We Are Just Passing Through - The Soul's Path

A spiritual painting - not really religious, though I had to tick that box because BT only give me that option.

All of us - humans, animals, birds and fish, just passing through this place called earth on our soul's journey. We don't know where we came from or indeed where we are going. All we can do is our best to enjoy the flight, travel as well as possible with the weather we encounter.

I think about this a lot because as you age you hopefully realise the miracle of life more and more and most of us do at some point wonder why we are here. Far be it from me to preach any particular belief, and I can only tell you my own, which is that we are spiritual beings having an earthly experience. It's up to us to create the best life we can which has little to do with riches - though those are nice. I think its much more about what we contribute in terms of kindness, generosity, love etc.

Life can be immensely painful and also so joyful. They say that those of us who choose to come here are courageous because life is hard. The best we can do is our best each day to learn and grow and leave behind a legacy of good stuff as much as humanly possible. That's my take on it.

This painting is for those who want to be reminded that life is a process, a path, and an opportunity to grow as a person even if that's not easy. It could be in an office, or a home, or anywhere people gather to pray, meditate , talk - maybe not a pub though!

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Born in Scotland and based in Curl Curl, a suburb situated in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Susannah Paterson creates curious and fantastical art. By executing her works in a predominately surreal style, she is afforded the opportunity to explore the vivid, imaginative mind she has cultivated since childhood. Her previous thirty-year career in psychotherapy allows her to explore what dwells within her subconscious mind and adds to the unreal quality of her unconventional works.

With an alternating creative approach, Susannah’s works are characteristically derived via one of two ways. Some works arrive as a consequence of deliberate intention, and the overwhelming urge to convey specific settings and emotional constructs. These works are often inspired by the type of open-air spaces that comprise northern Sydney, and frequently include imagery of the sea and the sky. Much of the emotional commentary is associated with the setting and the sensations of expansion and wonder. Other works are delivered after an intense duration of intuitive creation, and commence with a single colour or palette and hundreds of instinctive marks on the canvas. This process usually conjures unforeseen images and unconscious dialogue.

In addition to her surreal works, Susannah is a practicing potter and much of her pottery borrows from the quirky shapes and scenes she integrates into her paintings. Initially learning the artform whilst studying Fine Art and Ceramics in 2007, her skills were further developed at the Open Studio Program at Brookvale TAFE, between 2016 – 2022. She graduated with a Diploma in Ceramics from that same institution. In-between her formal training, Susannah was mentored for several years by the late Kerrie Lester, a sixteen-time Archibald Prize finalist and Packing Room Prize winner.

Susannah increasingly exhibits from her Curl Curl studio, and details can be found on social media etc