Artist Statement / Bio
Suzanne Wheeler Ally is from Dallas, Texas. She was the recipient of the prestigious Nordan Fine Arts Scholarship at Texas Christian University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Painting in 1980. Suzanne has won several awards for her paintings and has exhibited in numerous exhibitions across the country including a two-person exhibition with her husband, Harry Ally at the 621 Gallery in Tallahassee, Fl, a solo exhibition entitled Painted Words at Valdosta State University, an exhibition with Ray Yeager at the Georgia’s Governors’ Program in Valdosta, GA, an exhibition at the Hayner Arts Center in Troy with her husband, and Prof John Hartley, and at the Valdosta National Exhibition in Georgia. She also served as gallery director at Mac Murray College in Illinois, has acted as juror for art exhibits, as art director in various venues, served as art advisor on community art organizations, has taught workshops and classes from pottery to painting, and assisted Harry in conducting the Alabama Art Colony and the Mississippi Art Colony Workshops.
Closest to her heart is the Lincoln Art House in Troy, Ohio which she founded and structured bringing in community members from all walks of life to help and scheduling special sessions with visiting artists from around the US.
While devoting her resources and energy creating art with underprivileged children, not only did the children discover a safe space via self-explorative painting, but they discovered their own personal value while creating paintings together with other students as well as the teachers using the concept that teachers learn from their students.
During the covid years Suzanne bought a casa in the central highlands of Mexico. The culture and vibrant colors of Mexico empowered Suzanne to continue her lifelong search for toxin free materials that could bring her closer to self expression. She discovered she could use materials from the cold wax process to produce the ethereal layers of color and meaning. She could submerge her writings within the layers of the painting in a way that more closely resembled her thoughts in the studio. She also returned to using micas, marble dust, powdered pigments and gold leaf.
LINES GRIDS & BORDERS - keep things in. Or out.
EDGES - where wars or love begin.
LAYERS - lives, soil, generations, strata, bones, fossils
SKIN, SCARS, BANDAIDS, transparency, illusion, film, gauze
GOLD, MICAS & CRYSTALS - metaphysical powers, symbols, healing, love, new beginnings
COPPER - Venus & Aphrodite, the scientific symbol Cu, you see
ENVELOPE & ENVELOP, QUILTS & PATTERNS - trapped in a pattern or secure in a cozy quilt?CACHE - a safe place for hiding valuables
ATTIC - atelier, a place to create and learn, the topmost part of the brain, the creative center
TREEHOUSE - a time to play, to commune with the true inner child
PAST HURT, present healing, inner child, adult hero
WORDS PAINTED can bridge to broader what ifs.
Suzanne Wheeler Ally is from Dallas, Texas. She was the recipient of the prestigious Nordan Fine Arts Scholarship at Texas Christian University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Painting in 1980. Suzanne has won several awards for her paintings and has exhibited in numerous exhibitions across the country including a two-person exhibition with her husband, Harry Ally at the 621 Gallery in Tallahassee, Fl, a solo exhibition entitled Painted Words at Valdosta State University, an exhibition with Ray Yeager at the Georgia’s Governors’ Program in Valdosta, GA, an exhibition at the Hayner Arts Center in Troy with her husband, and Prof John Hartley, and at the Valdosta National Exhibition in Georgia. She also served as gallery director at Mac Murray College in Illinois, has acted as juror for art exhibits, as art director in various venues, served as art advisor on community art organizations, has taught workshops and classes from pottery to painting, and assisted Harry in conducting the Alabama Art Colony and the Mississippi Art Colony Workshops.
Closest to her heart is the Lincoln Art House in Troy, Ohio which she founded and structured bringing in community members from all walks of life to help and scheduling special sessions with visiting artists from around the US.
While devoting her resources and energy creating art with underprivileged children, not only did the children discover a safe space via self-explorative painting, but they discovered their own personal value while creating paintings together with other students as well as the teachers using the concept that teachers learn from their students.
During the covid years Suzanne bought a casa in the central highlands of Mexico. The culture and vibrant colors of Mexico empowered Suzanne to continue her lifelong search for toxin free materials that could bring her closer to self expression. She discovered she could use materials from the cold wax process to produce the ethereal layers of color and meaning. She could submerge her writings within the layers of the painting in a way that more closely resembled her thoughts in the studio. She also returned to using micas, marble dust, powdered pigments and gold leaf.
LINES GRIDS & BORDERS - keep things in. Or out.
EDGES - where wars or love begin.
LAYERS - lives, soil, generations, strata, bones, fossils
SKIN, SCARS, BANDAIDS, transparency, illusion, film, gauze
GOLD, MICAS & CRYSTALS - metaphysical powers, symbols, healing, love, new beginnings
COPPER - Venus & Aphrodite, the scientific symbol Cu, you see
ENVELOPE & ENVELOP, QUILTS & PATTERNS - trapped in a pattern or secure in a cozy quilt?CACHE - a safe place for hiding valuables
ATTIC - atelier, a place to create and learn, the topmost part of the brain, the creative center
TREEHOUSE - a time to play, to commune with the true inner child
PAST HURT, present healing, inner child, adult hero
WORDS PAINTED can bridge to broader what ifs.