About
Originally from London and Shrewsbury, UK, I moved to the USA in 1980 to take a Masters degree in City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. Following a career in landscape preservation, environmental planning and landscape design in the Boston area, in 2009 I began to design and paint landscapes on silk wearables and banners. My focus since 2014 has been to combine my environmental background with silk painting. I work on art/science projects with my artist collaborator Leslie Bartlett and scientists at non-profit environmental organizations and federal agencies. The effects of climate change on coastal areas is the main focus of my work. In 2018 I moved with my husband to Gloucester, MA, and now work at my own studio, Goose Cove Studio, as well as co-administer a silk painting teaching studio in Gloucester, Ten Pound Studio.
The Artist
The fluidity of the medium of dyes and resists in silk painting influences my approach to design. I began creating silk paintings which hang from copper stands and become one with the landscape. I love to experiment with many different forms of painting on silk – batik, shibori, silk screen printing and immersive dyeing. The designs or subject matters of so many of my silk paintings and wearables are combined with a deep commitment to environmental sustainability. Through the vivid color and lusciousness of the silk, I seek to engage people emotionally to ask sometimes unanswerable questions about our environment and climate change.
I am a member of Silk Painters International, and co-Administrator of Ten Pound Studio, a silk painting teaching studio in Gloucester, MA. I recently created Goose Cove Studio, where I will be offering silk and other art workshops from my home Studio.
List of Exhibits
2023/2024
‘Student Explorations: The Great Marsh and Climate Change’
Silk paintings exhibited with Panels by River Valley Charter Middle School students. Includes Video
by Lisa Smith.
Shown at:
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, Newburyport, MA. March, 2024
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. February 17 - 23, 2024
Mass Audubon Joppa Flats, Newburyport, MA. January 2024
Ocean Literacy Summit, Gloucester, MA. November 16, 2023
Essex County Greenbelt Association, Essex, MA. September, 2023
2022
‘Saltmarsh Sparrow and Climate Change’
Collaborative exhibit with ceramicist Emma Quateman, part of ‘Climate Action: Inspiring Change’
show, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. April 16, 2022 – June 25, 2023
2021
'The Once and Future Saltmarsh'.
Opens outdoors at the Parker River National Wildlife Reserve, summer 2021
2018
'All the Rocks We Cannot See: Thoreau and the Changing Landscape of Dogtown'.
Annual Gathering of Thoreau Society, Concord, MA. July 12, 2018
2017
‘Resilient Landscapes of Marblehead and Cape Ann’:
Marblehead Arts Association, MA. May - June 2017
Bedrock Garden, Lee NH. July 2017
Lanesville Community Center, Gloucester, MA. August 2017
2016
‘Climate Change and Salem Maritime National Historic Site’ National Park Service Regional Visitor Center, Salem, MA. September 2016
‘The Resilient Landscape of Cape Ann Quarries’ Quarry Dance 5, Gloucester, MA. July 2016
‘Narrow Edge, Expansive View’ Cedar Tree Gallery, Essex, MA. June 2016
‘In Water’ Beyond Benign, Wilmington, MA. June – October 2016
2015
‘Passages’ West Parish Garden Cemetery, Andover, MA.
‘The Great Marsh and Climate Change’, Essex County Greenbelt Association, Essex MA,
Rough Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, Rowley, MA and Crane Estate Art Show, Ipswich, MA.
‘Storm Surge’ Newburyport Art Association.
‘Spring Awakening’ show with Ten Pound Studio, Flatrocks Gallery. Gloucester, MA.
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2014
‘Crossroads: Energy Necklace on the Emerald Necklace’ Boston, MA. 2014
Silk Painters International (SPIN) Santa Fe, 2014.
Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, MA. Summer Exhibit, 2014
New England Regional Arts Exhibit, Marblehead, MA. 2014
New England Landscape Design and History Association (NELDHA), Guest Artist, Annual Dinner. 2012, 2014
Maritime Gloucester, Gloucester, MA. 2014
Essex County Greenbelt Association, Essex Ma. 2014
Crane Estate Art Show, The Trustees of Reservations, November 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015
seARTS Wearable Arts Show, Gloucester, MA 2012, 2013 and 2014
Art in Lanesville, Lanesville Community Center, Gloucester, MA. 2012, 2013 and 2014
Art Grows Here, Hamilton-Wenham, MA. 2010, 2011, 2014
Bedrock Gardens Open House, Lee, NH. 2011, 2014, 201
Time and Tide Fine Art, Ipswich, MA. 2011...Show Less
Articles
Articles by Susan Quateman on silk painting, in Silkworm, the magazine of Silk Painters International.
SILKWORM, Vol. 22, Issue 3, Fall 2015
SILKWORM, Vol. 25, Issue 1, 2018