REBUS WORKS

CAFE & GROCERY

GALLERY

SUSAN MARTIN

Strung Along

May 2 - June 1, 2025

Opening Reception: Friday, May 2 6-8pm

HER COFFEE FAVORITE

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COLUMBIA RISARALDA
Roast Level: Medium Roast
Tasting Notes: Round Body. Notes of caramel, citrus & cinnamon

My compositions are individually weighted, patiently teetering and flirting with a fragile existence. One small shift and collapse is possible, but for now things are holding together, even if by a string. Over my decades of being an artist I’ve curated a personal lexicon of imagery that I am constantly revisiting and adding to for my work. Recent works are influenced by a period of time which simultaneously encompassed the death of my mother, the dissolution of a union and the exhaustive beauty of motherhood. Balance, peace, and calm are defined individually; My studio practice brings me clarity in times when these broad terms feel uncertain.

ABOUT HER WORK

The rich brown tones come from a walnut ink that I make from black walnut hulls which I collect locally. The ink is easy to make, it requires boiling the hulls for 45 minutes and straining the ink into jars. The homemade ink is my entry point into drawing. Each batch is slightly different, and as I test out the ink, I start imagining landscapes and natural features. These drawings have other types of inks and watercolors mixed in, such as Dr. Ph Martin’s; as well as white gouache (a type of opaque watercolor). Curiosity and an openness to process moves the drawings forward. I’m interested in how the materials interact on the paper, flowing out onto the paper, blending, and bleeding into each other. The paper is mostly watercolor paper, but in a couple drawings I’m using a blue rag paper that I made (Inconsolation I,II). If you look closely, you may notice the threads and rag bits in the paper as part of the final composition.

PROCESS

Susan Martin is a Raleigh, North Carolina based artist. Her works begin with concentrated phases of drawing which are then developed through various intaglio printmaking techniques, a favorite being drypoint. She often merges her prints with watercolor printing and hand-tinting. In addition to her art practice Susan is a teaching artist at area art centers and through her studio at Anchorlight in downtown Raleigh. She is also in the process of co-founding a non-profit community print studio, the Triangle Printmakers Collective. When not making art, Susan hangs with her offspring, walks her Staffie mutt named Maple and jogs while listening to funny podcasts.