Susan Jackson is a two-dimensional multimedia artist who has lived in the Kansas City Metro her whole life. She graduated with a Bachelor of Secondary Education with an emphasis in Art in 2015 and a Master of Curriculum and Instruction in 2021, both from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. For the past 9 years, she has been blending her passion for the arts with teaching as a public-school visual arts educator and more recent, a teaching artist at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.

In 2020, Susan also created her art business known as The Heart and Hand Co. From the time she could hold a pencil, art has been her passion. Through her art business she is able to tell people’s stories and bring to life their ideas and experiences through personalized commissions. Going forward, Susan plans to expand on The Heart and Hand Co through displaying more of her work in the community, creating connections with others through visual storytelling and continuing to grow her Etsy shop

Susan enjoys a variety of mediums such as pyrography or wood burning, painting and drawing. Most of her pieces are considered mixed media using more than one process in the completion. Using wood as a canvas ties her nature inspired imagery closer to her techniques.

Susan’s work revolves around inspiration from the greatest artist of all: Mother Nature. By weaving nature into her art, she finds escape through the daily hustle. Her imagery comes from a desire to feel free from structure and the weight of the world. The calmness of the ocean shore, the weightlessness of a butterfly’s flutter, or the feeling of time standing still under a canopy of trees can be found throughout her work. Her images also evoke memories and times throughout her life when she has felt freedom from reality.