Susan M Ahearn (Susie), a native Californian, loved many disciplines when young – math, science, music, and art. Her parents had prints of ‘Pinkie’ and ‘Blue Boy’ in the family home. A Baroque art history course at UCLA during her undergraduate years opened her eyes to incredible beauty and artistic excellence. After years of focusing on math, science and engineering, in 2014, Susie turned to her true passion, the fine arts. She enrolled in calligraphy and fine arts classes, formally studying to gain a solid foundation of artistic skills. To learn and explore the use of different media, ideas and techniques is an exciting, fulfilling journey. As Susie continues her artistic endeavors, she absorbs this knowledge and experience into her expanding art consciousness and artistic expression.
Susie is intrigued by many different things: drawing, painting, mosaic, calligraphy, collage, ceramics, photography, artist’s books, and illuminated text. The combination of line, shape, color, words, and texture, at times including the letter shapes of a word, sentence or quotation, all combine to create a vision from her mind’s eye. When calligraphy is included, a particular alphabet style is selected to augment the piece. Susie wants the meanings of the words to contribute to the overall impact of the presentation and to inspire thought and reflection, or at times, amusement. Inspiration often comes because of a newly acquired skill, pieces viewed in an exhibit, or quotes that Susie sees. She remains open to ideas that bubble up to the surface and doesn’t constrain herself to preliminary thoughts about what is planned. Susie lets the piece tell her what it needs or where to go as the work progresses. Her artwork evolves, at times in unexpected ways.
Susie’s art education continues at Long Beach City College and events from the Society of Calligraphy, a local guild in Southern California. Susie is working to create a body of work that shows skill, vision and a unique voice. Evolving as an artist, she continues to learn, practice and create. Susie journeys on an artistic adventure that she hopes will encompass many years of creativity and production.
