On the front burner: Suzy Eaton

I’m so pleased to be featuring food stylist, Suzy Eaton, this week (and not just because she is from my neck of the woods)! Suzy is an incredibly talented artist and stylist. She is also one of those tall, willowy people that could wear a burlap sack and would make it look arty, stylish and gorgeous. (You would LOVE to hate her but you just can’t because she is so dang lovely and gracious!) I hope you all give her a big welcome. What she does is truly fascinating. I wish I were better at it making things look so beautiful!

I’ve always been an artist, and knew that from a very young age. I realized that art was something I was very interested in. I loved drawing, creating, and experimenting with all mediums.

I painted pictures and created murals and faux finishes for homes and businesses and wrote a book on decorative painting. I also spent a few years as a graphic artist….but I stumbled into my real love, styling, when I did some volunteer work for a Christmas charity. I made connections on that project that would lead into a whole new career for me. I was given the job of in-house artist and stylist.

My time was spent completing various art projects, as well as styling for a variety of different crafting books. Later, my job came to include set decorating and styling for film.

Towards the end of that career, I stopped to take some time and think about what I really wanted to do. I contemplated whether I wanted to go back to painting, but determined that styling really was my passion, so I stuck with it and decided to become a freelance stylist. At that point, I knew that if I wanted to become a successful stylist, I needed to learn more about food styling. So I flew to L.A., took some food styling courses, and went to culinary school. I built a Web site, created a business plan and ran with it.

I style for both product and food, but definitely do more food work. I have also continued doing big set work for small film projects, such as commercials, and was even called to be the Set Decorator for a motion picture.

I’ve always enjoyed cooking and often experiment with new recipes. I would love to write a cookbook to share some of my fun recipes and tips I have learned over the years.

My goal is to travel more with my styling. I would be so honored if people thought so highly of me that they would want me to come from far away to help them with their projects— plus traveling is such a good opportunity to learn more about local cultures and unique foods, which is perfect for a foodie like myself.