Crayons, colored pencils, and paints have always been in her hands, even as a child. As her enthusiasm of oil painting grew, her desire to learn and study intensified. In 1990 Suzie took her first art class. Since then she has continued to sharpen her skills and expand her knowledge through several internationally acclaimed wildlife artists. As a diving instructor, Suzie traveled around the world to teach diving. While working for the CIA, she taught CIA agents, Secret Service Agents, US Marshals, FBI Agents and other law enforcement personnel how to dive. Traveling gave Suzie the opportunity to see extraordinary creatures up close, which she has captured in her paints. Suzie has also traveled world wide to paint, including the rainforest in Guatemala, Alaska and Africa. Suzie has now expanded her artwork to include aquatic mammals, African birds and mammals, and landscape and figurative work.

Suzie has won several distinguished awards for her art including Artist of the Year from the Ocean Foundation, exhibited at Birds in Art at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the Bennington Art Museum's Art and the Animal Kingdom Tour, Coos Bay Art Museum where she received an Award of Merit, and Grant's Pass Museum. Suzie was honored by the Raymond James Financial Organization in "Women in Arts" as the first female wildlife artist from their collection. She has won Top 200 and Top 100 in "Arts for the Parks", and has had her artwork published in "The Best of Oil Painting" book. Suzie has sold pieces at Christie's and Sotheby's Art Auctions in London, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and the Honolulu Zoo. Her pieces are collected and shown internationally as well as in several galleries and shows around the US. Suzie is a member of the Society of Animal Artists, the Wildlife Artists Associotion, a founding member of Southern Plein Air Artists (SPAA), a member of Oil Painters of America, and the American Society of Marine Artists. Her new book "My Painting is Done - Now What Do I Do?" was published in 2006.

In January 2000, Suzie married world-renowned Wildlife Artist John Seerey-Lester, and they live, work and play in Florida.       Update 2008 John and Suzie were honored on the cover of the March/April 2008 issue of Wildlife Art Magazine. The publication featured several families whose multiple members are talented artists. Photos by Herb Booth

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