ONE WOMAN ’ S
TREASURE
Interview with Suzanne Eller
by Sue Eller
uzanne Eller ’ s journey into assemblage art began with a little winged creature named “ Tethered .” She showed it to her friend , a watercolor artist , who told her she should enter it in a juried art show . Suzanne entered three pieces in an exhibition in nearby Port Townsend at the Northwind Art Center in 2017 . The show , “ Small Expressions ,” became the first of many .
“ It didn ’ t matter to me that I had no schooling and knew nothing about art at that point ,” Suzanne admits . “ I just decided I would be an artist , and I am .”
She juried back into the Port Townsend gallery for about a year in 2019 and got into some other juried shows as well , including an annual juried show hosted by the Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton , Washington . She entered a piece representing an ostrich with its head in the sand , which she dubbed “ Duck and Cover .” After a hiatus of two years , she entered a piece in that same show . Her piece , “ The Great Unraveling ,” is a textile-type representation of the world .
Suzanne ’ s love of collecting all kinds of things inspired her art . Even as a child , she picked up rocks , feathers , bits of glass , driftwood , and various organic elements . She put the pieces together with wire , a carryover from her amateur jewelrymaking days . She has no formal training but discovered her passion and penchant for collecting , from times she spent with her grandfather , who owned an antique store , and her grandmother , who used to take her on adventures to find rocks ...
Most of the materials she uses are free because she loves beachcombing and walking through the forest near her home on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State . Many of her friends and fans also give her things which some would consider junk . Some of her fans are clients from her other job .
One time , a couple she knew came into a show she was in , with a paper bag in hand . They said they found the contents on the beach and thought of her . It was a rusty piece of metal , which became the face of a guy smoking marijuana . She called her creation “ Buzzed .”
A shed in her backyard — Primrose Studios — serves as a workspace and a repository for all the collected treasures . Suzanne has organized them so she can find just the right piece to put into her latest creation . She
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