Artists around the Island will know Susan Schaefer. Not only does she create her own vibrant, acrylic and watercolour paintings of landscapes and seascapes in her new studio in Qualicum Bay, but she started the Island Arts Magazine and delivers it from Cowichan Bay up to Port Hardy, including some gulf islands.
Schaefer ran her own graphic design company in Toronto in the 1980’s and while living in Saskatchewan began creating tourist maps and guides, something she continues today. She has always wanted to create an art magazine, she said, and found the perfect opportunity after moving to the Island four years ago.
“I moved out here and I saw all the wealth of artists I thought, ‘how come there isn’t anything specific for the arts? There’s nothing that showcases the artists,” she said. “And I thought, hmm… I can do that.”’
Shaefer works with her partner Jeff Shields to create the magazine, which is supported by their advertisers. The colourful, glossy magazine features Vancouver Island and West Coast artists, exhibitions, workshops, editorials as well as articles on art.
Schaefer and Shields have also been putting on the Island Art Expo for the last couple of years which last year featured over 20 artists from around Vancouver Island. The event is held in Qualicum Bay and has artists selling their work, putting on workshops and chatting with the public.
Schaefer said she began getting serious about making and selling her art about 11 years ago when she started Young at Art Studios. Although she’s always liked to paint landscapes her subject matter changed slightly from grain elevators to beach scenes when she moved to the Island. Her work also includes forests, floral art, underwater scenes and old buildings.
Inspiration for Schaefer’s paintings is easy to come by in the Oceanside area, she said, and her hardest challenge is deciding what, from her many pictures, to paint next.
“If I live to be 200, I’ll never finish them all,” she joked.
In the meantime Schaefer can be found creating new pieces for her gallery in Qualicum Bay and for an upcoming show at TOSH from Oct. 11 to Nov. 4.
She is holding an open house for the public to check out her work this Saturday and Sunday, March 19 and 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Her studio is located at 5320 W. Island Highway in Qualicum Bay. The works of artist Cindy Mawle will also be featured at the studio next door.
Schaefer invites the public to stop by her new studio whenever the open sign is out, and otherwise by appointment. For more information call 250-757-8003, e-mail susan@youngatart.ca or visit her website at www.youngatart.ca
