Born and raised in Red Lodge, MT, Sue Tirrell received a BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1997. She served as Education Director for the Custer County Art & Heritage Center in Miles City, MT for seven years where she implemented arts education outreach to rural schools and communities. She has been a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT; California State University, Chico; and the Custer County Art & Heritage Center in Miles City. Tirrell's work has been included in regional and national juried and invitational exhibitions and museums.Sue Tirrell has been a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT, as well as at the Custer County Art and Heritage Center in Miles City, MT where she was resident artist and director of education from 1998 to 2005.Tirrell's work has continued to gain widespread attention and acclaim. In 2006, images of her work were published in the book ''500 Animals in Clay'' (Lark Books).Sue's work explores themes of the West and nature. She investigates cultural stereotypes of the west in a witty and whimsical way with her cowgirls and cowboys that have an underlying tongue and cheek humor to them playing with sentiment, nostalgia and kitsch. Her rich glazes have a seductive quality while the work refers to several ceramic traditions from Greek to Chinese to Folk art.