All images copyright Sue Kalab
Sue has some 25 solo exhibitions to her credit. In 2018, she enjoyed continued success when exhibiting with the relatively new Collie Art Gallery, then again in 2021 at Bunbury's Stirling Street Arts Centre. She calls her work a “soft realism”. She creates what the art writer and critique, Julie Prott, describes as being “cultivated rusticity”, a compliment to Sue's popular technique and style, adding, "The images are like traditional icons used to assist the passage between external reality and the inner world of the spirit. A sea urchin is a meditation. A seashell with all its weathered imperfections invites contemplation."
Arts writer Judith McGrath comments, “Kalab not only talks to nature, she listens and learns ….. take time to engage with these powerful works of gentle beauty.”
To own a Sue Kalab creation is to have a treasured possession for life.
Gillian Peebles (Accredited Judge with the Royal Academy of Arts, London), 2019
" . . . I spent a delightful hour or so discussing painting and life in the studio of Bunbury artist Sue Kalab. Sue's delicate and gestural watercolours capture the contradictions inherent in the environment. The medium itself, with its elements of control and release, discipline and change, is a metaphor for both the fragility and unpredictability of nature, whilst the work captures the fleeting moment but also endurance and timelessness. Each work gives us a glimpse into Sue's passion for the natural world, her commitment to the environment, and our need to pay attention to what is quiet, small and still in this world."
Dr. Joanne Baitz, Director, Bunbury Regional Art Galleries , August 2020
NURTURING EMPATHY FOR ECOLOGY
Sue Kalab's treatment of watercolour is both fluid and meticulous. Her attention to detail is precise and refined, yet soft edges and white space provide contrasts that enhance the call to treat softly. With nature as her muse a simple message of respect for the environment permeates Sue's life and work. Based in Bunbury since 1995, Sue has grown strong affiliations with many like-minded souls and conservation groups in the South West. Consequently her beautifully presented exhibition provided a handsome and serene backdrop to a series of talks that were planned to coincide with a succession of "world days" celebrating the environment, biodiversity, migratory birds and similar ecological causes through May and June. Topics ranged with birdsong and black cockatoos, to marine science, wetlands and plastics. These weekly events were well-attended suggesting a picture can also be a pathway to learning that deepens our appreciation of the natural world and our role as its stewards. An excellent short film made by Shannon Verhagen accompanied Sue's five week show. Judging by visitor numbers and comments, Nature Wise and Wonderful and its complementary program of events illustrate there is a genuine place for work of this nature because it appeals whilst it enlightens and educates.
Diana McGirr, Art Geo, art historian, curator and freelance writer, 2015.
OTHER RESPONSES
Sue has some 25 solo exhibitions to her credit. In 2018, she enjoyed continued success when exhibiting with the relatively new Collie Art Gallery, then again in 2021 at Bunbury's Stirling Street Arts Centre. She calls her work a “soft realism”. She creates what the art writer and critique, Julie Prott, describes as being “cultivated rusticity”, a compliment to Sue's popular technique and style, adding, "The images are like traditional icons used to assist the passage between external reality and the inner world of the spirit. A sea urchin is a meditation. A seashell with all its weathered imperfections invites contemplation."
Arts writer Judith McGrath comments, “Kalab not only talks to nature, she listens and learns ….. take time to engage with these powerful works of gentle beauty.”
To own a Sue Kalab creation is to have a treasured possession for life.
Gillian Peebles (Accredited Judge with the Royal Academy of Arts, London), 2019
" . . . I spent a delightful hour or so discussing painting and life in the studio of Bunbury artist Sue Kalab. Sue's delicate and gestural watercolours capture the contradictions inherent in the environment. The medium itself, with its elements of control and release, discipline and change, is a metaphor for both the fragility and unpredictability of nature, whilst the work captures the fleeting moment but also endurance and timelessness. Each work gives us a glimpse into Sue's passion for the natural world, her commitment to the environment, and our need to pay attention to what is quiet, small and still in this world."
Dr. Joanne Baitz, Director, Bunbury Regional Art Galleries , August 2020
NURTURING EMPATHY FOR ECOLOGY
Sue Kalab's treatment of watercolour is both fluid and meticulous. Her attention to detail is precise and refined, yet soft edges and white space provide contrasts that enhance the call to treat softly. With nature as her muse a simple message of respect for the environment permeates Sue's life and work. Based in Bunbury since 1995, Sue has grown strong affiliations with many like-minded souls and conservation groups in the South West. Consequently her beautifully presented exhibition provided a handsome and serene backdrop to a series of talks that were planned to coincide with a succession of "world days" celebrating the environment, biodiversity, migratory birds and similar ecological causes through May and June. Topics ranged with birdsong and black cockatoos, to marine science, wetlands and plastics. These weekly events were well-attended suggesting a picture can also be a pathway to learning that deepens our appreciation of the natural world and our role as its stewards. An excellent short film made by Shannon Verhagen accompanied Sue's five week show. Judging by visitor numbers and comments, Nature Wise and Wonderful and its complementary program of events illustrate there is a genuine place for work of this nature because it appeals whilst it enlightens and educates.
Diana McGirr, Art Geo, art historian, curator and freelance writer, 2015.
OTHER RESPONSES
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Calming, capturing and connecting. Lesley Egan, Bunbury, 2017.
We are enchanted by the harmony and peace. Thank you for reminding us to look and listen. Margaret and Bill Farquharson, Busselton, 2015. What a gorgeous, special, sensitive, expressive collection of your work. Thank you. Julia Boyle, Bridgetown, 2017. I like the serenity of the subjects – a peacefulness so needed in this sometimes frenzied world of go-go-go! And I loved your description of your painting as "soft realism". I think that fits perfectly. M. Gosfield, California, 2011. |
MESSAGE OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
I've always loved Sue Kalab’s art because it reminds me to step lightly on the earth, and treat nature with reverence. Her paintings illustrate the deep interconnection between people and nature. The sub-title: “music for the eyes” reminds us of the importance of art as dialogue of aesthetic and spiritual connection between people and place. The notion of dialogue with nature is the basis of ecological literacy, which I suggest our culture is in desperate need of. Her art reminds us that this earth is the source of our being, our wholesomeness and, as a result, our wisdom. Sue’s art shows us how to love nature. Dr Sandra Wooltorton. Notre Dame University, 2008. Your art is a blessing. Katherine, Bunbury, 2019. |
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