“There are some events when the earth is suffering, that need to be painted.” - Sean (Pat) Sullivan

This was painted for the 25th anniversary of Earth Day. The chilly palette, brittle transition and chattering detail of her early landscapes are falling away", John Abel - from "Sean Sullivan - A Retrospective"

Coop and Patti Cooprider came aboard San Diego Art Institute from many directions. New to San Diego, CA. and the local Art Community, they offered up their love for the ARTS early on. SDAI introduced them to a number of Southern California artists, including Sean, Brandon Paris (whom Sean later painted a portrait of), Ansley Pye, Mary Ann Luera, Leslie Ford, and many more.

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Sean was born in Pasadena, CA in 1942. She began art school on complete scholarship at Chouinard in Los Angeles. No small feat. Artists like Edward Ruscha, Terry Allen, Guy Dill, Robert Irwin, Edith Head, John Altoon and Bob Mackie the designer all attended #Chouinard.

It was the movie business that began Sullivan’s Commercial Art Career. Sullivan also worked several years as a medical illustrator, practicing the methodical deconstruction of the human body with tissue, skin and organs. Sullivan’s subjects morphed from academic canvases to alien worlds which seemed eerie and strange, no limitation to the universe captured in Sullivan's imagination" (From the book Sean Sullivan “A Retrospective”). Sean Sullivan was the president of the San Diego Art Institute for several years.

Sean was an artist-in residence at the Rhode Island School of Design and did an endless collection of paintings for the Roy Rogers Museum. She painted for shows, whether it be the AIDS crisis or the Gulf War, her observations remain committed to the power of life, the certainty of death..."