This theme in Susan's work was the focus of a solo exhibition from 18 Nov to 10 Dec 2006
at the BULL YARD GALLERY, Southwell, Notts

Susan's most recent paintings have been driven by her passion for the sea. They provided the focus for her 2006 solo exhibition at the Bull Yard Gallery. Her coastal depictions and linked harbour scenes are, in part, a transposition of childhood memory onto current day experiences. The harbour paintings in particular invoke a sense of otherworldliness; of places that are temporarily visited, with fragmented dreamlike qualities and cosy imagery. The essence of a harbour is its sense of safety, its typically curved form enveloping the seafarer and holiday maker alike; welcoming them into a temporary, comforting retreat from the hostile elements of the world.

"I must down to the seas again,
               for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call
               that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day
               with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume,
               and the sea-gulls crying."

      From 'Sea Fever', by John Masefield (1878-1967, English Poet Laureate 1930-1967)

The exhibition also included pieces from earlier and ongoing themes in Susan's contemporary fine art work. These included other landscape work together with her animal depictions, arboreal studies and ceramic sculptural work.

Susan relishes using a range of styles and media, within which she combines strong drawing skills with contemporary use of colour and bold application of texture.

The common thread is her "endeavour to capture the spirit of things or places I have known, to seek to illuminate aspects of the world that have captured my imagination - to evoke feeling".