About the Artist
Sue Krzyston
Surrounded in her home by the Native American Indian artifacts that she collects and paints, Sue Krzyston believes that these objects represent the "soul" of the people who create them. "I strive to capture that feeling on canvas by using the nuance and essence of an object and utilize the effects of light and shadow to depict the beautiful and varied textures of each item that I select for my compositions. Light is so important in making the artifacts relate to each other. I try to make the inanimate objects come alive in the glowing warmth of the light.
Since Sue lives in Arizona and often goes to Santa Fe, she is always on the hunt for interesting new pottery, baskets and artifacts that "speak" to her to incorporate in her paintings. "I am always inspired by the artisans whose work I collect and feel that my paintings are an 'art form within art'".
Krzyston's many collectors comment on the three dimensional realism that she achieves in each painting. They say that they feel like they could pick up a piece of the glowing pottery, feel the texture of a rug or pluck a bead off a intricately painted moccasin.
Since she is a self-taught artist, Krzyston has developed her own painting techniques. "I admire the Dutch masters paintings. I use the rich dark backgrounds that they used, to accentuate the light-filled foreground." She uses many thin glazes of paint to achieve the rich glow of an object, and builds paint in many layers in the highly realistic beads that she paints on the moccasins so that they actually appear to be real beads.
Among her many commissioned works, she was honored to have been commissioned by a fruit and vegetable importer to do paintings of a variety of their products with an Arizona themed composition for the Washington DC offices of the Arizona Senators and Congressmen. " It was such a thrill to work with the organization and to be flown to Washington to help in presenting the paintings and to see where they would displayed."
In addition to having her oil paintings in many collections and shows, her work was juried for 11 years into the well known, "top 50 female Western Artists" COWGIRL UP! SHOW at the Desert Caballeros Western Art Museum in Wickenburg, Az. She also has been invited many times into the well known Settlers West Miniature Show in Tucson, AZ. Krzyston was honored to have been invited to become an Honorary Artist Member of the prestigious Mountain Oyster Club of Western art collectors in Tucson and was inducted in November, 2018 at the 49th annual show.
Krzyston's work has been featured in may top magazines and publications.
EXHIBITIONS
2026 NOAPS Associate Online Exhibition
2026 NOAPS Spring International Online Exhibition
2026 American Women Artist Annual Online Exhibition
2025 National Association of Women Artists "Small Works Summer Show"
2025 NOAPS 2025 Spring International Online Exhibition
2025 American Women Artists "2025 Annual online Juried Show"
2024 American Women Artists "Expanding Horizons" Juried, exhibition, Loveland Museum, Loveland, CO
1995-2024 SETTLERS WEST MINIATURE SHOW, Tucson, AZ
2007-2024 MOUNTAIN OYSTER CLUB SHOW, Tucson, AZ
2021 NOAPS ( National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society) "Best of America Exhibition" Dana Gallery, Missoula, Montana
2021 NOAPS "Spring Online International Exhibit"
2021 American Women Artists "Lifting the Sky; Elevating the Work of American Women Artists"
2020 NOAPS "2020 Fall Online Exhibit"
2007-2019 COWGIRL UP! Art From the Other Half of the West, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, Az
2013-2014 SCOTTSDALE SALON OF FINE ART, Legacy Gallery
HONORS
2026 "Best Still Life" , NOAPS International Online Exhibition
2025 "Gary T,. Erbe Award", "Allied Artist of America 112th Online Exhibition"
2025 2nd Place NOAPS "Associate Members Exhibition"
2025 Award of Merit, NOAPS "2025 Spring International Online Exhibition"
2024 Merit Award NOAPS "Associate Member Online Exhibit"
2021 Merit Award NOAPS "Spring 2021 Online International Exhibit"
2019 Installed as Honorary Artist Member of the prestigious Mountain Oyster Club, Tucson AZ
2019 Guest Lecturer Mountain Oyster Club, "Friends of Western Art" , Tucson, AZ
2019 Guest Lecturer Tucson Museum of Art , "Western Art Patrons", Tucson, Az
2016 Commissioned to do paintings for the Arizona Senators and Congressmen for their Washington DC offices.
Publications
2025 WESTERN ART COLLECTOR Magazine (Feb. issue)"The Artistry of Stillness" Feature article
2023 WESTERN ART COLLECTOR Magazine (Oct. issue) Artist Focus
2022 ART of the WEST Magazine (Nov/Dec issue) Feature Article
2022 IMAGES, Arizona (Jan. issue) Cover and feature article
2015 Sedona Monthly Magazine (May issue) Feature article
2011 Western Art Collector Magazine (Aug. issue) Feature article
2007 Western Art Collector Magazine (premier issue) Feature article
Galleries
Manitou Galleries, Santa Fe NM
Mountain Trails Gallery, Bozeman, MT
Mountain Trails Gallery, Jackson Hole, WY
Mountain Trails Gallery, Park City, UT
Mountain Trails Gallery, Sedona, AZ
Sue Bickerdyke Interiors and Art Gallery, Carefree, AZ
Commissions welcome! Contact Sue for more information.
