About Suzanne

About The Artist

My First taste of clay started when I was around seven years old. My mother and I would make up a Batch of "Flour and Water Clay". I would spend hours shaping and molding the clay, then bake it in the oven. I always loved animals and wanted to express that love in clay; so as a child I would make little dogs and cats out of the clay mixture and thought about selling them. So I would sit on the sidewalk next to our home and sell my "artwork" to people willing to buy it.
Then, during my 5th grade year, my school in Southern California, Linda Vista, had a contest. We were to create our own books to get published in our school's library. I wrote a story called " The Little Puppy Named Spot". It was about a dog rescuing his friends from a zoo. I also did all of my illustrations. I won 1st place out of the entire 5th grade class. As far as I know, the book is still in the that school's library.
During High School, Capitola High in Northern California, I took three semesters of ceramics. I loved sculpting and creating things out of this wonderful material called clay. There were also so many colors of glazes to choose from. The whole process was very exciting to me. Seeing my work come out of the kiln was such a rewarding experience. To handle and hold something that you create is such a unbelievable feeling.
After graduating High School, I majored in art at several Jr colleges in Northern California; Ahlone, De-Anza and San Jose. I took up drawing classes, jewerly, sculpture and compositions classes. I never took a job using these skills, though. I guess because I always heard that you never could really make a living creating art. I ended up doing quality control work for a good 20 years of my life. Through these years, I still have this restless, unfullfilled feeling inside me. I wanted to continue with my art. I would draw a little and paint but it still didn't fill that empty void. Looking back, I remembered when I was in my ceramics class. The excitement I felt when creating something out of clay. I wondered if I could continue doing that. Could I make it happen?
So I went out and bought some clay, glazes and a kiln. I spent a lot of my time experimenting with different techniques. I read a ton of "how to " books and magazines to teach myself the correct firing techniques to get the effects I was looking for. Now, after three years of trial and error, I can finally enjoy doing what I really want to do, to work with clay again.
I love colors and textures and also have my heart in nature and animals. So I have found a way to include all these passions in my work. I use mosaics and tiles, some handmade, some purchased. I use glass, polished rocks, marble, high and low fire clays. My art is original, so no two are alike. Each piece is handsigned and comes from my heart. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do and experience the joy and love that they bring to me.

Suzanne E. Noll