Suzanne Short, or "Shorty" as her close friends call her, was a junior in Indiana University majoring in Architectural Technology when she was involved in a car accident caused by a drunk driver in 1982. She was a very active, athletic, and independent person whose life drastically changed.

After the tragic accident, Suzanne was left with the devastating inability to walk or move her arms. The level of her disability is C4 quadriplegia; paralyzed from the shoulders down, though she has enough mobility in her shoulders and left arm to operate her motorized wheelchair.

The average person may have given up but she was able to overcome her pain emotionally and eventually accepted her physical destiny. She went through Craig Rehabilitation Hospital where she learned to write with her mouth using a felt tip pen. After her rehabilitation, she relearned how to live and discovered a way to reinvent herself through art as a mouth artist. She used her previous training/discipline in architecture and developed a way to express herself artistically.

Among her favorite subjects are animals, portraits, and of course, architectural renderings. Suzanne works mostly with permanent pen and ink, but sometimes adds watercolor using techniques she learned on her own. By viewing her work, you will note that she has a signature style with the type of texturing she does with her pens. Her watercolors lend a feeling of serenity through the subtle applications that she adds to enhance her ink drawings.

Since 1984, Suzanne has regularly exhibited with the Very Special Arts. During the VSA Festivals in Orange County, California, you may catch Shorty giving live demonstrations of her techniques. If you happen to catch her at her art shows or festivals, be sure and stick around to chat with Suzanne. It's easy to get acquainted with her intellect, warmth and friendly disposition.

Currently a resident of Laguna Beach, California, you will often find Suzanne working at her easel that was especially made for her. She has some commissioned architectural renderings and portraits in the works. But with her free time, she still steals the momentum to do her animal drawings. Like a true artist, Shorty always stays busy.

Suzanne's work has been exhibited and sold all over Orange County, California. Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson and Jonathan T. Thomas, are some of the celebrities that Shorty has had the pleasure of meeting and presenting the portraits that she had done of them. When she gave Harrelson his portrait, he looked at the drawing, gave her a big smile and said, "You gave me more hair than I have!"

Click on the links below to view some of Shorty's work!