Florilegium Artist_Susan Ashton

Rhode Island native Susan Ashton has had a lifelong interest in art and science. She received a BA in Anthropology/Archaeology with museum training from Beloit College in Beloit, WI in 1970. She spent a college field term at the Amerind Museum in Dragoon, AZ working on materials from archaeological excavations in Casas Grandes/Pacquime located in Chihuahua, Mexico, and enjoying living in the desert. Following graduation, she served as Assistant Director and Curator of the Lynn Historical Society Museum in Lynn, MA. After retiring as a museum curator, she did Medieval/Renaissance calligraphy & illumination for many years in OH, PA and FL.

Moving to AZ in 2003 was like returning to an old friend. Her love of art, science, nature and plants – particularly desert plants – eventually led to studies in botanical art at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. She received Certification as a botanical artist in 2010. She is a Juried Member of the Arizona Art Alliance, a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists and a member of the Southwestern Society of Botanical Artists. Susan has had works in solo and group exhibitions throughout the Valley of the Sun, including Sky Harbor Airport, and further afield in Tucson, Prescott, the Kolb Studio at Grand Canyon National Park, and has works in private collections, as well as being in the permanent exhibition at North Mountain Visitor Center and online in the Sonoran Desert Florilegium. She has worked with botanists illustrating new species for publication. She contributed 8 illustrations for “Legumes of Arizona”, contributed to the Audubon River Pathways Project, and is currently working on other projects for publication. She enjoys studying plant specimens under a microscope and creating a beautiful illustration where the details have to be just right, sharing the plant’s story. She is very happy to be a contributor to the Krutch Garden Florilegium.