About Susan
After working daily during my 59th year, I created a body of work (ArtWools.com/Year-Study) which provides studies for style, subject, color, and voice in developing larger pieces. I refer to this project as an Independent Study reflecting on past skills, learning new ones, and concentrating on studio practices. For the past 20 years, more of my energy in design was in pattern making for the rughooking community, marketing the line of 200 designs as RuckmanMillFarm.com and networking within this niche market. That business has been sold and my focus now is connecting with West Virginia artists, promoting our history, traditions, and contemporary spirit and expanding on a body of work using mixed media textile techniques addressing human impact on nature and social issues.
Biography
As a Girl Scout through high school days, living in rural NJ with women entrepreneurs, my make-do skills have lead to a career in textile arts and business. Resettled into West Virginia with my partner, my art reflects the natural surroundings, environmental issues of the 21st Century and the historical traditions of crafts. Recipient of a Fellowship from Tamarack Foundation to continue research and publicize the award winning textile work of Blanche and Otha McDonald of Gilmer County, WV, the exhibit premiered at Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week summer of 2016 with an article in Jan/Feb 2017 Rug Hooking Magazine. Instructing fiber enthusiasts in design and historic resources I have traveled to Australia, Canada and throughout the United States.
The work being created now focuses on human interaction with our environment, social issues and advocating for the arts in Appalachia. My studio work is represented on www.ArtWools.com.
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Other Creative Skills
Humanities (Includes history and criticism of the arts)
