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Born in Chicago in 1948, Susan Blackwood comes from at least six known generations of artists. She has been surrounded by artists her whole life, her great grandmother, grandfather, aunt, and parents. Betty, Susan’s mother, first taught her the joy of creation, her father, David Swartwout (a painter in oils and watercolors as well as a sculptor), was her first mentor in fine art. Her husband is the well known oil painter Howard Friedland. Even her two younger siblings are artists. One sister , Lindy Schneider, is an illustrator. Her other sister, Karen Vance, is also a well known painter from Colorado. There must be some genetics involved, Susan’s family history has been traced back to Rembrandt’s parents.
Blackwood’s formal education includes a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Northern Illinois University and extended painting studies with Irving Shapiro at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Throughout her career, Blackwood has studied with some of the finest painters in the U.S.A., such as Richard Schmid, Morgan Weistling, Matt Smith, and Carolyn Anderson.
Since 1969, Susan has painted extensively in her various studios, as well as traveled and painted Plein Air, including three years ( ‘75 to ‘78 ) in Lahore, Pakistan where she maintained an active studio and had three solo exhibitions.
Blackwood has been a professional painter since 1972. Her paintings have been exhibited in galleries in the U.S.A., England and France. They have also been selected for many National and International Exhibitions and been the recipients of numerous awards. Her work is in many private, museum and corporate collections such as: American Express; the French Consulate of Lahore, Pakistan ; Anheuser Bush; and the Sonoran Desert Museum.
Blackwood’s paintings have been published by a variety of national and international publishers, appearing on several magazine covers and in articles, books and cards. Blackwood and her husband, oil painter Howard Friedland, were both featured in the “Master Painters of the World” section of the April/ May 1999 issue of International Artist Magazine. Susan’s paintings were also featured with John Singer Sargent in an article on Venice in the Summer issue of Watercolor Magazine 1999.
In the late 1980's Blackwood paintings rose to the national and international level, becoming well-known, through her limited edition reproductions, posters and cards. They appeared in more than 2,000 galleries world-wide.
Since 1975, Blackwood has taught popular painting and drawing classes in colleges and workshops around the country, overseas in Pakistan, the Bahamas, Great Britain, France and Italy. Just last week she returned from a Painting Tour in Avignon, France where she taught plein air painting in watercolors and oils to 14 artists traveling from 7 states and Great Britain. In 2006, Susan and Howard will again be leading a tour of Normandy and Paris on a barge trip through France.
In May of 2003, after painting in watercolors professionally for 32 years, Blackwood ventured into a new direction. She embarked on an adventure to discover her “ voice” in the thick, rich medium of oils. The public response was immediate. Within just a few short months, Blackwood was seeing her new oils receiving invitations to national and international shows, winning awards and excellent sales. Most recently, in the April 2005 issue of Southwest Art Magazine, Susan was endorsed as an “Artist to Watch” in the editorial section that points to outstanding upcoming artists in North America.
Watercolors will always be a love for her, but oils capture her fullest imagination and are now commanding most of her attention.
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