Suzanne Vaughan

Suzanne has always been a highly driven and passionate creative, showing an aptitude for the arts from a very young age. Her art is an expression of color, light and positive energy, from her vibrant modern colorfield abstracts to her soft minimal atmospheric landscapes. She captures the fresh vitality of nature’s essence infused with uplifting energy to convey feelings of hope and optimism. Growing up in New Zealand she absorbed the intense vibrancy of nature, amplified by the intense Southern light and dramatic weather patterns, paying close attention to textures, shapes, horizons and colors. In 2004 she began painting landscapes and abstracts in acrylics and quickly realized that it was the perfect conduit for her creative desire. It rekindled an early memory of wanting to create large vibrant paintings, and paint, just like her grandma had done when she was a child.

After relocating to Portland, OR in 2008, this desire was amplified. She embraced the shift to oil painting and began creating larger works that radiate positive energy and vibrancy. Her first cohesive body of work was the intensely dynamic Portal Series, produced in 2013. This was followed by the Colorscape and Infusion Series, all showing her characteristic bold use of color radiating with a luminous glow. By 2017 she was experimenting with metallic pigments which added an additional dimension to her fluid style of painting, resulting in the Metallic Series. Most recently her Shimmer Series has expanded to incorporate a fresh bright palette injected with accents of silver paint, in a modern minimalist style. She has also returned to painting landscapes in her Blue Sky Series, a collection of modern minimalist sea and landscapes. They capture the mood and atmosphere of wide open spaces or a vast ocean, embraced by an expansive atmospheric sky.

She has shown in many group and solo shows in Portland, Oregon and her work is collected internationally.