Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Suzanne’s Story

It has been a long time coming. In 1968 I completed a Foundation year and after a lifetime in Science, in 2018 I picked up where I left off. Searching for courses I looked at both online and bricks and mortar and prioritised my deficits (lack of a portfolio for instance) and my need to stay in my home. Daily student contact in a studio environment would have been nice, but OCA turned out to have the flexibility I needed and the promise of work aimed at stretching and challenging. I am most of the way through Drawing 1, my first OCA module on the way to a painting degree, and I can testify to the challenge! Each new exercise sends me into a flat spin and each completion sets me up again with a massive sense of achievement. I am 70 and I may well be 80 by the time I finish but I have a hashtag on Instagram – #nevertoolatetodoadegree

The penultimate piece is based on photographs of an exemplar of a huge wave in the north Atlantic, and whales surfacing to feed. Roughly 8″x 12″ gouache and acrylics on A3 hot-pressed watercolour paper.