Sue A. Miller: Make No Wake

Christina Parker Gallery is pleased to announce Make No Wake, an exhibition of new paintings by Sue A. Miller. The exhibition will open with an artist reception on Friday, June 5 from 6–8pm, and will continue until June 27. Music at the opening reception will be provided by Kira Sheppard.

Sue Miller will give an artist talk at the gallery on Thursday, June 18, at 7pm.

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My free-range childhood was spent living and exploring in a rural Ontario community that was close to a small lake. My home backed onto a canal that looped around to this lake. As young as 10 years old, I would paddle our rickety canoe around the canal and explore all its little dead-end branches that fed the surrounding forest. Water, specifically, held curiosity and mystery. It was an endless source of solace, magic and entertainment – multitudes of creatures made their home on and under the surface. Then there were the motorboats. They would pass by on their way to and from the lake for more sporting type activities. I never had an interest in speed. You couldn’t hear or observe the subtle things that I found interesting. There were signs posted on the edge of the canal saying “make no wake” that often were ignored. This worried me for the well-being of the wildlife and the erosion of the shoreline.

I guess you could say I have lived my life in “make no wake” mode, living a slow, observational lifestyle. I do my best not to disturb nature and and I have profound appreciation for the bounty it returns. The aim of my work is to visually and emotionally communicate something universal through my personal experience. Water is life. Water holds history, memory and possibility. We are not part of nature. We ARE nature, and if we are to survive as a species, we need to act as stewards of the planet.

My creative process begins out in the wilds, but the painting happens in the studio. With an underpainting of colour washes, a loose composition and colour story develops. Using tools such as a catalyst wedge and window squeegees, I add and remove layers of oil paint until the image resembles a water reflection based on a collective memory of land, sky and water.

Whether I’m spending time in Ontario or my second home in Newfoundland, I am always tuned in, observing the natural world from a place of reverence, gentle curiosity, stewardship and a metaphoric sensibility that filters through into my work. There’s always something happening at a deeper level, and my objective is to create work that does not dictate, rather invites the viewer in to a space where they can feel their own connection.

“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” – Loren Eiseley

Sue A. Miller’s childhood in rural Ontario, and currently splitting her time between the South Georgian Bay region of Ontario and rural Newfoundland, has informed her artistic journey which is motivated by environmental stewardship and humanity’s primal connection to our environment. After attaining a Fine Arts diploma from Georgian College in Barrie Ontario, Sue spent time travelling Europe, building a house and raising three children. Whether working from her studio in the historic village of Creemore, Ontario, or from her home on the shores of Conception Bay, Newfoundland, Sue has produced work that has been exhibited in Canada and Europe and is held in private collections across North America, Europe and Japan. Along with her 30-year studio practice, Sue has an extensive teaching career and includes facilitating private and corporate workshops, art programming with charity organizations in First Nations, Newfoundland/Labrador and Nova Scotia, Autism Ontario and part-time summer faculty at Sir Sanford Fleming College, Haliburton Campus. Sue has taken on several active volunteer roles in her local communities such as co-founder of a local artist-run centre as well as jurying, curating and installing exhibitions. Most recently, Sue has joined with Team Rubicon Canada as a volunteer for disaster response.

Sue A. Miller’s CV

Sue A. Miller Brochure