Mozart Tin with Cyclamen, 2023
"If the weather is too vile to paint outside, I paint fruit and flowers I’ve grown in the garden. Figs, quinces, buddleia. It’s all direct and from observation. I like to have the motif in front of me."- Susan Wilson
Growing up on New Zealand's South Island, Susan Wilson's paintings were inspired by the sea and mountains of her surrounds. During this time, Wilson focused on the many and varied colours of the natural world, and how best to re-interpret them in oil. To this day, the importance of colour remains a key component within her work.
Before moving to London in 1976, Wilson trained as a nurse in Auckland, New Zealand, and spent time hitchhiking around Spain, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. In London, she studied at Camberwell School of Art, and the Royal Academy Schools (1982-85).