I have a BA 2/1 in Woven Textile Design from Loughborough College of Art and Design.

Following time spent sailing in the Caribbean; working in high fashion and as a secretary I married and had two sons. I spent time at home and realised that I needed to find a new means of self-expression. So I attended a course at Hampstead School of Art and studied traditional decorative painting techniques. I learned to gild and to create effects such as marbling, graining, and lapis lazuli. On completing the course I was asked to teach beginners and furniture painters. I also developed and taught a course for Crouch End School of Art.

After two years of teaching I went into partnership and set up the ‘Special Effects’ studio in Highgate. We taught students at all levels, worked to commission, and sold painted furniture. But after 18 months I knew that I really wanted to paint full-time. I was fortunate to find a studio at the Chocolate Factory and moved there in mid-1998.

Since then, I focused on developing my skills as a glass painter and exhibited in regularly in London and showed work in New York, Salt Lake City Utah and in ten Japanese cities including Tokyo and Osaka.

However, recently I’ve become drawn towards using more conventional wooden supports. Inspired by mosaic materials and techniques and by my large collection of found objects; I’ve been making a new series of paintings which bring pieces of my past together into my work in a very direct way. I’m also rediscovering some of the skills and techniques I acquired while working as a decorative painter.

Photograph of Alexandra Abraham: Susan Rosenberg