Susan Seddon Boulet
I had the pleasure of interviewing Susan Seddon Boulet when I was in Art College in Detroit in 1995. She passed away of breast cancer a year and a half later. Following are excerpts from my interview and some of my commentary on speaking with her:
"...for me, art is an ongoing process. My wish is simply to go on painting - It is a process of discovery for me every time I start a new piece. I have achieved a lot of what I wanted to in life. I have been very fortunate. I feel very lucky to have art in my life."
"I won't paint what doesn't work for me. I won't paint what I'm not connected to. If I'm not moved by it, I don't do it. The work has to capture me. When I'm sure about it, it seems to have its own life."
"Stand IN your own experiences. It's not what happens, but what you do with it. I've worked with a teacher/friend for five years now who teaches a sort-of cross-cultural philosophy. Working with your growth in life, and ways to move with it. For example, take fear; She teaches you to move into it and understand what the fear is about and why it is happening."
"Every major transition will show in your work. My husbands death; I developed breast cancer five years ago; Of course it is going to affect your whole life, not just your artwork. Everything deepens and radically changes. The artwork always shows that you are working with deeper issues. So do the things that one celebrates - It all affects the art you are making. To turn ones back into ones own creative process. Look and see what is true for you. You are a mirror of and for your own artistic expression."
Susan has endured so many hardships, yet she is always positive and lighthearted. She is a true example of the Universe placing your where it is that you need to be, in order to follow the path which is yours in life. It is wonderfully apparent how happy she is making her art.
The line which I took away from this interview and placed into my soul is "you are a mirror of and for your own artistic expression." A mirror is such a great metaphor for an artist to use. You look into a mirror and see yourself on the outside, and you look at your artwork and see yourself on the inside.
