SUSAN ABBS

I was born in Singapore, and have lived in the U.K. since 1994. Coming from the Tropics, I miss the sun and heat, so in my paintings I try to capture light.

In 2012, I became the first local artist-in-residence at Orleans House Gallery in Twickenham. The residency inspired the series Parklife - based on a very short period of time each year when the sun is shining and the days are long. We are happy and all is good and right in the world. We rush out to the parks; we have picnics; we walk the dog and kids; we cycle and of course what is summer without the endless games of cricket? The park dominates each artwork and all animal or human activity is merely suggestive. In fact in some of the paintings, you have to look closely to notice the activity - fleeting moments in time, contrasting with the permanency of the trees of the parks.

Since moving to Cambridge in 2012, I have been inspired by Cambridge and the sheer expanse of the Cambridgeshire sky. I teach art in my studio in Cambridge as well as life drawing at Hills Road College. I am a member of Cambridge Drawing Society and have exhibited in various exhibitions and galleries, My work can be found in the Cambridge Art Book.

Art critic Carol Cordrey says of my works:

Her paintings leap off the walls because of their realism which is not achieved through tiny brushstrokes but through the bold, skillful handling of chiaroscuro and varied paint effects applied with palette knives. Majestic trees contrast with vast swathes of grass...cool, dark shade combines with hot, gleaming sunshine...strongly textured, tactile bark is juxtaposed with delicate, fluttering leaves and each vast scene is injected with life through a handful of subtly defined, distant, human figures.

Equally remarkable is the fact that Susan’s landscapes glow, not solely because of the light effects she employs with aplomb but because each painting is coated with resin after the acrylic paint has dried. This final flourish results in dazzling colours made more intense by the surface sheen, an effect that can only be appreciated fully when her excellent work is seen in the flesh.