Painting has been my passion from an early age, my mother was a successful artist so I grew up in a creative household, naturally drawn to a career in art. I have been lucky to be able to combine my love of painting with family life and a career as a secondary school Visual Arts teacher.
Living in a Sydney bushland area provides endless inspiration to paint. My paintings are an emotional response to my environment rather than a realistic representation. A flash of movement in the bush, or the sunlight making the angophoras glow, can spark an idea… and it’s the idea that I paint. Wherever I travel I am always open to new ways of seeing.
Always experimenting with techniques and methods of representation, I strive for a richness of surface and layering of media to create depth and drama. My background as an art teacher provided me the opportunity to experience many aspects of the visual arts and to appreciate the many ways creativity can be expressed.
I currently exhibit at several exhibitions and competitions in and around Sydney and have recently joined the Bluethumb community.
In my early career, as Suzanne French-Kennedy, I was a Finalist in several high-profile art prizes including: The Archibald Prize; The Sulman Art Prize; The Portia Geach Memorial Award. I also exhibited through several galleries and venues around Sydney in both joint and group shows.