Suzanne Bennett

Medium:

  • Pastels
Suzanne Bennett photo

Suzanne Bennett is a native of Cleveland Ohio. She grew up in a family that encouraged artistic endeavors. Her uncle, Frank N. Wilcox was a noted Cleveland artist and a founder of the Cleveland Institute of Art.

She graduated from Rollins College and from Parsons School of Design in New York City. She has had a long career as a graphic designer and art director in New York City and in suburban Monmouth County, New Jersey.

In 2010 Suzanne moved to Fort Myers, FL. She is a member of the SanCap Art League and she is a weekly plein air painter. She has often exhibited in the galleries at Big Arts on Sanibel Island and in October, 2018, had an exhibition at the Founders Gallery, Big Arts, called “Passion for Pastels.”

As Suzanne’s medium is pastel, she competes in numerous national pastel exhibitions. Suzanne is a member of the Pastel Society of Southwest Florida and enjoys continuously studying pastel techniques.

Her paintings are loose and impressionistic. She has always lived “by the sea”and beaches, waves, and reflections on water are frequently her subjects. She finds the brilliance and purity of pastels … those “chunks of pure pigment” exhilarating.

Artist Statement:

“I make vividly-colored impressionistic pastel paintings. My subjects are most often ocean, sky, clouds, beaches and the lush tropical environment of southwest Florida.

My goal is to immerse my audience in light and heat.

I have painted very actively since 2010. My background is art school and a long career in graphic design. I have always intended that in my later life I would paint as much as I possibly could.

I started working with pastels in 2007 in New Jersey. I have continued to study and have been fortunate to take workshops from well-known pastelists Barbara Jaenicke and Jean Rosier Smith. I am a member of the Southwest Floria Pastel Society.

I am a weekly plein air painter. I have painted some of our local landmarks several times, but each time, I find so much that’s new. I enjoy the companionship of plein air painters. I also intermittently study life drawing and I experiment with other mediums.

In my painting I seek to help the viewer feel the intensity of temperature and light that define our lives.”

Suzanne Bennett

 

Video coming soon….