Suzanne Winn

I am a landscape artist living in rural Hampshire. Central to my work is a desire to tap into the energy I feel when I am within the landscape. This energy for me brings a sense of movement and freedom, and a feeling of connection. Much of my work is based upon landscapes immediately local to my home. I like to revisit the same locations repeatedly, so I really can get to know these places intimately. A core aim for me is to convey something of how it feels to be within these spaces, and my emotional responses to experiencing nature in this way. The first stage in my artistic process is to go out and draw within the landscape, using charcoals and/or pastels. I use charcoals to create tonal studies and pastels to lay down colour. I work rapidly, focusing on key shapes, tones and colours, and trying to capture the energy and feeling of the moment. I aim to go out drawing every week, so that I can stay attuned to the landscape as it changes from season to season, and indeed from day to day and from moment to moment. Back in the studio I paint in oils from my sketches, memory, and from photographs that I have taken whilst out working and walking in the fields. I work with a limited, but very flexible colour palette. I like to work “alla prima”, adopting a wet-on-wet approach, often layering up thick, impasto layers of paint in a single painting session. My aim is to anchor my work in what I have seen and observed, but also to work instinctively and intuitively, focusing on conveying a sense of energy, atmosphere and emotion. I exhibit regularly and am also represented by Wychwood Art Gallery in Oxfordshire, and London-based art consultancy Artfully Sorted.