So, it is not too early to do your holiday shopping and support your local artists.

Susan Heller is a native New Yorker, who with her husband Jack, has relocated to the East Bay in 2008, drawn west by the call of family, the beautiful California hills and the arts-friendly community. Prior to leaving New York she was invited to exhibit of her quilts in a 3-woman show called Thrice Threads at the Pomona Cultural Center Gallery. Through the years she has shown several works at the Northern Star Quilters Guild in Somers NY and at the Schweinfurth Museum in Auburn NY. Both shows honored her quilts with awards.

Since settling in the East Bay she’s had a one-woman show at the Thousand Oaks Gallery in Berkeley, and as a member of FiberDIMENSIONS, Heller’s work has been included in exhibits at The Blue Line Gallery in Roseville, the Bay Model gallery in Sausalito and in the corporate building lobby at 500 Howard Street in San Francisco. The Quilt Life magazine featured “Jester”, one of her dual-face masks, in the October 2011 issue.

“I use my quilts to explore states of mind – how different experiences make me feel. Through the masks I can delve into the spiritual and inner worlds of others. Although re-imagined, many appear to have come out of Africa. Others interpret the mysterious spirit boards that the New Guinea tribesmen used in their ceremonial invocations to their spirit protectors.”

Now it is her pleasure to have been invited to be the guest artist at The Moraga Art Gallery for the last two months of the year.