The Kingdom of Bhutan is a land of startling beauty and aesthetic contrast: craggy peaks and verdant valleys, fraying rope bridges stretching across milky blue glacial rivers, terraced rice paddies and stone templates strung with faded prayer flags. Much has been made of Bhutan’s promotion of Gross National Happiness as its primary national measurement.

As the Salzburg Festival commences in earnest this week, Susan Swartz has made the trek from her studio on the sea in Martha’s Vineyard to the mountains of Austria. Traveling to Salzburg to celebrate the beginning of the Festival and the continuation of her exhibition, A Personal Path, Susan’s journey is in many ways representative of the breadth of her collection. From the waves that lap at the shores of Massachusetts to the winds that blow across the forested peaks of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah, Susan is a master of depicting scenes of great beauty from both settings.

In a matter of mere weeks, the city of Salzburg will erupt with activity as the annual Salzburg Festival commences on July 18. The streets will bustle with visitors from more than 70 countries, restaurants and coffee shops will buzz with conversations in different languages, and the various venues for the Festival performances will fill to capacity.

Summer is settling upon Martha’s Vineyard like a picnic blanket atop a hill. As the sun’s rays grow stronger and friends and neighbors flock toward the shore, we are reminded of the awesome power of the sea to motivate and inspire. There is no better time than this moment to reflect upon Susan Swartz’s water paintings – the breadth and depth of which are not to be overlooked.

There is something unique about Salzburg. Like many European cities, it is rich with history and alive with the hum of modern technology and life. Like so many other cities, the stones of its churches, palaces, schools and homes tell stories centuries old. Yet there is something distinct about Salzburg. It is a city of music, dance and artistic expression in immeasurable and innumerable ways.

Susan Swartz is an artist on a journey, her body of work tells a story – it quietly whispers of her innermost inspirations to those who take the time to simply be with each painting. Over the course of her career, Susan has explored realism, impressionism, expressionism and has recently arrived at a more abstract resting place, her work now leaves more open to interpretation than ever before.