Born and raised near Detroit, in 1980 Suzanne graduated from Michigan State University with a BFA in sculpture. For years she was a middle school visual arts instructor and developed a production sculpture business. In 1994, she moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico to pursue a masters degree at New Mexico State University concentrating on studio art in ceramics. In 1998 she was conferred an MFA and received the First Place Graduate Symposium Award for her master's thesis show. Suzanne is an instructor of ceramics at New Mexico State University and is published in the Australian magazine Ceramics Technical.