Susan Bolen

California artist Susan Manter-Bolen lives and works in El Portal California, just outside Yosemite National Park.  Susan works in acrylic paint on a variety of surfaces, including wood, canvas, paper, fabric/clothing, and sometimes mirrors and glass.  Her mixed-media works include collage, acrylic jewels, glass beads, and other items.  Susan also creates large paper-mache sculptural constructions using recycled materials.  Although acrylic paint is her most currently used medium, she also work in pastels, colored pencil, and graphite pencil. Her subject matter includes brightly colored landscapes, still life, space scenes, and the surreal and symbolic focusing on animals and the natural world.

           The artist states; “Living so close to Yosemite, I have availed myself of it's romantic scenes of rock and water. I am also exceedingly fond of the area surrounding El Portal, whose name means the gate, or doorway, and is surrounded by the national forest. I have developed a sense of place and connection to the land, and that is the motivation behind all my landscapes. I enjoy focusing on bold colors, subtle patterns, and unique shapes.”

          “My symbolic work is an attempt to bridge the disconnect between the individual and the earth, which contains all conceived boundaries. I am inspired by dreams, books, current events, history and the forest. Frogs are quick to manifest the effects of pollution via mutation, and as such I find them to be particularly poignant messengers and meaningful images. I have been portraying the hare as a symbol of fertility and life itself. Cups are often included in my compositions,(specifically coffee cups), because of the beauty of their  form and the ancient connection to water, sustenance, and abundance. I enjoy the images in the Rider-Waite tarot deck, and I sometimes allude to them in my work.

Bolen’s artwork has been exhibited at Sierra Cellars and the Mariposa Arts Council gallery in Mariposa. Her painting “Crane Valley Falls” was featured on the cover of the El Portalian magazine in 2006.  Her mixed media piece “Sparkling Tunnel View” was included in Yosemite Renaissance XXI in 2007.  In October 2007 Susan participated in the Sierra Art Trails Yosemite Foothills Open Studio Tour, and her mixed media piece “Gift” was accepted into Brand “36 Secrets and Confessions” exhibit at the Brand Library in Glendale, CA.