It's MY Turn
Australian How To Paint|Issue 34
Being a teacher, mother, business woman and active community member wasn’t enough for this artist, who decided that she also needed to follow her artistic ambitions.
Sue Lederhose
It's MY Turn

I began my true artistic journey 11 years ago in 2002, when I considered it was high time for a bit of selfishness in my life. I had played with creativity as a child, experimented in oils as a teenager and encouraged art in all my teaching roles as an adult. When it came time to pursue my own art dreams, watercolour was what I wanted to do. I had spent years touring galleries, studying and admiring works of art that were way beyond my financial means. In the end I decided that I just needed to paint my own!

Watercolours were inspirational because of transparent beauty and the flow of the medium. I loved the clean power that could be expressed through this medium. The techniques were initially learnt by methodically working through books obtained from the local library. I worked on a corner of the kitchen table for several years, using white dinner plates as my palette. Being of a mature age I knew what I wanted and what I could do, and was prepared to put in the hard yards to achieve it. I juggled my work as a teacher, the mother of a large family, including a newborn baby with colic, a business woman and an active role in the church and community because this was important to me. I was inspired! I was having success and my spirit was light. I have been pursuing my dream in a dogged, unrelenting fashion ever since.

I work in isolation, not by choice, but because this is where I live, and where my family lives, in Mundubbera, Queensland. Because of this I make every effort to attend at least one workshop a year so that I can learn more quickly from experienced tutors and to enjoy the fellowship of, and be inspired by other artists.

This story is from the Issue 34 edition of Australian How To Paint.

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This story is from the Issue 34 edition of Australian How To Paint.

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