A Biography of Susan Sohl

Comments About My Work

Many of my paintings deal with women with a strong sense of attitude. I seem to be drawn to this subject matter, and as I realized when looking back at several paintings that I did during my teenage years, I’m still painting the same women in the same poses.

The figure in “Far, Far Away”, for example, faces away from the viewer and looks toward the horizon. Her evocative pose intrigues the viewer and invites him/her to step into her world. The setting is ambiguous; the facial features are without description. The body language of the subject carries the painting, and it speaks strongly about who this ageless woman might be. Alone, confident, strong, natural—she is a woman who knows who she is and is unafraid of that knowledge.

About Me

I currently reside in Santa Rosa, CA, but I have lived in over 25 different locations throughout my lifetime. These include Mexico and Canada, the South, Midwest, New England, and Texas.

Experience

My background is as colorful and diverse as the paints on my palette. After graduation from university, I began a career with Pan Am and traveled extensively with the airline to Latin America, the Caribbean, and Western Europe. During this time I took art classes in Miami and Washington, DC. I later pursued a graduate degree at Northwestern University and then began a successful publishing career that included work for Scott, Foresman Publishing, Writer’s Digest Books, and American Airlines. Along the way I created a toy and clothing line, and customers of my whimsical creations included Bloomingdale’s, President Reagan, Jerry Springer, The Blues Brothers’ Movie, and The Sharper Image. My work has appeared on the Today Show, Chicago Magazine, Cincinnati Magazine, numerous newspapers and local television shows.

I decided to renew my interest in fine arts after the birth of my son in 1987 and embarked on a course of fine art studies and art history. During this time I painted with pastels, always seeking an expressive method to stamp my personality onto the landscape. It was during a trip to Europe in 1998 that I discovered the immediacy and ease of painting with water media. Now I work almost exclusively with watercolor and gouache, or with mixed-media collages. I have attended numerous workshops, including 2005 and 2006 at the Intensive Studies Workshop in Taos, New Mexico.

It has been my honor to enjoy international recognition for my watercolor paintings. Among the international juried exhibitions in California and Arizona are: Tubac Aqueous 2006; California Watercolor Society 2005 and 2007; San Diego Watercolor Society 2008 and 2007 (Award Winner); and Arizona Watercolor Society 2006. 

Teaching

I offer private and group classes to students who want to learn an alternative way to handling water media.  Please contact me for more information at paintings@susansohl.com or 707-523-7043.