Suzanne Cerny
Gallery | Bio

Suzanne enjoys sketching portraits of jazz musicians in live performance at night clubs. She calls this activity “Drawing in the Dark”. Other works are painted in studio from her own photos and historic photos when possible. She loves to listen to Jazz CD’s and jazz radio when painting. She says that “The music just flows through me and is a healing force. The level of concentration and creativity on the part of the jazz musicians makes me do my best work.”

Suzanne attended the High School of Music and Art in the late 1950’s then located just north of Harlem on 135th Street next to the City College of New York. She majored in fine art and design at The Cooper Union in New York City. She began her post college years with an adventure traveling the USA. She organized a raft trip on the Missouri River, and a 300 mile kayak trip on the Yukon River with a friend. She stayed to live for several years in the Yukon Territory, Canada, and practiced wilderness living as a life study.

Suzanne designed and executed a mural in wood relief in the Whitehorse City Hall depicting the history of the Kondike, winning a $5,000 prize in 1967. She moved to San Francisco in 1968 and married Edward Cerny, a writer influenced by Carl Jung and Henry Miller and the beat generation poets. Suzanne lived and worked the San Francisco Bay Area for 20 years, with sojourns to 3 years in Connecticut and 6 years in Tucson, AZ.

Charcoals of jazz musicians sketched in live performance from the “collection” are now available in small size laser prints. These are little jewels done live during the most wonderful performances in a club that was rarely crowded but had the most heartfelt jazz music. All prints are hand signed. Large paintings and pastels are now available.