About the Artist
Suzanne Hughes Sullivan is emerging as an artist of note among collectors of traditional realism, with a rapidly expanding reputation on a regional and national level for her award winning work. A classically trained realist painter heavily influenced by the Dutch and Flemish masters of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Suzanne describes her work as having a decidedly old world atmosphere. "For me, it's all about the light. Dramatic lighting helps creative strong, dramatic compositions. My primary goal is to draw the viewer in from across the room, where they can then closer inspect and appreciate brushwork and technique."
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, Suzanne knew from an early age that she wanted to be an artist. After earning a BFA in 1980 from Parsons School of Design in New York City, Suzanne enjoyed a prolific career as an illustrator, working in a style best described as photo-realism. Her work focused on paintings for advertising, book covers and sporting events. Suzanne retired from illustration when her children were young, but when her fourth child reached school age, she felt the pull to resume painting. "It's been six years since I started back, and every painting is a step on a journey to an unknown yet anticipated destination. That's what keeps it fresh and exciting for me."