I, Susan Brumfield Farris, of Susan Brumfield Farris Studio, collect stories through my photography.  Many I paint in oil.  Owning one of my art pieces is to possess a captured special moment. 

At age five, I shot cheesecake-like photographs of my beautiful mother that were sent to my father stationed in Korea during the war.  For safekeeping he sent them back home.  My mom had written comments on the backs: “Just before Susie snapped this, she said ‘You’re frowning, Moms, and you should be smiling,” and “She is going to be a camera bug.”  Years later, living in Japan as an English language teacher and copy editor, I took up photography once again, which has led to much joy.

Because my style is fairly traditional, at a recent one-woman gallery show in San Antonio, Texas, where I now live, I was amazed to see 20-somethings, with face earrings and brightly colored hair, react so emotionally to the paintings.  Memories were evoked that affected them deeply.  They lingered in the gallery, asking questions about the histories of the artwork and sharing experiences me.  Another time, a woman came to tears over an oil, a print of which is in the permanent collection of the University of Texas at San Antonio, because she was reminded of her father who had recently passed away. 

While a faculty assistant at Harvard Business School during the 90s, I was chosen from the Harvard University faculty and staff community to be spotlighted as an artist in The Harvard Community Resource.  The author of the article, Margie Kelley, says, “...she adds an element of color that even the best color film can’t capture, lending an idyllic, almost utopian feel to her pictures.”

I am the San Antonio Art League and Museum’s Julian Onderdonk Memorial Purchase Prize recipient for their 80th Annual Artists Exhibition, 2010.  The juror, Edward Schad, in choosing my painting, “Mr. Pluto”, wrote:  “Susan Farris’s Mr. Pluto shows a scene as old as Texas, a market, but one with new contexts and urban flourish, bursting with color and goods.  Mr. Pluto himself, however, is skeptical, has seen it all, and knows the pain often involved with change.  He’s a man in the middle.”  A story!...  I am thrilled and honored to have had a piece of my art incorporated into this wonderful museum’s collection.  You can view it on my Paintings page.

I thank you for coming to my site, hoping that you get as much fun out of viewing the artwork as I did in creating it!  If you would like to purchase or commission a piece, please contact me for details at susanbrumfieldfarris@mac.com. Susan