There is now a new image on the watercolor page. The watercolor called "Paper Hats" is one of Suzie's larger pieces.. It hangs in our living room. Suzie liked the image a lot. She never sold that piece and was even reluctant to exchange it in trade for another of her works.
Leslie, a long time friend of Suzie, sent me two photos of Suzie on a vacation break during her Oxford school year. Leslie's description of the holiday break is as follows:
It was over our spring break. The vacation period was really long at Oxford- about a month. Everyone would leave town to go home or travel. Naturally Suzie and I were broke and had nowhere to go. The town was nearly empty. We spent our time drawing, sewing and the usual hanging out with any stragglers we ran into around town. One night we were listening to the radio and our favorite d.j. John Peel said he was going to be hosting a disco in Bognor Regis. We got out a map and decided, on the spur of the moment, to hitchhike down there. It turned out to be one of the most memorable times of the year. Every person who picked us up was an interesting character.
We arrived late afternoon, found ourselves a bed and breakfast to stay at overnight, and spent some time wandering the town and seashore. Then in the evening, we headed to the Rex Ballroom for the disco. We made an impression (not favorable probably) on Mr. Peel by trotting right up and requesting the David Bowie song "Fame", He looked annoyed and seemed like he was just going to ignore us. It was not really a dance tune after all. So he played a bunch of other songs and the dance floor remained totally empty. The crowd seemed to be a made up primarily of sullen looking young men.
Suzie and I were trying to get the nerve up to dance: but, it's hard being the first ones. Finally he announced that "maybe this would get the Yanks on their feet anyway" and he played our song. Whereupon we HAD to get up there. So there we were all alone in front of a surly looking audience, commanding the entire dance floor, laughing hysterically, and making huge fools of ourselves, no doubt, dancing to "Fame". After that the dance floor crowded up and was packed the rest of the night. I'm sure everyone felt secure that they couldn't possibly look as goofy as us. So they dropped their inhibitions. And I bet John Peel liked us for injecting a little life into his party.
Suzie at the Pier in Bognor Regis, South England
Suzie at the Bognor Regis Bandstand
