Susan Gainen

Susan Gainen is a Whimsical Wildlife Documentarian and Abstract Painter of Neighborhoods in which Each Piece Looks Better Because of the Pieces that Surround It. Her studio is on a well-traveled path for creatures traveling through Saint Paul either in the present or in the distant past. They stop by, sit for portraits, tell their stories, and eat snacks provided by Max-the-Cat, the Model, Muse, and Snacks Manager.

Of the more than 2000 creatures whose portraits she has painted, most have moved on, but their images remain on her hard drive. She has documented The Wild Parrots of the Grim Winter of 2013, the Backyard Roosters of Saint Paul, the Lost Cave Paintings of Saint Paul, The Pandas of Saint Paul’s Hidden Bamboo Forest, and creatures– including amphibians, bats, bears, birds, buffalo, bunnies, butterflies, camels, cats, Creatures With Antlers, dinosaurs, dragons, elephants, The Ghost Goat, giraffes, hedgehogs, hippos, horses, kangaroos, lllamas (their spelling), mammals, musk ox, moles, moose, otters, pangolin, pigs, roosters, seals, sheep, squirrels, warthogs, and zebras. In addition, she has painted hundreds of creatures that defy current scientific classification.

Her abstract paintings honor the Magic of Detail which she discovered in the 6th grade when she got glasses and could see every leaf on every tree. Her comfort zone is tiny shapes and tiny spaces, which she makes with acrylic inks and Double-zero brushes on canvases ranging from 5x7 inches to 3x5 feet.