Susan earned her BFA from Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. She also studied with Tom Insalaca, Thomas Buechner, Mark Hanson, Val Sandel, Steven Assael, Charles Reid, Kim English, and Bill Farnsworth. In 2000 she studied painting at the Santa Reparata Graphic Arts Studio in Florence, Italy. She also participated in the Novgorod Alliance Cultural Exchange in Viliky Novgorod, Russia, September 2009. Currently she is teaching The Sketchbook as an Art Form in Venice and Bradenton, Florida. This year she will teach Painting Interiors at Art Center, Manatee. In April (YEAR) she received 2nd place in the Women Painters of the South West Competition in Blue Ridge, Ga.

“As a representational painter, I am drawn to the Plein Air landscape painting. Capturing that moment in time when the light is exciting and focused on one place is what I am looking for in a scene. My other work evolves from an interest in interiors where I have lived or stayed for a time. There is usually an emotional connection for me in a chosen location. I am looking for inside and outside light that affects the objects and denotes a time of day or mood in that interior space. My approach is very traditional building layers of paint to describe the light. I find the process very exciting and is the true journey for me. How I get there is what I am obsessed with in painting.