About The Artist

 

BIOGRAPHY

Suzanne Aunan is a self-taught artist who has enjoyed painting as far back as she can remember.  Born in New York City, she enjoyed childhood on a dairy farm in Orange County, NY.  She was influenced in her early years by her artistic mother and grandmother, and was encouraged to “continue painting” which she did enthusiastically.  She recalls sharing her plastic flip-top palette of “paint-by-number” paints with her grandmother as magically, beautiful cottages and flowers blossomed on pieces of scrap paper in front of her.  As a teen, she loved the work of Ralph and Martha Cahoon, and was honored decades later to be invited to be part of two exhibits at the Cahoon Museum of American Art.  Throughout her school years, she enjoyed painting during vacations, but never considered art as a possible career.  After graduating high school in Glen Ridge, NJ, Suzanne attended the University of Iowa, majoring in Medical Technology and later graduated from the Physician Assistant Program. She worked as a Medical Technologist in Hematology and the Bone Marrow Lab, then as a P.A. at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Hematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant.  Then as a full-time mother of four, she developed her love of painting into a successful home gallery business which she continues to enjoy today.

Suzanne’s detailed compositions are created using acrylic, gouache and watercolors, sometimes with pencil or ink pen. She enjoys the “toughness” of painting on hardboard.  Before a painting is begun, it already exists in her mind. Then, like a thousand piece puzzle, parts of the painting are separated and sorted into “piles” of colors. Details are then added, the more the better. As a painting nears completion, her family and friends are asked “What does this painting need?” or “Is this painting finished?” Her youngest children have always provided the best heart-felt critiques.  Each painting can take more than a year to complete.

Suzanne created her first limited edition lithograph “The Last Ride In” in October 2000.  Her work has been purchased by collectors world-wide and is represented in Japan by MegaPress.

Suzanne enjoys painting detailed scenes of life today, believing that special events and happy occasions with people we love are important images to be documented in paint. It is her hope that her paintings bring joy to those who view them, realizing that the “good days” are here, now and today. Today we are making precious memories.
The “Public Comment Period” before a painting goes to print:

Public Comment Period Another Public Comment Period
Awards / Honors
  • E E Schenck Fabric licensing 2022-2023
  • FryFest Hawkeye Collectors’ Showcase 2017
  • Marquette Center for the Arts 2016, McGregor, Iowa
  • Art In US Embassies Program: 2015-2017 Moldovan Embassy
  • First Place (shared) University of Iowa Hospitals Staff Art Show 2014
  • FryFest Hawkeye Collectors’ Showcase 2013
  • Art Business News  March 2007  New Editions
  • MegaPress Agency   Tokyo, Japan
  • Invitation to “Biennale Internazionale Dell’Arte Contemporanea,” Florence, Italy 2013, 2007, 2005, 2003
  • “Hey YAH!”  University of Iowa’s Year of the Arts & Humanities “The Daily Palette” August 16, 2006, October 4, 2005, September 2, 2004
  • Honorable Mention   Hooverfest President’s Best Art Show 2006 and 2005, Hoover Presidential Library
  • University of Iowa Alumni Association 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
  • Iowa City Public Library Purchase Award 2005
  • “The Iowan” Magazine, Jan.-Feb 2004
  • University of Iowa Fine Arts 2004 Calendar
  • University of Iowa Alumni Association Reunion 2004, 2003, 2001
  • People’s Choice Winner   Hooverfest President’s Best Art Show 2004  Hoover Presidential Library
  • Iowa Arts Festival 2003 commemorative poster licensee
  • Des Moines Arts Festival Gallery
  • Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cape Cod, Cotuit, Massachusetts 2003 “Modern Primitives: Simple Art in a Complex Age”  A Survey of 20th-Century Primitive Art in America
  • Fourth Place, The President’s Best 2003,  Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum
  • One-artist show, the Old Post Office Art Gallery 2002, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Best of Show, The Second Annual President’s Best 2002,  Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum
  • Purchase Awards: Two Rivers Art Expo 2002 (Farm Bureau Financial Group Award and Rich and Jane Hein Award)  Des Moines, Iowa
  • Purchase Award: Waterloo Center for the Arts 2002, Waterloo, Iowa
  • Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cape Cod, Massachusetts 2001
  • “ATT’s Cool Website of the Week” October 6, 1999
  • New Jersey Flower and Garden Show (circa 1969)  Poster Contest, honorable mention