"The human voice is the organ of the soul."

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

      "He best can paint them who shall feel them most."

 – Alexander Pope

      It's not easy at times to find the multi-dexterous Susie Suraci.

      She's not a recluse, just a busy girl. During the work-a-day week she's in the admissions Department at IPFW. Most evenings she's at home in the city's near south side, helping to raise a family. Then there are evenings when she's rehearsing or performing with her husband, Rob Suraci, and their playmate John Minton with the Possum Trot Orchestra.      

      Then there are the weekends when, if not performing, you might catch her at her lakeside painting studio. My lips are sealed, by request, as to the exact location of this retreat, but I can reveal that it is in Noble County, reasonably primitive and quite possibly an elemental ingredient in the creation of an artist's colony. (I still can't figure out where she finds the time to compose her songs.)

      Being in, or near, the water isn't just a therapeutic device for Suraci; it is more like a necessity. Born and reared in Maryland, she's an honest-to-goodness Malaclemys terrapin, i.e. a turtle, the fearsome mascot of her alma mater, the University of Maryland, from where she earned her degree in painting. (Some of her favorite influences were, and are, the painters Larry Rivers, Richard Diebenkorn and Paul Klee.)

      The idea of her migrating here – to the home town of Mishekinoquah, the Miami chief Little Turtle – is a bit of a stretch. Suffice it to say she's got a foot on land and the other in water, and we'll dispense with the details.

      Suraci's current solo exhibition, "Lake Trailer Paintings," can be seen at the Dash-In, 814 Calhoun Street through September 7. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fridays from 7 to 7 and Saturdays from 10 until 4.

      The show is built comfortably in the confines of the coffee shop/restaurant, yet it, depending upon the time of your visit, does or doesn't do justice to her work regarding available lighting.

      In the Dash-In show Suraci's focus is riveted upon a time and a subject when people placed trailers – Airstreams and other less eye-pleasing, more iconic mobile homes – on lakefront property as either weekend get-away enclaves or even permanent residences. She does so in the manner of a documentary photographer attempting to capture a bygone culture for posterity. And she does it with a serious purpose.

      "I, well, just not me," Suraci says, "recognize that these offbeat retreats will likely vanish relatively soon. The fact is that, as lake property continues to increase in demand and investment value, many of the old lake trailers are being hauled away in favor of more prestigious dwellings."

      Her painting style – part realistic, part impressionist – definitely conveys the essence of the modernist architecture, but she leaves her work (perhaps purposely) without a human quality. Her landscapes are populated by outdoor grills, tables, cars, trucks and kids' playthings, but never a glimpse of the human form. Trees, water and lily pads remain in the surroundings, but the overall backdrop is absent of people.

      Sadly Suraci's current lake studio isn't her first. Three years ago a vintage 1960s trailer which she had patiently restored to pristine condition was completely destroyed in a fire caused by an electrical short circuit.

      Suraci confesses that she feels a bit of an outsider with regards to the local art scene. "Maybe because of my musical commitments that may be in conflict with my painting, I just don't feel connected with others in the painting scene."

      On the other hand the artist has been a regular on the Fort Wayne art scene, having shown at Artlink, Castle Gallery, a Muncie gallery and at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in the Tri Kappa Show. Some of the work in the Dash-In show came out of a 2004-2005 Individual Artist Project grant she received from the Indiana Arts Commission.

      Suraci's musical gifts become evident with even a cursory listen to her work. You can access a taste of The Possum Trot Orchestra's efforts at http://cdbaby.com/cd/possumtrot or take the plunge as I did and spring for the entire CD (available at the Three Rivers Food Co-op). According to liner notes and in the words of reviewers, "The Possums forage across the American tradition, from folk, country and bluegrass to blues, gospel and rock, with touches of pop, swing, ragtime – even reggae."

      And, I might add, they do it authentically well.

      The Dash-In show closes in less than two weeks, so the pressure is on the reader to get to the ubiquitous "lake" and catch Suraci's captured cultural images.

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