Artist Circle

We are all a part of a greater Artist Circle – the people, places and things that have nurtured, inspired and supported us as a creative living being. There is probably very little that we actually do all by ourselves. Who and what have been part of your Artist Circle? You may like to start making a gratitude list of your own Artist Circle. Here are some of the people in mine. I am grateful for them being a part of my Artist Circle and want to recognize and thank them for being a part of my life!

Ella (Elaine) Craig (Murdoch) Sholle (June 1902 – November 1974) is Susan’s grandmother and one of her first art mentors. She lived in Cleveland, OH; at Arrow Wood Lodge in Port Severn, Canada, and later in life in Ft. Lauderdale, Naples and Lake Placid, FL. Grandma Ella created ceramics, drawings and paintings, and taught me to appreciate the beauty of nature. My middle name came from my grandmother Elaine (nickname Ella). It means ‘ray of light’ after Helena the partron saint of new discoveries. Perhaps the light that I see in my mind during meditation is a gift she passed on to me.

“So I sez -sez I” - drawing/watercolor

Ceramic vase

John Fox is a poet, Practitioner of Poetic Medicine and CEO of the nonprofit Institute for Poetic Medicine (IPM) which he founded in 2005.  He taught Poetry Therapy as an adjunct for many years in four Bay Area Graduate Programs:  The Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, John F. Kennedy University, California Institute for Integral Studies and Holy Names University.  

John created a 3 year / 3 phase poetic medicine training program in 2012 that is now in its 4th Cohort.  John and senior people at IPM created a training program Poetry as a Tool for Wellness.  This 8-Part training program is shared throughout the US and around the world.  Its special concentration is on Peer Facilitation. The Institute for Poetic Medicine also brings poetry-as-healer to people living at the margins of our society, across the United States, through trained Facilitators, Poetry Partners and people who have graduated from the training program.

John and IPM bring expressive arts tools and approaches to creativity to a wide-range of helping professionals. This reaches people involved in — medicine & medical schools, special needs & cancer care, chaplaincy & clergy, education & life-long learning, social justice & community activism, psychology & social work, prison & recovery, veteran support & disabled support, elder care & hospice. 

He is the author of Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making and Finding What You Didn’t Lose: Expressing Your Truth and Creativity Through Poem-Making, as well as, three volumes of his own poetry, My Hand Touches the Sea, When Jewels Sing (tape) and the only gift to bring.  John teaches and guides poetic medicine workshops / retreats in all kinds of settings throughout the USA and internationally.  

John attended Boston University and Bard College, graduating from Bard in 1977.  He studied with poetry therapy pioneer Joy Shieman from 1985-1988 at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA. He lives in Mountain View, CA. John is one of my most important poetry mentors and a life-long friend since childhood to my brother and me.

Lou Rizzolo is Professor Emeritus of Art, Western Michigan University (WMU). Lou is my most important art mentor from graduate school and we have kept a strong bond with our art throughout our lives. I am grateful for his exceptional teaching of Watercolor Painting at WMU, as well as, his Art Education Research course. He served as research advisor for myself and fellow classmate Mary Ellen Meyer in order to successfully guide us in completing our graduate studies project and thesis. He also served as an important reference for me throughout my Occupational Therapy and Art careers. I was so pleased when he gifted me with his watercolor painting Spring Shoals which hangs in my home studio and gives me such joy and inspiration. Lou has had a long, incredible career as an artist, poet, writer, educator, and leader in the USA and internationally.  As a multi media artist and integrated teaching  professional, Lou and the  BIGthink team (art/science/education collaborative) have created large scale events and taught students and teachers throughout the USA. Note: See: BIGthink.org.

‘Spring Shoals’  water-media/ silver leaf, 2018 © Lou Rizzolo Collection: Susan Sholle-Martin

“Convergence” Water-Media on canvas, 48”, 2024.  © L.Rizzolo, Collection: Jen Talbot

Lou’s recent books of art, poetry and stories

Whole Brain  Learning Workshop, ( Dr.Rich Cooper, OT Professor and BT Team)

Mary Ellen Meyer, MOT, graduated from Earlham College with a dual BA in Art and Religion. She is a fellow classmate and alumni from the Occupational Therapy Master’s program of Western Michigan University where we conducted an art-based research project as part of our master’s thesis. Since then we became life-long friends and artist soulmates. We have shared our love of painting and poetry, connection with the beauty and health properties of nature, teaching children art (including our grandchildren), using art as part of our occupational therapy practice and own healing, and using art to bring beauty and healing to our living spaces and community. Mary Ellen lives with her family in Pennsylvania.

Monongahela Valley Acrylic by Mary Ellen Meyer

Swallow Falls - Deep Creek Lake Acrylic by Mary Ellen Meyer

Deep Creek, MD Acrylic by Mary Ellen Meyer

Mona Chabra, MA, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, is an author, poet, and editing professional living in Pennsylvania. In addition to authoring and publishing the children’s book entited The ME I came here to be, she has 20+ years experience working as a writer for UPMC Passavant and Pittsburgh Parent Magazine. Mona’s story and poetry have been a source of inspiration that I have shared with others throughout my life. Almost 45 years after we first met, we were blessed to reconnect and discover we were both mothers and grandmothers and writing our second books.

The ME I came here to be Mona Chabra’s first book

Mona Chabra, writer in a hot pink chair

Nelson E. Oestreich (1932 – 2014), Assistant Professor, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA was a graduate of Bowling Green State University and Kent State University. Nels was known for his paintings, etchings, woodcarvings and woodcut prints. I visited with him at his barn studio later in life and we exchanged art pieces. He was one of my most important art mentors in undergraduate college. We both loved trees and he taught me how to stretch my imagination and honor them by learning the art of woodcuting. I’m pleased to have his woodcut They Danced in the Forest at Night hanging in my home studio in his memory.

They Danced in the Forest at Night Woodcut print by Nels Oestriech

Wilma Bulkin Siegle, MD, graduated from University of Pennsylvania (1958) and received her medical degree from Women’s Medical College of Pennsylania (1962). She has had a distinguished career as a prominent oncologist in New York City. She was a pioneer in the development of Hospice and Palliative Care. Wilma has become an impactful American oncology and hospice physician and portrait artist well known for her blending of medicine and the arts. She is recognized for her deep commitment to humanitarian causes and social justice. She has made a motto for herself in art, which she calls the three C’s - Communication, Compassion, and Creativity.

Wilma and I first connected after my treatment for breast cancer in Florida. At that time, she was engaged in creating her series of paintings of people recovering from breast cancer. Her painting my portrait as a part of this series gave me hope as a healing artist. When living in Ft. Lauderdale during the winters, we were able to visit and stay connected throughout the years. I was so pleased and honored when I received the portrait she painted of me in 2001 as a gift. She is my most important mentor as a fellow healing artist and educator in the field of arts and healing. I am very grateful for her inspiration and friendship.

FACES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EXHIBITION by Wilma Bulkin Siegle, MD

After I moved from Florida to Texas at the start of the covid pandemic, Wilma would text me flowers she was creating every morning, while I sent her SOUL MAIL art, keeping ourselves connected.

Portrait of Susan Sholle-Martin by Wilma Bulkin Siegle, MD