At first glance, Susan Shankwitz or her art could appear as a contradiction. As a child, she had an early talent for art but ultimately chose a formal education in engineering. As an adult artist, she began painting cityscapes but now captures the essence of the horse in her etchings. After much soul-searching several years ago, Susan decided to do whatever it would take to become a successful artist, which had been her original dream in life before well-meaning adults steered her towards more practical pursuits. She began taking evening art classes at local community colleges in 1994, while working full-time as an engineer.  Susan eventually converted to working part-time as a technical writer, and has recently given up technical writing altogether to focus more fully on her art.  She continues to take a portfolio printmaking class each semester for the feedback and camaraderie of her classmates, as well as for access to the equipment and acid baths required for printmaking. Her main goal is not a degree in fine art, but to further polish and explore her art and develop it into a successful career.

Susan creates most of her images in linoleum, copper, or on inked plates of Plexiglas. Her lino-cuts still often depict architectural subjects as well as people and animals. Her etchings give her an opportunity to render equine subjects with all the detail that she loves. And her monotypes (transferred from inked plates of Plexiglas) are a spontaneous medium which are often fueled by high-energy poses of horses. All of the above media involve a process of carving away more than building up. This probably relates to Susan's lifelong interest in sculpture. Although primarily a printmaker, sculpting is never too far on the back burner. She has done most of her sculpting in the form of the human figure as well as sculpting all kinds of objects on a very small scale in her "Play Chess with the Masters" chess sets series. Susan plans to expand into sculpting the equine figure (on a larger scale) during the year 2000.

Since emersing herself in the world of horses in 1996 through riding lessons, Susan has fulfilled her dream of buying a horse (well, four now - they keep multiplying somehow!) to call her own.  They no doubt serve as both inspiration and models for her art. All of those slides she studied in Art History class must have had some effect on her, since she finds herself particularly fascinated by the ancient breeds of the Andalusian and Friesian which are can be found in paintings from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. She is also interested in the modern American breeds such as Morgans and Quarter Horses. Her first horse was a very versatile, 15-year-old, 15.3 hand, beautiful black Morgan mare. She has bred this mare to a Friesian for the ultimate dressage horse in a few years. She also owns a champagne-colored pony, an off-the-track Standardbred, and a new gaited Morgan.  Like in her art, Susan hates to limit herself to just one discipline with her horses. She is interested in trailriding, dressage, driving, and reining.

Susan and her husband have recently moved to his late grandmother's 235-acre farm, south of Fort Worth, Texas.  It is a dream-come-true for them.  Not only does Susan have the space she's always longed for and can have her horses at home with her, she is already soaking up the inspiration from the various aspects of living on a farm.  It should be interesting to see what direction her art takes.  

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