Exhibit dates: July 1 – 31
Susan Fornaro tells a story of the dance between light and shadow in her softly representational style of painting. She sees a puzzle of architecture, a glance between friends, a shaded cottage at the seashore—or perhaps a lacy curtain floating in the breeze—as a conversation, a moment to be painted and preserved. There can be a stillness to her paintings, a freeze-frame image meant to connect with viewers by suggesting, “Can you feel this?
this exhibit reveals a collection of paintings as a visual diary of moments that have inspired her as she moves about her life.
“I take countless photos and delight in laying them out, choosing and combining the ones that spark the next painting. I paint with acrylic paint on canvas, hoping to capture a freeze frame instant to save and revisit,” she said.
She continued, “My hope is to transport the viewer into the heart of the feeling I am painting. When you can imagine the heat of the sun on your skin, or the velvet petal of a flower in your hand as you visit the painting, then I have taken you to a place that moved me, and we have made a connection.”
Ms. Fornaro was awarded a Master of Arts degree in Expressive Arts Therapy from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, in 1991, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT, in 1975.
A self-taught painter, her artistic journey has also been shaped by formal studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI, the Fine Arts Work Center and Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown, MA. She studied under renowned painters Anne and Cynthia Packard in Provincetown.
Her career as a psychotherapist in Mashpee has been complemented by her art avocation, holding its place as a steady companion, tugging at her when needed to remind her to hold space and time in her life for art making. Echoes of her travels can be seen in her eclectic subjects and choice of locations.
Her work has been widely shown and collected, with exhibitions at the Guild of Boston Artists, the Provincetown Art Museum, Cortile and McGuire Galleries in Provincetown, Gallery 333 in North Falmouth, Danforth Museum in Framingham, and numerous regional art associations.
She has also been commissioned by Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Dental School to create 34 comforting and whimsical murals and paintings.
“Color makes me happy,” she said.
