Sue's seaside inspirations

Seafront runs continue to inspire Sue Harding who is exhibiting at the new art gallery at Colonnade House in Warwick Street, Worthing.
Work by SueWork by Sue
Work by Sue

“In many ways it will be a re-run of the exhibition I had earlier in the year at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery with lots of original paintings and prints of local scenes of Worthing, all seaside based, from nostalgic paintings of days gone by to the current scenes I observe when I'm running along the seafront.”

The exhibition Reflections from the Seaside runs from November 22-December 3, 10am to 5pm daily (closed Sunday and Monday).

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As Sue says, her work is simultaneously arresting and familiar. Her paintings allow you into her life, creating a unique view on seaside living whist inviting you to see your own beach-side experiences in her colourful and lively images.

Sue sets out to capture the atmosphere of a perfect afternoon by the sea in a way more akin to a fond memory than a traditional piece of art. Sue’s work is part biography, part love letter to seaside life.

“I love living by the sea and have a fascination for painting the sea and shoreline and enjoy depicting our collective experience of visiting the seaside… From nostalgic paintings depicting days and holidays gone by to current scenes, in this exhibition I hope to illustrate our experience and love of the seaside”

Sue contrasts a changing family life with the wonderful stalwart of the coast: “Many of my images depict my own family, from great aunts enjoying the seaside in the 1920s, my mum and dad in the 1950s, my children in the 1970s, through to my granddaughter in the 2000s, illustrating how through the different decades all families have enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, the unique excitement and experience of being by the sea.”

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Sue was originally an actor who trained at the Italia Conti Stage School and appeared in both films and television, but her love of painting eventually took over, culminating in her first solo exhibition at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth in 1990.

Since then she has held many exhibitions and sells her art at a variety of galleries, shops and cafés. Sue has continued to train and undertook a degree in fine art at Worthing’s Northbrook College where she achieved her honours degree in 2003.

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