About Susan

GREEN DOOR EDITIONS. COM

THE ART OF

SUSAN ALCOTT JARDINE

ABOUT SUSAN

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About Susan

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The Princess & The Frog

Working in my studio, overlooking our back garden.

Tiger Lily Dancer

(Neal named this painting. It is dancing)

My newly remodeled studio & snoozing Red.

Swan Watching

(Red & Alex modeled).

Neal & Me

(Our first apartment).

Artist Co-op7

Reception

The VIVA Gallery

Tulip Heaven

Messy & Me

Red a/k/a Pumpkin, our Alpha Cat.

"A painting is like fiction.

It tells its tale by use of shapes,

colors, imagery and design.

The viewer experiences its story

in an instant. And, as in fiction,

brings his/her own personal story to it."

---Susan Alcott Jardine

Essentially a self-taught artist in the Naïf/Folk Art tradition, Susan designed costumes while a theatre major and teaching assistant at Cal State University/L.A., as well as for Jean Anouilh's "Thieves' Carnival" at the Studio Theatre Playhouse in Los Angeles. She has painted abstract portraits on canvas and pottery, as well as Folk Art paintings on wood and metal.

She has exhibited her work in Los Angeles, and it is in private and public collections in the USA and Central America. An "award winning" writer, Susan's fiction and poetry has been published in magazines, anthologies and newspapers. She is also listed in Marquis' "Who's Who of American Women," "Who's Who in America," and "Who's Who in Media Communications."

Susan was born in Los Angeles, California and has worked in Southern California her entire life. She resided briefly in Carson City, Nevada following the Northridge earthquake in 1994. She returned to Southern California in 1995, and has been a working artist since 1999.

Professional Affiliations Include:

American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP)
Artist Co-op7
Folk Art Society of America
National Academy of Arts and Sciences
National Museum of Women in the Arts
National Writers Union/LA Local
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)

I don't believe my childhood was marked by an unusual desire to become an artist. I am what you would definitely call a "late bloomer." Other than the normal art classes in grade school, junior high and high school, I was a pretty average child when it came to the arts. A dabbler who loved ballet, coloring books, drawing and movies. My youthful forms of expression were not something to send my parents into a spin. In fact, I was more of a tomboy and drawn to acting, and putting on backyard talent shows with the rest of the neighborhood kids. I think those old Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney movies inspired us then. My early teenage years were pretty normal. Girl's clubs, school, and related activities.

It wasn't until I attended El Camino College in Torrance, California, that the arts came strongly into play. I majored in Theatre Arts, with eyes set on an acting career. It was a cultural explosion. An exciting time filled with eager young students looking to make their way in the world. Several went on to successful careers in films, television, theatre, as casting directors, talent managers, teachers and attorneys. We still have a circle of friends to this day...the ECC Theatre Alumni...and, get together often and keep in touch. We have fond and wonderful memories of that time together, when we learned the magic of making something come alive on stage. Learning to be "natural" in an unnatural setting. During that accelerated time, I learned everything I could absorb without bursting at the seams...acting, costume design, scene painting (akin to mural painting) and, I immersed myself in everything I could read about theatre; from the Greeks and Shakespeare to the contemporaries. My husband Neal, a dear friend at the time, was instrumental in my reading choices and a great influence. He was the one we all looked up to. The bright "Wunderkind."

From El Camino, it was off to CSULA along with several theatre friends. Neal chose UCLA, then departed for a special medical program in London. We lost touch at that crossroad. During my senior year at CSULA, I was invited to become a teaching assistant by the head of the costume and makeup departments. The job turned into a crash course in rendering costume and makeup designs, making patterns, constructing costumes for productions and teaching the lab students sewing. (The men were great hemmers). As in acting, it evolved from the text. Transforming the playwright's words into design and costuming. The designs gave the characters a theatrical presence, always larger than life. Mixing textures is something from costuming that I like to incorporate in my paintings today...rough against smooth. It makes light play against the surface in interesting ways and evokes emotion.

Following college, while auditioning for acting roles and working part-time jobs, I designed and constructed costumes for a production of Jean Anouilh's "Thieves' Carnival" at the Studio Theatre Playhouse in Los Angeles. That Summer, I also played Cherie in their production of "Bus Stop." The "acting bug" was still alive and well, but not an easy road. Since my college days, I had been collecting prints of artists I most admired...Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Rousseau, Toulouse-Lautrec, Aubrey Beardsley and Alphonse Mucha. Slowly, I began winning roles in films, television, local theatre productions and commercials.

It was during this time I met and married a young music producer, and began working behind the scenes in his fledgling music production and publishing company. Then, during the early 70's, I was accepted into the Writers Guild Foundation's "Open Door Writing Program," writing screenplays, teleplays and plays, during evening workshops for four years, with the late writer/producer Arthur Alsberg. Painting visual pictures with words. While in the Writers Guild Program, my former writing partner Marc Havoc and I received The Writers Guild Foundation Award, Best Screenplay for our screenplay, "Lullabyeland." Marc and I continued our writing collaboration, writing plays at The Actors Studio West, and the late Gardner McKay's playwriting workshop at the Vanguard Theatre in Los Angeles. Slowly, the "acting bug" faded, naturally evolving into writing as a means of expression.

My partnership continued with my husband through the growth of his company...producing records, commercials, live concerts and packaging film and television scores until 1980, when our partnership and collaboration dissolved.

From the 80's through the 90's, I continued working "behind the scenes." I became a "Sunday Painter," along with working on fiction, which gave me respite from the heavy demands of working in the entertainment industry. It never occurred to me to sell or exhibit my artwork. I did it for my own enjoyment and to give as gifts. For the next six years I worked for entertainer Kenny Rogers' production company, as his in-house public relations administrator and editor/writer for his "Special Friends of Kenny Rogers" newsletter. When his corporate headquarters moved to Nashville in 1987, I went on to work for entertainment lawyers, where I had the good fortune to meet the talented writer/editor Donna Pizzi who taught fiction at UCLA Extension. Taking her private workshops, I began working more on writing fiction. From 1990 to 1994, I worked for KRCA-TV, a local broadcast television station. Art and fiction became the special place for the spirit to soar.

Then in 1995, as if by magic, I was re-introduced to my longtime friend I hadn't seen since our El Camino College days. As fate would have it, Neal Jardine and I married in March of 1996. We purchased our wonderful "mountain house" in Sherman Oaks and set about creating our gardens, which have become an inspiration for some of my paintings. I was completing work on my fiction collection; "The Channel: Stories From L.A.," while working for another group of entertainment lawyers. The double workload was beginning to take its toll, when Neal encouraged me to "take the plunge" and concentrate on finishing the book. Leaving the corporate world behind, I continued working on the book along with home projects. Then, the inevitable "writer's block" hit while seeking an agent and beginning work on a novel.

In an effort to break the dilemma I enrolled in an Artist Co-op7 workshop, taught by talented artists Dorothy Ghose and Adria Becker. It was another creative explosion. Painting became the focal point which I pursued with passion. By switching from a linear form of expression (language) to a visual form of language, it slowly cleared the dreaded block.

In 1999, Neal and I formed Green Door Editions to publish Limited Edition Prints of my original artwork. Prints were something I always loved and we wanted to be able to offer them to collectors. Slowly, things began moving in this new direction. I began building a body of work, finding my own style and "voice," and exhibiting in shows with Artist Co-op7 members.

It was smooth sailing ahead until Neal was diagnosed with cancer in the Spring of 2000. We spent the entire Summer with his rigorous chemo therapy and radiation treatments. No sooner was he recuperating, than I was diagnosed with breast cancer that Fall. So, we spent 2000 through early 2002 undergoing cancer treatments. It changed our lives. We are doing well now, and were very fortunate to have the love and support of our wonderful family and friends. My painting slowed down during that time. Now, as time goes by, I'm catching up.

Neal and I feel very honored that my work is in the permanent collection of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. We both received such wonderful care there. Each year since our treatments we are happy to gift artwork, that is auctioned in fundraising events, to benefit their on-going health programs.

Our home and critters, our wonderful cats, give us great pleasure. Alex-the-Cat and our dear Red Cat, who passed away in February 2004, have been inspirations for some of my paintings. Our dear little Messy Cat, who came with our house, passed away in February, 2003. He has his special spot in our backyard garden. I've yet to paint him (he is in my artist photos), but I will. Our foundling, Sophie Boy has now become the "Official Caretaker of the Yard." And, in February 2004, Neal and I adopted "The Squiggle Sisters." Messy Boo II and her sister Junaeper have become Alex's charges. They've perked up his sad heart after losing his Red pal. Personally, I love subject matter that deals with home and gardens. A refuge and place of meditation away from the frenzied demands of the world. Being close to nature and working from home gives me great joy. It is something I was never able to do until my dear Neal re-entered the scene. He has been my greatest supporter and partner in this venture. I call him my "I.T. Guy" because he is the computer whiz, helping with the website, after the heavy demands of his legal work. Green Door Editions.com was originally designed by our talented friend, artist/illustrator Anita McLaughlin, who became too busy to continue on with it. Neal has become the official Webmaster here at Green Door Editions. By the way, our home does really have green doors. They were the first things we painted after moving in.

It has come full circle. The process and the journey is forever renewed. Thank you for visiting.

**********

Photo Credits: Neal Jardine, Wilma Camacho-Burton, Delaine Shane.

Painting photos by Paul J. Moshay of Image.Ination.

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