Kathe Suddendorf Is Two Twelve Artist of the Month For September

Saline artist Kathe Suddendorf is the Artist of the Month for September, with “Odyssey of Art,” a showcase of her multi-media works in watercolor, acrylics, colored pencil and pastels. A reception is set 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 9 at the center, 216 W. Michigan Ave. in Saline.

“My art shows my love for variety -- variety of styles, subject matter, and medium,” she says. “That’s just the personal journey. The creative journey is when a painting starts out as a spark of imagination, reinvents itself as part of the process, and finally reaches its destination as a finished work of art.  It is a truly phenomenal experience.”

A graduate of Illinois State University with a degree in business, Suddendorf began taking art classes when her two children were young. Starting out with charcoal/pastel drawing, she moved on to watercolors, acrylics, pastels, and colored pencil.

Her artistic career got under way in the 1980s when she put a personal favorite pastel painting in a show, pricing it at what she considered expensive enough to not sell. Much to her surprise, the piece sold, giving her a solid boost of confidence in her artistic abilities.

Suddendorf teaches Colored Pencil, Drawing and Composition classes at the art center, and also teaches at the Pittsfield Township Senior Center.

She describes herself as a “dabbler” jumping from one creative activity to the next. It paid off in spades in 2002 when she took the “Homemaker of the Year” crown at the Saline Fair and was runner up in the Michigan State Fair Homemaker title for her paintings, decorative painted items, crocheted pieces, silk floral arranging, baked goods, doll making, photography, cake decorating, beaded jewelry, fresh floral arranging, and more.

She also enjoys stage performing, playing guitar and writing poetry, volunteers for hospice and St. Andrew’s Church, and is a past treasurer of Ann Arbor Women’s Artists.  She has judged the painting division at the Saline Community Fair; had a one-woman art exhibition at First National Bank in Rockford, Ill., and exhibited at Rackham Hall in Ann Arbor.

Suddendorf, whose studio is in her Pittsfield Township home, will take part in the Oct. 21-23 Art Walk in Saline, joining the Saline Plein Air Painters at Stone Arch Arts and Events Center at 117 S. Ann Arbor St. in Saline. In previous Art Walks she exhibited at My Favorite Cafe and at the Spotted Dog Winery, both in downtown Saline.

A facilitator for the Painting Pals group at Two Twelve, and a member of the Arts Alliance in Washtenaw County, Suddendorf has  taken part several times in the annual Circle of Art auction in aid of Food Gatherers, hosted by Saline Picture Frame. This year she donated a small artwork, “Crocus Springs Forth,” created with colored pencil.  Last year, her artwork Shadow Play was created by using a calligraphy pen, brush and water. 

For information on Suddendorf's exhibit, call 944-2787 or visit www.twotwelvearts.org.