Susan began her life as an artist in Grade One, when her artwork received gold stars and was exhibited on the classroom bulletin board.

After high school Susan studied oil painting at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick and graduated as a commercial artist from Algonquin College in Ottawa. She went on to work in the fields of advertising, publishing, trade exhibits and designing and building parade floats.

In the early 1990’s Susan was travelling a lot and needed a faster drying medium, so she switched from oils to acrylics. At first she hated the way the acrylics handled and the intensity of the colours. Fortunately she found that by starting with a grisaille underpainting and applying colour in thin glazes she gained complete control of colour mixing and intensity. She worked in an ultra-realism style and particularly enjoyed painting nautical and garden themes.

She exhibited her work, winning prizes and awards, the most notable of which were placing as a finalist in The Artist’s Magazine’s annual international competition, and receiving an honourable mention in the International Artist magazine competition. Susan’s work was featured in the book “How Did You Paint That: 100 Ways to Paint Flowers and Gardens”, and International Artist magazine published her article on marketing one’s self as an artist.

With the evolution of new acrylic paints and mediums Susan found her interests changing. She became fascinated with textures, mixed media and other painting techniques creating unlimited potential. Currently she is producing abstract and semi-abstract works inspired by natural elements and, of all things, the construction industry!

Susan enjoys sharing her knowledge with others and has taught oil painting, a variety of acrylic painting techniques and business of art classes and workshops through the City of Ottawa, Visual Arts Centre, Orleans, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, and the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, New York. She also offers workshops in her studio in Cumberland, (Ottawa) Ontario.