A bit about me
Sue Vass, Artist
Making art is in my DNA - it's as essential as breathing and eating. It's therapy and self- expression; my way of making sense of the every day and wider world around me.
At school I lived for art, music, dance and sport - these loves have intertwined and sustained me as a wife, mother, teacher, therapist and artist.
Background
I was in my thirties when I embarked on the gradual path to becoming an artist. Originally, I trained as a PE teacher with art as my second subject; then taught PE before raising a young family of three.
While working in an alternative education setting in the 1990s, I was able to combine teaching art with doing a 5-year part-time art degree in Canterbury. It was life-changing.
2001 - BA (Hons) Fine Art
2003
2020
2022
After graduating from Kent Institute of Art & Design (now UCA), I joined fellow student, artist and friend Wendy Asprey in setting up Platonic, a platform for our joint-exhibitions and workshops. And later, I collaborated with three others in setting up 4art to promote our work locally.
After I left teaching, I gained a Post Grad Psychology Diploma and practised as a Human Givens Therapist for 10 years. During this time, I ran art workshops in schools, started ‘Art on the Railings’ in Tonbridge and also travelled with Wendy to exhibitions at home and abroad.
The Covid pandemic gave me time to both reflect on and develop my art practice; as well as to install a hanging system at home, ready to take part in Kent Open Studios in 2021 and 2022.
I enrolled at The Essential School of Painting in London, for a
2-year Advanced Painting course. As a multidisciplinary artist, it enabled me to completely immerse myself in painting for the first time and become part of a community of artists. Rubbing shoulders with other practitioners so intensively, seeing them work and benefiting from their experiences and knowledge was transformational.
Exhibitions
& Collaborations
I have exhibited in over 40 galleries and art shows in Kent, including:
Horsebridge Whitstable
Tonbridge Castle
Artspring Gallery
I'm a member of Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum.
I've also collaborated with the Roundel Poetry Group and the Tonbridge Festival.
Whilst working with 4ArtKent, I was privileged to be part of 2-year project capturing for posterity, the unique and historic workshops of Allen's Garage in Duncan's Place, Tonbridge.
Shortly after the final exhibition closed, the premises were sadly bulldozed to make way for the new riverside development.
