About Sue Heaser

Sue Heaser is a professional artist, writer and craftswoman whose skills range from painting, illustration and sculpture to glass engraving, scenery painting, textile crafts and pottery. After a foundation course in art and a degree in geography and archaeology she became an archaeological illustrator, working on jewellery and artefacts from sites all over Britain. This led to an interest in jewellery and design and she began making jewellery in both traditional and modern materials. She has written many books and articles on a variety of craft and design subjects. She is acknowledged as a world wide authority on polymer clay and metal clays.

Archaeology
Sue studied Archaeology at the University of Exeter and her early career was as a Finds Assistant for the Museum of London and then as an archaeological illustrator for what is now English Heritage. Her drawings of Anglo-Saxon finds in particular are published in many archaeological reports and publications. She studied jewellery making and many other traditional crafts in order to better illustrate artefacts and this led to a career writing books on a wide variety of crafts. 

Since 2016 she has returned to Archaeology and has been researching Anglo-Saxon bead making, using her hot glass skills to better understand ancient techniques. She has visited the bead collections in many British museums and is currently working on a book to publish her findings.

Polymer Clay
Sue first discovered polymer clay in 1981 and within a year she was supplying an ever-increasing number of boutiques and galleries with her her unique range of jewellery. Over the years she continually experimented with the clays, stretching the limits of the medium to embrace a wide range of techniques. These ideas have been shared in her many books on the subject.
Sue was a co-founder of the British Polymer Clay Guild in 1997 and has served as chairman for many years.

Metal Clay
​In 2004 a teaching trip to Japan introduced her to the manufacturers of Art Clay Silver, a precious metal clay that is modelled like modelling clay and then fired to produce pure silver jewellery. She qualified as a Senior Art Clay Instructor later that year, the first to qualify in the UK,  and was appointed founder Director of Art Clay World UK. She handed over the reins of the Guild in 2009. She has taught workshops all over the world, from Taiwan to the USA and became a craft instructor for P&O in 2011, teaching polymer clay and metal clay jewellery on cruise ships.
She has recently created a collection of replica jewellery for Norwich Castle Museum, using the metal clays and developing ways for simulating ancient techniques.
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Writing
Non-Fiction
Sue has written 18 major books and dozens of magazine articles on jewellery making and miniature modelling, often illustrating her articles with her own detailed drawings. Her first book, "Making Polymer Clay Jewellery", was published in 1997. A series of doll's house books followed and her book "Making Doll's House Miniatures with Polymer Clay" has been a worldwide best seller. The Polymer Clay Techniques Book has stayed in the Amazon.com top ten list for polymer clay books for over twenty years. Many more books have followed including Metal Clay for Jewelry Makers which also regularly tops the Amazon bestseller lists for jewellery making. Making Silver Charms with Metal Clay was published in 2013 and was followed by several more books on miniatures and jewellery. 

​In 2019 Sue edited a major book on the writings and watercolours of Victorian novelist and cleric Richard Cobbold called Cobbold's Wortham

Sue is currently researching a book on Anglo-Saxon beads that will show the ancient techniques for creating these beads. It will have many full colour illustrations to show how the beads would have looked when they were new with reconstructed necklaces and bracelets.

Musicals
Sue is a competent violinist and also plays the piano accordion and piano. Her two musicals for children were published in 1993 and 1994 and are still being regularly performed in schools all over the world. She has also collaborated with Peter Creswell, the musician and composer, to write Cobbold's Tales, a full-length musical; and two works for narrator and orchestra: The Midsummer Hare and Cathedral. See the link to Musicals above for more information.

Art and Illustration
Sue has taught watercolour painting and drawing classes for many years at her studio in Suffolk and for local groups. She recently completed the illustrations for Thornham Anglo-Saxon cemetery for Norwich Castle Museum and has worked on a variety of commissions for authors and for her own writing.