Nature artist Susan Snyder brings creatures to life as part of Sage Art Utah group
Watercolorist/naturalist Susan Snyder takes binoculars and her nature journal with her on her favorite outdoor adventures, one of which is kayaking.
Painting by watercolorist and naturalist Susan Snyder.
Bird portrait by Susan Snyder.
Bird portrait by Susan Snyder.
Bird portrait by Susan Snyder.
Illustrated nature journal by Susan Snyder, who offers workshops at sageartutah.com.
Small folding book of lady beetles by Susan Snyder. "Not a single one is from my imagination," she said. "There really are yellow and blues ones."
Watercolorist and naturalist Susan Snyder paints outdoors.
”In order to draw it, you have to really see it,” says watercolorist and naturalist Susan Snyder, who creates field journal-style artwork.
When not painting in the studio, Snyder spends as much time outdoors as possible; whether it’s kayaking, camping, painting, birding or walking, she is likely to have binoculars, a journaling kit or both.
Snyder’s way of studying nature and its relationships is through recording and reflection, a practice she says is probably as old as human existence. “From rock panels to papyrus to animal skins to the journals of today, people have recorded and wondered about nature for eons,” she said.
It’s this documentation of the natural world that helps us stay present and connect to something larger than ourselves as we find our place in the ecosystems in which we live, according to Snyder. Thus, her goal in teaching nature journal workshops is to help adults learn to be present in their minds and with their natural surroundings.
Snyder paints and teaches art through the lens of ecology and environmental education because “nature allows people to explore how to think, rather than telling them what to think.” She says nature encompasses all subjects, investigating math, science, literacy, the arts, social studies, history, philosophy and religion.
“All life has an energy source,” is one of the many lessons nature has taught Snyder. “For Earth’s systems, it’s the sun. For us? Well, each of us has to find our own source of energy and stick with it,” she said. “Mine is nature and painting.”
Other bits of worldly wisdom she shares: “Life occurs in cycles; be open to them,” and “creating a sustainable life means not taking or giving more resources than you need or have.”
Born and raised in Muncie, Indiana, Snyder became smitten with the western landscape after a childhood family camping trip to Colorado, where her mother, also an artist, had attended college at the University of Colorado. She promised herself to one day live in the Intermountain West, and in 1994 she moved to Ogden to write for the Standard-Examiner. Ogden “always felt like home,” she said.
Although she studied art in high school and some in college, Snyder refers to herself as a mostly “primitive” artist. She’s studied extensively from peers in the art world, taking nature journaling workshops from Hannah Hinchman and years of watercolor classes from local artist Terrece Beesley, the late Terry Johnson and Stephen Henry.
Snyder left journalism in 2007, started teaching environmental education at the Ogden Nature Center and went to graduate school for a master’s degree in ecological teaching and learning, using nature journaling as a way to keep a reflective teaching journal. It was during this time that she began drawing and painting again.
By 2016, she was painting full time, both honing her technique and learning to run a business, during which time she met her Sage Art Utah partners (Amie Preston, Barb Crosbie and Kate Bruce), friendships she considers some of “life’s greatest gifts.”
Snyder currently teaches at Ogden Nature Center, having returned in fall 2019. “I realized that being there and helping others see the wonders of the world around them informed my artwork in an important way,” she said.
She paints her favorite things — birds, bugs and feathers — both at the nature center and her home studio, on identical easels. Birds are her main focus.
Snyder said her bird portraits at the Sage Art Studio at The Monarch are among the 389 species that National Audubon Society research shows are in danger of losing some or much of their ranges due to climate change over the next 30 to 50 years. Her goal is to paint all 389.
These aren’t your typical bird paintings. Snyder’s birds are big, without backgrounds, and are mostly headshots. “I want people to think of birds as beings worthy of portraits, rather than decorations in a landscape,” she said. “I want people to see these birds.”
Bugs and feathers are also worthy of portraiture, in Snyder’s mind. “I have yet to see an adult or child who could pass up a fallen feather on the trail,” she said. And while insects are considered “icky” to many, she says they are necessary to all life systems on our planet, and many are “simply beautiful.”
“My goal as an artist is to make people notice and see the non-humans with whom we share the planet,” Snyder said.
Learn more about Susan Snyder and upcoming nature journal workshops at sageartutah.com, on Facebook @sageartutah and/or visit the Sage Art Studio at The Monarch.