Susan Woodard began her artistic career as a child, painting and designing flowers on her family farm in the Mississippi Delta. After receiving her Bachelors of Fine Art from Louisiana State University in 1999 (where she was a student lecturer), she travelled to the hills of Tuscany, which inspired her first watercolor journals. In 2003, she received her MFA from the University of Mississippi, and then followed the well-trodden artists' path to New York City, working in floral design while painting and showing her art. Now she lives in New Orleans, Louisiana; in 2008 she opened her watercolor studio in a turquoise bungalow near the Audubon Zoo.

Susan has honed her watercolor skills on travels through Europe and Central and South America, filling journals with daily experiences. While painting the Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, she arrived upon her now-signature "sketch portrait" style. Her first commission came as a bit of a surprise; sitting on the beach in Florida, a mother noticed Susan and her journal, and convinced her to paint her children. Since then, Susan estimates she has created over 2,500 sketch portraits of children, families, weddings, pets, and houses.

Susan was formerly an adjunct professor at the University of Mississippi (2004) and a guest instructor for watercolor at Tulane University (2012). Her work has been featured in exhibitions in New York, NY; Cortona, Italy; Baton Rouge, LA; and Oxford and Jackson, MS. She was a children's art instructor from 1997-2004, and a private art instructor from 2001-2004. She has been featured in Southern Living, Design*Sponge, Holly Mathis Interiors, and Paper and Ink. Susan is a member of the Louisiana Watercolor Society.

Susan married artist Daniel Kelly IV, in July 2011; you can learn more about him here: www.danielkellyiv.blogspot.com