By any measure, sculptor Susie Chisholm has made her mark on Savannah.

The 58-year-old artist and Savannah native has created original bronze sculptures on permanent display at Lake Mayer, the Islands YMCA and the Live Oak Public Library.  In addition, she has already been commissioned for several prominent Savannah projects, including the city’s first World War II memorial and a life-sized sculpture of legendary songwriter Johnny Mercer.

Susie excels at figurative work, crafting the human body at rest and in motion in meticulous, often exquisite, detail.  Interestingly, she discovered her passion for sculpting relatively late in life.  The daughter of a prominent local architect and a gifted interior designer, Susie attended the University of Georgia and earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.  She enjoyed a long, successful career in Savannah, designing paper bags at Union Camp, billboards for Estus Outdoor Advertising and exhibits at the former Savannah Science Museum.

In 1996, at the age of 45, she saw an ad in a local newspaper for a sculpture class and decided to give it a try.  Although the teacher quit, rather unexpectedly after only three weeks, Susie was hooked.  She read every book she could find about sculpture and anatomy and decided to continue her education at specialized workshops in Arizona and Colorado.

Today, from her studio at the City Market Art Center, she sculpts an array of human figures — from a young girl reading a book to a man perched atop a writhing serpent — using the same “lost wax” method favored by the ancient Greeks and by 19th century French master August Rodin.

Surrounded by exposed brick walls and oversized windows, she carefully molds oil-based clay around metal armatures that offer support to emerging sculptures.

She can spend several months working on a single piece, she explained, particularly when it’s a monumental work.  “I’m very detail oriented,” she confessed, “which ties into my graphic design background.”

Some of Susie’s work is on display at Reynolds Square Fine Art in downtown Savannah, but most of her bronzes find their way into elite invitational shows or are commissioned for public spaces in cities and towns across the United States.

“It’s been fun to end up with work going all over the country,” she said.  “I’ve got more stuff I want to make than I even have time for.”

Although she infuses each piece with her creativity, skill and passion, Susie doesn’t get sentimental when the time comes to send a clay sculpture off to the foundry to be cast in bronze.  “When I leave a piece at the foundry, I’m done,” she said with a smile.  “Each one is a different challenge.  The one I’m working on is usually my favorite.”