Draft:Susie Hammond

Susan Ruth Hammond (1966-) is a British Artist and Illustrator from Suffolk.

Life and Career
Susan Ruth Hammond was born at Rendlesham, Suffolk in 1966, youngest of the four children of Peter Hammond and Valerie Hammond (née Brewster). She was brought up at Iken, a place which she still is inspired by, having drawn many paintings of the village. In 1978 her mother and father seperated, and instead of going with her father or her mother, she decided to go live with her elder sister at Bawdsey.

After being denied the opportunity to study at an art school, she decided to travel to Australia. On her return she studied Theatre Design at the Seagull Theatre at Lowestoft and studied landscape and garden designer at Otley College. After having her son, George, she began drawing and painting, drawing on both her liftime passion for art and the skills she had learnt from her studies. After beign diagnosed with a number of tumours, Susie was very ill, but whilst recovering, she painted prolifically, stating that it had "saved my life because I just used to absorb myself into drawing." The first things she sold were cards, before at popular request moving onto paintings, sold initially at The Ship Inn at Blaxhall, where in the span of 4 years she sold 450 paintings.

Susie played a major role in the 'Beowulf' festival at Woodbridge with her artwork projected onto the Woodbridge Tide Mill and she has exhibited at Art on the Prom at Felixstowe. In 2023 she exhibited in Woodbridge and Aldeburgh with plans to exhibit more widely in the coming future.