Artists

Susan Helm Davies, born in the then Western Transvaal, attended school there before beginning her studies at the University of Natal. Under the tutelage of respected teachers Jane and Jack Heath, Harry Atkins and Hilda Ditchburn, she received an Honours degree in Fine Art with a focus on Painting and Drawing.
She spent many years teaching at various schools, including at schools for the mentally challenged. It was the challenged pupils who contributed most to her understanding of making art as a form of communication.
She married sculptor Henry Davies in 1974 and studied for a teaching diploma in Higher Education. This was followed by eighteen years of teaching Drawing, Painting and Printmaking in the foundation course at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg.
Since retiring from the University, Davies has pursued a number of interests including heraldry, calligraphy, palaeography, graphology and the testing and formulation of her own materials, including those used in encaustic engraving. Davies has concentrated on finding the universal by understanding the particular, and on finding the extra-ordinary in the ordinary. To work towards this goal, she has chosen still-life and landscape as subject matter, often combining the two to enhance the meaning of each. Underlying all her work is the attempt to bridge the gap between looking and seeing.
Davies works can be found in public collections such as the Tatham Art Gallery and Durban Art Gallery and in numerous private collections throughout the country.