Artist: Susan Moss

posted on October 05 2008 by elCID

While in Northeast Los Angeles one sunny Wednesday on appointments, I found that the gallery I was trying to find was only open one day per week... and it wasn't Wednesday. So, with some time between appointments, I wandered around, getting a feel for the area off York Boulevard. Many areas of Los Angeles are fascinating to me - I love to absorb the vibe of particular neighborhoods, discovering how people live, work, and play. Walking along the boulevard, I heard music coming from a white wire-mesh entrance to a large - dare I say studio? - right down the block, and decided to investigate. At the very least I could ask for directions to my next appointment!

But I didn't just find directions, I found my next artist, Susan Moss. My 30 second introduction went something like this:

Gregory says, "Hi, great studio!"

Susan smiled and walked over. "Hi! Want to see what I'm painting?" she asked. "Sure!" I said. Susan unlocked the gate and gestured behind her.

"What do you do?" she inquired. "I sell art," I answered, waltzing into her large studio full of giant paintings, some 10 feet tall. "Really? You sell art? Where?" I handed her my card, "Online mostly, but offline too," I said.

"How much?" she asked.

"$300, lifetime membership, 20% commission."

"Okay, I'll sign up," Susan responded.

If only all my membership drives were that easy.

But I found out after a few meetings with Susan how perceptive she is. She's been an artist for 37 years, now, and in permanent collection from Los Angeles to New York, and everywhere in between, both public and private, including LACMA, Skirball, and Laguna Art Museum. She's bold. She's courageous. And she's totally committed to creating art.

What I find most interesting working with Susan is the fact that many of the problems that beginning and emerging artists seem to have just don't exist in her. Susan doesn't worry about whether someone likes her art, if her work is good enough, or whether someone will buy it. "If I worried about all that, I'd never paint. So I don't worry about all that stuff." "What do you attribute that to, your ability to move forward and not let fear stop you?" I asked. "Oh, it's like anything; you do it long enough until all your problems go away."

And there is criticism. Susan paints abstract, and not everyone gets that, she says. "Sometimes all I get from a patron is, 'that's giving me vertigo.'", Susan laughs, "Well, you can't paint for everyone, only for yourself. I hope that they get it, but it's not important that everyone does."

She creates large series, both in quantity and size. The sizes range from small, 24" pieces, to giant wall-filling canvases. Most of her series are about 10-25 pieces strong, though there are some exceptions. Susan conveys, "I started big, but while doing some studies, small things, one of the gallery owners like them so much I started making smaller, more affordable pieces as well. That was a great idea... I have lots of smaller pieces, now," opening drawers upon drawers of energetic, 26" squares or 38" x 50" pieces.

I asked her about painting big, "I like big, it's more interactive," she admitted. Susan would walk back and forth from large painting, absorbing it's seemingly random shapes and scores, almost like passively working on the painting while she talked to me. Her mind was calm but engaged, and always thinking about the next brushstroke.

Susan is courageous in more ways than one. Early in her career, the chemicals used in her painting techniques left her with breast cancer. Sick, and with no means to continue her painting, Susan buckled down and fought for her life, "It was a completely transforming process for me. But I was resolved to win my life and career back. I changed my art techniques, researching day-in-day-out for solutions to painting healthier and fighting cancer - and I won on both accounts. I no longer have cancer. And I paint more than I ever have, and without toxic chemicals around." Incredulously, I asked if she documented the process of fighting - and winning - with cancer. She said offhandedly, "Oh, I wrote a book about it, it's here somewhere." Susan wandered off and returned with her book, Keep Your Breasts!: Preventing Breast Cancer the Natural Way.

Now, a best-selling author, and in it's 6th printing. It's even been translated into other languages. And she is completely healed of her cancer.

An afternoon with Susan is a lesson in being an artist; adversity is just another learning experience, creating is all-important, and nothing gets in your way for long if you're dedicated to your cause for living. "So, you like my art? Would you like me to be on your site?" she asked. "Heck, Susan, I like everything about you."

Susan smiled warmly. She might be able to face on all obstacles without help, but it seems to me every artist likes to know they're appreciated.