62 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
2 SI
I S JUNE 2012
FOR HORSE P OPLE • ABOUT HORSE P
put it on the canvas,” she recollected. “I was afraid to use it up.”
She continued her passion for painting throughout college.
Although she started her collegiate career at Baylor, thinking she
wanted to be a nurse, she soon discovered that there was only
one suitable career path for her – art.
She transferred from school to school until finally settling down
with an interior design degree. Although all she really wanted
to do was paint, her advisors kept warning her that there was
no money in studio artwork. So, for several years she utilized
her passion for studio art to inspire her interior design, which in
return continues to inspires her paintings today.
Still convinced she could make a living out of painting, Susan
dedicated herself to teaching so that she could support herself
while developing her painting skills. She taught for 23 years and
enjoyed every second, but found it difficult to find time for her
own paintings.
“I worked all the time [on my paintings] at night and I worked on
weekends. My big plan was that I woke up at 4 a.m. on Sundays
so I could do art work all by myself and that’s what I did every
Sunday for 23 years. I had to work at odd hours and then I
retired.”
Along the way she earned a grant to go to Gatlinburg,
Tennessee’s Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. There,
she learned about something that captivated her – residency
programs.
A woman there told her how she had spent three months on a
national park residency. She had a cabin and a studio. She was
delivered three meals a day and enjoyed complete solitude.
Susan knew that was what she needed to become an even
better artist.
She applied for a residency in Sheridan, Wyoming called the
Jentel Artist Residency. Of course, she was accepted, and was
launched into a journey that would propel her even further.
Susan laughed as she recalled a conversation she had with a
fellow artist in the program. “When you came here you were kind
of an average artist,” the lady told her. “Now you’re leaving a
kickass artist!”
While some may have viewed the comment as left-handed,
Susan completely agreed with the outspoken woman. “I was just
kind of dabbling in it, working hard on it, but not getting too far,”
Susan said. “But in Wyoming, everything changed.”
She then completed another residency in Saratoga, Wyoming,
where she drew inspiration from the landscape around her
and from the beautiful horses she, and the other artists (which
included writers, painters, composers and the like), were able to
ride.
She also drew inspiration from attending a 1,000-acre ranch in
New Mexico with her husband for his Boy Scout trips. There, she
took thousands of photos and enjoyed the land from horseback.
From her trips to these ranches and from her days of childhood
riding lessons, she developed a passion for painting equines. “All
artists start off drawing human figures and thinking the balance
of the human figure is perfection and that’s what you have to
paint, but then you see an animal like a horse in performance
and in action. It’s fantastic to see them carry themselves with
such power and energy… in every aspect, the animals are
handsome. Horses – their nostrils are beautiful, their ears are
beautiful, the hooves and they way they balance their legs, and
they have beautiful legs!”
She continued, “Every aspect of a horse in awesome. In my
composition, they are really up close so we press the edges
Texas artist Susan Sheets.
“Spring Awakening,” oil on canvas 29 x 44.
Continued on page 66
