Susan H. Gartrell is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Art at Tufts University in Boston. Before moving to the Piedmont of North Carolina, her art was centered in the Boston area where her work was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Bromfield Gallery, the Danforth Museum, and the Berkshire Museum.

Susan's work ranges from whimsical to challenging. She does this through a variety of media: collage, charcoal, wax crayon, and watercolor.