With the conclusion of her Seasons of the Soul exhibition and the accompanying film series Linking Environment, Healing and Creativity in Washington, DC, Susan is glad to be home in the mountains of Utah. And she’s not the only one. Susan’s longtime patron and friend, Scott Anderson, is hosting a reception to welcome her home and to celebrate her recent successes.

On Saturday, October 15, along with co-hosts Geralyn Dreyfous and Byron Russell, Anderson—who is the president and CEO of Zions Bank—will open the prestigious Founders Room of the Salt Lake City’s Zions Bank Building to fete Susan and her supporters. “Scott, Geralyn and Byron have stood by me during tough times and have always encouraged me to really go for it. I feel so incredibly grateful to count them as friends,” professes Susan.

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.” –Albert Camus

The Seasons of the Soul exhibition has finally wrapped up at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. While Susan’s paintings coming down from the museum walls, the leaves are coming down from the aspens and Gambel oak trees surrounding Susan’s studio in Park City.

After a busy summer of painting on the coast, Susan is now back in the mountains, preparing for an upcoming solo exhibition in New York City. Scheduled for December 8-11, the exhibition of paintings will hang at The Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Gallery director, Michael James, is organizing the special exhibition at The Carlyle. “I’ve known Susan Swartz for a decade and seen her work evolve as she was challenged by illness,” he remarked. “Today her paintings are gaining new acclaim as they display a truly dynamic energy and tension that underlies her more complex relationship with the natural environment.”

For more information about the New York City exhibition, visit http://michaeljamesfineart.com/.

As Seasons of the Soul comes to a close in Washington, D.C., so too does the languid heat of summer. While Susan made several trips to the NMWA in D.C. to promote her current exhibition, she also spent a good portion of the summer months hard at work on the next project.

From her studio on Martha’s Vineyard, Susan worked on large-scale water scenes in preparation for next winter’s Art Palm Beach. “While I’m always a little sad to leave the ocean and to see summertime come to a close, I love returning to the Utah mountains when the leaves are turning gold and the damp scent of snow is in the air,” she says.

After months of anticipation and years of preparation, Susan’s solo exhibit, Seasons of the Soul opened June 17, 2011 in Washington, D.C. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA). The exhibit, which features 13 of Susan’s colorful, oversized canvases, will run through October 2, as part of a celebration in honor of the museum’s 25^th anniversary.

Says museum director, Susan Fisher Sterling:  With a unique resilience, Susan has turned to art as a source of healing, redirecting her struggles into a body of work that serves as a wake-up call for viewers to notice, appreciate and preserve the enduring beauty of nature, which can help or harm mankind, often as a consequence of our own actions.

The exhibition opened with a special launch party, in which Susan was grateful and humbled to be surrounded by so many supporting friends and family members. She says:

I am so honored to join the ranks of the incredible artists who have showed here over the years. While the rest of us may rest of the laurels of progress, [museum founder] Billy Holladay has never forgotten the value of women artists and has never ceased to be their strongest champion. It is to her and to the entire National Museum of Women in the arts that all of us owe a tremendous debt. Thank you, Billy, thank you.

Want to check out the exhibition yourself? Go here for more information: http://www.nmwa.org

Are you ready for the big news? We’re so excited to tell you that we can’t hold it in any longer: Susan is being honored with a special solo exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C.

In celebration of the museum’s 25^th anniversary, Susan will present “Seasons of the Soul,” a collection of her boldest, riskiest landscape paintings, from June 17-October 2, 2011. Museum Director, Dr. Susan Fisher Sterling says, “Pulsating with dazzling color, Susan Swartz’s abstract landscapes simultaneously articulate her awe of the natural world and her rallying cry for its preservation…The National Museum of Women in the Arts is delighted to showcase her work in a special exhibition this summer.”

Coming off a busy and successful trio of art shows in Florida, the news of this invitation leaves Susan feeling more blessed and grateful than ever. “On my first visit to the museum over 24 years ago, I was blown away by the caliber and diversity of the work on display,” says Susan. “I remember thinking ‘maybe one day my work will be here,’ so it’s an incredible honor, a dream, to have my paintings at such a pioneering institution that has done so much for women artists.”

Susan is super excited to have been invited for her first solo show in Florida, at the prestigious annual Art Palm Beach, scheduled for January 20 – 24, 2011. Susan will be showing a remarkable collection of largely abstract landscapes that have been described as “a contemporary prayer for future generations that will inherit the world in which we live.”

Michael James Fine Art will be presenting her works at the 2011 Art Palm Beach. Says gallery director Michael James, “I’ve known Susan Swartz for a decade and seen her work evolve as she was challenged by two very serious illnesses. Today her paintings evoke a remarkable energy and tension that underlies her complex relationship with the natural environment.”

A fixture of Florida’s contemporary art scene for 13 years, Art Palm Beach has become one of the most influential contemporary art fairs on Florida’s Gold Coast. In 2011, Art Palm Beach will again gather 75 of the world’s most prestigious galleries, representing approximately 1,200 of the most innovative artists from across the globe.

Located along Southern Florida’s Atlantic Gold Coast, Palm Beach has long been a favored destination for discerning travels seeking sun, surf and culture. And with Palm Beach temperatures predicted to be in the low 80’s during January, the art festival could form the core of a very pleasant winter getaway. Susan hopes anyone living in or visiting Southern Florida in late January will stop by  Michael James Fine Art to say hello!