Susan began drawing horses at the age of 4 on the back of her father's blueprints. She grew up with a pencil in her hand, drawing on the back of schoolwork and any unused piece of paper lying around. School notes often carried little horsy scribbles in the margins. At the age of 12 she went door to door to sell pencil drawings for just 25 cents each.

Though she took art in high school and college, her teachers did not encourage drawing horses. Undaunted, Susan continued to strive for drawing realistic portrayals of the subject, endeavoring to show the beauty of the detailed subject as God had made it.

After many years of doing many paintings in oils, Susan switched to water media a few years ago, when it was discovered her husband, Stephen, was allergic to the solvents in the oil paints. The change opened up new vistas and challenges to Susan's style, including recent experimental forays into abstract.

Susan works equally well in pencil, (both graphite and color), watercolor and acrylics. She often finds that the animal being portrayed determines the medium being used, and will do several different paintings or drawings of a horse, dog or cat, working in more than one medium.

Susan's paintings have won several awards at the yearly art fairs in Paris, Texas, where she has lived the past 25 years, including several firsts and Best of Shows. Her latest achievement is a 2nd place in the 2001 Equine Art Guild Show.

Despite the growing popularity and increasing collectibility of her work, the prices for a Barackman piece remain very affordable. She always has framed and unframed art for sale.