Sue Eves SOA – portfolio

Contact the artist

https://www.southoxfordarts.uk

fox.evesATgmail.com

Exhibition information

Godstow Abbey in Storm Éowyn.

Looking for gothic buildings and light in winter, I walked into a storm at Godstow Abbey, Oxford. The birds called a warning and deserted the trees as lightning struck, followed by thunder claps and rain. A tiny lantern of light spilled through the abbey windows. I felt the power of the storm as I struck the glass with paint on a large sheet of glass that I had saved for bigger work. None of my salvaged windows were big enough for this abbey in a storm.

Lizzie and the Raven.

Looking for a female Victorian Gothic counterpart to the Pre-Raphaelite painter, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, I found his sister, Christina Rossetti and her narrative poem Goblin Market. I painted the moment when Lizzie returns with her silver penny from the Goblin Market – successful in winning the antidote for her dying sister Laura. Even the fiercest spirit would need an ally to counter dark magic, so I added the raven. I used a palette knife to achieve the sheer quality of her gown and poured paint to capture her ordeal. The crosses in the detail are a symbol of her Christian faith.

The Magic Cat of Florence or La Gatta Magica di Firenze.

The cat is a fairy in disguise, who uses magic to save herself and her master from poverty. I discovered the origin of the story of Puss in Boots during my visit to Florence and took a trip back to 16th Century Renaissance Italy. The companion piece is “Puss in Boots”, painted on a window from the former General Elliot pub, Oxford. Costantino Fortunato – First tale published around 1550 by Giovanni Francesco Straparola.

Puss in Boots (Window) or La Gatta Con Gli Stivali.

Puss in Boots was female in the original story. The cat is a fairy in disguise, who uses magic to save herself and her master from poverty. I discovered the origin of Puss in Boots during my visit to Florence and took a trip back to 16th Century Renaissance Italy. The companion piece is “The Magic Cat of Florence”, painted on acetate. Costantino Fortunato – First tale published around 1550 by Giovanni Francesco Straparola.

Red Dragon.

After I witnessed a vicious fight between two dogs, I recalled the Welsh legend from the Mabinogion, of the two dragons fighting over Oxford. To rid the land of their scream, King Lludd orders a pit to be dug in the centre of the land (Oxford) where the dragons fall. They are carried away and hidden in Wales. The Red Dragon featured in a large-scale window painting on our community centre window that I painted to celebrate our new exhibition. Afterwards, I washed the gouache painting away to make space for the next exhibition. The Red Dragon forms a diptych with the White Dragon, if displayed on a diagonal.

White Dragon.

White Dragon is one of the two dragons fighting over Oxford in the Welsh legend from the Mabinogion. To rid the land of their scream, King Lludd orders a pit to be dug in the centre of the land (Oxford) where the dragons fall. They are carried away and hidden in Wales. The White Dragon featured in a large-scale window painting on our community centre window that I painted to celebrate our new exhibition. Afterwards, I washed the gouache paint away to make space for the next exhibition. The White Dragon forms a diptych with the Red Dragon, if displayed on a diagonal.

Artist information

Sue Eves, painter and storyteller, lives and works in Oxford. She paints on the old windows that people  have rejected in their rush to the double-glazed future. She studied Drama and Visual arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she developed her love for creating stories. 

Her paintings focus on epiphanies gleaned from nature; folk stories and fairytales, from cross-cultural story collections and ancient oral story traditions with the added twist of her contemporary interpretations. 

She started painting on windows back in Covid days, when she was furloughed from The Story Museum, Oxford. People passing by on their walks regularly stopped to view her paintings on the windows of her home. Condensation on the windows at night would wash away the gouache. Over 4 months, she completed and wiped away 177 images. She played with light and reflections and developed techniques to mimic stained-glass effects, using transparent paint for her permanent window art and gouache for her ephemeral work. Now her window paintings are portable and purchased from art shows. Sue continues to paint larger scale scenes for her ephemeral works on the South Oxford Community Centre windows to celebrate the launch of the South Oxford Art Group exhibitions twice a year. 

 

Sue Eves is a member of South Oxford Arts. Since 2022, she has exhibited her work during Oxfordshire Artweeks. She was one of the featured artists in the Oxford Times 2026 & 2025 and her work was featured in the Ox Magazine, 2024

“I have seen myself in my windows. I am the swan, once shunned for being different now taking to the skies.

I have a shed full of discarded windows with their own stories, waiting to be part of a new story.

I start with a pencil sketch, then paint with a brush and a palette knife, pouring, mixing, splattering and stippling glass paint to create sheer transparency and intense colour – always observing nature, the seasons and the changing natural light.

I paint familiar stories, retelling from a feminist perspective. My women may be silenced but they can still bewitch. Lizzie, Fair Rosamund, Echo, La Gatta…they escape with wit, determination, rage and beauty – a storm personified. No longer trapped on paper or sitting in the background, they thrive in the paintings in their windows.”