About me, my art... and you

"...nature captured through intuition and memory. Absolutely beautiful!" (comment from Resh, Oct 24)

My art

I love making art. And I love the art I make. Otherwise I couldn't possibly share it with the world.

One of the reasons I love making art is my intuitive creative process. I combine my imagination with my knowledge and memory of how things look in order to capture the essence of my subjects.

Drawing freehand, with spontaneity, and choosing colours instinctively, I like to work fast, which results in images that are full of life.

And finally, when my art looks exciting to me - whether through the dynamism in the brush or pastel strokes, or through an all-important sense of light and warmth in its gorgeous colours and lively spirit - then I feel like I’ve really accomplished something special so that you, in turn, can feel uplifted and energised too.

​INSPIRATION

Whatever I create is always in some way inspired by the organic world and my lifelong connection with nature.

Growing up

As a shy kid growing up in rural North Yorkshire, two things were readily available to me: the love of my family - and nature. I soaked up both.

My focus on nature meant that I absorbed all the details of the hedgerows, studied the wild flowers, learned their names and gave them all a special place in my heart.

I'm now living here again, every day seeing the same hedgerows I always saw, with the same wild flowers appearing every season as they always did.

I've never lost touch with the feeling nature gives me. Nature can play such a powerful role in giving us a deep sense of belonging, whoever we are, wherever we are.

And with life changing so fast, the things that stay the same or keep us connected to where we came from can often turn out to be the most meaningful to us.

Drawing

I drew a lot as a kid. I can see myself, about age 5, in the kitchen with my mum.

I’m wearing my fave stripy jumper she'd knitted for me with love, of course, and some random supply of wool. I've got a pencil in my hand, at the kitchen table, piece of paper in front of me.

I remember asking, probably too often, 'What shall I draw?' And my mum could always think of just the right thing.

Imagination

It's funny. That childhood memory for a long time suggested to me that I didn't have much imagination.

But as I've grown older, I've been more and more attracted to sourcing directly what was in my head, or heart. Which means that:

I really am 'drawing' straight from my imagination, memory and instinct!

Childhood

​I'm lucky enough to have had a childhood to cherish, in spite of sadness and loss from an early age.

My connection with my childhood ~ everything I absorbed as a kid, the physical detail and the strong personal influences of the special people who loved and encouraged me then - including my awe-inspiring Austrian mother, with boundless energy and love and endless life stories and fairy tales to tell, who taught me the importance of individuality ~ will always underpin what I create and how I feel about it.

This, and all that I've learned from a lifetime of making art, filters into everything I do.

My childhood brings the warmth and freedom that fills my work. The colours in my soul bring the joy.

Artist Susan Marie Williams in art studio drawing a hyacinth artwork with oil pastels

My creative process

I love being an intuitive artist. In fact, I have no choice... because I’m emotion/freedom-led and like to follow my instincts whenever I can.

So I pick up a pastel, or pen, or pencil, and start to draw.

The art flows naturally, like this:

HEART → brain → hand → ART

and each medium creates art that has its own identity.

That’s why you’ll see distinct collections from me, purely as a result of the medium I've used and the art that that medium helped me create.

Your part in all of this

Then the greatest thing is when someone (you?) sees what I've created and loves it or is moved or excited by it in some way.

You see my art. It goes like this:

ART → eyes → brain → HEART

This is how my art makes a connection and gains real meaning to someone other than me.

I like to think of it that way, although it would be just as fantastic to me if you liked my art because you were looking for a pretty picture to fill a space on your wall or it made the perfect gift for your favourite sister.

I really don't mind which way it goes.

They're all beautiful ways to feel validated as an artist. And whichever one is you, thank you.

The results

In all my art, whatever the medium - and because when I was young I was always encouraged to 'never follow the crowd' - I know my intuition will always be working to create something that’s individual, unique, original.

Not forgetting beautiful, lively, fun, friendly, colourful, uplifting, and with a spirit as light as air!

I will always want you to feel like you've never seen anything like this before.

Of course, whether I succeed is ultimately for you to decide!

In any case, I hope that those attributes are as important to you as they are to me.

And if you decide to own something I've created, I hope you'll look at it every day and feel lifted and energised by the colour, light and warmth it brings with it, from me to you.

Ready to explore all my creations?

Take a leisurely stroll through my collections
Browse all my art in one place

FIND SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL TO MAKE EVERY DAY SPECIAL