Regarding the source of inspiration for her work, Susan says:

My grandmother, Elma Melville Henderson, was a painter who studied under California Impressionist Maurice Braun in San Diego. She had an eye for beauty and design - something I recall her sharing from my earliest years. Guided to look closely at the lines, shapes and forms around me, she taught me to STOP and revel in the curves of a leaf or the unfurling of a tender frond. I use her name - my birth name - to honor her gift of seeing with eyes truly open.

This heritage fostered a fascination with the magnificence of the created world. Whether expressed as fantasy forms derived from a stored vocabulary of design or attempts to express what I see in life - whether paint, clay, drawing or collage, whether two-dimensional or three, all are informed by a delight and awe in the beauty that surrounds us.