A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the gentle redheaded little girl
with luminous blue eyes was always doing something creative. Susan loved flowers, art, and fashion from a young age. Her mother was a Master Gardener, so Susan spent countless hours playing among the trees and creating “elaborate fairy gardens.” She recalled, “I became obsessed with fashion, and turned magazine cuttings from Vogue, Elle, and W into an enormous collage that consumed my bedroom walls.” Her favorites were avant-garde designers John-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, and Christian LaCroix. It’s only natural that her floral artistry comes together at the intersection of art, fashion, and flowers. Her innovative and arresting fresh floral fashion and naturalistic floral installations have drawn international attention and awards.
According to Susan, it all began with making jewelry for friends’ weddings. From there, she began experimenting with designing live succulent jewelry and discovered how durable and long-lasting the materials were in her unique, organic pieces. Susan credits woodlandstyle floral designer and educator Francoise Weeks who inspired her to take a different approach to designing wearable flowers and to think outside the traditional floristry box. In 2014, she opened an Etsy store, and very soon, Susan was shipping beautiful succulent necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings all over the country. The business was booming, but Susan was in a bit of a quandary. “I never wanted to run my own business, but it was hard to find a florist I could be inspired to work for because I didn’t want to go the conventional floristry route.”
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