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Artist Suzy Sansom often begins her creations on paper with a simple graphite "doodle" of lines and shapes
that form a pleasing composition. Then the artist will pull a figure out of those shapes, and in this manner, the
dynamic, stylized subjects of her paintings are born.

At the Academy of Art College where she received her BA in Illustration in 1988, Suzy discovered her strength
was drawing the figure. In school is when she discovered her medium of choice–oil pastel–and it's then when
the artist took her love of drawing the figure to the next level. Her whimsical "Weird Women" painting series
debuted in 1996. In this series, Suzy has delighted in creating her "shapely", sometimes bawdy, always fun-
loving gals, and engaging them in some of life's simplest, most joyous pleasures! "If my art brings a smile to
someone's lips or a giggle, then I've done my job well", says the artist, whose wine label illustration for "Big Ass
Cab" (Adler Fels Winery) has won many fans nationwide, as well as the Silver Medal for Best Individual Wine
Label Art at the 2004 International Wine Competition in San Francisco.

Most recently, Suzy has created a series of landscapes celebrating the local colors of the wine country in the
fall. Suzy has participated in several local art invitationals since moving to her present home/studio in Old
Towne Napa in 2004, including Jessel Miller's Napa Land Trust "Feast of Eden" benefit art auction, the Napa
Symphony's annual art auction benefits, and is the 2008 Poster Artist for the ParentsCan Annual Fundraising
Dinner and Auction. The artist continues to work as a commercial artist, primarily for local wineries. For two
weekends every fall, the artist opens her studio to the public during the Napa Valley Open Studios Tour. Visits
to Suzy's studio can be made by appointment.