Ah, the lure of the open road. Heading down the highway, free to embrace the adventure waiting around the next bend, over the next hill. We dream of it, but few of us actually take to the road, not permanently anyway.
Sue Bayley is living that dream. “I am a nomad artist. I have no home and I don’t own anything that can’t be packed into my truck,” she says. First to be stowed is Sue’s art studio: paints, brushes, canvases in various stages of completion. Family heirlooms from the life she left behind in England are always with her, and a few clothes, not many, as Sue travels “to the heat.”
Summers, Sue is in West Vancouver, to be with family and to replenish her coffers. As the season turns, she packs up and drives south to Mexico, driving a different route every trip. Sue relies on paper maps and her own intuition to follow where the road takes her, camping and painting along the way. A travel pack of art gear is beside her in the front seat, and Sue will tape canvas to the side of her vehicle to create a handy easel when she happens on an inspiring site.
When sue decided to redesign her life 15 years ago, life, art, travel, and nature conservation were the constants that guided her.
As a child in London, she would ride buses to the end of their routes, just to see where those red double-deckers travelled. “At school,” she recalls, “my drawings from microscope observations were always more elaborate than scientific, according to my biology teacher.”
School for Sue was the Royal Ballet School where arts and academic studies were as rigorous as training in ballet. She grew tall, however, too tall for a career as a principal dancer.
By then, a social revolution called Swinging London was coming alive.
“The Rolling Stones was the band at the local pub. Eric Clapton subbed in on guitar and Elton John played piano. It was part of life. We didn’t think it was unusual.”
Such specialized local knowledge launched Sue into a career as a promotions manager in the music industry. “The job was booking, promoting and managing tours and concerts for rock musicians on the WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) label. We were also fixers: we knew what to do when a piano flew out of a hotel room into a swimming pool.” Walking to work at the crack of noon, Sue would pass through the Tate Gallery, visiting a different artist every day.
Experience in managing musicians on tour opened doors in Whistler, B.C. Sue worked in promotions for Whistler Blackcomb and as a locations and production manager in the B.C. film industry. It was a busy life, working, raising three active sons, and making time to paint. Sue was on the road scouting locations but usually it was in the role of chauffeur, ferrying the boys to the ski slopes or to the North Shore for sports practice.
When Sue’s youngest son went to university on a sports scholarship like his brothers, the time had come to focus on her future.
“For me, the wandering life is best, even with the challenges that come with it. I believe we underestimate our resourcefulness and abilities. I created this life for myself. For me, being open to new experience is what life is about. Every door that opens leads to another, and every door is an opportunity to experience and celebrate life.”
For Sue is a nomad artist with a mission: to celebrate and protect the wonders of the natural world. In her life, she volunteers at nature projects in Mexico, Hawaii and Polynesia, and contributes a portion of sales from every painting to nature conservation.
As an artist, she finds the essence of that world and gives it a voice: “See Me, Respect Me, Protect Me.”
Sue’s own essence shines through her paintings, vibrant and full of colour. “Yes,” she says, holding a pair of Capezio soft shoes, scuffed and worn, “I still dance, especially when I’m painting.”
Sue Bayley is represented in galleries in Mexico and B.C., and through her website, suebayleyart.com/nomad-artist. For a closer look, find Sue at Garden No. 11 at 338 East 14 St. during the North Vancouver Community Arts Council’s annual Art in the Garden tour May 26 and 27.
Laura Anderson works with and for seniors on the North Shore. Contact her at 778-279-2275 or email her at [email protected].
