Sue Trowbridge: Artist

This is a very large, attention grabbing work of art. The pineapple and watermelon at the bottom provide a sense of scale.

Fertility goddess? Earth mother? Yuiza, Lior Pachter's perfect human?

Sue Trowbridge created this painting to help a co-worker regain custody of his child. The mother of the co-worker's child absconded with the child and then was swamped by substance abuse issues. The co-worker needed funds to hire an attorney to navigate the probate justice system and reclaim his child. Sue created and sold this painting to fund that attorney. Subsequent events resulted in this painting now being in her possession.

Sue sees many of her paintings as tangible prayers. This painting was a conscious attempt to capture the grittiness of Detroit and the pulsating fertility that makes Detroit possible. Sue doesn't see prayer as giving God instructions. Rather, she sees prayers as asking God to give her the gift of empathy.

Her co-worker did, in fact, gain custody of his child and has been able to provide that child with a healthier, more stable environment.

A bedroom with Sue's paintings shows how her paintings grab light. The strong, warm colors and unfussy compositions seem to have internal sources of light.

Many of her paintings are informed by the mission work she has done in the Caribbean and by the cultures of the many exchange students her family has hosted.

Sue introduced me to a class of painting I had never encountered before: Visual Zen koans. She describes them as "safe spaces" where the viewer can leave behind the world of utility bills, automobile horns, broken glass and vindictive people and feel swaddled by the presence and protection of an omniscient and all-loving God.

Sue's use of luminous colors and uncomplicated swirling of colors lends a feeling of being ensconced inside a giant tropical clam, protected by shields of light and mother-of-pearl.

Sue can be reached at 517-667-The last year the Detroit Tigers won the World Series 14.