From Landscape to Studio: Susi’s Painting Course at West Dean College

Recently, I spent some time away from the studio at West Dean College in West Sussex, where I took a painting course with artist Nick Bodimeade called Landscape to Studio, Drawing to Painting at West Dean. It was a lovely opportunity to step away from my usual work, spend time drawing and painting, and look at the landscape around me with fresh eyes. So much of what I do is inspired by colour, pattern and the world around me, but it's not often that I get the chance to stop and simply paint without a particular end result in mind

A change of scenery

West Dean is a beautiful place to spend time making art, surrounded by the countryside of the South Downs. Being out in the landscape and drawing directly from what was in front of me was a welcome change from working in the studio. It's amazing how much you notice when you really take the time to look: the shapes of the trees, the lines of the landscape, the way the light falls and the subtle shifts in colour across the fields and sky

Image: West Dean

From drawing to painting

The course explored the relationship between drawing from the landscape and developing those initial observations into paintings. I really enjoyed the freedom of this process, using sketches as a starting point rather than feeling that I needed to reproduce exactly what I could see. A drawing can capture something quite fleeting, whether it's an interesting shape, a particular arrangement of lines or the feeling of a place, and these details can then be taken in a completely different direction when you start to paint. I'm always interested in how an initial idea can develop into something unexpected, and it was lovely to have the time to experiment and see where the work took me

Looking at colour differently

Colour is such an important part of my work, so spending time looking closely at the colours of the natural landscape was particularly interesting. There is so much variation in what might at first seem like a simple view: greens that shift from warm to cool, earthy browns, soft blues and little flashes of colour that catch your eye. My own designs tend to be quite bold and colourful, and I love combining shades that might not immediately seem like obvious partners. It was interesting to spend time with a more natural palette and think about how colour, tone and composition work together. I always find that looking at things in a different way, even for a short time, can spark ideas that stay with me long after I've returned to the studio

Time to experiment

One of the best things about taking a course like this is having the freedom to try things without worrying too much about the finished result. Working on collections and designs means there is always something to develop, refine or prepare for launch, so it was refreshing to spend a few days concentrating purely on drawing and painting. I came away feeling that it is important to make room for this kind of experimentation, even when life in the studio is busy. Not every sketch needs to become something else, and not every painting needs to have a purpose beyond the enjoyment of making it. Sometimes it's simply about giving yourself the time and space to explore

Bringing new ideas back to the studio

I've always found inspiration in a variety of places, from my time living in Florence and my love of traditional marbled paper to travelling, architecture, nature and the everyday things that catch my eye. I never know quite how these experiences will feed into my work, and that's part of what makes the creative process so interesting. A colour combination, a shape or a particular way of working with paint might resurface months later in an entirely different context. My time at West Dean was a lovely reminder of the importance of looking, drawing and making time to experiment, and I'm looking forward to seeing how some of these ideas might find their way into my work in the future

Some of Susi's favourite pieces she created on the course

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