Suzanne Messina has been drawing figurative abstracts for at least twenty five years. Her inspiration is pure emotion, enhanced by music of all genre. Opera, rock, jazz, soul, country and reggae have all inspired Suzanne to create emotional art, art which brings forth every emotion... from parental love to sensuality, from soulful introspection to the joys of music, of freedom, of abandon. When asked where her ideas come from, Suzanne has the same answer... always:

      "The music is playing, bringing forth emotion... my pen is in hand, the paper before me... and I do not think... not at first... I just let the emotion flow through to the pen to the paper... I never know where it will go... at first... then something takes hold, an image on the paper... the curve of a line... and I know exactly where I am going. It’s soon after this point I can stop, and come back... to work on the lines, the shading... because the essence of the picture, the emotion, has already been formed. I cannot explain it... I am just grateful that I can bring the image forth. It is absolutely a merger of music and mind...

      I suppose, if asked, I would want to say that my art represents all the emotion which makes us human... the passions of love and lust, the fierce devotion of parents for their children, the ever-present introspection innate in all of us... introspection which brings forth anger, confusion, doubt, hope, joy, alienation, comeraderie...

      Finally, my art also links music to the mind... drawings of musicians in their infinite joy and despair is something I hope to have captured..."

      Suzanne has been invited to present her work at three shows of the Museum of Fine Arts in Mobile, Alabama, and has shown at several North Shore locations.

      Formerly a high school English teacher, she is currently enrolled in the Masters Program in Special Education at Salem State College.

      She is the mother of five children: William 18, Michael 16, Anthony 15, Nicky 13, and Suzie 8.

      She has organized a local group, REAACH - Research, Education and Action for Autism spectrum Children, hoping to bring relevant workshops to parents concerning the needs of these children.

      Suzanne actively endorses such groups as SafeMinds (www.safeminds.org), Autism One (www.autismone.org), UnlockingAutism (www.unlockingautism.org), The National Autism Association (www.nationalautismassociation.org, and The Autism Society of America (www.autism-society.org).

      You may contact Suzanne regarding her work or her autism endeavors at solvethepuzzle@comcast.net.