Elizabeth Sullivan

Elizabeth Sullivan, Sydney, New South Wales
@elizabethsullivanart
www.elizabethsullivanart.com

Elizabeth is a mixed media artist living in Sydney, Australia with her husband and 3 school aged children. She was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand where she lived until her early 20s. Drawn to travel (like so many antipodeans!) she left NZ bound for the UK, working in England and France (meeting her husband) before settling in Australia in 2004.

Her love of colour and pattern began as a child and she expressed these through drawing and painting, collaging and stitching. Over the years these forms of expression have evolved and flourished into beautiful works of art. Predominantly self-taught, Elizabeth has attended numerous art courses and workshops over the years (and continues to do so), learning techniques and processes that have helped her develop her own unique style and artistic language.

Elizabeth’s inspiration is drawn from the places she has travelled, elements of beauty found in everyday life, a love of pattern, flora, fauna and varying landscapes. Her artworks endeavour to tell a story through layers of paint and mixed media.

What began as a hobby has unintentionally evolved into Elizabeth now fulfilling her dream of working as an artist from her home studio. She enjoys painting in a predominantly abstract, expressive style and is striving to achieve a looser, more spontaneous response to nature and the landscape.

“I strive for my paintings to initiate a conversation. Colour, layers, marks, patterns and texture within the painting reflect one expressive moment which leads to the next.

Generally, I do not begin a painting with a defined outcome in mind. The beginnings of my paintings are generally influenced by my mood. I lay down initial marks or washes of colour that then determine the direction of the painting, often over many layers.

My prompt is generally nature inspired and it could be something as simple as encountering a fallen bloom on the pavement, the texture and pattern of the bark on a tree, or the way I feel walking along the beach.”