Susan Tooke

View Susan Tooke's Gallery

Biography

Susan Tooke is an accomplished, multi-talented artist whose work is included in private and corporate collections internationally and throughout Canada. Her work is included in the public collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Parks Canada, and the Nova Scotia Art Bank. Tooke has served on the board of directors of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, The Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia, and as chair for Visual Arts Nova Scotia. Tooke graduated with a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and did post-graduate work in media studies at the New School for Social Research in New York City. The watercolour paintings showcased on this website come from three children's books that Tooke illustrated (A Seaside Alphabet, A Fiddle for Angus, and Full Moon Rising).

Artist Statement For Children's Book Illustrations:

Unlike the majority of successful children?s book illustrators, I accept this challenge as a realist painter. I approach each illustration as though it were one of my studio paintings, and the books I have illustrated have dealt with subject matter and imagery that allows me to do this. In each case, the stories were firmly grounded in the real world, and involved a cast of real characters. The portrayal of each character must remain consistent throughout the sequence of paintings, not only in terms of appearance, but also in terms of personality.

Awards and Accomplishments

(Selected)
1999 - Nova Scotia Arts Council, Travel Grant: to travel to Massachusetts and Maine for photographic documentation of locations for "A Seaside Alphabet,"Tundra, spring, 2000.
1998 - Manhattan Arts International 1998 7th Annual Competition, New York, New York: Artist Showcase Award.

Recent Exhibitions and Shows

2002 - Full Moon Rising: Solo Exhibit at Argyle Fine Arts Gallery, NS 2001 - A Seaside Alphabet: Solo Exhibit at The Education Gallery, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, NS

Other Information

Category: Watercolors

Media:watercolor