Susan Searway-Fertig

Since graduating from Dominican University of California with a Bachelor of Fine Arts emphasis in Digital Art and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History in 2004, I started up my own company Susan Searway Art & Design in 2006.

My design side of my company provides Marketing Materials as Fine Art through graphic design, website design, and social media strategy. Whether you need marketing materials for print, email campaign, social media posts, or a website, I do it all. I find the field very gratifying and challenging to create new compositions every day for my clients.

The art side of my business is my passion—producing, selling, and exhibiting my artwork. I am what you call a true Fine Artist, which means I work in a variety of media. Currently I work in digital art, watercolor, photography, drawing, and painting but I am always open to new techniques to convey my thoughts and feelings.

I look for stability in an unstable society. Based on this concept I have created my figurative series: Persona. Persona is a personal reflection that focuses on the harmony of the body and the soul: the physical versus the spiritual, represented sometimes as one, sometimes as individuals. I try to blend the idealism of the human form in combination and contrast with the variety of people – people seen through the lens of reality varying in shape, size, and form. I like to use a lot of color, movement, and spontaneity in my compositions.

As for photography I am a shutterbug. I will shoot anything and everything to find a composition. I mostly concentrate my work on nature. The most wonderful thing about working with nature as your subject matter is that it is ever changing. Artist Robert Bateman states it best, “Everything in nature has its own personality.” You can never capture or see the same composition twice. There are always little nuances of change. When you take photographs or observe wildlife they almost never stay in that “perfect” composition you envision. Therefore you have to do a lot of improvisation and creativity to get the composition you desire.

Whether I am working in photography or on a two-dimensional plane I try to capture the essence of my subject by focusing on their lines, patterns, textures, forms, colors, and shapes. My hope is to find a unique perspective in all my work.

As for exhibiting my art, I love to share it with the community and I am always looking for opportunities to sell and hang my work. Producing art is what makes me happy, so I try to focus as much time as I can on doing just that. I am excited and honored to have studio #32 at Art Works Downtown so please stop in whenever I am there.

To see behind the scenes information about my artwork please follow me on Instagram @susansearwayartdesign