On this next instalment of “Inspired by Beatrix Potter” we bring you American artist and author, Susan Branch. Susan is a New York Times best-selling author, a self-taught watercolourist, designer and illustrator who is newly based in California. Before then, she spent more than thirty years on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; the island was her refuge and source of inspiration. The seasons on the island, its landscapes and the community inspired Susan’s watercolour illustrations and lifestyle books shaping her creative journey.
A variety of Susan Branch’s books.
Just as Beatrix Potter did, Susan Branch combines her artistry with storytelling, creating deeply personal illustrated works that celebrate life and nature. Her books are watercoloured and completely handwritten, offering a wondrous experience that stands out and feels intimate and enchanting.
We were fascinated by Susan’s works, her delicately decorated watercolour borders, whimsical drawings and personal notes that invite to see the beauty in the ordinary, and that act as a guidance for living more thoughtfully and joyfully. Her art comes from a deep connection to home and nature that reminds us to slow down and savour the small things.
Susan’s beginnings could be considered serendipitous as she explains to us how it all began for her and that it was “more or less by accident, when I was 30, after receiving a gift certificate to an art store and buying my first watercolors to “try it.” I have written my books by hand and watercolored, starting with the first one, “Heart of the Home”, in 1986. Many of them are cookbooks celebrating moms, families, holidays, seasons, and home sweet home. I’ve also done several “diary books,” including A Fine Romance, Falling in Love with the English Countryside, a diary about a trip we took to England in 2012 on the QMII in which I wrote about how I discovered and fell in love with Beatrix Potter, and about my first visit to Hill Top to see the house she bought, to find what I could of her essence, to walk where she walked, to see what she saw.”
Susan Branch also highlighted Beatrix Potter in this February 2022 calendar page.
Her admiration for Beatrix Potter shines through and in a similar way, Susan’s own creativity grew from a deep bond with the landscapes around her. Both authors found their muse outside their front doors, turning life into art that feels timeless and personal. Thinking back to the beginning, we wondered how Susan first encountered Beatrix’s world.
“I came in through a side door, I think, and all by myself. I’d heard of her, but for some reason, I had never seen her “little books.” The first time I remember becoming aware of her was when I was in my early twenties and worked in a record store. Next to it was a gift shop where I would sometimes wander on my lunch break. They had Beatrix Potter figurines in a little glass case, Jemima Puddleduck, Aunt Pettitoes, Foxy Whiskered Gentleman, Flopsy Mopsy, and Cottontail. Most of them were copyrighted in 1948, the year after I was born, in Beswick, England. I had already written to the Queen of England when I was 11 and received a letter back from her Lady in Waiting. This seemed like more of the magic, from faraway lands, to which, I knew, I was somewhat related and definitely drawn. I fell instantly in love with the colors (like the colors in my great-grandmother’s quilt), and saved my money to buy them. I carried each new “little person” home to join the others lined up on my dresser like trophies. They have been on a countertop or windowsill in every kitchen I’ve had for over 50 years, representing, to me, hope, joy, bravery, and dreams come true.
A peek into Susan Branch’s Beatrix Potter figurine collection.
For Susan, Beatrix Potter’s legacy endures far beyond the pages of her books, and it accompanies readers and artists across a lifetime. Her tales and her beloved characters are more than just charming adventures; they are the cornerstones of childhood memories, companions that grow with us offering meaning, comfort and delight at every age. Looking for insight, we invited Susan to reflect on her connection.
What aspects of Beatrix Potter’s work inspire you the most?
“As time went on, I read more and more about Beatrix, organically becoming more and more curious; but it wasn’t until after I had written my own first books that I read her life story. She was the first person I’d ever heard of that had made a life out of watercolors, who had handwritten her own books. Her search for herself inspired me as I had been doing the same and seeing what she did to become the person she wanted to be, metamorphosing into the farmer and amazing saviour of the Lake District. Learning of her choices along the way, her response to her loses and to her successes, was pure inspiration. I found out she was a late bloomer, just like me . . she believed in fairies and I did too ~ I wrote about them and the magic they were making on Martha’s Vineyard. Her entire life changed in her late 30s, and mine did too … she survived heartbreak, and I did too; she moved far from home to start a new life, bought a small cottage, and became house-crazy in the country-place she loved, and I did that too. My story of leaving California and accidentally buying a house on a small island off the coast of Massachusetts, “where they had this thing called snow,” is recorded in Martha’s Vineyard Isle of Dreams. Books changed both of our lives forever. She was given the gift of nature as a child, the gift of silence, and even loneliness . . . all of that came for me later on. But I related to her, found her to be my perfect hero; I wanted to be her when I grew up! Inspiration is a wonderful thing!
Through her reflections, Susan draws many parallels between her own life and that of Beatrix Potter. Despite being divided by geography and time, the similarities that exist between the two authors make their journey truly inspiring. Curious to learn more, we asked Susan in what ways have Beatrix Potter’s stories and illustrations influenced her own creative process. “Well. I put a Peter Rabbit Room in my house, in the smallest guest room. I wrote about it and showed photos on my blog. I kept her books and several Peter Rabbit figurines on the dresser, circled around a child’s china teacup with a candle in it. She’s influenced so much in my life, including travel. But her life story gave me strength. And a certain amount of pride. I don’t know if she would have liked me, I’m a bit of a light-weight compared to her, brought up as the oldest of 8 children, but it would not have mattered. I could not have more respect for her than I do now. Being born only 3 1/2 years after she died, I feel like I was THIS close to meeting her. I missed her by a whisper.”
And, do you have a favourite Beatrix Potter book or character? Why?
“My favorite books are about Beatrix, not by her. I adored the Tale of Beatrix Potter by Margaret Lane, but I didn’t read Linda Lear’s Beatrix Potter, The Extraordinary Life of a Victorian Genius (which I think was renamed Beatrix Potter, A Life in Nature) until after I saw the wonderful movie, “Miss Potter”. Which was the final straw . . . after that I HAD to know more, HAD to read Linda Lear’s book, and HAD to visit Hill Top. My copy about her extraordinary homemade life is full of underlined sentences, highlighted lines, and marked paragraphs. I read it twice and loved it both times, and now I love to go back and reread my marked passages. I cried at the end of her Holiday Diary. I also very much enjoyed all the additional detail in the BP Society book, “Beatrix Potter, Some Friends and Relations.” I laughed to see that they really did call Peter Rabbit her “Bunny Book!” And it was so interesting to watch her letter-writing style evolve into comfort being familiar with old friends.”
A few pages from Susan Branch’s book about her visit to Hill Top.
Susan’s art feels organic, personal, and beautifully crafted, and we wondered about what happens behind the scenes, and how does she usually bring her ideas to life. She reports that she likes to “ find out all the things I can about the subject I’m writing about including the testing of recipes . . . and put it all with quotes from my heroes (and teachers) from history and handwrite and illustrate my pages until I have enough to make a book. If I can, I like to include photos and stories. I think to myself, what would they like (my readers who are like friends to me now after all these years), and then I try to give it to them. I’ve told them all about Beatrix and sent many to Hill Top. We even had a picnic in Beatrix’s garden at Castle Cottage back in 2018. I love talking about her.”
How do you balance your unique voice with the influence of her work?
“I’m much more influenced by the courageous and generous person she was than by her work. Even though we both use watercolours, our styles are different, and I don’t have a scientific bone in my body, only lots of curiosity, and I admire it when I see it. When we were in Ambleside, I bought a handmade, hand-painted, pottery mushroom at the Armitt Library and Museum, copied from Beatrix’s watercolours; it has pride of place, on top of my collection of old BP books.”
A painting of a hedgehog by Susan Branch. She illustrated this after seeing her first hedgehog.
Before finishing, we had one more question to ask Susan about her hopes and expectations; what was she really hoping to achieve with her art that is inspired by Beatrix Potter. “I hope to achieve a life that keeps growing and changing and to inspire others to do the same.”
We finish with heartfelt thanks to Susan Branch for sharing with us about her journey and creative world. Her creativity echoes the timeless spirit of Beatrix Potter showing us the beauty of the simplest things and inspiring us to look more closely at the world around us.
You can follow Susan’s journey by visiting her website or Instagram on the links provided below:
Website: www.susanbranch.com
Instagram: @susanbranchauthor
*Photographs kindly provided by Susan Branch
