Mixing unusual colour palettes and swooping brush strokes is a signature look for abstract artist, Susannah Bleasby from Susannah Bee Art.
We were thrilled to chat to this wildly talented international artist about her work and how turning to art quite literally saved her life.
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Hailing from Hamilton on the edge of Lake Ontario in Canada, Susannah is surrounded by inspiration for her art.
“I live with my 4-legged love, Poppy, in Hamilton — a gritty industrial city,” Susannah tells us.
“It may be a city, but it’s one that’s surrounded by nature, hiking trails and waterfalls. These are all places I escape to regualarly.
“My life revolves around work and my studio practice. There are drips of paint on pretty much everything I own… including the dog!”
The highs that came from creating something so beautiful in Susannah Bee Art came from being in the lowest of lows.
“I have always been drawn to creative things and have an active imagination. But art as a profession wasn’t really seen as a viable option when I was at school.
“To be quite honest, turning to art was a last resort after failing, dropping out, or quitting every job or university course I attended. I was completely miserable about life itself,” Susannah recalls with a touch of sadness.
“It was at the lowest point of my life that I started doodling. I was simply following the one tiny thread of something I enjoyed. Art was the one last thing that could make me smile and feel like I had something to offer.
“Slowly, people started seeing my work and offered encouragement. Opportunities followed — and I said yes to everything. I just kept following my heart.
I literally wouldn’t be here if I had not picked up a brush all those years ago. My art saved me. I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for the life I have now.
Susannah’s art features cloud-like texture and bold colours, with paintings ranging from landscape scenes to abstracts.
“My painting style falls somewhere between expressive, representational and abstract. It’s not one defined thing. Although it is always colourful!” she says with a smile.
“It is essential to me that there’s an overall sense of quiet, uplifting joy. My landscapes need to feel breezy and light-filled. My abstracts need to feel curious and fun.
“The creative process teaches me patience, forgiveness, commitment and resilience… every single day. Painting has given me purpose in life and sharing my art feels meaningful and worthy.”
The process to create a work of Susannah’s art isn’t as straightforward and you would expect.
“It really depends on what I’m working on! For a landscape painting, I sometimes have a photo reference or a little painted sketch to work from. But I usually end up working from memory or my own imagination,” says Susannah.
“For an illustration, there’s a lot of doodling and sketching before I start anything final. These are my most thought out and planned pieces.
“When it comes to my abstract paintings, these are almost always completely unplanned. I will generally have an idea of some of the colours I want to work with. But then I basically blob paint down and smoosh it around, making a million little decisions along the way until it feels right.
“My abstracts are the most challenging area of my creative practice, but also the most rewarding.”
Susannah Bee Art offers worldwide shipping and she has recently partnered with an Australian art printer to fulfil Australian print orders locally.
Visit her website to discover more of her originals, landscapes, abstracts, art cards and prints. You can also see what she’s up to on her main Instagram account @susannah_bee_art and find her colourful abstracts on @thisbeeisme.
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