Favoring a bright, warm palette, Billings incorporates a range of mediums in her work. Watercolors are painted onto japanese rice papers to create an underlying image, then pastels, charcoal, papers, ink and gold leaf are applied to develop depth and create transparent layers. Her images are ultimately simple, yet complex compositions. “Billings uses color to create a subtle yet definite spirit. Her paintings leave viewers with a sense of optimism about life.”

For many years she lived and painted in a solar adobe home and studio perched on 35 acres of pinon forest overlooking Naturita Canyon near Telluride, Colorado. The high mesas, open skies and rarely subtle light of this southwestern corner of the country provided an ongoing source of inspiration. Currently Billings splits her time between the high plateaus of the Southwest, the coast of California, and a recently completed solar powered home and studio on the desert East Cape in southern Baja. Windblown by nature, Billings is able to travel and paint, teaching classes and workshops - simply journeying in search of new and inspired landscapes.

Susan was the featured Gala artist at the Ah Haa School’s 2011 New Year’s Eve Gala.