July Issue 2001
Craven Allen Gallery in Durham, NC, Features Works of Sue Sneddon
Twenty-Eight
Twilights: Four Weeks on Bogue Banks,
pastels and paintings by Sue Sneddon, is on view at Craven Allen
Gallery in Durham, NC, through Aug. 25.
Although Sneddon travels to Bogue Banks every fall to draw and paint, the twenty-eight twilights of the title are pastels done on site in Emerald Isle in the fall of 1990. It was the only time she kept a daily visual diary, and this particular year has been a wellspring for her work ever since. Since this body of work has been so important to her, Sneddon wanted to show all of the series together for the first time in the gallery. They will be exhibited along with other pastels, oils on canvas, and mixed media works which she has painted in the past two years, all inspired by the beauty of Bogue Banks.
"Twenty-Eight Twilights is a nightly journal of seeing and being in the moment," says Sneddon. "Most of the work was done at the same time each evening - just after the sun had set. I wanted to record my moments of joy and reverence, of feeling one with something so huge and powerful. Over the years I have looked back on this body of work as a diary of a time when I did what I wanted to do. I felt true to my nature for four weeks. Some of these evenings, I can even remember the temperature, wind direction, and whether I was fishing or casting for mullet. This space, where I can stand on the wet sand that is reflecting a perfect twilight, is where I feel most alive."
A Durham resident since 1976, Sneddon has had twenty one-woman shows in the Southeast. She graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Art Education.
The following is an artists' statement offered by Sneddon:
My obsession with evening twilight began on the rooftop of an apartment building in Boston. City living was not a good idea for me. To feel some connection with the natural world, I spent time each evening with the winter sky (it helped that someone was usually playing a saxophone in the building next door). I loved observing the subtle or strong colors which might emerge on any given evening. Later, my first house in Durham had a rooftop porch; my twilight sessions continued, and I began to paint them. When I discovered the Bogue Banks in autumn, it was a kind of heaven.
I moved to North Carolina in 1976 and quickly had visited every beach from Corolla to Sunset. I chose the Bogue Banks as my favorite painting spot because of its east-west orientation and the Bogue Sound. All of these create the greatest opportunity to witness changing light and its reflection on two bodies of water. Each fall I spend four to six weeks there - it's my most important yearly migration. My heart still starts beating faster as I cross the bridge to Emerald Isle. Fall is my favorite time of year and on Bogue Banks, it is so easy to clearly see the change of seasons by the setting sun. The sun sets in Bogue Sound in summer, at the west end of the island at equinox, and in the ocean in winter. I find this the most meaningful way to mark the passage to time, one that I can help to reveal visually through my work.
The magic of dawn and dusk continue to take me to a place I cannot describe in words. This body of work is my first daily journal of the sky and water after sunset during a four-week stay at Emerald Isle in 1990. Most of the works are original on site pastels. There were some nights that the moon got the attention. I was struck by how different water and sky could be in color, texture, shape and form at the same time each night.
This time has been a wellspring for me. In the past year or so I have gone back to my perfect four weeks day by day, painted pastels and oils from them, and allowed myself to relive these moments that feed my soul.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 919/286-4837.
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