An interview with our current exhibiting artist: Sue Moult

It’s a serene and unusually hot April morning when we join Sue Moult by the River Cam. She has picked her painting spot as the historic swimming platform of Hodson’s Folly. This small stone summerhouse was built in 1887 on Coe Fen, with a picturesque view up the river. As we talk, we are joined by a number of nosy geese who are curious to listen in.

With her paints propped up on a stool next to her, Sue describes how she got into painting in the outdoors – surprisingly through tennis, which she plays regularly. “I met a good friend of mine, and we were playing tennis and I said, “I must really get back to painting, because I haven’t done any for a while.” And she said, “you must come along to James Horton’s class”, who’s a Royal Academician and kindly let me join his classes. I used to go there every week and do life painting. That inspired me to start painting outside, and going out with friends.” Sue explains that for her, art is not necessarily just about painting – “it’s very often being with friends and painting. And spending a day out in the most beautiful countryside. It’s good for the soul, I think, as well. You come home and you feel good.” Like many Chinese painters who think of painting as meditative, she regards art as restorative and calming.

Many of Sue’s works feature watery landscapes around Cambridge and East Anglia. Her mastery of water and changing skies through watercolour is unmatched. She describes how living in Cambridge has permeated her work, with the wonderful combination of historical buildings and the University, but in the middle of it all, having the meadows which are the perfect place to paint. Sometimes, she will spend most of a day outside painting, with layers of fleece blankets and flasks to keep her warm.

Cambridge is not the only place that Sue has lived: for a number of years, herself and her family lived in Indonesia, dotted across various areas in Java. Her daughter was born there, and the landscape was rather dramatic. Sue describes how their first home in central Java was within eyesight of Mount Merapi, an active volcano which was often smoking or erupting. At night, it was possible to see the lava coming down the side of the mountain. When thinking about her experiences in the two countries, Sue notes an interesting difference: “[Indonesia] is very lush and very green because of all of the volcanic ash. The greens and the colours are very, very different from here in the UK, and I always used to notice when we flew back home – I used to say, “oh, the greens are just so subtle and beautiful.” Not that I don’t like the very vibrant greens that you get there, which are very bright jade greens of bananas and rice fields. But here, it's just softer.” These softer greens have infiltrated her watercolour paintings, and the peacefulness of the riverside areas of Cambridge are evoked beautifully. This was not always the case in Indonesia, where painting outside would draw a crowd of curious onlookers. “I don’t mind, but so long as I can see what I’m trying to paint. They don’t stay behind, they come all the way round!” Sue says. And indeed, even on sunny mornings like this in Cambridge, peace can be elusive when dogwalkers, cows and indignant swans are making their morning rounds.

The places Sue has lived overseas are not limited to Indonesia – she spent periods of time living in the Middle East and the Gulf, before she moved back to Cambridge in 1994. These extensive travels must have surely enriched Sue’s craft, and indeed, she says that everything we experience in life must have some influence and inspiration. We leave Sue on the sunny riverbank to finish capturing the shifting nature of the River Cam. More of Sue’s works from along Cambridge’s rivers, as well as the beautiful coast of East Anglia, are currently showing at our Cam Rivers Arts shop in May 2022.

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Check out Sue’s website

Exhibition open Tues, Weds, Thurs 12-5pm

Prints also available in the gallery and our online shop

Address: Cam Rivers Arts, 33 Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1QY