Sue Firmin

Design, the act of creating something new, never before made, exactly how my hand will make it is my driver. I can be drawn across a room by an arresting composition, a new experience, a collection of shapes, marks, values that have to be explored up close and far away. Trying to discover what was it was that drew me like a magnet, made my heart beat faster, gave me butterflies, provided a burst of joy in finding the unexpected. This is what I search for in my own work, no planning, no subject matter but searching for that unexplained something. The sudden burst of excitement I find when I discover ‘it’ on my board whilst adding, scraping, dribbling and removing paint.



I now use acrylic paint, along with crayons, oil and soft pastels, pencils, anything to hand to create a mark, a spot of colour to discover amongst the layers. Recently I’ve been collaging papers I’ve made to cover or add interest to an area. I enjoy the hunt for just the right placement.

I enjoy hearing what others see in my finished paintings.