Susan Hankoff Estrella

Designer • Artist • Free Spirit • Animal Lover • Spiritual Soul

I’ve loved art as far back as I can remember. One of my fave memories is the artwork I created in second grade where our lesson was to add fabric pieces to dress up a silhouette. I was hooked!

I studied Graphic Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art (I wanted to be a Drawing major, but it was not available – go figure!) and never looked back. I was a professional designer in the Washington, DC area for over two decades before moving to the beautiful barrier islands of the North Carolina’s Outer Banks. After almost 20 years in North Carolina, my husband and I pulled up our Outer Banks roots and relocated to the Treasure Coast of Florida. I currently work on graphics projects with clients in NC, DC and the Florida market.

From Graphics to Jewels and Then Some…

I got the jewelry bug by pure chance after a friend suggested I fill a slot in an introductory class. Months later, while searching for beads, I stumbled upon a shop that had tons of classes and felt like a kid in a candy store. Between the colors, textures and outlets for creativity, I could not resist. Thus, a new career was born.

Making jewelry allows me to use my hands again (after doing graphics on the computer for so long, I miss that part of the process) and I find it to be a very “zen” experience. I love putting together different textures and color combinations – it harkens back to the days of my absolute favorite college class, Color Theory. You will find that most of my pieces are very organic and unlikely to be duplicated.

My love of art began with drawing, so recently I have gotten back to that. I now have a greeting card line consisting of drawings that can be colored by the card giver or receiver. And I have branched out into mixed media with decorative boxes, mixed media painting and many types of other fun pieces.

My gallery page features a small sampling artwork. If you like me on Facebook, you can see each new piece as it is posted and keep abreast of any upcoming art shows. I hope you’ll get as much enjoyment out of my artwork as I have creating it.