Suze Woolf

To me, a good painting provides an alternative moment of perception, a sudden strangeness or familiarity that the viewer instantly feels but could not have articulated.
Since leaving the software industry and frenetic travels to emerging markets, I have spent time in local workshops, groups and alone in my studio enriching the dialog between painting and my inner voices. Those voices demand a spirit of place, an artistic authority, and a communication with a viewer. It’s not enough to paint for oneself – the loop to the viewer and back to the artist has to be closed.

I become obsessed with the source of an image, and repeat it 2, 3, 6 times and more; I wake up at night thinking about it and occasionally get up to paint all night. I carry my paints to many locations, even into mountain snows in winter.

Despite desires to be a good parent, to immerse myself in the natural world, and to act to save the planet, I consistently devote my time to making art. Most of my work is set in the natural beauty of the earth, and this immersion makes me acutely aware of the threats to it. Artists have long been proverbial canaries in coal mines, sensitive to the problems of the societies in which they reside. I am always looking for ways art can make a difference in the larger world.