The Artist & The Work

Suzanne works in oil on linen for her most recent series Myth & Memory. These larger works look at life's pivot points (loss, transition, resilience, memory) through a lens of myth and magic. The personal and universal merge.

Her studio drawings are pastel on paper. These figure works try to celebrate the model as individual—and use color and line to interpret their energy or take the scene beyond the studio walls.

Suzanne Anderson has lived and worked in the Berkeley/Emeryville California area since 1971. 

Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, her family eventually moved to Sacramento, California where she grew up. Suzanne was lucky to have some amazing high school art instructors including Ralph Goings. His influence instilled a fascination with the beauty of the ordinary and tangible. Then experiencing the sixties and seventies added magic to that vision.

Encouraged by family to study architecture or design at University of California Berkeley, she graduated with honors while using the independent study programs to pursue her addiction to painting. A few years later she applied for the graduate program in painting at Oakland's California College of Arts and Crafts. She received her MFA in 1977 with highest honors. 

She exhibited oils and watercolors at William Sawyer Gallery from 1978 until 1984. In 1983 she married and began working full time until her retirement. She has begun her artwork again—looking at her earlier art and joining the threads.

Selected Solo Exhibitions


1977 Graduate Show, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California


1980 Realism, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, California

Selected Group Exhibitions


1978 Introductions, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, California


2019 Book Club Van Kleef exhibit, Harris Center for the Arts, Bank of America Gallery, 
Folsom CA


2020 Bird, Nest, Nature, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, California
2020 Crocker Kingsley, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, California

2022 Book Club Van Kleef exhibit, Rhoda Goldman Plaza, San Francisco, California

2022 Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, California

2023 Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, California

The artwork on this site are available for sale unless noted as  Private Collection. Please inquire through the contact form.