Life is like a book pressed up against the nose. It is not easily recognized or understood at close range. But when viewed from a distance, it becomes focused and clear. One of the advantages of having this distance or perspective, (read age, experience) is the understanding that our experience not only reveals where we have been but also where we are going. Looking back, I have always been artistic, but I had to travel a long and challenging road before I came to believe in myself.

I have explored many paths to develop my talents and increase my marketability (a retailing management career, graduate courses in Business, a Graphic Design Program); in addition to my springboard of a B.A. in Psychology in a past life. Although my road has taken many twists and turns, it might just be the journey itself that defines and transforms us, rather than the destination. Along the way, I have been influenced by family and friends, my immersion in such community groups as The Mothers’ Center and my children’s school, whose volunteer programs take on a life of their own; and my seemingly unending pursuit of the academic life, both as a degree earning and non-matriculated student. Recent twists in the road include a degree in Graphic Design from Briarcliffe College some years ago, and a position as an adjunct instructor in Graphic Design, as well as additional non-credit courses in art, just because.

I have combined this pursuit with a marriage of 29 years to Ken, who has supported me through all my meanderings, doubts and triumphs, and my two bright and wonderful kids, Jeff and Cindy, who unfortunately have a geek for a mother. As an outgrowth of my need for expression, I have embraced the computer and it’s nether world of cyberspace as a new tool in my collection. For this new passion, I often suffer persecution and ridicule. (My kids make make fun of my geekdom; and my husband, while in awe of the progress I have made in learning a new field along with my zeal to understand its technology, has absolutely no desire to comprehend what the hell it is that I do.)

I am primarily a visual person, and am always stewing a cauldron of images and ideas which have yet to take form. Sometimes these images, like demons, will bubble around in the stew for a while, only to tantalizingly submerge themselves and resurface again when something jogs the memory. Sometimes these ideas take on flesh and a consciousness of their own and resurface one day, demanding release from me.

You can visit Sue Oakes site @ www.suoakesart.com.