My Amazing Mentor

Back in the 1990s, I had been living in Florence for about 18 months when a friend introduced me to artist and designer Susan Nevelson, who was looking for a studio assistant. 

Susan was shown some of my paintings and thought I would be perfect for the job. I was working in bars at the time and painting in between shifts, and that meeting completely transformed my life in Italy – Susan put me on a pathway toward my lifelong dream of being a full-time artist.

Born and raised in the United States, Susan had long worked as the Creative Director for Italian-based fashion house Ken Scott and was the most talented and creative artist I had ever met. The glorious prints and florals she created for the label from the 1960s through to the mid 2000s are on full display in Ken Scott – the exquisitely beautiful book published by Rizzoli in 2023.

I started working with Susan in her fabulous studio, located in the heart of the city and overlooking the Florentine rooftops. My job was to help Susan complete her designs and she saw it as her role to teach me all there was to know about fabric design so I could always be a working artist. 

Our friendship spanned over 20 years and was such an incredible gift to me. Under Susan’s generous mentorship I gained the skills necessary to become a fabric designer in my own right. I also learned all about painting with oils, using natural light and the importance of taking the time to develop my own distinctive style.

Susan encouraged me to paint every day, and we visited galleries all over Italy and France. This was when I first fell in love with the Fauve artists – particularly Matisse and Dufy – and started focusing on still life painting.

Before she died in 2015, at the age of 92, Susan gifted me many of the art books, vases and Ken Scott scarves that appear regularly in my still life work – it’s my way of honouring my darling friend and mentor, who is forever missed but always standing alongside me.

Photos by Jerry Lee Ingram.