is an artist book maker based in the foothills of the Black Range Mountains on the edge of the Gila National Forest in southern New Mexico.
Susan is a wife, mother of 4 grown children, Granny to 2 beautiful girls (aged 3 and 1), an artist, an author and an adventurer.
Known to get the "itch" for a good solo walk, she has sometimes gone 200-300 miles down a trail or in back country. Some consider her most exotic walk to have been a 200 mile trek in the Arctic Circle of Lapland, Sweden.
Definitely her most difficult walk was through back country desert in the Jornada del Muerto, which is an infamously historic expanse in southern New Mexico. Whilst her foray alone in the Arctic was on an established trail,
in the Jornada her husband drove the support vehicle as there is no water to be found in that particular desert.
Susan's artist books and boxes tend to include elements from nature, she says:
"I can't help it. Having spent so much time walking in remote locations I've developed a deep love for trees, mountains, rivers, deserts, critters large and small. Colour is important to me. It surrounds us in the natural world - whether it be vivid or muted - it's always there.
I celebrated turning 50 by participating in and completing a full marathon. It's what led me to my desire to take long walks. It's a decade later and I spent some time pondering what to do to celebrate turning 60.
A lengthy walk isn't possible for 2014, so I decided (with my husband's encouragement and agreement) to look into international artist residencies. Things went well and I will be spending June and July 2014 in Iceland!
There will be plenty of time for me to explore my surroundings as well as work independently in a studio. My time in Iceland will also include creating troll treasure boxes with a group of local children."
Seems a great way for Susan to celebrate the beginning of her next decade and will be a wonderful experience to provide a bounty of material for future books and boxes.
In the meantime, Susan's workspace is host to copies of The Wind in the Willows and The Complete Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. These long-time friends are sources of current inspiration.
Susan says there's no telling where they'll end up together but the getting there is a lot of fun. The first of The Wind in the Willows pieces to emerge, "Terror of the Wild Wood", can be found on Susan's
Flickr page.
