Susan Wilson studied nursing and worked for two years in a neurosurgical unit. After travels in South America she went to England and studied at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and then the Royal Academy Schools. She has taught at The Royal Academy Schools, the Slade School (UCL), The Royal College of Art and Chelsea School of Art. Currently she is Senior Member of Faculty at The Royal Drawing School. Her work is in major collections including Auckland Museum – Auckland Art Gallery, The British School at Rome, British Museum Dept of Prints and Drawings, HRH King Charles III, Oriel College Oxford, Murray Edwards College Cambridge, The Usher Gallery Lincoln and the National Trust. She exhibited at the Hayward Gallery in 1982 and won a prize at The National Portrait Gallery John Player Award for her painting of José García The Migrant Dreams of La Mancha.