The Artist

About Sue Cohen

A contemporary impressionist working in watercolor, mixed media, and printmaking — and a teacher who has been sharing that practice for over thirty years.

Biography

Drawn to lines,
moved by light

Sue Cohen is a contemporary impressionist working primarily in watercolor. Her extensive background in printmaking and batik gave her a deep love of lines, layers, and the interplay between positive and negative space — a sensibility that continues to inform her painting today. She has been painting full time since 2005, and her work hangs in private collections across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, North Carolina, New York, and Florida. In addition to her studio practice, Sue gives private and semi-private lessons for teens and adults. She continues to learn alongside her students, and attends courses and workshops whenever possible — because she believes deeply that the best teachers never stop being students themselves. When she isn't in the studio, she can usually be found searching for her next inspiration, or for a comfortable shady spot to set up her easel. She lives in Moorpark, California with her retired and sailing husband and an enormous dog.
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Sue Cohen in her studio, Moorpark CA

Sue Cohen · Moorpark, CA

"The world is a beautiful place — take time to stop and look around."
— Sue Cohen
2005
Painting Full Time Since
7+
States With Collections
30+
Years Teaching
8
Disciplines Taught

Artist Statement

On lines, reinvention,
and why I make art

Printmaking — I became fascinated by a simple line's expressivity. Now I see no lines are simple, no color unaffected by the surrounding colors. No art exists in a vacuum. I may work in different mediums, but each allows a different form of expression. Every piece connected to the time and space where it was made. My art is heavily affected by Essential Tremor, a degenerative condition requiring constant reinvention. It is truly kismet to once be discovering accommodations for others to create, to now being an artist who continuously creates new techniques and experiments with new mediums to make my art. Art is my zen place, holy space, my sanity and identity. Art is the perfect communicator, and when teaching art to autistic teenagers I see how healing even just process is, whether or not completed to another's standards. I see as I guide teens through galleries the importance of not only having a pleasing finished piece, but to understand and enjoy the process itself, and the value of helping kids to know that all art — whether you make it or see it on a wall — should make you feel, think, or have something to say. I am an Artist.
Taos Tree — watercolor by Sue Cohen

The Practice

From batik to brush —
a layered language

Sue's roots in printmaking and batik gave her a painter's eye for the way layers accumulate — how a resist holds a line, how one wash bleeds into another. Her watercolors draw on two very different ways of working. In pieces like Seattle Blooms, she uses masking frisket very liberally — separating each layer from the next, preserving light and edge, working with rather than against the significant tremor she has refused to let debilitate her. In others, like The Dragon, there is no masking at all: just transparent washes of color built slowly on each other, and a great deal of patience waiting for each layer to fully dry before the next one begins.

In the frisket works, by the time the last bits of deepest indigo go down, almost the entire paper is covered. That's when the magic starts: she slowly uncovers the image and begins to paint anew — more layers and glazing, highlighting and softening, until she's satisfied with the story each piece tells. Working both in studio and en plein air, she keeps a sketchbook in constant use — not as preparation, but as practice.

Sue is an advocate for artists living with Essential Tremor — a condition that has shaped, not limited, her technique.

  • Watercolor
  • Drawing
  • Acrylic Painting
  • Printmaking
  • Sumi-e Ink
  • Batik & Textiles
  • Silk Painting
  • Multimedia

Artistic Consulting

Bringing artistic vision to commercial
and community work

Sue collaborates with organizations, developers, event producers, and community groups that need an experienced artist's eye — from concept development and public art programming to creative direction and workshop facilitation.

Each engagement is shaped around your project's goals, timeline, and audience. Sue brings the same careful craft she applies to her studio work to every consulting project she takes on.

  • Public Art
  • Murals
  • Community Programs
  • Event Installation
  • Creative Direction
  • Workshop Design
Start a Consulting Conversation

How it works

Every project starts with a conversation about what you're trying to accomplish and who you're trying to reach.

  • →Initial discovery call — scoping the project together
  • →Written proposal with scope, timeline, and fees
  • →Active collaboration through delivery
  • →Post-project review and documentation as needed

Sue takes on a limited number of consulting projects per year. Reach out early to discuss availability.

Work With Sue

Study with a working artist

Private and semi-private lessons for teens and adults — tailored to your interests, your pace, and the work you actually want to make.

Classes & Workshops View the Gallery