The joy of creating art, as artist and teacher has taken her on many paths. Susan developed a productive career in the arts, teaching and developing innovative arts programming in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2008, she established “ChezRouleau”. Her studio is located in a hundred year old church building in downtown Toronto. Rouleau is the name from her paternal grandmother and French Canadian roots. Rouleau, “roll” in French; she works with many kinds of rolls in her art practice: bobbins, paper, canvas, prepared panel, film (until digital), and woven cloth.
Susan has created many opportunities for solo travel to pursue her love of medieval history and literature, art and architecture. These elements are reflected in her work.
“Art is fresh seeing.”
-Emily Carr
“I enjoyed making things from a very early age and can say that art making has always been a part of my life. Painting, photography, pen and ink and dry mediums. In 2011, I studied advanced tapestry weaving in Oudenaard Belgium; I currently design and weave tapestry as a central focus of my art. My work is in private collections. I exhibit internationally. I taught myself to dye using natural dyes and prepare 80% of my coloured threads in this way. More recently, my interest in painting with natural pigments and using an ancient painting technique, egg tempera, has been taking my work in new directions.
In 2020, my egg tempera painting “Sisters” was accepted by the McMichael Canadian Collection Art Gallery, in a juried exhibition, “All Things With Imagination”.
“After the Rain” in progress
Each medium has its own language; my joy is in discovering what is possible with each one. The process of working with these labour intensive techniques in my art practice, both weaving using hand dyed, natural dyed threads on upright looms and painting on panels that are prepared with cloth, gelatine and marble chalk, balances my life of making art.