Susan Brown studied Art and Design at Huddersfield and went on to graduate from Leeds Polytechnic in 1979 with a degree in Interior Architecture.

Architecture and design are very present in Susan’s paintings. European cityscapes are wonderfully captured, the spirit and atmosphere and unique local architecture are all present in her very personal work.

In recent years Susan has been exploring architecture and structure and its relationship with the environment. This has resulted in a shift towards more abstract painting, with beautiful, mesmerizing patterns and shapes appearing in her work.

Her watercolour style is unique and innovative. She manages to handle her subjects in a spontaneous manner, creating bold, lively paintings while confidently retaining control over her medium.

We are very pleased to welcome Susan’s solo exhibition to Mandell’s Gallery. This exhibition will feature a mixture of cityscapes including some of Norwich Cathedral along with Susan’s abstract paintings.

Susan has won many awards and has shown in many open exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the RA Summer Exhibition. Her work is held in various public and private collections.

Finding the Connection

Finding the connection – a life time’s work that has taken me on a journey through Design, architecture and painting, – and this collection of work starts to show what has been found.

Architecture and structure, mans’ relationship with his environment, patterns, rhythms, time and space have all held a fascination for a long time. The natural world has a complicated form and structure, a set of precedents that create and guide its   existence – formulas, patterns, the cycle of growth and decay, the very structure of life and the continuum of the life cycle, the juxtaposition of nature’s fragility and the power of its work. – so begins the journey – what is life. What is it, where does it come from and where is it going? Is this the beginning or the end, or the end of the beginning, or is it the total journey? The life cycle with no beginning and no end, a circle, a circle which could equal life – this is the sun, this is the moon, this is the earth, this is the cell with no beginning and no end. This has a great deal of power – it has form, it has structure, it has containment, but without a beginning or an end we find it hard to understand, because it has no measure. Can we only begin to understand if there is some form of measure – sweet sour, good bad – light dark- happy sad – a measure gives a line. So are these the important symbols of life? The circle and the line – the continuum and the measured, and is this the connection that so powerfully links the natural to the manmade world, is this the connection between landscape and architecture and are these the visual symbols of the DNA of life?

Susan Brown  September 2016