Sheary Clough Suiter

“Exploration of new places inspires me,” says Sheary Clough Suiter. “I’m fascinated with the way connecting with one’s environment informs an artists’ choice of shapes, colors, and content.”

Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Clough Suiter moved to Alaska in 1976 where she lived Alaska’s ‘Last Frontier’ lifestyle for 35 years, before moving to Colorado in 2011. In 2023, Clough Suiter and her artist partner, Nard Claar, returned to the Willamette Valley, settling in Springfield, Oregon.

A thirty year career visual artist, Clough Suiter is known primarily for her vibrant and luminous encaustic paintings. A paint made from beeswax, resin, and pure pigments, the appeal of her artwork is founded in the luminosity and depth of color she achieves. She works in an intuitive and direct manner, embracing the unexpected results of melting wax. Shape, color, pattern, and mark making are all strong design elements found in her work.

Awards recognizing her expertise in encaustic include a Permanent Collection Purchase by the Anchorage Museum of Art, a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Project Award, an International Encaustic Artists Project Grant, and an Alaska State Council on the Arts Career Opportunity Grant, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Clough Suiter received a month-long artist residency in Listowel, Ireland, where she painted, exhibited, and taught workshops.

Clough Suiter’s most recent work is centered on moving her art practice toward even more sustainable materials. Using paint she makes herself from both purchased and hand collected natural earth pigments, rescued vintage linen is transformed into art forms that speak to her reverence for Mother Nature, as well as to the urgent need for supporting bold climate action in our daily lives.

When she’s not on the back-roads of America traveling and making art in her and Claar’s camper-van “Ramble,” Suiter works from her home studio near the Willamette River.