Susan Ashworth facts for kids

Susan Ashworth was a talented British artist and teacher who lived in the 1800s. She worked as an artist and educator between 1860 and 1880. Her career took her to both London and Edinburgh, where she spent time living and working.

Her Early Life and Education

Susan Ashworth was born in 1829 in Salford, England. Her parents were Thomas Alfred Ashworth and Harriet. When Susan was about eleven years old, her mother moved with Susan and her younger brothers to London.

By the time Susan was 21, she was already a student at the Government School of Design in London. This school helped train artists and designers. Susan was very good at her studies. She won prizes in school exams. She even showed her fabric designs at a big event called the 1851 International Exhibition. In 1852, she was one of the first female students to get a special scholarship to continue her art studies.

Becoming a Teacher and Artist

After her studies, Susan Ashworth moved back to Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1861, she became the head of the Trustees' Academy. This was a Government School of Art, which is now part of the Edinburgh College of Art. She took over this important role after Robert Scott Lauder retired.

Susan Ashworth painted many different kinds of art. She created beautiful pictures of flowers, landscapes, and still-life scenes. She used both oil paints and watercolours. Between 1864 and 1873, she often showed her work at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. She exhibited about 27 paintings there. She also showed at least two of her artworks at the Royal Society of British Artists gallery in London between 1874 and 1880.

Susan Ashworth returned to London in the mid-1870s. She continued to paint and show her art at the Society of Female Artists until 1880. She passed away in Hampstead, London, in 1894.