Through her intricate textile art designs and deeply personal storytelling, artist Susan Polansky explores emotion, memory, and the human experience. Her work blends precision with heart—drawing from life’s joys and challenges to create powerful textile narratives that invite viewers to pause and feel.
Tell me about the very first thing you remember making. How did it feel?
My sister, Pat, was the first person to introduce me to craft projects, although I was more of a nuisance little sister than any creative partner!
The first momentous thing I remember making was in kindergarten. My teacher, Mrs. Thelma, had us stick our hands in plaster-filled pie plates, then wrote our names in the hardening goo and bronzed them.
The imprint was more than the thing itself. The act of a teacher’s efforts to have us see, through the touch of our own hands, that we could make something uniquely our own was a wonderful, creative lesson.
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I have the plaster imprint to this day (and did you happen to notice it re-appearing on my logo?) I repeated this project with my three children and also at a birthday party with more than 20 kids – the latter I wouldn’t advise anyone to try!
When did you first know you wanted to be an artist? Was there one moment?
There was no consideration of art as a career while I was growing up.
My parents were awed by beauty, but more so in nature. Art in museums was appreciated, and art lessons were beneficial as a hobby.
My imagination was stirred by books, making craft projects, and imaginative play.
I grew up in a farm-like setting. The family business was “wholesale grower of flowering plants”, so we had 14 acres of greenhouses and space to get lost in. Only a few friends lived close by, so I learned to entertain myself.
Unstructured, television-free time may seem like a boring childhood, but as an artist, it was the greatest gift! I tried to weave twigs and branches together, make forts and towers, try out saws and hammers, and smush berries together to make juice.
I day-dreamed about shapes in the clouds, what the birds were saying to each other, and how I could catch crickets.
My siblings and I were expected to work in the greenhouses. I absorbed the resourcefulness and creative problem-solving needed for the repair and maintenance of the business equipment.
I credit the long hours tending to plants while the sun passed over the whitewashed glass as the beginning of my appreciation of light and color.
The story I tell now is that payment for my work was not the quarters and dimes I dropped into my piggy-bank, but a long-term dividend of observation and patience.
Has your training or background in other fields influenced how you look at materials or detail?
So many things in my background apply!
Patience from tending thousands of plants in my family’s wholesale greenhouse business. Graphic arts observational skills, and precision crafting of pre-press materials (before Photoshop!) Backstage theatre set work – imagineering believable environments.
The best example is what I gained from being involved with my children’s education. Different educational practices were needed to address extreme dyslexia, profound giftedness, and very active social engagement. I was very focused on how to get each what they needed to develop successfully.
Each solution developed through inquiry, application, and re-direction, very much the same process skills required by art. (And oh how we know that art projects can be like children when we ship one off somewhere and worry about its absence from home!)
Note: The following is a 3-D work that exemplifies my work background as care-taker merging with my creative side!
“Each time I construct the tower of embroidered vintage handkerchiefs, different phrases I used repeatedly during my caretaking career stand out. These facets remind me of the variety of human experiences I stacked up while others were out building their resumes. In the eyes of my contemporaries, full-time mothering was as anachronistic as ladies’ handkerchiefs… My balancing act was complicated, yet despite the appearance of wonkiness and instability, I knew that my efforts would have a great impact in the future. “
“Labor of Love” is presented as either an installation or performance art. The tower takes 1 – 2 hours to build, resulting in a slightly different configuration each time. It is built upon a 24” x 24” base, rising to approximately 48” height. The structure remains stable for exhibition.
What kinds of images or ideas pull you in when you start a new piece? When a piece is only a whisper in your head, what’s the very next thing you do? Do you aim to tell a story with a piece, or do you like viewers to bring their own stories?
I think of ideas as passers-by: images and ideas are constantly passing through my mind, kind of like people on a sidewalk. Most just casually go on, but every once in a while, one especially intrigues me. I want to visit with that one and get to know more. And, just like people, I’m ready to let go of some quickly and others I want to spend more time with.
Enjoying the process and delighting in random surprises in creating is part of the fun of art making, but meaning and emotion are the drivers for me.
I am expressing emotion or thought, and if the viewer feels or thinks these same things without me verbally saying anything, I am very rewarded.
Once an idea catches hold, I think about it a lot. How does it connect to me? How could I approach it differently than others? What materials fit with the idea? Sometimes I write, sometimes I create a picture file. Sometimes I try to ignore the idea and see if it will go away. If I commit, I’m acknowledging that it will be worth the time and effort that might be required to bring it into fruition.
Describe your creative space. What does a typical studio day look like to you?
There is no typical day in my studio as my work depends on the project at hand.
I have taken over two bedrooms in the house for my studio space – one for my longarm and midarm sewing machines, along with two large design walls.
The other room has my computer set-up and a large table for painting, mixed media or sewing, and another design wall.
I try to focus on one project at a time, but other ideas are constantly wrangling for attention. Juggling roles of care-taker and creative artist, I have always struggled with balance. I prioritized service to others and am satisfied that the emotional strength gathered from many exceptional family experiences has fueled my art.
When I lecture about creativity, I stress that connecting art-making to one’s own interior self and personal story is a powerful force in making truly unique work.
Despite majors in both biology and studio art, I completed college with absolutely no practical job skills. However, I learned valuable fundamental principles of art.
My favorite professor stressed that tools and techniques are important for expression, but more important is the understanding of why some art “works” and others do not.
Critical evaluation and the ability to express oneself about artistic thoughts are often overlooked, but are incredibly important.
My initial forays into art quilting were all experimental – I needed to fill my toolbox with possibilities and go where process took me. Now, I can decide on what I want to say and choose the techniques that will work best for the expression.
That being said, I’d encourage anyone starting out with textiles as a medium is to experiment. Take classes and examine work of others. Concentrate on what delights you and try not to repeat things that you don’t like doing.
Make work for yourself and not for what others might like. I love all the ways textiles can be manipulated; there’s something for everyone! But I’d also urge people to develop a vocabulary for their creative expressions that goes beyond “it was fun to make” or “I just like it.”
You work across multiple media. How do you decide which type of project you’ll work on a certain day?
I usually get on a roll with a certain type of project and keep with it: the materials are out, the idea is fresh, I’m fired up about achieving the set goal.
There might be a motivating or mandatory deadline, or limitations of what I could do in the time available on any particular day.
There is often a re-learning period if I drop a thing for too long, either cognitively or dexterity-wise. I try to mix up sitting /active, indoor / outdoor, messy or neat.
How do digital tools fit with your stitching?
Much of the fabric collage that I’ve done has its composition worked out in Photoshop before I begin putting things up on the design wall. On the spot designing leaves much up to chance and since composition is really important to me I felt that I would not be able to achieve the realism that I wanted.
An Ordinary Day is a planned-out piece that uses the type of visual economy the Norman Rockwell employed – that everything in the piece should work towards furthering the story.
I wanted to say as much about India as I could in the 30 x 50” space that I was required to work in. I use my photos, or images from the internet to give me the information to create a believable scene. I’m not aiming for perfection in the photocomposition, the colors and textures will happen with fabric, but I’ve worked out the roadmap and can cut freezer paper templates for exacting areas and fill with imagination in areas that will not affect the composition.
I’ve liked accuracy in my storytelling, so research takes a part in what I do. I make a folder on my desktop to collect images, words or stories that might influence my artwork. If I am going to use an image directly, I try to use Creative Commons images or get permission for use, but I wouldn’t choose to use someone else’s creative work. I will use an image for reference, not copying, and prefer drawing by my own hand or using my own photography.
I’m learning how to digitally paint with Corel’s Painter software. I have a Wacom drawing tablet and two monitors on my desk. It is a difficult program to learn as there are so many features to it, but I’m enjoying it immensely -or rather I should say I enjoy the results and not the frustrations of the learning curve.
Artificial Intelligence is fascinating and will find some usage in my future work. My “Self-Portrait”, which can be seen on the home page of my website, was made in part with AI. It will travel with SAQA’s Global Exhibition “AI:Artistic Interpretations.” The statement that I’m making with the work is that if you are going to use AI, you need to put yourself into the art.
What themes keep coming back in your work, even if the images change?
I wrote a post on my blog that answers this question. I’ve talked about difficult subjects in my art. It’s how I respond to what’s happening in the world. I’m making art for myself – it’s about how I feel. I like creating something that others can relate to, and the fact that it is created out of textiles makes it even more approachable.
Sept 8 70 – Re-appearing images
Colors! Paint! Creative Play! Oh the fun of being in my studio!
My artistic life allows escape from current events, but I know that is superficial. The mind is constantly absorbing, and I expect at some time my inner thoughts will be processed through my art. What do most people do with unwelcome stuff that gets lodged in their minds? Where does all the disturbing imagery go?
I am not very politically outspoken, but I do have strong opinions, and sometimes those thoughts appear in my work. I’ve seen people wandering down the aisles of a quilt show admiring patterns and color, brought to a halt by one of my statement pieces. Talk ensues, blanketed by the comfort of surrounding quilts. I have activated dialog about difficult subjects, through familiar and benign textiles. My time in the studio rather than some outwardly activist activity has served the common good. I am rewarded.
Tell me about a time a piece surprised you and went somewhere you didn’t plan. What happened? Which piece in your body of work feels the most honest or vulnerable to you? Why?
“The Edge of Infinity” is my latest artwork. It got a lot of attention at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this year, and it will also be going to Art Quilt Elements. I am so happy that people can see it in person!
The highly textured surface contains many different materials and techniques that all came together to create a deeply meaningful piece for me. I didn’t start out to make this; in fact, I was starting from a place where I thought I would never make art again.
My youngest son took his own life at the age of 25, and I dropped into a well of darkness. I realized that it would be impossible for me to go forward without a creative life, so I lured myself back into the studio with the hope of losing myself to color and form.
It didn’t matter what I did as long as I got swept away from reality. I twisted long strips of fabric into cords. I bundled threads and sewed on beads and sparkles. I melted felt with random bits of sheer and synthetic fabrics.
And then it started happening. Flowers formed on my design wall. And they needed branches, and a sky, and… I knew that joy and beauty were still inside me, and my art would help me push against the edges of grief.
The edges are raw and jagged, like my emotions. The batting, a dense wool felt, is exposed, and so is the black canvas backing, because I am exposing my interior self though the quilt.
Again, I talked about a difficult subject and found that others relate to my experience. Someone who is surrounded by darkness might feel hope that a path to a brighter existence might be possible for them too.
Besides the personal meaning, I was heartened by the number of people intrigued by creative and expressive possibilities of textiles.
Where can people see your work?
Website: www.susanpolansky.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/susanpolansky.artist/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/suepolansky/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/svpartist/
Interview posted November 2025
Browse through more inspiring art quilts on Create Whimsy.