Artist Statement:

My art is inspired by nature. Whether working in my gardens, taking pictures of my flowers, walking my dog Maya, or just quietly observing, I am happiest when I am outdoors. When I can’t be outside, or when our long Central New York winter is looming, I reconnect with nature through painting watercolors, or weaving baskets from the organic materials I’ve gathered during the growing season. My painting and weaving remind me of the beauty of the world and that preserves my sense of well-being.

Watercolor is the only painting medium I’ve used, as I love its transparency and softness. I often work from closeup photos of flowers from my gardens. By the time the painting is finished, I become familiar with the particular nuances of the flower, and thereafter see the flower in a new and more intimate way. 

Basket making is a more meditative form of creativity for me. Over the years, I’ve learned three different basket making techniques: coiled, twined, and ribbed. I’ve also experimented with making cordage from various types of plant material. Some of the cordage is used in my twined and ribbed baskets.

I first started making coiled baskets with longleaf pine needles I collected in Florida. After I learned how to incorporate hardshell gourds with the pine needles, I began to add other natural accessories -- acorns, seed pods, stones, grape tendrils, seashells, and more.

Three years ago I transitioned from coiling with needles, to twining small baskets with locally foraged plant fibers from my gardens and from the wild. I’ve used leaves from daylily, iris, crocosmia, ribwort plantain, corn husk, rhubarb, cattail; stems from maidenhair fern, and flower stalks from dandelion and daffodil. My larger ribbed baskets include willow, red osier dogwood, grape vine, wisteria, and autumn olive branches. 

I find great joy in creating baskets using all natural materials and incorporating a wide variety of colors without using dyes. Creating art inspired by nature is food for my soul; it’s meditative, calming, therapeutic and nurturing.  I hope that my art inspires others to see and appreciate the beauty in our natural surroundings.

Artist Bio:

Susan was born in Montreal, Canada.

Her family spent summers in Vermont, and then moved to rural New Jersey when she was 15 years old. Susan has resided in central New York since the early 1970’s, when she, her husband, and two friends hand built a house together near Smyrna, NY. She now lives in Hamilton on four acres of land, in a home she and her husband designed; where she is an avid gardener.

Susan is a self taught artist - inspired by nature and the works of others. She feels so fortunate to live in an environment that fuels her passion for nature and art.