Susannah Paranich with Patrick Jamieson, 1988

My name is Della Paranich, and to speak of my painting and art I must refer to an emerging vision within my life, consisting of my experience of the Mystery of life as revealed in simple objects, and in nature itself.

Originally from Edmonton, Alberta I moved to Vancouver in 1970, and then to Victoria in 1975. I live and work in my studio / apartment with a small somewhat adventuresome grey cat named Shanti, whose name is an allusion to one of my areas of personal interest, meditative practice. I am certain my work reflects a sensibility and disposition which is consonant with this centering activity.

The sources of my work are rooted in a prairie childhood experience and themes discovered since living in Alberta and B. C. I find Victoria to be a suitable West Coast compromise location between the prairies and small hometown Vegreville, Alberta where I spent my earliest years, and the larger urban centres of Vancouver and Edmonton.

All my life, aesthetically and spiritually, I have been ineluctably drawn toward a deepening sense of Mystery. Vancouver Island presents perhaps an unrivalled blend of that element within Oriental, Native and European ethnic cultures, combined with the natural grandeur of the setting. All of these influences serve to fuel the inspiration for my work.

Life on Vancouver Island, with such easy access to coastal landscape and rural backroads, opens onto a whole new world of visual experience. The beauty of island passages, coastal mist and fogged beaches, cormorant rookeries, and West Coast atmosphere in general, provide ongoing aesthetic nourishment. Having spent the greater part of my childhood living on the prairies of Alberta and often returning to visit, I am able to draw from a wealth of personal memories and a love for the beauty and silence of the prairie landscape. A wide expanse of gently rolling hills, stands of pine and birch, the outline of crumbling pioneer buildings and relics, are still images that can strongly influence my work. A feeling of tranquility, stillness, and mystery often emerges in the paintings regardless of the subject matter or colours.

Basically a self-taught artist, I started painting in oils at an early age, around eight. Art and painting have always been a major focal point in my life. Since coming to the West Coast I have discovered the excitement and limitless possibilities of handling watercolour. I have concentrated, to some success, on developing a distinctive style and technique in the challenging medium. While I work predominantly in watercolour, I enjoy use of acrylic, gouache, and egg tempera.

Although typified as a realist painter, I find increasingly I am being gently attracted toward more metaphysical abstraction in my work. I am committed to continual exploration, growth, evolution and development to this end.

I have been working full time at this joyful and rewarding profession for almost ten years now. There have been a number of one-person shows, and participation in many select group shows, charity art auctions, and juried art shows. I enjoy active membership with the Island Illustrators Society, the Federation of Canadian Artists, and the Northwest Watercolour Society. On the West Coast I’m represented by The Art Emporium in Vancouver, North Park Gallery in Victoria, and the Art Rental and Sales Gallery of The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and in Ganges on Salt Spring Island, the Pegasus Gallery. Two galleries in Alberta as well as one in Ontario also handle my work.

In terms of a technique which has come to work for me, are a variety of elements. Often in the creation of a painting, like many artists today, I make regular use of my camera, taking a number of photos from differing angles for later easy reference. At the same time I make brief sketches and notes on the spot. Later in the studio, while envisioning the composition, colours and mood of the painting, I use the field information gathered to develop detailed drawings and a small colour composition before beginning work on the actual painting.

Technique I believe, must go hand-in hand with personal spirituality, with a dedication to the creation of art works of quality, meaning, beauty-wholeness, balance, harmony, oneness in art and in life.

I would like to end this article wi th a quote from the great Swiss psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung: “Creativeness, like the freedom of the will, contains a secret … what is essential in a work of art is that it should rise above the realm of the personal life and speak from the spirit and heart of the poet/artist as a person to the spirit and heart of humanity.” For me they are words that are something to aspire to and speak to my heart; I hope to yours, too.

Susannah Paranich died in 2024. Her obituary appeared in the Winter 2024/25 edition of ICN. Her artwork was featured for many years in its pages.