Susan Falcon-Hargraves is an award-winning artist whose work has been featured in galleries and museums throughout the Phoenix area. She studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art from Prescott College in Arizona.

In 2010 she was chosen as one of the Top Ten Women Artists by the ArtRom Gallery in Rome and in 2011 was invited to feature two of her works at the gallery's "Top Ten" show, comprised of previous winners. She was thrilled travel to to Rome to give an artist's talk there in January of 2012.

In 2008 she presented a one-woman show at the West Valley Art Museum, and participated in (and was credited with inspiring) the “Table Manners” group show at the Arizona Museum for Youth.

Her highly prized commissioned family portraits grace the homes of collectors across the country, and her iconic work “The Elephant in the Room” was purchased by the City of Glendale, AZ for their public collection.

A devout animal-lover and supporter of animal rescue causes, Falcon-Hargraves is also well-known for her vibrant and soulful portraits of companion animals and their people, often donating work to rescue groups in the Phoenix area. You can view a selection of her companion animal portraits here: finepetportraitstudio.com/home.html

After 10 years at BRIO Fine Arts she continues to teach drawing, painting and Photoshop basics for artists under the name of Cloud House Arts. Link to Cloud House Arts' new website by clicking on Classes in the navigation bar.

I’ve always been fascinated with the unsolvable mysteries that certain old photos present, particularly those that seem to hint at an unspoken social or emotional dynamic among several figures, or a subtext of thought within a single figure.

These castoff moments of real or imagined drama provide the inspirational starting point for most of my work. I strive, through the subtleties of gesture, posture, facial expression and color to generate some sort of private narrative in the viewer's mind, often exploring the quieter and more contemplative elements of the bizarre.

My goal has always been to take the viewer beyond the image to expose something of the extraordinary within the ordinary, the dream within a moment of daily life, or perhaps the surreal in what appears to be a realistic subject. There is always an element of mystery in a good portrait, an untold history that the artist must discover and honor.