Susan Kinsella

Painting provides balance in my life.  For me, the process is a working meditation.  It quiets my mind and soothes my soul.  My paintings represent respite amid the chaos of life and are depictions of my emotions.  Like the colors of the rainbow, these painted emotions range from bright and joyful to calm and quiet to solitary and somber.  My work is tranquil and peaceful, quiet and serene with a touch of heartache.  I use color and texture and perspective, and a scene beautifully cast in light and shadow to create powerful imagery with a sense of peace.  Each of my paintings is an emotional self-portrait and I feel most validated when someone comes to a sudden stop in front of one of my works and gasps in recognition of the emotion it elicits in them. The works of Vermeer, Van Gogh and Fantin-Latour are among my favorites and are sources of great inspiration. 

My life as an Emergency Medicine Physician began in 1990.  My experiences caring for others in crisis were both difficult and exciting, filled with joy and despair, extreme contradictions that impact my artistic approach dramatically.  I retired from Emergency Medicine in October 2017 and began painting full time, committing daily to artistic expression.

Painting and creating have been part of my life for as long as I can remember.  Being entirely self-taught, my journey to the present has had glories, bumps, pauses and lengthy stalls.   In the early ‘90s, I read Betty Edward’s Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and was astonished by my right brain! I’d lived in my left-brain for so many years I had no idea my creativity was seeking expression! 

Life, as it is wont to do, intervened and there were several years when I didn’t paint at all.  And then in January 2016, something magical happened.  I had a dream!  It woke me from sleep and guided me to buy a cake-icing spatula and to paint with it!  The very next day, I bought one and my joyful, wonderful and creative journey to the present day began.

I was born and raised in St. Louis, MO.  In 1983, I graduated from the University of Detroit with a BS in Chemistry and in 1987, graduated from St. Louis University School of Medicine.  I moved to Atlanta in 1987 for residency at Emory University School of Medicine and fell in love with the South.  I live in Atlanta with my husband, David and our yellow lab, Noah.  Our children and grandchildren are scattered around the country.