For an interview of me at Red Bubble please click here!

I have been an artist all of my life , I honestly can not remember when I was not drawing, coloring, painting or taking pictures! I do believe I was born with this 
passion to create and enjoy visual art in all mediums! I also love writing and music , but it seems visual art is where my brain works best!

I started off wanting to be a fashion designer and worked in Display art and advertising for retail clothing stores and also did some modeling and ads for the 
local newspapers in my Hometown of Buckroe Beach , Va.  After winning a trip to Atlantic City for a week via DE ,and my luggage took a vacation to Canada , I found myself with only the dress I was wearing and , since I had no swim suit, I walked the board walk and discovered a wonderful Charcoal Portrait artist and I went every 
night to watch him work. This kind artist gave me a fist full of charcoal sticks and told me to give it a try. I ended up sketching portraits in the lobby of my hotel and was enamored by 
how much the customers loved my work. This trip made such an impression on me that I decided to be a portrait artist and forego the fashion industry.

I started winning art shows while still in High School and continued to enter and place throughout my life as an artist. Winning, of course, is always a treat , but what fueled me
to participate was and is , my passion for art and the fun of meeting other like minded people who speak the same language.

The main influence, for my art, was really the era of my childhood. I loved looking at magazines and there were many wonderful illustrations in them in those days! Look and Life magazines and even playboy (Vargas)  featured beautiful drawings. I adored Norman Rockwell and have been very honored to hear people say some of digital work is reminiscent of his work.

Photography has always been in my life, as it is with everyone , I mean, every family takes pictures on vacation and holidays right? But for me, I always found  cameras fascinating  
I wanted to hold them and try and figure out how the different settings affected the outcome of the image. You could always fine me behind the camera. My father had a Kodak 'Hawkeye" Brownie camera and I still recall cradling the weighty little black box and just feeling so special to hold this bit of 'magic' in my hands. The first camera I remember asking for and receiving was a 'Swinger' Polaroid which took wonderful B&W close ups and I used that camera for 10 years or more until they stopped selling the 'film' for it. 
 

My first SLR camera was given to me by my big brother, whom I greatly admired and so this was a very special gift! He had come home with it from serving in Viet Nam and I still recall the amazing slides he took with it. I asked him one day if I could hold it and he placed it in my hands and said "You can have it" What a joyful moment that was! No one had ever given me anything so wonderful before! I used that camera into my early 30's and took many slides and B&W's which were my favorite mediums. I learned to use a dark room, but never really liked working with the chemicals and the high cost of it all. Hard to believe now that were limited to 36 images on a roll. I found that the most frustrating element of shooting with film, was this limitation which was really a obstacle to exploring and experimenting because one had to be so very careful with each and every click of the shutter.

And so to me, that is what digital is, it is sheer freedom!!! Not only are we free to shoot as many images as we want , but having control over the 'developing'  just is the perfect nirvana for an artist! Being able to combine traditional arts with photography was , and is, just such an exciting and interesting medium! So, of course , I went nuts with it and have been taking digital pictures and editing them on the computer since 1999. It felt great to be a part of the new frontier of digital art and photography! s

My digital art took my daughter and I to Rome in 2007 when I won the Grand Prize in the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. (NAPP) This was a pivotal point for me as it helped me to feel I was on the right track with the direction I was pursuing. I have won several other notable awards with WPPI (Print Awards) and Kodak (Grand Prize 2009 Book Award). I now write for "AfterCapture", "Digital Photographer" and "Photoshop Creative" Magazines. I also have created 4 DVD video packages and have taught countless photographers my photography editing techniques. I am now planning my first workshop , which will take place in Marion, Va. July 16th 2011. Please see my shop page to sign up for the workshop or to purchase my training DVDs.

I am currently working on a tribute to Appalachian Musicians in my area and hope to put this project into a book in the future.

Thanks so much for dropping by and for your interest in my work!

We must ask ourselves , as artists, do we live in the world that has been created, or do we create the world we live in?

Susi Lawson

  
My Daughter Cassidy Age 12