Susan Gardner

I have had a great interest in art from the age of thirteen as my parents were both artists, one a sculptor  and the other a water-colourist. We moved from western Queensland to Toowoomba where they built an art gallery to extend their love of producing art and appreciating art.  I was immersed in the art of well known Australian painters and attended art college at the Darling Downs as well as various Macgregor Summer schools.

I started painting and selling my art at a young age and then went on to exhibit regularly in Brisbane, Toowoomba and Sunshine Coast.

Around seven years ago I discovered printmaking with a gel plate.  My work at present is a combination of both printmaking and painting techniques using acrylics on mulberry paper. 

I love creating textures for my backgrounds and this is achieved by using a gel plate, stencils, both bought and made and using founds objects like hessian and cloth.  I overlay different textures and colours to then finish with an identifiable feature such as birds, crabs or something from nature. Often I create the background with no particular end point in mind and allow the picture to dictate where it will finish. 

I would consider my work to be contemporary or semi abstract influenced by nature that surrounds me here on Bribie Island.