Our Next Workshop Will Feature Artist
Suze Woolf
Thursday, October 1st, 2026
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Description of “Suze Paints” Demo
Suze will paint a still life from life first and then a landscape
from a sketch made on location and photo references.
Her medium of choice is watercolor on paper but artists
can bring whatever medium they would like.
Suze Woolf
Artist Bio:
Suze Woolf studied ceramics and printmaking at the University
of Washington. An early adopter of computer graphics, her
career has also included print and interface design. Though
known as a watercolorist, she explores a wide range of media
from painting, paper-casting, artist books and pyrography to
installation –sometimes all together. She has exhibited
throughout the Pacific Northwest but also across the US and
parts of Canada. Her work is in museums, public and many
private collections. She has curated a large travelling exhibit,
juried competitions for municipalities and artist organizations, and contributed work to non- profit fundraising. An installation of her burned tree portraits has been touring since 2019.
She has received grants, stipends and exhibits from arts organizations, universities and museums. She has been artist-in-residence in 7 national parks, as well as in 9 art at Zion National Park. She has also been an invited resident at 10 art colonies.
Materials List
Materials Needed: Up to the audience’s choice of medium. If someone wishes to follow
along in watercolor, here is what I have recommended in classes and workshops I have
taught:
Note: These are guidelines and preference not absolute requirements. If you have
some supplies, bring whatever you have. I will have some extra materials available for
use, but I won’t have a complete outfit for everyone.
1. Paper: Real watercolor paper is a high-grade 100% cotton sheet that will give you
the best results. But let’s work with whatever you have. I rarely work larger than
quarter sheet outdoors: 11” x 15” because that’s what fits in my pack. And we’ll
do some exercises on small scraps first to get acquainted with watercolor’s salient
properties.
2. Brushes: Bring whatever you have. What I take in my backcountry kit is a 2-inch
dagger, 1-inch flat, one or two medium size rounds and a ½-inch dagger and one
very fine brush (“rigger”). Watercolor brushes are traditionally much softer than
acrylic or oil brushes, but again, bring whatever you have.
3. Paints: Just a basic set of colors for experimenting with will be fine. Bring some if
you have them. “Professional” or “artists” watercolors in tubes are usually
stronger and perform best but bring what you have; it’s not a requirement to go
out and get all new paints. But if you do get some, you can get away with a very
abbreviated set like this one: Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor - Essentials Set,
5 ml Tube | BLICK Art Materials (dickblick.com). Two people could even split
some of those 5 ml tubes. But again, bring whatever you have, and we’ll work
with it.
4. Depending on what kind of paints you have, a palette for squeezing out and reusing
gobs of paint from their tubes (that way you don’t have to carry them around for
every trip). The lightweight plastic ones with divided buckets around the sides are
good. I use this one: Mijello Fusion Airtight/Leakproof Palettes | BLICK Art
Materials (dickblick.com). Some people use a metal butcher tray or a plastic
plate.
5. 1-2 water containers. Solo beer cups or Talenti ice cream containers work nicely.
6. A small spray bottle is nice for juicing up dried paint and other effects.
7. A notebook for notes and sketches
8. Pencils for making quick preliminary drawings. I use a good old 2B most of the time.
9. Pencil sharpener, can be just a little one
10. An eraser - kneaded or white vinyl eraser best but whatever you have is fine.
11. A board to paint on that’s just a bit larger than your paper and some clips to hold it
on to the board, like a piece of Masonite, Sintra, foam core or even heavy matboard. My board is about a quarter- to a half-inch larger than my paper.
12. Clips to hold the paper to the board, office binder clips will work.
13. Clean up and wiping/painting rags. I cut up old T shirts.
14. Portable easel if you have one but don’t worry if you don’t. I will have one because
it will be easier to see my demonstrations.
15. If I am outdoors, a camera or phone is handy but not a requirement. Boy, one time was I glad I’d taken a photo of my scene before I started painting at Gasworks Park one day— they turned the sprinklers on about half-way through : - )
Pictures of Demo Project
Source Photos
I won’t decide this until 9/28 at the earliest.
I’ll bring my still life object (probably a vegetable) and a quick drawing I will have made
somewhere in the backcountry between now and then. Since I will be spending the
second half of September in southeastern Oregon it may well be of that area, but it
could just as well be our own Cascades from some hike between now and then…
Examples of the Artist's Artwork
Suze’s main bodies of painted work are burned trees,
still lifes, and landscapes/industryscapes.
Painting Mantras or the Voices I Hear in my Head
Workshop Meetings are Held the 1st Thursday of the Month Excluding:
July ✩ August ✩ December ✩ January
The First Presbyterian Church of Puyallup
412 West Pioneer Puyallup, WA 98371
Please send all correspondence, inquires
and payments to the address below:
SHA - South Hill Artists
902 16th Ave Ct SE
Puyallup, WA 98372- 4800
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