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Friends have often commented that when I speak about my upbringing it sounds idyllic, and I believe it was. Firstly, living in a small village in Buckinghamshire surrounded by fields and woods and given as much freedom as a child could hope for (I doubt if it would happen now) and then, secondly, moving to a small village in Essex, a much maligned and beautiful county. I enrolled on an art foundation course and that same year my mum took me to the Tate, as I had never been to a gallery before. I loved my foundation course; it was like being back at play school - we had so much fun!
My tutors suggested I should apply to Leicester for my degree, because I was so shy and shy students had previously been accepted there. I had a great time and worked with many media and methods including making a raft to install a painting partially submerged under a canal bridge.
I then moved to Colchester. My first studio was on a working pig farm, the second in an old apple barn from which you could see the sea. During this time I tried my hand at teaching. Not for me. I exhibited and did various freelance work.
I then took a full time MA in Birmingham. In the following years I exhibited and worked freelance as a muralist. I loved this work, travelling the length and breadth of the country, painting huge murals for hotels, bars and nightclubs; one week painting classical figures, the next, imaginary U.V. landscapes. It was something of a baptism of fire. One day I arrived on a building site with a spray gun and a compressor (watched by 10+ builders) and not a clue how they worked. Needless to say I learned a lot during that time, including how to erect scaffolding and operate a scissor lift.
The appeal of travelling and B&B’s did not last that long and I missed home cooking too much. Soon I started working collaboratively with a good friend. We produced paintings to commission and got to work on some really exciting projects for corporate offices and many of the major bar and hotel chains. It was hard work and we used to gauge our work load by the number of ‘degree shows’ we had to complete by the end of the month. The largest painting we produced was a huge 5 x 4 metres. I was nearly four months pregnant at the time, having to climb the scaffold tower to help install it. Since the birth of my daughter I’ve been working on a much smaller scale from a studio at home.
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Sue Guthrie's Work
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