Artist Susan Olmetti Brandishes Her Brushes To Make Waves With Jonah Series.

Oct. 17, 2008 - PRLog -- When adversity strikes, many people flounder or drown in a tsunami of emotion, and others such as internationally acclaimed contemporary abstract artist Susan Olmetti are buoyed by channeling personal tenacity against struggle into vivid creations, such as in Olmetti's Jonah Series.

Olmetti has adopted over time, based on the ripples and riptides in her life, a "You can't hurt what you can't touch (my heart)" attitude, although she struggles with maintaining this protective barrier in interactions with people close to her and questions whether it is the "right" stance.

Consumed by her thoughts, she contemplates in her recent series in a spiritual way how Jonah, issued a task to share a message from God, is swallowed by a whale and how Jonah was given a second chance after three days in the whale's belly. Her strokes manifest an intricate, frenetic energy and compelling valiancy against other-imposed afflictions.

The painter acknowledges that God forgave Jonah, and from her perspective, "It takes a lot to forgive people." As if sharing a personal secret with Jonah, Olmetti finds herself uttering the words, "Not today, Jonah," when she feels herself being pulled under by others around her "you would prefer to say goodbye to and have to let go of, because people don't change."

In The Jonah Series, Olmetti has created five pieces, with the largest rendition using less defined strokes, to indicate and acknowledge the strength of Jonah in surviving the challenge to his spirit. According to the contemporary abstract artist, she knows what she's going to do when setting out her canvas and paints, and she's created the visual treasures and the number of pieces as she feels directed by God.

Living her "life by design," Olmetti designs her exterior - which she is known to share both unadorned and adorned by rainbows of color in photographic nudes, while preserving her interior - surrounding herself by people and situations that are "right." In seeking to publicize her recent art show to an audience of hundreds at New York's Hotel Chelsea - the center of the art world, Olmetti met and worked with a copywriter who she feels intimately understands Olmetti's tumultuous path because of the writer's own life journey. Olmetti has chosen to dedicate The Jonah Series to the writer as an expression of her deep thankfulness and acknowledgement of the kindred creative skill.

In addition to future shows, Olmetti will undertake the writing of her autobiography in consultation with the copywriter, with publication expected in Summer 2010.  To see the Jonas series, go to http://www.susanolmetti.com/art.htm

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The spunk and spirit that is 35-year-old Susan Marie Olmetti is freed from her fingertips — and the confines of bi-polar disorder — to spill onto canvas and dance in vivid color before viewers’ eyes. The frenetic energy she extends through her works over the last ten years has attracted widespread international attention to her abstract artistry and transformed into a healing tool for the intense woman.