Susan inherited the values of her culture and traditions of her people by her mother Edna– who learned by her mother, Mary Charlie-Grant

“I continue trying to push myself one step beyond my goals, or one step in a new direction so often. There is always another stride to make. My art is never really finished; there is just a point where I have to stop myself.

This applies to my whole life; therefore my artwork is evolving all of the time. New situations, new experiences have always played fundamental roles in my art, an example is my sometimes-playful use of colour after a tropical retreat and my embraced understanding of my ancestral visual language.

Thirty years ago I was re-introducing ancestral artefacts; I am now pushing my artistic boundaries in every contemporary sense. While, the most valued part of my artwork remains the same, my mark, and I leave this with every brushstroke, every- whittle of wood, every line that I leave, I insist is just the way I meant it. That is my signature.

From the time when I pulled silkscreens on my kitchen table, I have stayed the course because my family helps me. All of my children are artists, and my grandchildren are too.

I am obliged to lead them by example– Coast Salish art has forever been a way to honour and remember significant details of our social lives. My hope is that my children remember to tell not only our cultural accounts, but also their own stories as well.”