Artists of Note | Susan Sheets

Impressions of Texas life

Susan Sheets, Proud, oil, 24 x 36.

This story was featured in the September 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2014 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

Texas-based Susan Sheets was lucky to have a family that encouraged her creative side growing up, even if none of them were artists themselves. If she was ever bored, her father would give her stacks of paper and she would draw the hours away. “I was a loner in some ways—I was very self-involved—and my family encouraged painting and drawing,” Sheets says. “Drawing and painting by myself was what I did, and it fulfilled that need I had to create.”

Sheets received her bachelor’s degree in fine art from the University of Houston in the early 1970s and worked as an interior designer for years, until she decided to go back to school and get her master’s degree in art education from Sam Houston State University. She worked as a high school art teacher for two decades and finally took the plunge into fine-art painting in 2003. Sheets’ subject matter focuses on her love of the rugged landscape, livestock, and wildlife—
especially horses—that are native to Texas. Her works are expressive and full of color but are representational in their accuracy. Recently she has focused on capturing the movement of her equine subjects. “The horse is such an awesome animal; every aspect of it to me is inspiring,” she says. “And I want that immediacy, that moment, to be captured—a slice of life like the Impressionists said. I 
want the energy to be there, and you have to put the paint down with a lot of energy to get that.” —Joe Kovack

Susan Sheets is represented by Holland St. Gallery, Bellville, TX, and Multiplicity Art Gallery, Slaton, TX.

Featured in the September 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art September 2014 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!