Suzan Kraus Mixed Media Artist

"Some Strings Attached"

30" x 40"

2015

This one has so many subtle variances that it took me a long time to complete.

It's hard to see how transparent these papers are from this tiny picture but I worked hard on accentuating this property of these papers by coating the entire piece with a thin coat of melted wax!

"Tangled"

8"x 7"

This tiny collage has lots to look at!!!

The Chinese paper took the colors in a most unusual way giving it a very watery looking print. Also included in this piece is paper & oily string that came from Thailand, a small piece of lavender paper from Bangladesh and true to my nature of mixing paper types there is a small remnant of a pizza box!

SOLD

"Yesterday's Gone"

30.5 x 22.5" Framed

This is a close up of a framed collage.

Besides having some exquisite handmade papers it also includes papers I found on the streets of Houston, TX that I really thought had a lot of character and wonderful colors!

"Underneath All Those Story Lines"

This tall & narrow collage has an amazing collection of handmade papers. Some are from China, Bangladesh, & Thailand. These papers are mixed in with paper from an old Simplicity dress pattern and corrugated paper from a pizza box....oh & some gauze. The words at the top of the page are really not in English but more from inside of me ...the non local domain, perhaps the collective unconscious asking the question, "What's the real story here?" The first picture is a detail shot of all that's happening toward the bottom of this piece.

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"Geo Tagged"

The new way to map a spot on your phone or GPS.

"New Nebula"

Paper pulp turned into spirals along with some old landscape burlap and other handmade papers that I painted formed a structure that felt like a suspended nebula somewhere in the vast Universe! Subtle colors associated with newborns allow the viewer to feel the freshness of this infant but amazingly powerful occurrence in nature!

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"Prime Information from the Drop Box"

Prime Information from the Drop Box

Large collage made with some of my favorite chinese papers! Also included in this work are Simplicity patters with only prime numbers on them and pages from an old book. The white spirals are paper pulp. It's very dimensional and created on a canvas so one can feel all the textures going on in the paper!

48" x 36"

"Kozo Sculptures"

Kozo Sculptures.

YES! I made these from scratch pounding the kozo bark & shaping them into these tiny dressed up sculptures. They're only about 2 to 4 in high. I actually sewed the ruffled edges to the bottom and the beads to the top. They're as light as ....well, paper. They will be for sale as soon as I get a plexiglass cover made to go over all of them. I LOVE doing 3-D work!

"Open & Release"

Open & Release

I created this collage on a sheet of handmade Kozo paper which is very thick bark that needs to be pounded out. I did not make this paper but I have made Kozo paper & turned them into sculptures that you may have seen in an entry above.

Other handmade papers in this collage come from around the world.

41.5 x 32.5 framed

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"Sensitive Issue"

Gossamer thin papers were given to me by the Morgan Conservancy with the understanding that I would create something for their art auction coming up at the end of summer. I did an ink drawing on part of it & then used the rest for design. I burnt the edges of some of the papers so the viewer could actually see the paper. I also left the edges sticking up to accentuate the sheerness & beauty of this exquisite paper. One of my favorites...I may have to buy it back!
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"Resigned to Fate"

This huge framed collage was accepted into the Butler Museum of American Art's 78th Annual International Mid year show!! They have over a 1000 submissions from around the USA. Only 100 get selected! This is the second year in a row my art has been accepted into this very prestigious show! The Opening is July ,2014.

"Bamboo Emerging"

This smaller collage contains some of my Chinese Brush Painting. I learned this type of painting in Houston, TX. Here I layered it with beautiful rice paper which has thick strands of rice running through it. I also included some of this paper under the "Chop" symbols to carry the theme of layers.

"Come Sit with Me Awhile"

Collage Mixed Media

This collage is packed with symbolism & special meaning for me. I created it early this year with a broken right arm! Somehow the paper I painted with lots of layers of paint managed to acquire a black "Spirit Dot" on its own! So I capitalized on it and used it just as it was!

Besides beautiful hand made papers it also contains some Simplicity dress patterns and a library book due date page!

I wrote a simple verse:

Come sit with me awhile

And listen to the stillness.

Come sit with me awile

And feel the lightness of the white.
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