Have nothing in your houses
| About Past Mastery From their studio in the Northamptonshire countryside between the ancient Roman roads of Watling Street and The Fosse Way, Susanne and Stephen produce original hand-made items celebrating the past. Susanne draws on a lifetime's experience as a painter and creator of beautiful things. With her husband Stephen, a craftsman in his own right, she has ventured into the Age of Enlightenment to bring you a creative reworking of the historical forms of dummy board figures ( or silent companions ) both large and miniature, and Still Life in the Style of the Old Masters. As an admirer of beautiful things of the past, Susanne derives great pleasure from recording these unique creations in her pictures and hopes that the charm of these items and her enthusiasm for them communicates across the canvas or board to like minded lovers of historical excellence. These original and unusual pictures of antiques, old fruit and flowers, and rare items are painted lovingly in great detail in oils then antiqued and lightly distressed and varnished to give the appearance of age and are framed into old, antique or restored frames which Susanne has painstakingly brought back to life. About Our Work Susanne has been painting all her life. She sold her first painting at age 13, and this spurred her on to join the local art society, where she was one of the youngest members ever. Susanne has worked in every medium and genre over the years, but oil remains her favourite. She has exhibited extensively both here and abroad and now paints full time. Her work can be found in many public and private collections worldwide. Many who are charmed by the great artists of the past would love to own an original work to grace their dining room, sitting room or study- either full sized or one twelfth! Sadly, works of the great masters of the past are out of most people's price range and a copy or a print is just not the same. Susanne also works in different mediums and styles and a selection of these pictures can be e mailed to you if you should wish. On the Pet Portraits page are to be found a small sample of the work Susanne has completed as commissions. If there is anything which has been sold or is not for sale and you would like to own something similar, please contact us as it may be possible, within reason, to reproduce it. Stephen is a garden consultant specialising in old and large rural gardens and he brings his fine sense of design and meticulous craftsmanship to his work at PastMastery. He cuts out all the figures painted by Susanne both large and small and is instrumental in all the 'building' work which PastMastery undertake, both for display purposes and for sale to the collector. The antique worm holes in the old frames are included at no extra cost! All PastMastery Still Life pictures, other paintings and dummy boards both full sized and miniature are hand made and hand finished by Stephen and Susanne themselves. You are assured of personal and individual service and a work of art you will treasure for many years to come. PLEASE do not copy or use any of the text or images on this site without permission. I am quite happy for people to use my hard earned knowledge and information if I am asked and am credited appropriately. Please contact me should you wish to use anything from this site in your own website or blog. Thanks. This Quiet Life THIS QUIET LIFE - A unique and comprehensive scholarly study of the Dummy Board Figure- is Susanne's forthcoming book. She has spent many years researching historic dummy boards and has investigated more than 400 different examples from all parts of the world. She is now one of the foremost historians in this field. |
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