Paintings by Suzanne Juel, IBCLC
The Mother & Child
Collection
Across every species, the bond between a mother and her young looks remarkably the same. These paintings, hung in our offices and shared here, celebrate that universal language of care, comfort, and connection.
My work is shaped by years of supporting mothers and babies through feeding, growth, and transformation
As a lactation consultant, I spend my professional life witnessing the intimate connection between body, nourishment, vulnerability, and care. Those themes naturally find their way into my art.
Through organic forms, vivid color, and symbolic imagery, I explore the relationship between nurturing and becoming. My paintings reflect the quiet, powerful work of sustaining life, adapting through change, and finding beauty in the deeply human experience of care.
The Centerpiece
The painting that anchors our practice and gave the collection its name.
Acrylic on canvas
Strong Mom
I began this painting because I wanted to create the image I rarely saw: a strong, centered mother breastfeeding her baby without apology.
At first, I was thinking about positioning. As I painted, something deeper came through. This became a portrait of the strength I see in mothers every day: focused, steady, protective, and fully present.
Mothers Across Species
The bond between a mother and her young is recognizable across every species.
Across species · Acrylic on canvas
Giraffes
A mother and baby reaching toward each other in the tall, quiet language of closeness.
Across species · Acrylic on canvas
Tigers
Strength and softness held in the same frame.
Across species · Acrylic on canvas
Elephants
A small calf sheltered beneath the watch of a larger body.
Across species · Acrylic on canvas
Sloths
Slow care, close contact, and the steady work of holding on.
Across species · Work in progress
Siamese
Currently on the easel, a work in progress.
Tandem
Tandem nursing is rarely represented in art, but it is part of many real feeding journeys. This painting honors the mothers who carry more than one stage of childhood in their arms: nursing, weaning, comforting, and making room for both children at once.
Acrylic on canvas
Tandem
A mother nurses two children at once: one older, one younger, each held close in a different way.
The Feeding Journey
Portraits of feeding as it actually unfolds: quiet moments, hard-won latches, supplementation, persistence, and rest.
First painting · 2020 · Acrylic on canvas
Nursing Mom in Purple
The painting that started everything, a quiet study of a seated mother feeding her baby in the calm of the evening.
Portrait · 2023 · Acrylic on canvas
Luna
A commissioned portrait of early motherhood. Her gaze holds the tenderness, fatigue, and presence of a parent still becoming herself.
Portrait · 2022 · Acrylic on canvas
The Bridge
A mother feeds skin-to-skin with an at-breast supplementer. The supplemental nursing system becomes a bridge: between supply and intake, parent and baby, effort and trust.
For families navigating low supply, induced lactation, adoption, or NICU recovery, feeding may take extra tools. The bond is no less complete.
Portrait · 2021 · Acrylic on canvas
Latched
The moment everyone has been working toward: the latch. This painting holds the relief of that moment: simple, close, and earned.
We have this vision of feeding that says it is natural and should just work. Sometimes that is the case, but often it takes weeks or months to become easier. This collection reinforces that all journeys need to be supported and that there is not just one path.
The Tree of Life Series
Four paintings exploring what passes between mother and baby: breath, milk, comfort, protection, and the small universe they create together.
Tree of Life · I
Stardust
A mother breathes life into her baby beneath a sky of gold and stars. Before milk, before touch, there is the mystery of life passing from one body to another. Everything she gives him came from the universe first.
Tree of Life · II
Tiny Universe
Two figures in close, the tree of life rising between them. The bond as its own world: small, complete, infinite.
Tree of Life · III
Shelter
A mother holds her baby close in the quiet hours. Life flows between them, in the protected space they make together.
Tree of Life · IV
Closeness
The close embrace of feeding, a small tree of life on the baby’s cheek. The bond made visible.
Abstract Mothers
The mother-child bond, reduced to color, line, weight, and movement.
Abstract · I · Acrylic on canvas
Abstract Momma I
The bond becomes a spiral: held, repeated, and drawn inward.
Abstract · II · Acrylic on canvas
Abstract Momma II
A mother and child reduced to color and shape, but still recognizable by the pull between them.
Mothers with Wings
Mermaids, fairies, dreams: mothers imagined as the mythic beings they are.
Fantasy · I · Acrylic on canvas
Reflection
A fairy mother nurses on a lily pad, her form mirrored in the water. A quiet image of feeding in the dark hours, when the world feels both still and strange.
Fantasy · II · Acrylic on canvas
Mermaid Mother
A mother of the deep: buoyant, watchful, and steady as the water moves around her.
Fantasy · III · Acrylic on canvas
Fairy Mother
A winged mother lifting her baby up into the light beneath a tree.
A Departure
Reef School
This piece steps outside the Mother & Child Collection, but it still belongs in the world of childhood.
A school is both a gathering of fish and a place where small lives grow. Bright, busy, and full of motion, this is the painting families most often ask about for nurseries and children’s rooms.
Bring one home
Inquire about prints
Many of these paintings are available as prints for nurseries, consult rooms, and family spaces. For sizing, options, and pricing, please reach out.
Email Suzanne