Susan Seddon Boulet Goddess Paintings

Goddesses from Greek, Roman, Celtic, Native American, Egyptian, Middle Eastern, Scandinavian, and many other traditions are gathered here to enhance our understanding of the roles of the feminine deity. In learning about these archetypes, we come to recognize them in ourselves -to gain a clearer perception of our powers and weaknesses and to achieve a common thread, a link to the collective unconscious. Susan Seddon Boulet s magnificent paintings and Michael Babcock s insightful text offer a brilliant vision of the female pantheon.

With paintings on one side and brief biographies on the other, these 48 fact-filled Knowledge Cards are a great source of condensed information all in a deck the size of a pack of playing cards! You ll learn essential facts about the featured art and artists in this concise, stimulating compilation. Perfect for connoisseurs, art fiends, students, teachers, and the purely inquisitive, this deck is sure to spark your curiosity and admiration, and to encourage you to learn more on your own.

To get to know Susan Seddon Boulet is hard - at least, we get beautiful pictures, and a biography - but that's only one biography. A few facts are clear though:

Her parents were US citizens working in Brazil. Susan was born on July 10th 1941. Her mother died shortly after the birth of her little brother, in 1943. Her place was mostly taken by a nanny Nayza, who later married their dad and became the only mother they knew. Her son was taken in as a third sibling.

Susan and her family lived a privileged life in Brazil amongst farmers from South Africa and British immigrants. The Brazilian workers lived segregated from their foreign employers. Their father then went up a bit more in the world, managing one of the world's largest coffee plantations.

Sent to boarding school to learn Portuguese (the language of Brazil) the life of Susan and her siblings was, English style, divided in two: boarding school and farm. The farm, with it's freedom, nature, pets and animals was obviously the start for Susan's interest in nature.

Despite the strong replacement of a mother figure in Nayza, Susan later said she knew what mother-love was like, by having missed it.

The fantasy and religious inspiration of Susan's work no doubt started in her father's library. Not only did he read them English fairy tail stories, but The Golden Bough and The White Goddess by Graves were present in that library. No doubt devoured by Susan as soon as she was old enough to read them. Illustrated books were also present, so there was no shortage of inspiration for a future artist.

But traditional English books were not the only influence on Susan - as her work would make one suggest. People came to Brazil from all over the world and the large household staff told the children stories from Brazil itself of course, but also Japan, Italy, Portugal and Africa.

Susan received no formal drawing lessons as a child, but one of the staff drew and taught her what he knew.

Puberty was hard on Susan. Sent off to a Catholic boarding school and confused by her changing body, she retreated into herself till she could hardly move. In other words: she had a nervous breakdown. Her father decided that Brazil was no good for her and sent her to family in England, who proceeded to find a European boarding school for her. Susan ended up in Switzerland. In that international environment she got exposed to even more of the world, because girls from all over came to be raised there. Also she now got to visit museums, opera, theater etc.

And - finally - her first training in drawing.

It's possible to follow her art through various stages, but you'll have to read the book for that.

Her biography of course becomes less exiting as time goes on. She married her agent Larry and got him a son. The marriage was traditional, she didn't even learn to drive till 1975. The marriage was not easy.

She moved to San Francisco in 1967, married and had a son. From the 1970s until her death from cancer, Boulet created 2,000 pieces of art. That art of course became wildly popular.

Susan Seddon Boulet uses subtle colors and a unique fusion of forms to reflect the magical and spiritual powers of shamans. In native cultures around the world, shamans are healers who traverse the boundaries between the everyday world and the spirit realm.

Boulet's paintings delicately interweave images of woman, man, and beast with elements of myth and mysticism, evoking a visceral understanding of shamanism. This collection of over seventy-five images is accompanied by quotes from shamans from various cultures.

To the ancients, all things in nature had sacred or spiritual meaning. The world was inhabited by the higher beings, who took the form of fantastical creatures that were part animal, part human, and exceedingly powerful. These beings are the spirit guides who lead the departed to the next life, heal the sick, and restore balance and harmony to a troubled world. The tribal healers knew the animal sprits well. They journeyed beyond the threshold of ordinary reality to invoke the power of these great beings.

The 48 paintings by Susan Seddon Boulet reproduced in this deck resonate with an ethereal energy and speak in the language of the soul. Each image is accompanied by a brief description of the animal's power and symbolism in various cultures. Size: 3/4 x 4 inches.

# Paperback: 30 pages
# Publisher: Pomegranate Communications; Postcards edition (June 1991)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0876548125
# ISBN-13: 978-0876548127
# Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.8 x 0.5 inches
# Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces

A visually striking, very personal tribute to the work and spirit of the late artist Susan Seddon Boulet, this book features forty-three images of bears Boulet created at various times in her career--bears ranging in tenor from rough, playful sketches to richly colored fairytale illustrations to her trademark, intricately detailed "shamanic" paintings.

Author Michael Babcock, longtime friend of the artist, uses Boulet's bear-focused work as a vehicle to explore the pivotal events of her life, the evolution of her artistic technique, and the sensibility that informed her art.