
My Natural Inclination
Paintings by Sue Kelman
August 1st - 24th, 2025 • Artwalk Reception August 1st - 6-9 pm
As an avid art collector, I filled my home with paintings I loved for over 30 years, and in 2011 I began my own journey as a watercolorist, initially concentrating on landscapes. The ever-changing horizons of Payne’s Prairie which I traversed every day, the deep foliage around my Micanopy woods, and the ferns, live oaks and magnolias were the earliest inspiration for my work.
Recent work employs all watermedia. I use both representational and abstract forms to try to reflect the vibrant beauty of our natural world. I am drawn to painting natural structures of all types, following my attraction to color, shape and light. Botanical shapes like sea grapes, long leaves of all types, hydrangeas in transition, live oaks that reach all the way across the road, the stark beauty of the wetlands and the beaches-- and the colorful wildness of Florida and the Caribbean have captivated me. My paintings also reflect images from my travels to Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Montana, Key West and the Dominican Republic. Several recent pieces (“Overcome” and “Reclamation”) are landscapes with a nod (or more) to the stresses that nature is facing due to climate change.

Visit Sue's website: kskpaintings.com
I hope my paintings elicit an emotional response from the viewer, as I attempt to share my way of seeing. The longer I paint the more I find that my work changes and evolves whether I think I'm ready to move on or not; the work takes me there.
I exhibit regularly at the Gainesville Fine Arts Association Gallery, where I served as an officer for 6 years, and have had several solo shows in Gainesville venues. I have been a participating artist in the GFAA Artist Studio Tour. Over the past ten years I have received eleven awards for my work.