Pages

June 25, 2025

Phillips Museum of Art Acquisition

 I am honored and delighted to share that my 52 Ways to Look at the River has been acquired by the Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. 

52 Ways to Look at the River, by Sue Reno
52 Ways to Look at the River

During the run of my recent exhibit at the Museum, "The Enduring Beauty of the Susquehanna", I was able to see first hand the care and expertise that the staff puts into handling, storage, and display of their artwork. Even more importantly, I saw the effort the Museum puts into community engagement, and how my work was used and will be used to engage with students and visitors. I also appreciated how their values aligned with mine, as in using Land Acknowledgement statements. I feel this is the highest and best use of this quilt, and am so happy to have this home for it.
52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 1
52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 1

I conceived of this project in 2015 on the summer solstice with a simple premise--to visit the Susquehanna once every week for a year, take photos, then return to the studio to make a 6" x 12" fiber panel representing what I had just viewed. My idea was that this beautiful river is complex and ever-changing, literally different every time one looks at it, and I wanted to capture ephemeral moments in it's flow
52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 2
52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 2

Making the panels commenced as a quick, abstract exercise, but they soon evolved into complex, detailed vignettes. I had great joy in creating them, and learned a lot about both the river and about my approach to creative expression. I documented each week's panel on my blog. At the end of the year I created a quilted background and attached the panels to it, with a finished size of 72”h x 82”w".
52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 3
52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 3


I know many of you followed along as I made this quilt, and I want to thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement. For everyone recently discovering my work, a good place to start exploring is with my series of river quilts, seen here

52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 4
52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 4

You can pick your platform to find and follow my content, and as always, thanks for reading.

June 21, 2025

2025 Summer Solstice Pinhole Camera pics

 It's that time again! Here's my best of the batch of pinhole camera images I retrieved yesterday, 6/20/25. It's an extremely low-tech operation, using a beer can with a single pinhole poked in it with a sheet of 5" x 7" black and white photo paper loaded inside. I add a lid and tape the whole assembly shut, then use zip ties to mount them in various places. I then forget about them for 6 months, until harvesting and replacing them every solstice. They fit in well with my main body of work that requires sunlight and patience.

On to the images!

Sue Reno, summer solstice 25 pinhole image 1
The streaks in the sky are the path of the sun each day. You can clearly see the difference in altitude as the seasons progress.
Sue Reno, summer solstice 25 pinhole image 2
Here's a sort of side view where you can see the sun, but also a corner of my house, with a fence. 
Sue Reno, summer solstice 25 pinhole image 3
I know it's got a simple explanation, but it always seems a bit magical to me that this happens without a lens of any sort. 
Sue Reno, summer solstice 25 pinhole image 4
Here's a view facing north, so there's no sun streaks, but you can clearly see a bit of my raised bed garden and the big trees in the woods beyond. 
Sue Reno, summer solstice 25 pinhole image 5
This was the "best" of the lot this time, although it's difficult to rate them objectively. They all bring me great joy, and I hope they give you a moment of pleasure and mental ease as well. 
Sue Reno, summer solstice 25 pinhole image 6

 Pick your platform to find and follow my content, and as always, thanks for reading.