Susan 'Lottie' Holliday


Susan was born in York, where she still lives.

Painting was something Susan always wanted to do from childhood after watching her mother sketch. But it wasn’t until mid-life that she did anything about it, having been cajoled by her family, and then it was mostly just dabbling. She didn’t really start to paint seriously until she got a job in an art shop in 2005.

Susan had enjoyed photography, and painting became an extension to this. With no formal art training, she preferred to experiment and find her own way.

She started with watercolours, sometimes adding ink, washing the picture and generally feeling her way to a result she was satisfied with. Acrylics and pastel featured later on.

Susan’s pictures often depict dramatic scenes, not based on exact memories, but a combination of landscape, rocks and sea that begins with one idea … and then the picture takes on a life of its own.

Susan has shown her work at various village shows. At one of these her work was spotted and taken on by a gallery in Nunnington, then subsequently a gallery in Helmsley.

Susan maintains that her art is just a hobby. She enjoys painting for its own end. That other people like it too, serves to encourage her to do more, and gives her a buzz too.