Guest Interview: Susan Fae, Artist, Part Four

Question Number 4:

Women have historically expressed their creativity through the domestic arts. Is there a feminist motivation to your use of textiles as a medium or does it connect you to our sisters from the past?

Susan Fae:

This thought provoking question is a delight to answer, I have so many women to thank for who I’ve become. My grandmothers; their mothers and children, have guided me to create with textiles, giving me the lessons and space to learn. The picture below is my mother’s mother, Marie, she made beautiful dolls during my life but did so much more before I was even born. The dolls in the photo are more than 40 years old, amazing the longevity of a precious handmade heirloom.

My friend Terri Illingworth has always provided me with the gift of inspiration. Terri is a designer, supporting the greater (global) textile community, she loves to collect and share her passion, a great teacher.

Through her quilts, and desire for colour there is no way of missing her love for the art, she has supported my ambitions for many years and I believe delights in the act of creating something people can use; quilts, tea towels, and aprons. https://timetobeinspired.ca/

I admire Anna Torma, someone I had only heard about through my “Contextural” group, then saw her work while I was in Ottawa years ago and last year had the privilege of taking a workshop with her. Her dedication to her art or “craft” is what I aspire to do for my own art, she uses the “domestic” craft; embroidery, sewing, upcycling, historical icons and many more skills in her artistic statement, she says so much with out saying a thing. Her story is through her hand; using thread and fabric. https://www.annatorma.com/

Birds, 2D and 3D by Susan Fae

Question 5:

I love that you navigate between 2D and 3D art. How do you decide which approach will best express a particular creative vision?

Susan Fae:

My drawings are spontaneous ideas that sometimes grow into linocut carvings or into ideas for sculptures. If I am really taken with a bird’s personality I will start playing with the 3D form. Colour is a big thing for me when working with fabric sculptures.

My creative vision begins with a story, for instance while walking in nature I witness a flock of crows congregating, they seem to be keeping an eye on me (and my dog), I wonder, “what are they saying?” This inspiration may begin with drawings and a few phone photos. However, if I see black fabric in the studio later that day, I’m reminded of crow, then cut bird forms or feathers from the fabric. 

Sometimes, the story ends with a bird drawing, or a handmade fabric sculpture, other times the story becomes a flock with chapters (or a collection). 

I believe that my art is continually assisting one style with the other.

Thank you, Susan Fae, for sharing your unique style of art, both 2D and 3D. It was a pleasure to learn about your media, process, and influences, and I am very happy to be the owner of one of your lovely textile bird sculptures, Miss Fancy Feet.

I invite you to check out Susan’s Etsy page and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Guest Interview: Susan Fae, Artist, Part Three of Four

Self-portrait by Susan Fae

Question Number 3:

Your textile bird sculptures are wonderfully naïve, yet they represent the subject quite accurately through expression, texture and colour. Each bird has a character of its own and I am curious about your process. How do you capture the essence of bird using fabric, needle and thread?

The making of Miss Fancy Feet by Susan Fae

Birds are a joy, they continue to excite me even during -30 winter temperatures. Birds are my passion, a continual sense of inspiration just outside my window. It doesn’t take much to get me inspired to make a shape of a bird and then layer it with colour and textiles.

I believe that when you share what you love, people want to be a part of it and their enthusiasm sometimes comes in gifts of; thread, fabric, and stories.

Recently a friend gifted me a box of thread, yes! A variety of colours and a real treasure. Once I went to collect my mail and found a bag of fabric piece attached to my mailbox, talk about a surprise bag of inspiration. These wonderful gifts motivate me to get to work.

My process of creativity starts with an abundance of a colour or  fabric texture, then, excitement takes over and a bird is formed. I work one bird at a time, which makes each bird uniquely “one of a kind”. 

Though, it seems like I’m spontaneous with ideas and creation, I do begin with a bird shape in mind, often having to test and remake the basic form a few times to make it sustainable. The adornment is usually the most spontaneous, then, balance is often the final stage of the bird. Finalizing, the bird is the most difficult for me, sometimes I fall in love with the process and don’t want it to end.

Four Choir Members by Susan Fae

Check out Susan Fae’s Etsy shop

Keep up with Susan’s latest work on Facebook and Instagram.

Guest Interview: Susan Fae, Artist, Part Two of Four

Question Number 2:

How does your love of nature and animals inform your art? Does your work with airport therapy dogs influence your creative expression, and could you tell us a little about it?

Chinook Arch in Calgary by Susan Fae

Hoar Frost by Susan Fae

I believe that my surroundings influence my art; living in a beautiful landscape with wildlife and having my pets part of my personal space, supports my purpose for creating. And, yes Charlie is a nice tactile work of art if I do say so myself, though the airport houses a lot of fabulous art and architecture influencing my own art making as well.

Charlie, and all the airport therapy dogs comfort so many travelers and staff, it’s a true break from the stress of flying or the departure delays & cancellations. It is amazing how open and expressive people are with the dogs; they hug, stroke, talk, even hold their head and look right into the dogs eyes, it can be a personal and touching moment.

Work in Progress by Susan Fae

I love to build and experiment with a structure, give me a idea like “flamingo” and away I go. I create a base; usually a simplified shape, then layer it with character (colour & pattern), after that I adjust the sculpture so that it can stand on it’s own. I would call it therapeutic, handling the soft sculpture is like observing and talking to a dog, lucky for me I put the art sculpture away when it’s misbehaving.

Changing weather conditions will affect my art practice as well, in Calgary the Chinook arch and the hoar frost are pretty remarkable works of nature. If I’m out for a walk or drive and I’m moved by what I see and feel, when I get to the studio I express my feeling of wow with fabric and threads. 

Click for an article about Susan’s work with airport therapy dogs at the Calgary airport.

Check out Susan Fae’s Etsy shop.

See Susan on Facebook and Instagram.

Guest Interview: Susan Fae, Artist

Susan Fae

Part One of Four

Posing a series of questions to my new friend and comrade in art, Susan Fae, provides a glimpse into a fantasy world of 3-dimensional art. We connected through social media where I discovered her delightful bird sculptures formed from fabric, threads and objects, such as the cutlery you see as feet in the photo below. We have created a four-week blog exchange to share our favourite media and art techniques. Susan’s colourful birds are inspired by her love of nature but her passion for opera is also in evidence with these birds representative of The Three Tenors: Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and Jose Carreras.

Sing Like a Bird by Susan Fae

Now for Question Number 1:

Miss Fancy Feet by Susan Fae

The lovely Miss Fancy Feet arrived on my doorstep with a linocut greeting card depicting a beautiful butterfly. Which discipline came first, material art or printmaking? What drew you to each technique and do they share any commonalities?

Susan Fae:

Miss Fancy Feet – through your enthusiasm and encouragement she was created, and has a home that appreciates colourful and unique art. Thank you.

My appreciation and knowledge of fabric came first; both my grandmothers were handy with needle and thread. Reflecting back; I worked in the fabric department in two different stores while going to University in the 80s.

But it was later in life I returned to University to extend my Art Degree (drawing & photography) to “art developmental” so that I could teach art. While in the process of creating art curriculums I had to teach my peers an art form, it was linocut carving. That experience of sharing a process of creating encouraged me to extend the fun into a regular linocut art practice.

It was during a summer Artist’s Residency with my “Contextural” group that I began to combine the two techniques. Surrounding myself with creatives is one way of pulling out something I never knew I had in me, and that was printmaking and thread.

The Contextural Cooperative motivated me to create more textiles, maybe not to what anyone expected (including me) but I began to build sculptures and adorning them with fabric feathers. Along the way, I discovered my resourcefulness in saving found objects on my dog walks with Charlie came in handy, the found cutlery became the support for my bird sculptures.

I haven’t mastered the printing on fabric, but have printmaking with thread. My fabric sculptures share the same theme throughout my art and that is BIRDS.

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Linocut greeting card designs by Susan Fae

Check out Susan Fae’s Etsy shop for more beautiful birds.

Follow Susan on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our interview next week!