Bailey Contemporary Arts (BaCA) in Pompano Beach is proud to present a solo exhibition featuring recent works by Susan Clifton, an artist-in-residence at the venue. The exhibit will be on view in the Blooming Bean Coffee Roasters/West Gallery from June 7, 2019 through July 27, 2019. There is an opening reception, free to the public, on Friday, June 7 from 6pm to 10pm during Old Town Untapped. For more information www.baileyarts.org.

Grey Matter is intended to inspire and promote better self-talk. Clifton’s favorite department in any bookstore has always been the self-help section. Her continued interest in that subject combined with her interest in women’s issues is a major influence in her current work.

Her creative process is truly unique—fabric mosaic on canvas. She starts with the theme and writes a few quotes on the subject. She then has custom fabric made with the quotes printed in shades of grey. Creating the figures takes hours of cutting and pasting pieces of fabric in just the right shade of grey.

Clifton was born to be an artist. She grew up loving painting and dance as a child, and then pursued a career in New York. She found success early in her career as an art director working on such campaigns as “Danskin’s are not just for Dancing,” “When your own initials are enough, Bottega Veneta,” and “What becomes a Legend Most, Blackglama.”

Jane Trahey, who was the first woman to own her own advertising agency, was Clifton’s mentor and the two created great campaigns for Famolare Shoes, Fashion Fair Cosmetics and Adrien Arpel. Susan won awards for “Footloose and Famolare” and was featured in Art Directors Magazine. All this before turning 30.

Other mentors at that time were the great photographers Richard Avedon and Saul Leiter. Working closely with both of them heightened her sense of composition and helped her understand the importance of a unique vision.  During this time Susan studied photography at School of Visual Arts. This further honed her skill of composition.

Now based in South Florida, she was honored to have her art be chosen out of hundreds of entries to represent the state in a deck of playing cards called “Art in the Hand, the U.S.A Project.” Her fabulous pink flamingo, Zelda, graced the” two of clubs” card and is featured on the box and sold in gift shots and museums across the country.