About
Artist Statement —
My 4 years of classical training in drawing & painting in Florence, Italy, has enabled me to develop an accurate, critical eye for observing and recording life around me in a classical realist style. My work is a laboured almalgamation of moments observed from life; a combination of rigorously trained process and a tinge of imagined poetry. I interact with my subject and romantacise nature - when I paint a portrait I try to find soul and the likeness equally while I converse with my models; While making a still life, I give objects personalities so that they become as if important actors on a stage.
My materials are based of 19th century techniques - I prepare my own gesso on linen, grind my own paint and light my subjects with natural north light. Subjects in my work are dramatically lit - shadow and light are equal heroes, the edges of forms are often sinking into a dark, mysterious or atmospheric background. I return to the quality of craftsmanship of the Old Masters of the Rennaissance to the 19th Century (From Botticelli and Van Dyck to Sorolla and Sargent); searching for order in the objective classical method. The subjects of my work reflect this inspiration; Portraits from life, Allegorical figures, Still Life paintings with symbolic meaning, Plein Air sketches of the landscape I live in.
Bio —
(b. 1989, St. Arnaud, Australia)
Hannah Sutton (b. 1989, Australia) is a classical realist painter based in Florence, Italy.
Graduating from the 3-year advanced painting and drawing certificate program at The Florence Academy of Art in 2020, Hannah completed the year-long graduate-in-residence program (known as the ‘Fourth Year Prize’) before working as a principal instructor in the first-year Intensive drawing certificate program and the Six-week Intensive Course. She is currently the Program Director of the 6-week Intensive Drawing, Painting, and Art History course.
In her hometown of St. Arnaud, Australia, Hannah was the youngest member of the local art group St. Art, where at 13 she began participating in art shows and life drawing classes. She graduated with a Bachelor of Communication Design at RMIT University, Melbourne in 2010 and for 7 years was a freelance designer and artist in Melbourne before seeking a return to classical painting and drawing, moving to Florence in 2017.
Today, Hannah paints commissions and private work in her studio in Florence. Her subjects include still life, portraits, figures, and landscapes and are in private collections throughout Australia, the UK, the US and Europe. She has exhibited both in Australia and Italy.
CV—
- EDUCATION -
2020 - Fourth Year Prize (Graduate in Residence Program) The Florence Academy of Art, Italy
2017-2020 - Drawing & Painting Program, The Florence Academy of Art, Italy
2007-2010 - Bachelor of Design (Communication Design) RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia (Graduated with Distinction)
2015 - Cert 3 in Micro Business Management, Box Hill Institute, Melbourne, Australia
- EXHIBITIONS -
2023 - ‘La Dolce Vita’ - Raillery Hub Gallery, St Arnaud, Australia (Sold Out)
2023 - Faculty Show, The Florence Academy of Art
2022 - ‘Oceania: 6 Artists of the Mondo Nuovissimo’, Group show, Gruppo Donatello - Florence, Italy
2022 - Faculty Show, The Florence Academy of Art
2021 - ‘Letting Us In: Women of The FAA’ Online Group Show, Florence Academy of Art
2020 - ‘A Still Life’ Online Show
2019 - Bendigo Easter Art Show, Victoria, Australia
2019 - Annual Charlton Art Exhibition, Victoria, Australia (Group show)
2019 - ‘Fruits of Summer’ Group Show at The Florence Academy of Art, Italy
2018 - ‘Fruits of Summer’ Group Show at The Florence Academy of Art, Italy
2018 - Annual Charlton Art Exhibition, Victoria, Australia (Group show)
2010 - ‘Drawing 10A’, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne Australia (Group show)
- AWARDS -
2022 - Finalist, 16th International ARC Salon (for painting ‘Pandemic Self-Portrait’)
2021 - MEAM Figurativas 2021 - Preselection (for painting ‘Man Out Of Time’)
2020 - ModPortrait 2020 - Selected artist in Painting
2020 - Fourth Year Prize (Graduate in Residence Program: Teaching role + studio residency) The Florence Academy of Art, Italy
2020 - Rare Birds Scholarship Award : Australian Prime Minister and Cabinet- Office for Women scholarship for mentoring and education
2019 - Advanced Painting Program Double Study Scholarship, The Florence Academy of Art, Italy
2019 - Best Exhibit - Charlton Art Exhibition, Victoria, Australia for ‘Canova’s Venus’
2018 - Intermediate Painting Program Study Scholarship, The Florence Academy of Art, Italy
2018 - Best Exhibit - Charlton Art Exhibition, Victoria, Australia for ‘Hanging on in quiet desperation’
- TEACHING -
2024 - Program Director of Six-week Intensive Course in Drawing, Painting and Art History - The Florence Academy of Art, Italy
2021 - present Program Director, Summer Still Life Painting Workshop, The Florence Academy of Art
2021 - 2023 Principal Instructor, First Year Intensive Drawing Course, The Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy
2021 - 2023 - Principal Instructor, Six-week Intensive Course in Drawing, Painting and Art History - The Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy
2021 - Teaching Assistant, First Year Intensive Drawing Course, The Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy
2021 - present Instructor & Creator, The Artist Website Workshop (online course)
- PUBLICATIONS -
2024 - Fine Art Connosseuir, March/April Edition
2021- LEONARDO ART GUIDE - XI Edition
2020 - ModPortrait 2020 Special Catalog
- MASTERCLASSES -
2023 Plein Air Painting Course with Daniela Astone, Mercatale in Val di Pesa, Italy
2023 Plein Air painting workshop with Patrick Okrasinski
2021 ‘Painting Best Practices’ by Natural Pigments , Online course. Website
2020 The Florence Academy of Art, ‘Plein Air Painting’ with Tanvi Pathare, Florence, Italy
2019 The Florence Academy of Art, ‘Ecorché Sculpture’ with Mitchell Price & Marty Welsh, Florence, Italy
2019 The Florence Academy of Art, ‘Sculpture for Painters’ with Mitch Shea, Florence Italy
2019 ‘Painting the Figure Outdoors’, Workshop with Daniela Astone & Ben Fenske
2018 Plein Air Painting Weekend with Marc Dalessio, Florence, Italy
2018 Plein Air Painting Course with Daniela Astone, Mercatale in Val di Pesa, Italy