About the Artist:

Since a very young age I have been drawing and painting and making a variety of art. After completing High School, all I wanted to do was continue making art so I studied and completed a 3 year Diploma of Fine Arts in Sydney in 1996.

I majored in Studio Painting but it also gave me experience in Etching, Black and White Photography, and Sculpture.

I had my first group exhibition in Sydney in 1996 which was a great experience.

In 1999 I moved to Newcastle, NSW where I lived for 5 years and in 2001 I started my own Art Business selling my own original hand made Greeting Cards and Gift Tags to local Boutique Gift Stores which I continued until 2003, at which point I left Newcastle and moved back to my home of Sydney.

Seeking a new start and not sure what direction to go in, I worked in various jobs from a dishwasher to a recruitment consultant in the corporate world in order to get by while my art took a back seat for a little while. However I could not ignore the strong feeling inside that something was missing I was not content on a mainstream path as I knew the only real satisfaction I had experienced in regards to work was with my work as an artist. I believe it is important to follow your passion in life whatever form that takes, in order to experience a sense of fulfillment and purpose.  

I have always been fascinated by the use of colour, light and luminosity as well as the effects of light and shadow. I am also greatly inspired by nature, mythology, astrology, spirituality, archetypal imagery and well as symbolism and dreams.

Art is truly a therapy for me a way to connect to my higher self through colour and seeing an image come to life from the initial vision, to the final result.

Many different artists inspire me, some include Josephine Wall and Judy Mastrangelo, Sara M Butcher, Brian Froud, David Delamere, Maxine Gadd, Lisa Hunt, Constable, Van Gogh, Klimt & Jonathon Earl Bowser.

Here I have answered questions that I am often asked about my art.

Why faeries and mermaids?

Most of my inspiration comes directly from nature as well as what is beyond the 5 senses, meaning what you can pick up on when you still the mind and allow parts of the mind, like the unconscious to filter forward.

I believe in multidimensional reality, ie, that the material sphere of existence is not the only thing that is real, our perceptions are limited by the fact that we are in a physical form.

To me there is far more to our experience of life than simply the material reality we engage in through our day to day lives and I try to capture more subtle levels of reality and I seek to engage the audience with these subtler energy levels that are generally on a more unseen level.

It may sound strange but I can often see faces in trees and mountains, I believe anyone can tune into these things you just need to sit quietly, quiet the habitual chatter of the mind and allow the mind to open up to its natural receptive state and you may be suprised at what is perceivable.

As an artist doing this type of thing can be quite powerful as it opens the mind in a way that takes it beyond the ordinary scope of experience.

The energy of faeries/fairies, mermaids, angels and spiritual energies come to me from nature and beyond and throw a little imagination into the mix and the result is a painting. These are the things that I am inspired to paint, it is simply what captures my soul and what I am driven to portray through the medium of painting.

What Mediums do you use?

My paintings are hand painted with artist quality acrylic paint on either stretched canvas or canvas board. I use a range of different acrylic paint brands which include, Winsor & Newton, Atelier and Matisse Professional Artists Acrylic. I also use a broad range of brushes, which include sable brushes for finer and more detailed work.

What size are most of your paintings?

My painting/canvas size varies from the smallest size being around 9" x 12" and more commonly  16" x 20" or at the largest 18" x 24"

How long does each painting take to complete?

From the time I start laying down a sketch on the canvas, it usually takes from 8 - 10 hours for a smaller painting all the way up to around 24 hours for a larger size painting.

How do you come up with your ideas?

Certain external things do inspire me such as nature, beauty, symbols, forms etc, however the process of coming up with ideas for me is not so much using the logical mind to think things up, it's more a process of tuning into a flow on an unseen level, taking time to tune into feelings, colours, something beyond the everday world. I find that using the intuition to connect on that level allows my conscious mind to take a step back so that these feelings and visions can come forward.

 Do you have a question about my Art that I did not cover?

Please use the email form provided on CONTACT PAGE of this site to email Susan your question.