Artwork by Susie Scrivner for her exhibition, “Portraits of the Kenai,” fills the walls of the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Artwork by Susie Scrivner for her exhibition, “Portraits of the Kenai,” fills the walls of the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai through ‘fresh eyes’

October show at Kenai Art Show a celebration of Kenai Peninsula, a call for more creativity

At the Kenai Art Center this month, Kenai can be seen through “fresh eyes.” That’s how artist Susie Scrivner described her show, “Portraits of the Kenai,” on Friday.

Across the walls are paintings, a “snapshot” of Alaska as Scrivner sees it. She moved to Alaska around eight years ago and sees things “people have maybe gotten too used to seeing.” On one wall are vivid depictions of some familiar sights of Kenai’s Old Town, like the Veronica’s Cafe sunroom. On another are scenes of both set- and dipnetting.

Depicted in paint are the Kenai River, Skilak Lake, Homer, Seward and others.

In some of Scrivner’s works, forget-me-nots are a recurring motif. Alaska is changing quickly, she said, and some of the sights and scenes she’s captured might not be around forever — “no one has setnet in two years.”

“If you don’t understand it, you lose it,” she said. “I just hope that people appreciate what they have.”

Scrivner says that anyone can paint, but that to create art requires a lot of introspection and self-forgiveness. In a contemporary culture where everyone compares themselves and their work to others, “you just have to be passionate about the process and press on.”

“You’re going to ruin a lot of paintings,” she said. “Painting is a wrestling match. There’s a beauty in the struggle. It takes courage to finish a painting, and if you don’t finish it, it’s not going to get done.”

Alongside the paintings are works of glass, leather, wood and sculpture. Scrivner said she has a passion for art, and likes to “mix it up.” That passion is one she discovered when she moved to Alaska at a time she was facing severe health issues that also stopped her from singing, her first artistic passion.

“I came here to die, basically,” she said. “You can stay on a shelf for two years — if that’s what I was going to live, if there’s such a thing as safe — or you can have an adventure.”

She compared that journey to one work on the wall that features a unique “damage.” After the work was painted, she said she covered the painting with ink, “which can kill the painting,” and then scrubbed it underwater.

“If you can take the darkness, and the drowning, and the scrubbing, it becomes something remarkable.”

That’s why Scrivner said she encourages others to create. A final painting, by the entrance to the gallery, depicts Scrivner naked and crying tears of paint in a moment this year when she almost walked away from art. The portrait is titled “Stained Glass Window,” evoking the way broken glass can be mended into beautiful works of art — “the broken pieces shape who we become.”

“If I quit, my own portrait would be missing,” she said. “Do we submit to the darkness and the drowning? Do we give up? Do we maybe survive it and become not just a good painting, but a remarkable one?”

“Portraits of the Kenai” will have an opening reception Friday, Oct. 4, starting at 5 p.m. with live music and refreshments. Scrivner will give an artist’s talk at 6 p.m.

“Portraits of the Kenai” will be open during gallery hours, noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday until Oct. 25.

For more information about Scrivner and her work, visit szqstudios.com or find “SZQ Art Studios” on Facebook. Her studio gallery is in the Peninsula Center Mall.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

Artwork by Susie Scrivner for her exhibition, “Portraits of the Kenai,” fills the walls of the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Artwork by Susie Scrivner for her exhibition, “Portraits of the Kenai,” fills the walls of the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Artwork by Susie Scrivner for her exhibition, “Portraits of the Kenai,” fills the walls of the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Artwork by Susie Scrivner for her exhibition, “Portraits of the Kenai,” fills the walls of the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Artwork by Susie Scrivner for her exhibition, “Portraits of the Kenai,” fills the walls of the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Artwork by Susie Scrivner for her exhibition, “Portraits of the Kenai,” fills the walls of the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

More in Life

The cast of “Annie” rehearse at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Central hits the big stage with ‘Annie’

The production features actors from Kenai Central and Kenai Middle School

Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh in “We Live in Time.” (Promotional photo courtesy A24)
On the Screen: Pugh, Garfield bring life to love story

“We Live in Time” explores legacy, connection and grief through the pair’s relationship

Mary Nissen speaks at the first Kenai Peninsula history conference held at Kenai Central High School on Nov. 7-8, 1974, in Kenai, Alaska. Photo provided by Shana Loshbaugh
Remembering the Kenai Peninsula’s 1st history conference — Part 2

The 1974 event inspired the second Kenai Peninsula history conference, held in April, 2017

This slow-simmered ox tail broth makes this otherwise simple borscht recipe quite luxurious. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Borscht from the source

This homestyle stew recipe draws on experience of Russian cook

In 1954, David Nutter (right) and his younger half-brother Frank Gwartney were ready for their first day of school in Sitka. (Photo courtesy of the Nutter Family Collection)
Finding Mister Nutter — Part 6

Chasing down the facts about Warren Nutter was never going to be simple

Photo provided by Shana Loshbaugh
Dena’ina writer, translator and ethnographer Peter Kalifornsky speaks at the first Kenai Peninsula history conference held at Kenai Central High School on Nov. 7-8, 1974.
Remembering the Kenai Peninsula’s 1st history conference — Part 1

Kenai Peninsula history gathering 50 years ago remains relevant and rousing

File
Minister’s Message: My upstairs or your upstairs?

The question challenges us to consider our own eternal destination and relationship with Jesus

tease
Off the shelf: Memoir ponders life’s un-expectations

‘The Crane Wife’ is part of the Homer Public Library’s 2024 Lit Lineup

tease
Anticipating candy-coated revelry

These popcorn balls, done three ways, are a classic Halloween treat

Most Read