Susanne Woodward

Self-portraiture always feels a little strange to me — part mirror, part invention, part confession. I’m honored to have these two pieces included in Articipate’s upcoming exhibition of self-portraits. Opening Sunday, June 28.

I recently submitted two egg tempera paintings to the Gilda Snowden Memorial Exhibition at the Scarab Club, juried this year by Taurus Burns . The submitted works are: What the Mirror Refused Egg tempera on panel 8 x 10 inches 2025 Held Together by Looking Egg tempera on panel 10 x 8 inches 2025   Both pieces continue my interest in portraiture as something beyond likeness. I’m drawn to the face as a place where emotion, memory, perception, and identity meet. These paintings are small in scale, but I wanted them to hold a quiet intensity through layered marks, shifting structure, and close attention to expression. Egg tempera remains an important part of that process for me. Its layered, tactile surface allows the image to develop slowly, with revision and accumulation staying present in the final work. I’m grateful to have these paintings considered, and especially honored to submit work to an exhibition that carries forward the legacy of Gilda Snowden . Juror results will be...

   I'm happy to share that all three of my submitted paintings were accepted into the Student Art Show at Articipate in Berkley, Michigan. This show invites artists to share work created while learning something new — and for me, that meant working with egg tempera for the first time. Tempera requires a slow, layered approach, and these portraits reflect that shift in pace and mindset. Each piece was part of my process of experimentation — figuring out not only the medium, but also how to listen more closely to the quiet presence of a figure as it develops. 🗓️ Exhibition Details: Student Art Show * 📍 Articipate Studio, 3833 Twelve Mile Rd, Berkley, MI 🖼 Exhibition Dates: November 2 – December 2, 2025 🎉 Opening Reception: Sunday, November 2, 3–5 PM You can view more about the show here: articipate.us/exhibitions Thanks to the team at Articipate for the opportunity to be part of a show that celebrates exploration, growth, and creative risk. Accepted Works: What the Lig...

Second Hand Light is a visual dialogue between human creation and machine interpretation — a series of paired works that trace the fragile space between presence and imitation. Each piece begins with a hand-drawn or painted study: rough, searching, alive with the rhythm of mark-making. These human originals are then reimagined through AI, which translates gesture into pattern, texture into algorithm, emotion into understanding. The project examines how technology mirrors and mutates the language of touch. It’s not a contest of skill, but a meditation on translation — how light, form, and feeling shift when filtered through two ways of seeing. In the human works, we sense the warmth of imperfection, the intimacy of process. In the AI versions, we encounter reflection without friction — art distilled into calm precision. Together, these pairs create a conversation about authorship, empathy, and the body’s presence in image-making. Second Hand Light asks what remains — and what is los...

  Me                                                  AI Both portraits capture affection, yet they speak in different tongues. The painted version moves with energy and uncertainty, each mark an act of trust between intention and accident. The AI’s rendering absorbs that motion, offering tranquility instead of tension. One shows love as movement — the small chaos of connection — the other as memory, softened by distance. Between brush and breath, both seek the same truth: to hold what can’t be held for long.

  Me                                           AI Two portraits of innocence: one painted in the immediacy of feeling, the other refined by digital patience. The human work vibrates with presence — a celebration of texture, light, and imperfection. The AI version preserves the form but loses the friction, turning motion into memory. Together, they trace the line between expression and understanding — where art is not only what’s seen, but what resists being smoothed away.

      Me                                                       AI Both figures inhabit the same repose, yet their stillness carries different weight. The hand-drawn piece moves in its own restlessness — a record of searching touch, where every mark listens. The AI’s version refines that energy into balance and design, trading vulnerability for precision. Between them, a quiet question lingers: is rest the absence of motion, or the trace it leaves behind?

  Me                                                   AI  Two interpretations of rest, one drawn through touch, the other through logic. The hand-drawn piece trembles with immediacy, its scribbled textures whispering of time and attention. The AI version refines those impulses into structure, creating balance but losing breath. Between them lies the memory of the body — both as it is, and as it’s understood.

  Me                                         AI Both figures exist in the same posture — a body folded into its own awareness — yet they speak from different sensibilities. The hand-drawn sketch lives in gesture and air, its warmth carried by hesitation. The AI interpretation, though visually rich, carries a different kind of silence — one distilled, remembered, learned. Together, they reveal how creation is not only about depicting form, but about being with it — the trembling space between observation and empathy.

        Me                                                                 AI Both drawings reach for the same quiet truth — a figure folded inward, contained by its own weight and warmth — yet they arrive there through different languages of mark and matter. The human-made piece feels raw and searching, its pastel strokes trembling with intention and uncertainty. Each line breathes, revealing the hand that pressed and lifted, smudged and paused. The muted rose and slate tones carry a human pulse — soft, fallible, alive. The AI rendering, though striking, feels like an echo of that breath. Its textures are precise, its shadows carefully placed, yet the warmth seems remembered rather than felt. The image understands form but not resistance — the drag of chalk, the grit of paper. T...

A meditation on how light shapes our sense of joy, home, and belonging — from the freedom of childhood and the quiet of shorelines, to the golden hush of backyards, the tenderness of morning tables, and the softened distance of city light reflected in the river. Each scene invites us to pause, to notice, and to remember the luminous ordinary we grew up in. These are AI versions of some of my favorite photos. The Light We Dance In The Seagulls Along the Shore When the Fence Glows: Home at Sunset Flowers on the Table: The Still Life That Moves City in the Distance: What the River Carries

Between departure and arrival, between seeing and being seen — these are the edges we inhabit. Roads, windows, riversides: thresholds where we pause long enough to feel the shape of our own longing. These are AI versions of some of my favorite photos. New Mexican Truck in Wyoming – At the Corner of Elsewhere Window View of Downtown – Framed Distance Dock and Distance Along the River

 The smallest presences often hold the greatest calm. These pieces honor the companions of our quiet lives — the living, the remembered, and the inanimate made sacred by care. Each carries stillness, warmth, and a story we’ve never stopped telling. These are AI versions of some of my favorite photos. The Rainbow Cat – Living Prism The Remembered Toy The Stuffed Rabbit on Holiday Jade: The Patient Companion 

Light does not perform — it rests. It lingers on water, hums through leaves, and settles into the quiet pulse of the world. These are portraits of stillness — where reflection becomes revelation, and nature reminds us how to breathe. These are AI versions of some of my favorite photos. The Quiet Light of a Lakeside Retreat The Still Inland Lake The Placid Lake Dock and Distance Along the River Wildflowers in Fall Trees Along the River More River Trees

 Although my paintings were not selected for this year’s Gold Medal Exhibition, I’m honored that my work will still be included in the Scarab Club’s Annual Book for their 112th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition . Each artist who submitted to this longstanding Detroit exhibition will be featured in the printed annual — a beautiful way the Scarab Club continues to support and recognize the creative work of its members. I'm grateful to be part of this community and appreciate the thoughtful feedback shared by the juror, Kim Fay, whose curatorial vision shaped this year’s show. I’ll be picking up my copy of the Annual Book when it’s ready, and I look forward to seeing the work of fellow members in print. The Veil Between The Green Queen ✨ Reflections on The Veil Between and The Green Queen While these two paintings — The Veil Between and The Green Queen — weren’t selected for the 112th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition at the Scarab Club, I’m still grateful they will appear in the Scarab ...

I'm pleased to share that two of my egg tempera portraits — The Necklace of Knowing and Performer of the Unspoken — have been accepted into the Small Works exhibition at Northville Art House . This annual show highlights artwork 16 inches and under, and I'm honored to be showing alongside other artists working across media and scale. Both of these pieces explore quiet presence and symbolic identity in small format. Working at 8x10 inches, I aimed to keep the emotional focus close, with room for texture and layered color. Exhibition Details: Small Works: All-Media Exhibition November 14 – December 18, 2025 Northville Art House, Northville, MI Opening Reception: November 14, 5–8 PM (Awards at 6 PM)   The Works: The Necklace of Knowing A poised figure painted in pale tones, wearing a symbolic necklace — an expression of intuition and quiet strength. Performer of the Unspoken A portrait caught in transition, with stylized features and a theatrical presence. This piece pla...

My work lives in the space between observation and imagination. I use egg tempera to build portraits that feel both personal and archetypal — like people you’ve seen before but can’t quite place. I’m drawn to stillness, to expression that lingers rather than declares. In each painting, I’m asking how much can be said with very little. Often, the answer is found in the eyes, or the space between them.

 I’ve submitted four pieces to the Northville Art House’s Small Works Exhibition. All artworks in the show are 16 inches or smaller, and available for purchase — just in time for the holiday season. These portraits were painted in egg tempera on 8x10 panels. Each one focuses on character and emotion. Though small in size, they each tell their own story. Submitted Works: The Oracle of Ash and Amber Quiet Recall The Necklace of Knowing Performer of the Unspoken You can visit the show in person in Northville, Michigan. #SmallWorks #NorthvilleArtHouse #HolidayArtShow Labels: Northville, Small Works, Holiday Show, Portraits

  This year I started working with egg tempera, a painting technique I hadn’t used before. It takes more time and layering than other mediums I’ve used, and it helped me slow down and experiment. I submitted three pieces to the Articipate show, which invites artists to share work made while learning something new. These portraits reflect that process. Each one came with its own set of challenges and surprises. Submitted Works: What the Light Carries Keeper of the Rooster The Observer in Green The show is in Berkley, Michigan. You can find more at articipate.us . #Articipate #LearningThroughArt #EggTempera Labels: Exhibitions, Articipate, Learning, New Medium