Susan Penfold is a pastel artist whose work is grounded in place. Drawn to the vibrancy and tactile quality of pastel from her first class in 2016, she brings a background in biological sciences and a long career in communications and community engagement to the way she observes and responds to landscape.
While working full time she kept improving her skills and in 2020 she held her first solo exhibition at Darwin Visual Arts. During this year she won the Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival Jetty Art prize and received a highly-commended in the Katherine Art Show. She subsequently held solo exhibitions at Dom’s Bar and was invited to exhibit at Songlines Gallery in Darwin, Northern Territory.
Since moving to Adelaide in 2022, Susan has established her studio and turned increasingly to painting outdoors. In 2023, her first year entering, she won the Non-Professional Award at Plein Air Down Under in Western Australia and was invited to exhibit in Spirit of the Landscape. She returned to the festival in 2026 and was highly commended. She is an Associate Member of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts.
Her practice is now moving outward, through residencies and travel, exploring how people connect with place across cultures, and how close observation of the natural world can deepen our sense of belonging.
If you have a particular artwork in mind, feel free to contact Susan to discuss.
About Susan Penfold
Email: susanpenfoldartist@outlook.com
Instagram: @susanpenfoldartist
Facebook: @susanpenfoldartist
Solo Exhibitions
2026 Somewhere House
2025 Organic Cafe, Stirling
2024 ‘Adelaide Hills Colour’ SALA festival, Olive Branch Café, Balhannah
2023 ‘Artainable’ SALA festival, Suffolk Studio, Adelaide
2021 Songlines Gallery, Darwin and Dom’s Bar, Darwin
2020 Darwin Visual Arts, Darwin
Selected Joint Exhibitions
2026 ‘OnBalance’ @ Bridgewater Arts Centre SALA Festival
2025 ‘Provenance’ @Tapanappa Winery SALA festival
2025 ‘Sala@summit’ Norton Summit Community Centre
2024 ‘Spirit of the Landscape’, Mandurah Performing Arts Centre – invitation only.
2024 ‘Cuttlefest’ Whyalla Community Gallery.
2024 Barossa Arts Festival
2021 Portrait of a Senior Territorian ‘Janie Mason OAM’.
2023, 2024, 2025 Blackwood Rotary Art Show
2023 and 2024 Victor Harbour Rotary Art Show
2023 and 2024 Walkerville Art Show
2024 Royal Adelaide Show
Ongoing joint exhibitions
Royal South Australian Society for the Arts
Gawler Community Gallery
Whyalla Community Gallery
Atelier Crafers
Awards
2026 Plein Air Down Under - Highly Commended
2026 RSASA - Merit and Hanger’s Award
2025 Mt Barker Show 1st prize Hurley Award, 1st prize Animal, 1st prize Landscape and 2nd prize Portrait. 1st Prize Central Districts Show Award
2025 Royal Adelaide Show - 2nd Prize Portrait division
2025 RSASA Autumn - 2 x Commended
2024 Royal Adelaide Show – 3rd prize Portrait division
2023 Plein Air Down Under – Winner, Non-professional award.
2023 RSASA – ‘Coiled Spring’ exhibition – Merit Award
2020 Seabreeze Festival Nightcliff Jetty Art Prize – Winner
2020 Katherine Art Prize – Highly Commended
Professional memberships
Associate of the Royal South Australian Society for the Arts
Member and occasional tutor, Gawler Community Gallery
Member of the Pastel Society of Australia
Member of the Pastel Society of South Australia
Artist CV
