Painting eyes that tell a story

Not long ago, Sue Siva defined herself as a technologist and aspiring artist.

These days, after taking early retirement from the corporate sector, Siva fully embraces her passion for painting, animals, positive thinking and the natural world.

She runs Sue Art Studios in West Milford and is a three-year township resident with her husband, Girish.

Forty-nine of her paintings are on display through September in the Gallery of the West Milford Township Library, 1470 Union Valley Road.

“My subjects are mostly animals as I love them so much,” she said. “Eyes are my thing as the eyes of an animal tell a story and a look into the soul, which is part of everything I paint and what I try to personalize and capture. Their eyes look back at you.”

Siva paints mostly with acrylics but also employs hybrid 3D and plaster techniques and applies tree leaves to her canvases as seen in several of the artworks in the exhibit.

“I don’t fit a particular mold in painting,” she said. “There’s great joy in experimenting creatively and to express the desired outcome. Painting with leaves, for instance, is a magnificent technique that enables one to beautifully depict and represent nature and natural progression.”

Library director Karen Gost said, “We are pleased to host Sue’s art show at the library. Her work is truly exquisite. I love that we are able to provide local artists a venue to display their work, and I am grateful for our open and sharing community.”

Transforming lives

Siva’s goal is to transform lives through the power of creativity, celebrate the beauty of nature and animals, and support meaningful causes locally, domestically and internationally.

“I strive to foster a world where art becomes a catalyst for personal growth, environmental awareness and positive change,” she said.

Sue Art Studios gives a minimum of a quarter of the profits from art sales and commissioned art to nonprofit organizations focused on animal and human welfare.

Siva recently established a donor trust to help increase the studio’s contributions.

Local charities benefiting this year are Children of Promise Stables, where she is involved with therapy horse rescue, and the Last Resort Wildlife Refuge in West Milford.

On a recent visit to Malaysia, Siva saw elephants old and young being abused, chained, even killed by farmers and developers.

“These beautiful elephants used to have open spaces to walk, feed and breed, yet now they are harmed and mistreated, even in what’s supposed to be a protected sanctuary,” she said.

“It’s devastating and their ill treatment breaks my heart. I’ve been calling out the abuse and returned to Malaysia to advocate for and free many elephants.”

A few of her elephant paintings are at the library, along with those of lions, tigers, birds and nature along with a few paintings of people.

In all of them, the eyes portray a dramatic and bold expression.

A depiction of a stately lion doesn’t focus on age but rather its pride, beauty and honor, as does her “Swan” painting, which is largely done with leaves.

In “Earth Mother,” also done with leaves, Siva’s focus is not on a mature woman but rather a person free of artificial pressures and comfortable with herself.

“Women, all people young and older, should find comfort and peace in being who they are during the seasons of their live journey as does nature,” she said.

“Sadly, people too often turn to artificial approaches to self-satisfy and battle social pressures, which isn’t necessary or really helpful. People enable bad behavior that is detrimental to animal, nature and the environment - and sometimes themselves.

“My message is to promote positive and real change by driving awareness, supporting worthy causes and supporting communities.”

World traveler

Siva originally hails from Sri Lanka. She lived in Canada before arriving in the United States and New Jersey decades ago.

She spent nearly three decades in technology leadership roles at Dialogic and its acquirer, Intel, where she worked to elevate customer experience and high-performance teams.

In those roles, she traveled the U.S. and the world extensively.

Before moving to West Milford, Siva and her husband lived in Parsippany.

With widespread development in Morris County, Siva, her husband and several domesticated animals sought the more rural surroundings of the Highlands, including bears.

“Art has always been a passion and form of mediation since my youth,” she said. “I’m technically oriented yet a creative person, right and left brain active, always wired. Art provides time for me to focus, calm down and use my imagination. It’s peaceful and highly satisfying.”

Siva is a member of the New Jersey Art Association and has participated in some 15 exhibitions previously in the U.S. and abroad.

She also displays her works in international galleries online and has created her own virtual gallery, enabling other artists to showcase their works.

“I came to realize there’s so much more to life than the corporate world and that grind,” she said. “I want to transform and guide people and organizations to unlock their potential. My approach is one of emotional intelligence, technological expertise and creative vision that can lead to fresh personal and professional growth.

“My philosophy embraces challenges as catalysts for evolution and viewing setbacks as opportunities for breakthrough innovations. In doing so, too, I coach and mentor others given my experiences and journey.

The Gallery is open to the public during library hours.

“Please come and visit our beautiful space and support your local artists,” Gost said. “I would like to encourage other local artists who are interested in displaying their work in the library’s Gallery to reach out to me.”