Susan, a retired kindergarten teacher, has always kept up her making practice. Whether planning children’s activities or designing lanterns, she has always held a curiosity for learning through making. With this background in early childhood development she brings a level of play and innovation to each new lantern.

A single piece of glass starts this innovation process for the artist, each piece informing the next. The artist carefully considers line, color, and texture when creating each work. With a background in sewing and an interest in architectural forms, the artist draws from this knowledge to inspire her patterns, forms, and shapes. What she finds most fascinating in this making process is the unpredictability of light. The lanterns may look one way with the lights off and then transformed altogether with the lights on. She continues to utilize this element of surprise to make each piece unique from the next.