Artist Susan Randall approaches her craft with a deep sense of fluidity—after all, she most often works in forgiving mediums like clay and oil. Yet beneath that ease lies remarkable precision and technical mastery. Her work is at once spontaneous and impeccably executed, and its interest lies somewhere in the space between disciplined control and passionate expression.

“I like to be spontaneous. I don’t spend too much time on a piece,” says Randall. “When I work on a sculpture, I like to finish it within a day or two. For me, it has to be as quick as possible so that I can be in the moment.” Painting is that way for her too. “I don’t want to spend a lot of time fussing, and in fact if I catch myself doing that, I’ll stop the painting right there. The more rigid it is, the less I like it,” she says. 

While her work is free-flowing, Randall says she’s compelled most by improving her craft. Discipline and technique remain central to her process, fueling her determination to grow with every next piece. Her advice to aspiring artists reflects that mindset: work hard. “Art is not easy. It takes a lot of practice. It’s the same as everything—you don’t just start as an expert. You have to treat it seriously, put in your 10,000 hours, and then someday you get to start adding in your personality,” she says.

Randall has clearly reached that point of infusing her personality into her work; there’s an effervescence to each of her pieces, sculpture or painting, that speaks to her confidence and experience. Just as her technique is fluid, so too is her subject matter. “I’m all over the place,” she says with a laugh. “I’m not inspired by one thing; I’m inspired by everything.” 

From portraits of her daughter to florals, to abstracts; all embrace variety as a creative challenge. She is especially drawn to the complexities of abstraction. “It’s a challenge to make an abstract look interesting, but not overworked,” she notes—a balance that echoes her broader artistic philosophy of fluidity paired with precision.

For more than 20 years, Randall owned and operated her own gallery in Osterville, East Bay Gallery. She closed it last year, and now paints exclusively by commission, but one thing holds true: her love of creative freedom. Choosing the kind of art she creates, not being confined to any one genre, keeps her inspired. “I love getting lost in what I do. I think that’s really interesting,” she says. “There’s a flow where sometimes you don’t even feel like you’re in control. I think that’s really freeing”

Ultimately, Randall hopes her work creates a moment of pause. “Any kind of poetry that comes through in your work—something that can make somebody stop and catch their breath, that’s what I want,” says Randall about what she hopes her work evokes. “It’s like when you’re in a museum and there’s a piece that really grabs you—something that makes you say, ‘Wow, I had to stop and look at that.’ I want to be able to grab someone’s attention, even just for a second.”  

Randall’s work is available by commission at her website eastbaygallery.com or through Instagram @eastbaygallery.

~Allyson Plessner