More Than a Majority – A Collective Vision
Contemporary Wildlife Artist
British contemporary painter Susan Gardner creates expressive, colour-filled paintings of animals and birds, capturing far more than a faithful likeness.
Known for Colour
Susan first became widely known for her colourful Highland cattle paintings. Bold colour, energetic brushwork and animals with unmistakable character remain central to her work.
Exploring Our Wild Connection
Her paintings explore the emotional connection between humans, animals and the natural world, and what that relationship reveals about us.
About Susan Gardner
Susan Gardner is a contemporary British artist living near the National Forest in Leicestershire, accompanied by her dogs and usually a fair amount of mud.
Animals have shaped almost every part of her life. Before becoming a full-time artist, she spent years working with horses and dogs, developing a close understanding of their behaviour, character and individuality.
That experience still runs through her paintings today. Susan is interested not simply in what an animal looks like, but in who they are as an individual. Animals experience a rich range of emotions and form complex relationships, yet each has a character entirely their own. Her paintings invite the viewer to pause, look again and recognise something familiar in another living being.
Artist Statement
I use expressive colour, fluid movement and the impact of scale to create paintings that are felt before they are analysed.
In my process, colour is the doorway. Bold, vibrant hues take emotion straight to the heart, opening a space where empathy follows.
Rather than aiming for literal accuracy, I reach for emotional truth. Gestural calligraphic lines indicate freedom of movement. Delicious texture conveys individuality. Sculptural brushwork evokes elegance in weighty forms.
To live with my work is to be daily excited by colour, inspired by connection, and nourished by the beauty of the natural world
Photo Gallery
A small selection of recent art works
