News of The Abacos

Susan Parotti - The Art (and artist) Of The Abacos

Abaco is a beautiful place to visit, and like most places surrounded by natural beauty, it is a haven for artists like Susan Parotti. If you went through the immigration and customs area at the airport, you most likely noticed some of her work - the map of the Bahamas and the ocean scene on the walls. A resident of Marsh Harbour, Susan has been creative since high school. "I have always sewn and made things out of fabrics and made shell hangings, but I was never brave enough to paint. Moving to Abaco really turned me on to painting." She teaches Spanish at Forest Heights Academy and paints in her spare time, which isn't as much as she'd like. Her first big mural painting was at Great Abaco Beach. It's no longer there because they re-modelled the lobby and painted over it in the process. The Jib Room is delightfully decorated with Susan's work, tropical birds and plants brighten up the bar and walls. Barefoot gifts in Marsh Harbour is also made more attractive with Susan's paintings.

"I like to try lots of different styles of painting. I like doing underwater scenes, because it's like an escape, I'd like to be there! I painted for years for other people, and it's nice that I can please someone but it's not as fulfilling as when I can just follow my own feelings and paint what I want." Walking into Susan's bathroom is like walking into a rainforest. You are surrounded by plants and rainforest creatures that she has painted on the walls. even the ceiling and shower curtain are decorated with wildlife scenes!

Susan has also taught art, and one of Susan's art students, Leann Russell from Treasure Cay was one of her top students, and is now in a Canadian college in Nova Scotia. she won the best BGCSE results for the art exam in 1998. "I wish I had her talent, and could have recognized it at her age. She did an amazing piece of Junkanoo. It's an abstract broken color design with three Junkanoo faces and costumes. She always thought we were fooling her when we told her she was talented. She never had faith in herself, she just thought we were trying to be nice. She is a brilliant student in all subjects." Another extremely talented students of Susan's, Daniel Wiltfang, is in Argentina for a Rotary Exchange Program. He is now fluent in Spanish. He is a brilliant kid, but was nervous about going to Argentina because the Spanish is so diferent. He got the top grade in his class in Argentina. Imagine an Argentinian with basic English skills coming into high school here and getting top grades! He's also learning French and German. Her husband Mike is also very talented. He builds furniture and makes statues from driftwood. He's going to re-do all the cabinets and furniture from driftwood. Mike made their bed and cofee table, and Susan decorated their sheets, pillow cases and drapes. "Necessity is the mother of invention, that's why we have so much of our art work in the house." Almost everything you see in their house was made by Susan or Mike. It's like walking into a museum. They find driftwood wherever they go, and turn it into something beautiful. Most of us would step over or not even notice the same piece of wood they would pick up and magically turn into a magnificent work of art.

Susan never formally studied painting in high school, but her mother and grandfather were artists, and her grandmother went to art school in Chicago. "I could never take instructions from my mom, just like my daughter doesn't like to take instructions from me! It was too expensive to study art in college, so I did something practical like Spanish. I wanted to see more of the world, so I travelled to California, Arizona, New Orleans, and worked as crew on a sailboat. I lived with my sister in New Orleans and varnished hundreds of boats ­ inside and out. I ended up taking care of three boats in Paradise Island, where I met Mike, and married him six months later! I had an upholstery business and boat canvas business, and then we combined our talents and fixed all kinds of boats together. We salvaged a mahogany boat and fixed it up and lived on it, it was beautiful! We wanted to move to the Bahamas because the water where we lived was so polluted you broke out in hives when you jumped in. It was depressing to work and live on the water and not be able to dive in!

When asked if Susan was available to paint something for someone, she said as long as the price is right and they aren't in a rush to get it, because her free time is very limited!