Passionate Focus 2010 Artists
Susan Joy Gustafson
The vibrant, shimmering, tropical colors of the Hawaiian landscape inspire me to paint.
Five years ago I retired from a career in dental hygiene due to a rare, progressive, genetic blindness called Retinitis Pigmentosa. I decided then it was time to study watercolor painting! As an undergraduate I had wanted to be an elementary art teacher. And I taught Art Literacy in public schools while raising my children. Now I can study art and travel with my Art Adventure group. Retirement has been a blessing.
My visual field is about the size of a three by five index card and my acuity is good, despite cataracts. (Mirage, my guide dog, enables me to move about and paint.)
Losing my sight compels me to relish beauty, look intently and imprint the sprit of the object in my mind's eye. My paintings are joyful and full of living pigment. I love the communion of sitting outdoors and feasting on a subject, embossing the image for a time when I will no longer by visual.
Blindness generates an imaginative and whimsical interest to my compositions I hope you will enjoy.
Angels Abundant
