Susanna

It was May 2023 when I began my search for a local studio that offered classes in stained glass making, wanting to pursue glass as a medium to express my creativity and see if it is a craft that appealed to me as much in practice as it did in theory. While searching on the internet, I stumbled upon a listing for "Feral Studio" in Oakland, with a woman named Susanna offering beginner courses. The art on the website was so compelling...unique and creative and FUNNY at times...I just had to meet this woman and see this space.

And so it began.

From the first moment I stepped foot into Feral Studio and met Susanna, there has not been more than a couple weeks that have passed without returning to that space. It was everything I had ever hoped it would be and so much more. In stained class, I have found a craft and a release of my creative energy that evokes the same feeling as sticking a Q-Tip deep in your ear and twisting. Sooooo satisfying. Every step of the process. And that love of the craft was planted, tended and grown through the mentorship of my friend and muse, Susanna.

Her ability to take this seemingly delicate art, made from broken shards of glass, and build massive, structurally sound artwork, is nothing short of inspirational. Add to that the messages of female empowerment, the dry humor (unicorns having sex?!), and the zen-like presence she brings to every interaction, and I am drawn to Feral Studio like a moth to a flame. I don't believe that will change any time soon, that is for certain.

This piece, "Susanna," is a tribute to the woman that started it all, my muse, my mentor and my friend. She has the most perfect messy braids and a ditsy floral fabric shirt with her overalls, featuring clear marbles as buttons. Her face is a combination of pink and white pressed flowers, pink and silver glitter and of course, dichroic unicorn glitter. She is wearing a beautiful dichoric rondel as a necklace.

Thank you so much for the inspiration, Susanna. All of this is because of you!