Suzanne Marie LeClair is originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. At an early age, she looked at some artwork at a friend’s home and knew she wanted to be an artist. She enjoyed drawing, and would often draw her classmates from the Henry T. Wing School in Sandwich, amongst other things, using her vast imagination.
During Suzanne’s high school years, her mother became sick with cancer. She took a break from school to be her mother’s sole caretaker until her mother sadly passed away. This tragic experience was substantial for Suzanne and has become a frequent theme in her paintings over the years.
After graduating high school, at the age of 17, Suzanne felt a pull towards the west. She made her way to Los Angeles, California, hoping at that time to use her creativity to get into costume design in Hollywood. She attended art classes at both El Camino and Los Angeles Harbor College, where she produced many drawings and watercolors. Unfortunately, all this early work was lost from a storage unit.
Leaving California, she spent a brief time in Florida. She then made her way back to New England, where she would raise a family and continue to pursue her calling as an artist as much as possible. In the late 70's, she attended night classes at the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum in Springfield, Mass. and began working with oil and acrylics in 1979. She was able to practice with live models and statues in the museum at that time, and she produced many works during that timeframe.
In 1987, a doctor recommended the Arizona climate as a prescription for good health. The family followed doctor’s orders and settled in Arizona that year. Suzanne loved the Arizona weather, beautiful skies, and landscapes, which are reflected in her works in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
Upon the passing of her aunt, Suzanne made her way to Las Vegas and resided in Vegas for 20 years. While working on the Las Vegas Strip at Caesars Palace and the Bellagio, the Vegas lifestyle provided her with an abundance of interesting material and subjects for her artwork. She was also involved with several galleries and enjoyed the local art scene at the Las Vegas Arts District.
Suzanne’s hardships along the years included the tumultuous nature of falling in love several times and experiencing the disappointments of broken relationships. These relatable, difficult highs and lows are also a prevalent theme of Suzanne’s genuine and profound work.
Suzanne's art collection is vast and extremely prolific (over 1,300 pieces), a reflection of her life living coast to coast in beautiful and interesting places and times. The trials and tribulations that she endured are expressed in great detail as an Abstract Expressionist painter. She has always painted from her heart and did so as a means of personal enjoyment and of survival. Ultimately her desire is to help as many people as possible find their passion or find a way to deal with some of life's struggles and heartaches in a positive way.