UR Boutique Art Group Featured Artist: Susan Check

“The Cuyahoga River and the Erie Canal”

I was born in Akron, Ohio and raised in Tallmadge, Ohio For six years I was fortunate to study art with the same art teacher who encouraged the organic approach that is still in my paintings today. I attended Kent State University in Fine Arts. After moving to Virginia I began studying watercolor painting with Suzanne Stevens and Anne Iott. Landscape painting was always a first choice in subject matter. I became a signature member of the Virginia Watercolor Society and participated in many outdoor shows. My teaching experience includes local classes and workshops, classes at the Museum of Contemporary Art and a half semester at Virginia Wesleyan College as a guest artist. Several years ago I changed mediums to painting oils on canvas and began this series of paintings of the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. It was a familiar subject and yet one that I realized I didn’t know. The great diversity in this river has helped me to learn more about the technique of this painting medium but learning the history and geology of the area has helped me appreciate this place where I spent my first twenty-six years.