We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Susan Chorpenning. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Susan below.
Susan, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
The purpose of my life has changed over time. Looking back, I see that in my youth, it was to escape an alcoholic, dysfunctional family. But having done that early on, and supporting myself, I recreated that dysfunction with new relationships. So then my purpose changed to healing the dysfunction and pain I carried. First I found community with others who shared my experiences. As the healing continued, my life improved. I began to feel that I deserved more, and was not doomed to failed interpersonal relationships. It gradually became easier to love and be loved. My mind and heart began to open, and so my purpose shifted once again, from healing the self to offering that to others. Having meditated for many years as part of healing, I became a meditation teacher, opening my heart and experience to others, for their benefit, as well as my own.
One of the constants was always making art, and having that place of interior connection to count on. The work has always been my support, knowing that I could make art, any time, any place. But I struggled with how to send it into the world, continuing to feel the abandonment of my early life, but now directed towards my art interacting with the world. As I began to fill my own need, I released the urgency of needing a particular response from outside. Instead of experiencing even small successes as not enough, I began to appreciate my experiences. Presenting the work changed, beginning to bring satisfaction and joy. And my purpose has changed again. Learning to let go of those old needs, but still carrying out my work as an artist, I find that it’s no longer all about me, what I want, what I need. There is so much more, the purpose shifting once again. Now I make work with the intention of offering others moments of joy, moments of reflection, or perhaps just the same sense of flow I find in making the art, very like meditation.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I first identify with being a visual artist, have always had making art as an anchor. I’ve added to that an awareness of what exists beyond each of our small bubbles, what connects us to a wider universe and to each other. This, along with my meditation practice, led to becoming a meditation teacher.
In art, I’ve worked with light for many years, first using daylight and shadow to note the passage of time, and most recently creating shapes with moving colored light on the wall. Some of these are frames containing changing colored light, some are canvases with light seeping out from beneath, but all this work touches on one idea – that we cannot capture or hold the light, that it’s always changing, very much like life. I love sitting with these pieces, and just watching, letting the mind float as the colors shift and change. And it becomes okay to let the changes happen, without trying to hold onto them.
Now you can see these works offered by Artly International online: https://artlyinternational.com/
and soon, J. Peeler Howell Fine Art in Ft. Worth TX.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three things have supported me most:
– kindness, first toward others, and finally toward myself. Take care of yourself first! Don’t wait until later, like I did!
– trust in art-making, always a safe place to go, an artist can make art anywhere, with the least materials. Find your safe place of joy or creativity, and go back there whenever needed.
– waking up early with good fresh energy to tackle the day, knowing that this is my most creative time, and using it. Know your own best work time, and treasure it.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Over the last 18 months, my partner and I have both had health issues, so there’s been the dual challenge of caring for someone who is ill, and then struggling with my own decreased energy. I tend to be very active, and it’s been hard acknowledging physical limitations, but I’ve had to do it. Practicing self care around health issues has become a priority. What’s hard is wanting to work more in my studio when I need to be resting. The tool I’ve used most often is prioritizing. I ask myself, “If I can only do one thing today, what would make me feel best at the end of the day?” It is usually not cleaning the bathroom!
Another tool is breaking things down into manageable steps, and just taking a small step, often the easiest one first. One of my past pitfalls has always been taking on too much, and then feeling I have to do everything at once. Both these tools have helped me to do the most critical parts of my work first, and to just get started, so I’ve adapted them to help with this current situation.
Finally, one of the best, and more recent, tools I use is a simple one – gratitude. If I can note what is good in my life each day, it sets a tone of appreciation, rather than complaint. If I am complaining, I usually have a crummy day, but if I focus first on something beautiful or joyful, it makes the day go more easily, especially in the face of challenges.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.susanchor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suechor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suechorpenning
Image Credits
All the photos are credited to the artist, Susan Chorpenning
