The West Campus Art Gallery at Montgomery County Community College, 16 High Street in Pottstown, is pleased exhibit “The Three Susans,” a watercolor and pastel exhibit featuring Susannah Hart Thomer, Susan E. Klinger and Susan Williamson. The exhibit will be on display from Jan. 20 through March 26 with a reception to meet the artists on Feb. 10 from 5-7 p.m. The exhibit is free of charge and is open to the public. For information, contact Gallery Director Holly Cairns at 215-619-7349 or hcairns@mc3.edu.
Susannah Hart Thomer works primarily in watercolors, with an emphasis on contrast. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and shows throughout the region, including the Artists’ House Gallery in Philadelphia, the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Baltimore Watercolor Society Annual Exhibition, the Philadelphia Water Color Society’s International Exhibition, the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society’s Annual Exhibit and the Transparent Watercolor Society of America Annual Exhibit, among many others.
Thomer was a featured artist in Lifestyle Magazine, and she illustrated two children’s books by Claire Jordan Mohan, one of which is housed in the Vatican Library in Rome. She is a member of the Philadelphia Water Color Society, Baltimore Watercolor Society, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, Philadelphia Tri-State Artist’s Equity, North Penn Arts Alliance and the Greater Norristown Art League. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Illustration from Moore College of Art.
“Working primarily with watercolors, there’s a heavy emphasis on the basics of composition, form and color,” she says describing her work. “Add to that subject matter from a somewhat different perspective, mixed with accepting the characteristics of the paint and paper to make their own statement, results in a sort of controlled disorder!”
Susan E. Klinger is a representational painter who works primarily in soft pastel, watercolor and gouache. Her work has been exhibited in shows throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including the Northeast National Pastel Exhibition in New York and the Shades of Pastel National Exhibition in Bethesda, Md. She also exhibits regularly at Hardcastle Gallery in Centreville, Del. and at Off the Wall Gallery in Skippack.
Klinger teaches fine arts at Perkiomen Valley High School in Collegeville, where she has served as the chairperson of the fine arts department for 14 years. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a lifetime achievement award from the Perkiomen Valley School District Foundation for promotion of the arts. She is a member of the Greater Norristown Art League, Perkiomen Valley Art Center, Philadelphia Water Color Society, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, Philadelphia Tri-State Artist’s Equity, and she is a signature member of the Maryland Pastel Society. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Art from Millersville University and a Master’s of Education in Art from Kutztown University.
“Many of my paintings may be familiar scenes, but perhaps overlooked in today’s fast-paced society,” Klinger says of her work. “Realism has always been a focus…I enjoy the challenge of manipulating color and value to create an illusion of depth and two-dimensional surface. The subjects are diverse, but always positive—evoking, perhaps a pleasant memory.”
Susan Williamson is a pastel and watercolor artist who divides her time between a home in Lower Gwynedd and a cottage on Paradox Lake in New York. She is a juried member of the Women Artists of the West, Landscape Artists International and The American Society of Bovine Painters. She is also a signature and juried member of the Philadelphia Water Color Society, serving on its board of directors from 2004-2006.
Williamson’s paintings are in collections across the country and have been accepted into shows such as the Pastel Society of America Annual Exhibition, Adirondack Pastels Only Show, International Association of Pastel Societies Web Show, Shelburne Museum Show, Philadelphia Water Color Society International Exhibition, Adirondack National Exhibition of American Water Colors, Phillips Mill Annual Juried Show, Yellow Springs Art Show and the Audubon Society at Mill Grove Annual Show. She has studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Temple University and with Jim McFarlane at the Greater Norristown Art League.
“I paint farm animals because I believe their natural beauty is overlooked,” Williamson says of her work. “All are sentient beings with dignity and a private cerebral world. I hope my paintings will remind people to make choices that will allow the animals they use to live better lives. The same is true of our decisions that affect the environment.
