Arts of May: Art Works by Lily S. May

About Lily S. May

Biography of artist Lily S. May

I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where I do self-directed art work. I have worked in several media during my life, including relief printmaking on paper and fabric, fibre and textile art, painting and maskmaking.

Since the 1970s, I have made linocut and woodcut prints which I have printed on Japanese paper entirely by hand. From the 70s to early 90s, I worked under my birth name, Susan Barsel, and former married names, Susan Herman and Susan Barsel-Herman.

My linocuts appeared in several Canadian magazines, journals and a calendar in the 1980s. The magazines included "Canadian Forum," "This Magazine," "Women's Healthsharing," Air Canada's "enRoute."

In the 1970s and 80s, my work was shown in galleries in Toronto. Since then, I have exhibited my work privately and in juried competitions in Ontario. My work is in private collections in Canada and the United States.

In 2006, one of my linocuts, Animals March, was shown in the juried Biennial Miniature Print Exhibition, BIMPE IV, in Canada.

I began working with fabric after taking an introductory class in quiltmaking in 1999. In May 2003 and 2004, my pieces "Insect Portrait" and "In the Mountains" were included in the Ontario Juried Quilt Show in Waterloo, Ontario.

In 2004, I also began making felt from merino wool. I use the felt in a variety of appliquéd wall hangings.

In the spring of 2007, after my father, Benjamin Barsel, died, I began oil painting again.

Much of my print, textile and maskmaking has arisen from images in my imagination. Several themes reemerge: faces and masks, natural forms of trees, animals and women. I often express the images through strong graphic designs.

My recent oil painting is grounded more in figurative images.  I have begun with autobiographical paintings.

Since the 1980s, I have taught workshops, classes and individual lessons in linocutting, feltmaking, maskmaking and creative awareness.