Susanne Clark OSA

Why This Course

I created the Online Collagraph Course in 2018 in response to all the visitors who were coming to my web site looking for info and inspiration on Collagraph Printmaking.

My passion is art and always has been. I believe that what we are passionate about points the way to our life purpose. For me, to create work for people to enjoy, and then to give back by sharing one's skills, is what makes life worthwhile.

I love to teach, share and encourage creativity. Because of this I decided to take the plunge and build an online course. The best thing about it is that online I can help many more people than I ever could just teaching in my studio in Toronto.

I think Collagraph is a really exciting medium with so many fantastic possibilities but I could see that there was very little helpful and comprehensive instruction available on this type of printmaking, especially all in one place.

My idea was to give comprehensive info on all the basic skills that ensure a successful print plus how to create a plethora of different kinds of texture. I'm so over just seeing textured wall paper used for this!

One of the skills so many people say they need help with, is how to ink up successfully, so inking techniques and consistency are covered in detail. I also show a variety of different styles of work from realistic to abstract and how they were created. This is to inspire and enable you to create your own unique style of work.

If you are excited about increasing your skills in a very convenient way then this may be the course for you.

Collagraph Creation

“As a a relief printmaker in linocut relief, I have wanted to learn collagraph printmaking for several years but workshops near me are non-existent. When I learned of Susanne’s Collagraph Creation course I signed up immediately. To say that I have been delighted with the course would be an understatement. Best of all, I love Susanne’s teaching style - it’s engaging & fun: experimenting is highly encouraged! Her Collagraph Creation course is among the best I have ever taken.
Don't walk - absolutely RUN, to sign up for this course.”

Rob Stangroom

Printmaker.
Collagraph Creation

“I don't know any way in which I could more strongly recommend this.”

I first met Susanne Clark at a Don Valley Art Club workshop in Toronto on Collagraph Printmaking eight years ago. Within the first 10 minutes, I knew it was going to be a great workshop. She was very organized and presented the workshop with thorough knowledge of the subject and with a special infectious enthusiasm for printmaking, humour, and totally confidence in her subject. Her instructions were clear, thorough and easy to understand for everyone. After organizing workshops for artists for 20 years at the Toronto Watercolour Society and other Art groups, I can truly say she has been one of the best instructors ever, not only in printmaking but in her other area of expertise, acrylic painting.

Carolyne Pascoe -TWS , Gold Level Distinction, Signature Member, Director and Past President of the Toronto Watercolour Society
Collagraph Creation

“"I don’t think I could have attended a better course than this one. You get art teachers who teach the basics and usually they are not willing to answer questions or give vague answers. Then you get teachers who SHARE their knowledge and answer all your questions and more. You are a great SHARING teacher! The way you answered all the questions we asked on Facebook is amazing!"”

Sanet Richter

Artist, South Africa

How did this all come about.......

It started when I was very young.

I am sitting beside my father at the kitchen table watching him draw. 'What would you like me to draw next" he would ask. An animal or some other fun thing would pop into my mind and he would quickly make it appear on the page. He seemed to be able to draw almost anything and as a child it was absolutely magical to me. Right then I knew I wanted to be an artist and weave that powerful magic too.

As a child I was always drawing and making things. I remember building small clay figures and painting a huge spaceman backdrop for a school play. Creating was such fun and very exciting.

But when I finished high school and wanted to attend art school sex and drugs put a damper on it all!

This is what my parents thought I would get into if I went away to study art so as you can imagine I wasn't supported in that idea. Also there were very few jobs in the creative field in NZ at the time so they encouraged me to pursue other options where I stood a chance of actually earning a living.

Over the years I often dabbled in art but it was not until my three children were teenagers and we came to live in Toronto that I really started taking it seriously.

By complete serendipity, I found my way to an Art Therapy course at Arscura. The teaching was based on Rudolph Steiner of Waldorf School fame. Part of the course training was to re-teach what we had learned, to our own clients. I had never thought of myself as a teacher but I found that I really loved teaching and the interaction it provided with other creative minded people.

After a move to Ottawa I spent eight years teaching a variety of courses under the name Art Insight. These courses were focused on using art to grow in both creativity and as a person. I used some of the art therapy material and incorporated other great personal development information. This was gained through exposure to an amazing business course developed by Lou Tice and his wife Diane, called "Investment in Excellence".

A five year stay in the UK provided more art training and the new medium of Collagraph Printmaking which I studied under the fantastic printmaker Peter Wray RA.

Back in Toronto again and with a lovely studio to work in, my work really got underway. More recently, 2020, I relocated back to NZ after 34 years and I am now re-establishing myself in Havelock North.

My absolute joy in life is to go into the studio and create. It is what I have always wanted to do. Art is really a form of meditation to me. It's a time of single-minded focus where all else drops away. Time passes without me being even aware of it.