Sue Waldman’s mother was a professional artist and her father was a photographer. But the psychotherapist and counselor never thought that she would be creating art. “In the past, I may have described my lifestyle as ‘creative’ but never ‘artistic’,” Waldman says.
Now, that label amply applies. Last year, Waldman found herself compelled to turn the “angel messages” that she had long used in her counseling sessions into full-sized angel wing art pieces.
“After grieving profound losses, I started to feel anxious,” Waldman says. “During the process of meditating to calm myself, the words ‘just paint’ kept coming up. I knew this was a sign I could not ignore, even though I had not done any painting since college art courses over 30 years ago. But, the meditation mantra was leading me to something new and, as I would guide any of my psychotherapy or life coaching clients, I followed what was coming up for me. It has been truly transformational for me, with the result being my angel paintings.”
Waldman began painting angel wings, fabricated in wood and metal, using acrylic paint, glitter, rhinestones, dried rosebuds, lavender–and her mother’s professional paint brushes, which became Waldman’s after her mother passed. “Most of the paintings are shades of pink because I associate the color with love, joy, gentleness, kindness and compassion,” Waldman says, “values that I try to embrace every day.”
As a Karuna® Reiki Mindfulness teacher, Waldman says she works to infuse each painting with “love, healing energy, answered prayers, unexpected miracles, and abundant blessings.”
Waldman has begun to sell her angel art at local craft shows and puts 5% from every angel art sale into “Michael’s Angel,” a fund she established to honor a close friend, Michael William Quigley, who passed away last November. Waldman uses the fund to provide a surprise gift for someone who is grieving or facing a personal or spiritual challenge.
The coaching and art sides of Waldman’s life will come together in her Verona garden on Sunday, June 23 and Sunday, July 21, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Participants in “Art in the Garden” will get a chance to paint their own angel or angel Wings. (If you are interested, you can register here.) Waldman was recently notified that her work has been accepted into an art exhibit in Montclair later this summer. “State of the Art 2019” will be on display at the Studio Montclair gallery from June 28 to August 9. The gallery is located at 127 Bloomfield Avenue, near the Bay Street train station and the opening reception is Friday, June 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. Waldman lists her art show appearances on her Facebook page, Suzanne Rose Angel Support, and people can also schedule a private viewing with her at [email protected].
“For me, angels have always represented love and goodness, and instill feelings of hope, faith, and the ethereal beauty of life.” Waldman says. “I have found my own new, powerful place of creative expression and deep meaning through angel imagery and my angel art.”
