then colored the painting in three different colors. Auto CAD software divides the color into three distinct parts, which are then fabricated from plexiglass and aluminum, and finally embedded in a wooden base. These three parts evoke movement. “I kind of think of them as small habitats. The last one is the darkest, and I think it gives them depth.”
Her unique style stems from the way she paints plants. She never wanted to use shadows to paint any three-dimensional illusions. Because of that, she says, her job is bland. “It’s a way to operate in three dimensions without any illusions,” she said. “It will give you the same feeling as looking at plants in a field.”
Friesz will present a nature-themed exhibition at the Chessman Gallery at the Lincoln City Cultural Center in September.
visit her website www.suefriesz.com See some of her art, read her artist statement and check out her past exhibitions.Her Newport studio has no set hours, but anyone interested in seeing her work can contact her via email sue.friesz@yahoo.com.
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