SUE Lees was born in Totland Bay, Isle of Wight, England. She moved to Australia with her family in 1971. Sue first moved to Yackandandah in 2011 where she met her husband Craig Ramsay. The pair loved the place so much they bought an old place in the town and discovered the joys of renovating. The couple moved away for a few years then returned to stay.
What do you do workwise?
I retired from my work in community development a couple of years ago. I had managed various community centres for around 30 years as well as other aspects of community work.
Currently I am doing a bit of casual teaching, basic drawing and painting for adults. I am also attending art classes to further my skills.
I regularly work on commissions, specialising in animal portraits, mostly dogs, cats and horses. I’ve also painted other loved pets, cows, sheep, rats, guinea pigs, and a lizard.
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I enjoy entering and attending our region’s art exhibitions. It is great to be able to see others’ art works, as well as the pleasure that the occasional sale gives me.
I have been voted for two “People’s Choice” awards in the last year - at Eskdale Art and Photography Exhibition and our hometown’s Fresh and Unframed exhibition. This has helped me to gain confidence and given me the impetus to further develop my skills.
What brought you to your role/career?
Having had a background in finance, I fell into my role as a community worker almost by accident and stayed in that sector until my retirement. As community centres focus on skills development, I took on a few adult education roles whilst I was employed teaching computer skills and various arts and crafts.
What do you love about your work?
I am passionate about art. I love helping my students to find that with the right support, they can develop their own artistic skills and style to start their journey into the world of painting and drawing. It doesn’t get any better than seeing a student view their work for the first time with a sense of satisfaction and achievement.
What do you do in the community?
Between renovating our current house, making our gardens and attending classes, I’ve been a bit time poor. So, apart from helping out at my previous community centre in Wodonga, I am only just starting to think about volunteering, but it’s on my radar.
Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing?
I think Yackandandah is a shining example of the community addressing its own social, environmental, and cultural issues.
What do you see as one of the most important current world issues?
As an idealist, I would like to see humanity have more compassion, care and acceptance of others. I would like to see the end of war, corruption, greed and hate. But in reality, I see the most important world issue is our planet and the need to continue to increase awareness in the amount of action needed to avoid the destruction of our environment.
If the person you would most like to meet came to Indigo Shire or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why?
I really like British-Australian TV and film star Miriam Margolyes. She has an authenticity, curiosity and honesty with just the right measure of wickedness! I think she would enjoy many of the social and cultural aspects of our community together with our abundance of historically significant structures and stories.
What book are you reading?
I read a variety of books, but I enjoy Philippa Gregory’s historical novels because they’re like history lessons with lots of interesting bits thrown in.
