I picked up my first camera at age 13, and my early black-and-white photography was of family, friends, and the Texas landscape where I grew up. 

At 30, I landed a job in San Francisco, and there, began to photograph water. The experience had a personal impact. As my internal landscape shifted, so, too, did my photography. The result was a body of work around water—its beauty, motion, fluidity, and the unknown.

When I retired from my restaurant marketing career, I was engaged to teach Mindful Photography at San Francisco General’s Mental Rehabilitation Center. Teaching this class named what I instinctively knew but had never articulated—that the process of photography itself can heal.

It had certainly helped me, as I witnessed dear friends who took their lives, or struggled with depression, or needed emotional support. Now, I saw the power of the medium to help others, especially those coping with mental illness.

Making art comes with a responsibility. Mindful Photography has enabled me to create art and, use it in service to others.

exhibitions

• March-June, 2023, Pretty Pretty Collective, San Francisco, featuring Women in Water exhibition. Juried by Michael Lerner
• February, 2022, Little Sisters of the Poor, St. Anne's, "The Equanimity of Nature" 
• January 2022,  Sequoias, San Francisco, “The Equanimity of Nature” Exhibition, Juried by David Jamison
• September 2016 PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury VT – Personal Narrative, Juried by Susan Burnstine
• September 2014 NIDO Gallery, San Francisco CA – Land + Earth, Curated by Alex Ray
• July 2013 PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury VT – Water, Elemental & Fundamental, Juried by Laura Moy, Photolucia
• January 2013 Center for Photographic Art, Carmel CA – Juried Exhibition, Juried by Dean Brierly, B&W Magazine
• January 2013 See Exhibition Space, Long Island NY – Juried by Emily K., Director
• June 2012 Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, San Francisco CA – Juried by Daniel Simmons, Andre Guichard, Charley Palmer
• June 2012 Surf Spot, Pacifica CA – Restaurant Opening, Curated by Derek Burns
• October 2010 5 Claude Lane Gallery, San Francisco CA – Retrospective Work (solo show), Curated by Leila Seppa
• December 2010 5 Claude Lane Gallery, San Francisco CA – “A Community in the Making” non-profit for the Women’s Building
• May 2009 Kelly Street Gallery, Half Moon Bay, CA – Juried by Deborah Penrose
• May 2007 San Francisco City Hall, San Francisco CA – Curated by Louise Dawson
• April 2006 Texas A&M, Women Alumni Invitational, Commerce TX – Juried by Stan Goodwin

accolades & publications

• Medium, “The Motivation to March for Women’s/Equal Rights for All” 2018
• Our Town: Best of the New Fillmore – included in retrospective 2018
• Ms. Magazine, Online Blog Personal Pictorial Essay on Gloria Steinem Impact 2017
• Medium, “Gloria Steinem’s Indelible Impact on Me” 2017
• Design Good Community, Suzie Biehler Photography, featured in “Creative People Rockin’ Their Later Years” October 2015
• CBS Bay Area Local, “How to Take Better Pictures with Your Phone” (expert column) July 2015
• BayKeeper (Protectors of San Francisco Bay) Newsletter, “Water Photography for Clean Water Organization” July 2014
• Juried Exhibition Catalog, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA January 2013
• The New Fillmore, San Francisco pictorial essays 2009 – 2020
• San Francisco Magazine, Half Moon Bay Coast July 2012
• Decline Magazine, Photo of Shelby Smith, biker feature March 2012
• Lumosity, self-published book May 2006
• 7×7 Magazine, “Bring on the Night,” top 25 honored November 2006
• Austin American Statesman, Napa Valley story/photographs June 1986
• Suburban News, pictorial essays, Dallas, TX 1975 – 1977
• East Texan Newspaper, A&M staff photographer, Commerce, TX 1973 – 1974
• First Place, Sigma Delta Chi Photographic Contest, East Texas State, Commerce, TX May 1974
• Second Place, Sam Houston State Judged Photographic Salon May 1974