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Susan Castriota draws on her expertise in architecture, fashion, and graphic design to create detailed depictions of city skylines, historic buildings, pet portraits, and six award-winning children’s books. In the 1970s, she broke with tradition as the first female student to enroll in Drafting and Architecture at her high school outside of Pittsburgh. She later earned a degree in fashion and graphic design from the Art Institutes of Pittsburgh and studied in Florence, Italy, where her curriculum included art history, fashion design, and architecture.

Susan worked as a fashion illustrator for Belk and Horne’s department stores before freelancing as a commercial and layout artist for several Pittsburgh advertising agencies.

Her artistic pursuits have been many and varied. In 1984, Castriota launched a successful greeting card and design business, selling her highly sought-after Christmas card and ornament designs to major department stores. While working with Marshall Field’s Department store in Chicago, she collaborated with Farley Candy Company on package design and branding.

In the 1990s, Castriota created and marketed the first catalog devoted to women’s golf gifts. She designed many of the items herself and traveled internationally to find distinctive manufacturers to produce them. After years of success, The Castriota Collection was sold.

Castriota’s award-winning architectural illustrations of cityscapes, courthouses, and historic sites led to commissions from U.S. senators, members of Congress, and major corporations, including H.J. Heinz Co., Federated Investors, PNC Bank, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, granted her the rare privilege of painting its likeness. She also received permission from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to illustrate its historic landmark, Fallingwater, in Farmington, Pennsylvania.

In 2008, Castriota was nominated to design an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree. She attended a dinner reception at the White House, hosted by the First Lady, where the ornament was displayed in the Blue Room. Considered a historian of White House dogs, Castriota wrote and illustrated the award-winning children’s book “Wilson and the White House Pups”. After extensive research, the manuscript was edited by the White House Historical Association to ensure historical accuracy. Susan and her dog Wilson were frequent guests at book signings in Washington, DC, including events at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Castriota studied business at the University of Pittsburgh and was nominated as Western Pennsylvania’s top entrepreneur in the InnovateHER 2016 Business Plan Competition. In 2015, she applied her product design expertise to invent a line of glass microwave cookware and accessories. She holds five U.S. design patents and has extensive knowledge of glass properties, cookware development and production. The Cuchina Safe, LLC brands were sold on QVC, HSN, and Amazon, where Castriota appeared as the brand ambassador. Cuchina Safe cookware is available on Amazon.

Over the past 15 years, Castriota has appeared on numerous television and online programs, including Yahoo News, Amazon Live, Fox Business NYC, Fox n Friends, The Doctors Show, NBC Business, Good Morning America, KDKA, WTAE and national radio programs such as MPR and Radio Disney. She was featured in the May 2019 issue of Women’s World magazine. A strong believer in giving back, Susan has supported many charitable organizations, including the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the American Heart Association, Variety, and others.

Castriota now focuses on painting commissioned portraits of pets and homes and exhibiting her work in juried shows. She is a member of the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Bonita Arts, and the Southwest Florida Pastel Society.

For an individual consultation with Susan email Susan at susancastriota@aol.com.