Western artist is tooling her way to success

Suzi Sheward is doing what she loves, and it's paying off. A local artist and horse woman, she's found a way of combining her love for the ranching life with her passion for the creative process. Sheward makes one-of-a-kind home décor pieces including lamps, mirrors, tables, room screens and chair seats.

One of her mirrors will be featured in the September issue of the prestigious magazine Cowboys & Indians. Sheward's work will be included in the "On the Horizon" products section. She got her work in the magazine by offering a quality product and being persistent.

"I kept sending them stuff and sending them stuff until they finally saw something they really liked," she said.

The works that come out of Sheward's home studio are embellished with a variety of ingredients, including weathered wood, tooled leather, silver conchos and fabrics found in the Old West like Pendleton, Navajo and Mexican Saltillo blankets. Sheward has her work at Leavitt's in Sisters, Hamley & Company in Pendleton and Desperado Couture in the Old Mill District.

The mirror that will grace the pages of Cowboys & Indians was for sale at Leavitt's. Owner John Leavitt knew that as soon as the word got out about Sheward's mirror it would sell quickly. He was right. The mirror was sold before Sheward even had a chance to take her picture with it. Leavitt's also has three of Sheward's lamps in the store. Two are her traditional Western-themed pieces and one reflects her love of restoring vintage travel trailers.

Sheward has plenty of the credentials needed to be a Western artist.

"My dad stuck me on a horse when I was 2," she said. "The horse sat down with me, and my Mom came screaming out of the house. I thought it was fun."

She majored in commercial art in college. To further her knowledge, she went to a variety of schools to learn welding and sculpture. She did some posters for the Sisters Rodeo but realized she really liked working with tools.

"I'd much rather have a diamond-tipped saw blade than a diamond ring," she laughed.

To learn the art of tooling leather, Sheward was mentored in California by a saddlemaker named Tiny.

"I had a stable in Marin County, and Tiny had done a lot of tooling work for movies like 'Paint Your Wagon.' He taught me how to make a saddle, and it was not a quick process," she said. "I didn't realize the elastic properties leather had and how many ways you can mold and use it. I love the smell of leather and a sweaty horse."

After a brief hiatus from horses, Sheward bought another horse in 1980.

"I got back into horses with the stable in Marin," she said. "I had a training and riding stable. We had the pony club kids taking lessons there."

During that time, Sheward helped several kids who came from troubled homes. They would do their homework at the stable and then she'd let them work with the horses.

Sheward and husband Gordon now live on seven acres east of Sisters, near Eagle Crest.

"I've found my place here with horses, cows and art," she said.

Recently, she expanded her animal family of three horses and some chickens to include a cow-calf pair of Corrientes. She bought the cattle from Ed Stabb of Crump Cattle Company. Sheward loves studying the physiology of the Corriente breed, and she enjoys carving their likeness into her creations.

Working from home, she can pop out the back door and feed one of her horses a carrot if she's feeling stuck or just needs a break from work. She rides regularly and is in the process of training two of her horses to pull a carriage. Both horses are being ground-driven and will soon be ready to be harnessed and taken out on the trails. In the meantime, Sheward rides with a riding group called The Saddle Bags.

"We just came back from Sheep Springs," she said. "We've never been to Mt. Hood, so we're going there next."

After years as an artist, Sheward has come up with a formula for success. She found that in the business of being an artist it's 80 percent promoting and 20 percent producing.

"It was only recently that I started promoting myself," she said. "There are a lot of good artists who aren't known because they don't know how to promote themselves."

Sheward doesn't aim low: "I'd like to have one of my mirrors in every single super-duper Western house," she said.

Sheward's collectors live throughout the Northwest and share an appreciation for high-end products made with Western materials.

"It's not Western-themed as much as it's made with materials associated with the West," she explained. "That's the essence of the stuff; it's not kitsch and it's not mass-

produced."

For more information visit http://www.blue-wingedolive. com or call Sheward at 541-410-4108.