The East Side Culture Crawl (November 26, 27, 28) is coming fast and we’ve been busily profiling some of the participating artists. Today, we chat with Suzan Marczak about what she has going on. Her studio (located in the Mergatroid Building @ 975 Vernon Dr) will be open to the public during The Crawl. I love her recent series of ‘Nest’ paintings, they have a simple and compelling beauty that would look great hanging above my bed (a girl can dream)…

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: My chosen neighbourhood is the Commercial Drive/Strathcona area. I straddle both. I like: Strong café Americano and homemade soup from my favorite Mom and Pop hangouts: Pane Vero and Union market. walking down the street and not getting very far, because I keep stopping to talk with friends hot sunny days at the kids water park in Strathcona park, dancing on the concrete at free concerts in Grandview park, the true urban jungle at Cottonwood community garden.

How many years have you participated in the Eastside Culture Crawl? Eight, this will be my ninth

Three words you would use to describe the ECC to someone who had never attended: Eclectic, stimulating, unexpected.

A one sentence artists statement to describe your work: My paintings are a mix of representation and metaphor; I like to get to the heart of the matter.

What are you most excited to be working on right now? At present, I am doing a series of paintings that look at the structural qualities of nests. This is a departure for me. For several years, I was painting urban scenes , but in this series, I have decided to use the nests in situ as metaphors for other naturally occurring systems of growth, from bloodstreams to traffic flow to vector graphs. It allows me to loosen up a little and explore some alternate realms of abstraction

What inspires you? The swish of autumn leaves, crows heading out to Burnaby in the evening, getting OUT of the city sometimes, being in the city with all its crazy tangled chaos, coffee with friends, music a little out of the ordinary.

What sort of music do you listen to when you work? I am pretty much all over the map, but generally it would be indie-folkish, some world music. CDs I play a lot: broken social scene, mumford and sons, Abigail Washburn, Beirut, Decemberists. I listen to the radio a lot. .the Signal at 10 on CBC is a good night station to pick up on some interesting new music.

Why is Vancouver a good city for art? In Canada, Vancouver is the end of the rainbow. A lot of oddballs end up here by default. It makes for an interesting mix of misfits and outcasts. And they all make art.

Is there a local designer or artist that you admire above all others? Wow, that is a lot to ask. I admire a lot of different artists for different reason; some work so hard, some are so talented, so are so incredibly unique. Some of my faves; Galen Felde, Ban Wei, Jordan Bent Best Vancouver place to be inspired by emerging artistic talent: Umm the Crawl, I would have to say, or day two of Swarm (gastown and downtown eastside).

Three places you like to take out of town guests to show off the Art scene in Vancouver: Café Deux Soleils poetry slam on Monday night, especially if it is a finals night, Reiteration #25; the Crawl I suppose, where else can you get such an oversaturation of pure 98 proof unadulterated art? Any of the performing arts festivals; Dancing on the Edge, VIDF, the Fringe, Push.

One thing you would like to change about the Arts scene in Vancouver: More venues to show work; there is a huge lack of galleries willing to take a chance on showing work by local artists, both private and governmental.

If you were going to recommend a Vancouver artist/designer/musician/personality for Scout to interview, who would it be? Ban Wei , ambidextrous painter extrordinaire.