Susanna Low-Beer

Meet SUSANNA Low-Beer: HEaling ARTIST, ALchemical Crafter

HEALING ARTS

I am a healing artist with a deep passion for the science and art of Chinese Medicine. I bring this passion into the treatment room where I find full expression in empowering patients to find a balanced state of wellness and peace amidst what can often feel like a chaotic world.

I came to my healing practice through my love of sacred arts paired with a natural propensity towards helping others and working with my hands. With over 10 years of experience, I strive to weave my deep intuition with in-depth practical knowledge and skill.

EDUCATION

In 2004 I moved to Portland, Oregon from New York City to attend NUNM (National University of Natural Medicine). The inspiration to pursue a career in Acupuncture came from severe injuries I sustained in intense martial arts training that were cured and transformed by Shiatsu and Acupuncture therapy.

After 4 years of intense study, I received an MSOM (Master of Science of Oriental Medicine) degree focusing on sports injury rehabilitation, stress relief, and internal medicine under the tutelage of Dr. Youping Qin (Chengdu University, China). I have had the good fortune of traveling to both China and Taiwan where I have furthered my education in Chinese Medicine as well as Chinese language, Internal Martial Arts, Esoteric Arts (Yijing and FengShui Studies) and 文化 wénhuà, Chinese Cultural Arts.

I have devoted myself to the ongoing study of massage, both Asian and European. I recently traveled to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand to learn the art of Nuad Boran, traditional Thai floor massage. A key piece of my education was (and continues to be) with Master Zhongxian Wu, with whom I study Taiji, Qigong and Daoist Healing techniques.

I combine all of these wisdom arts in my healing practice, utilizing this knowledge to inform my treatments and empower clients in a variety of ways. A “typical” session (which is different for each person) includes the use of multiple modalities: acupuncture, bodywork, cupping, Qigong therapy, herbal medicine, and even Yijing divination. My primary therapeutic goal is to nurture a graceful transformation in my patients, helping you find presence, connectedness, health and balance in your life. License #ACO127

ALCHEMICAL CRAFTS

My overall mission as an artist is to share and create:

Beauty via everyday objects. A Sense of Reverence for the natural world. A Sense of Connection to the Magic of the present moment. A state of Wonder and Awe. A Bridge between the Ancient past and the Distant far-off future.

My journey as a creative and a maker has always existed in parallel with my work as a healing artist. My hands constantly need to be used and this has always been the case, throughout my entire life.

My Journey with Clay

I came to clay work in 2001, taking my first pottery class at the historic Byrdcliffe Guild in Woodstock, New York. I was deeply inspired to start working with clay from the study of Cha-no-you, the Japanese Art of Tea, at Uraseke in New York City. The aesthetics and practice of tea ceremony, whose tenets include a reverence for nature and cultivation of internal stillness, is captured in the tradition of Japanese Pottery. This captivated me, moving me so deeply that I felt compelled to seek out instruction in pottery.

This first encounter with clay was in the context of a Raku class, in which students worked together to construct a brick kiln, and were given the chance to have a very “hands-on” role in the firing process, removing red hot pots from the kiln and putting them into a metal barrel full of straw to allow them to reduce and burn. I was absolutely thrilled, not only by the sensation of clay in my hands, but also with the magic of fire and the firing process.

A long road of love for pottery and clay has brought me to my current form of artistic expression: creating functional work and pottery fired in wood kilns, a uniquely beautiful process that combines personal will with natural systems and chance. For more about wood-firing and my process, click here.

My Journey with Silver

Compared to my experience with ceramics, I am just getting to know silver and the art of the Silversmith. After attending a ring-making workshop with Jeff Fulkerson at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show in February 2017, I instantly fell in love with the process. When I returned to Portland, I felt that I absolutely had to continue, as I was, in a word, hooked! I sought out tutelage and was blessed to meet local Artisan Jeweler Tai Vautier, who luckily loves my acupuncture work enough to barter with me for jewelry making lessons!

Aside from studying in studio with Tai from time to time and taking an occasional workshop, I am able to hone my Silver Craft at home in my small Northeast Portland basement studio, through long hours of meditative hammering, stamping, sawing, and soldering. Many mistakes are made along the way, but all of these little mistakes in the end lead to wonderfully magical, talismanic, wearable pieces of art.

For more on my jewelry and process, click here.