Suzanne L. Vinson
Suzanne L. Vinson is an artist, mother, and ordained minister living an intentional life toward wholeness, kindhearted listening, and compassionate care. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with the love of her life and their two kids - sweet boy and sweet pea. Suzanne creates soul wisdom art, meant to deepen the experience of life, delight, and connection.
Suzanne holds a Master of Education from Mississippi College and a Master of Divinity from Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA, with post-grad coursework done in bereavement care and chaplaincy. She has facilitated bereavement groups, retreats, and studio gatherings since 2003, and finds group facilitation to be endlessly fascinating and rewarding. She has led mindfulness retreats for young adult cancer survivors, healthcare staff, and faith-based community groups. Suzanne specializes in short-term ministry based in pastoral care, chaplaincy, and creative spirituality. She just completed a role in a local congregation after nearly six years of pastoral ministry.
Suzanne is a sensitive and gracious facilitator of the healing arts utilizing guided meditation, visualization, and mindful creative practice as primary tools to engage both the intellect and the human spirit. Suzanne’s soul work - gathering folks - is invitational with a sincere intention that those who gather release burdens and fears of expectations and begin to engage in self care with a table set as a creative banquet. Suzanne helps open the heart for self healing. She engages people at the depth of her core for the healing energy of the world to manifest. Retreats and gatherings in Suzanne's studio focus on spirituality, mindfulness, and creativity. She loves traveling and carries her "traveling studio" as she leads retreats, facilities workshops, and speaks to groups. Suzanne offers her art to others as a means of daily delight and soul care. Her art, retreats, and gatherings are creative yoga for the soul.
A creator since the early days of mud pies, and grass and blooming soups in rain water, Suzanne would paint or color and play, play play. 4H was an avenue of exploring through travel, conversation, and working with her hands. Suzanne started as a minister in the church in her early 20s, but before that, she babysat and sold plants at a nursery, which carried her through college. During her undergraduate days and her first masters degree, she worked at the preschool at the college - cooking and teaching in the afternoons. She enjoyed gathering the art supplies and creating projects for the 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds to create. Her calling expanded from those times. When ministering in church Suzanne facilitated bereavement groups before moving more into chaplaincy. A call to the heart led her to move towards a space of her own, and so she found and moved into her current studio space so she could welcome groups into the home of her art. She relies strongly upon the intersection of art and spirituality, the healing work of gathering folks together, and showing up for speaking engagements, retreats, and groups... believing that something wonderful happens when all are sharing the same air and space for a period of time.
On Soul Work and #theartofdailyliving
I began describing my work as “soul work” years ago. What I do with my hands and heart and mind connects my inner life to paper or canvas. What I do as I lead connects my spirit to the spirits and energies of all in the room. We create beautiful soulscapes and tablescapes as we create and share with one another.
On Instagram and in my writing you’ll see I describe and use the hashtag #theartofdailyliving often, it’s even in my "Daily Living" planner/workbook/journal series. I see life as art, a living work of art that is messy and true. Life lands on counter tops and tables with bills to pay, ads to recycle, meals to share, stories to tell, and folks to invite near. We’re all in the same boat, though our perception of what’s around us might be different. I choose to see my life through a lens of beauty. Even the dust of our days in the pile at my feet can be beautiful as I sweep. I use the time in my kitchen to deepen my spiritual life. My kitchen window holds my altar with candles ready for lighting, a bowl of paper chain prayers with names written on each, pottery birds and bowls, and green plants.
When I started moving from purely abstract into integrating the wisdom I was hearing, I found my art rooted in a place of growth. My art began to grow as I gave myself permission to use the materials I loved most: watercolors. The art went deeper as I gave myself permission to trust my intuition and combine ink and pencil into my work. If I did all this in secret, I would be fed. Instead, I'm living life wide open - hands, heart, and all. I’ve chosen to share through my blog(s) and social media over the years and sharing helps me to expand my heart and my art. I love hearing the stories of others who tell me that I made the piece for them, that the message or image spoke to them in a particular way. I believe that’s part of the art making. We become co-creators as you witness the work of my hands.
Knowing the value of the art of daily living, I make art that is made to care for others through rituals of healing, receiving care and love, and to release what is carried that no longer needs to be. My reproduction art and soul care goods are under the banner Silver Tree Art which aims to add delight. My studio is located in a sunny room overlooking treetops in Richmond, VA.
Contact Suzanne
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Suzanne's Studio
Silver Tree Art Studio
1021 Carlisle Avenue
Studio H @ Artisan Hill
Richmond, VA,
United States