Anne Marie Szucs, an emerging artist based in St. Albert, AB, is drawn to big, bold colours and energetic movement in her abstract paintings. She didn’t start out creating abstracts though. Until only a few years ago, she painted mostly representational landscapes – trying to capture details of the image that everyone sees. But she became dissatisfied with the reality of representation. It wasn’t how she saw the world. Slowly, her paintings started to almost disassemble – moving into shapes, lines, and colours that were drawn from her imagination and through the variety of tools she introduced to her studio work – palette knives, squeegees, scrapers.
Anne Marie is now working on a series of pieces where she allows the natural landscape to peek through layers of abstraction. In her words, “I had to go to the extreme of pure abstraction in order to come back to honour the world I love – the world of trees, mountains, water, and animals.” Abstraction gives her permission to play, explore, and express her rebellious nature. The natural landscape roots and grounds her. She is equally at home in her studio as well as outside painting plein air.
Anne Marie also believes in the power of networking and collaboration with other artists. She is currently an active member of the Calgary-based Mastrius online learning community, the Budding Art Collective (Edmonton), the Calgary Artist Studio Tour (in conjunction with her sister and fellow artist Jean Parker), and The St. Albert Painters’ Guild.
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Which “hood are you in?
I live in St. Albert, AB – just on the outskirts of Edmonton.
What do you do?
I am an abstract artist working both in my studio and outside plein air painting. My medium of choice is acrylic open paints. In addition to painting, I am also a yoga instructor and theatre artist (director, actor, writer, sound designer).
What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on a series of abstract landscapes in my studio. As summer is prime plein air season, I am also gathering new ideas for future projects while painting outside.
Where can we find your work?
Right now, I have work exhibiting at the Miller Gallery at Roxy Theatre in Edmonton and Concordia University of Edmonton. I will have work exhibited at Bogani Café (Edmonton) this July and August, and I will be taking part in the Strathearn Art Walk (Edmonton) in September. You can always find my work on my website and Instagram.
