Her acrylic paintings hang on the green walls of The Brick House coffee shop.

She painted the SnowMN statue that greeted visitors to the SPAM Museum this winter.

Her artwork also is displayed at the Austin Area Art Center at Oak Park Mall.

And hidden in each piece is a small crane, her "signature."

Susanne Crane's time in Austin has been short, but already people she has talked to are joking she's Austin "resident artist." Eight months ago Crane moved to Austin from Minneapolis set up a studio in the basement of a downtown office building. Painting, for her, is a full-time job.

"People that have other jobs do art as a hobby," Crane said. "I do other jobs as a hobby."

Crane, who emigrated from Germany as a baby and grew up in La Crosse, Wis., knew at 4 years old she would be an artist.

Her working class parents weren't pleased when, as an adult, she hung on to that dream.

"When I wanted to go to school for art, they were so upset," Crane said. "They wanted me to learn a trade."

But she persisted, majoring in art and English at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse. After graduation, she moved to Minneapolis.

Crane opened an art cooperative on St. Anthony Main, developed a mixed media jewelry line and in 1995 opened her own art gallery, The Art Underground. The gallery featured local artists and held one of the first children's art shows in the area.

Also during her time in Minneapolis, she worked odd jobs and had dozens of exhibitions in the Twin Cities.

To earn money, she cleaned out horse barns and picked apples, but her worst job was as a display designer for a retail store, she said.

The store, based in New York, would already plan the designs ahead of time. Her job was simply to follow directions. Creativity wasn't an option.

"Even though picking apples and cleaning out horse barns was hard, it was much more gratifying," Crane said.

In 2001, she closed the gallery and last summer she and her 15-year-old daughter moved to a home in rural Austin.

"I've always dreamed of living on a farm," Crane said.

She and her daughter are fixing up the old farmhouse. Her daughter attends Austin High School. Crane spends her days at the studio, sometimes stopping by The Brick House for lunch.

The Brick House began displaying her artwork about a month after she moved to Austin.

"(The Brick House) was the first place I walked into when I came here and I thought, 'Oh, I can live here,'" Crane said. "I thought when I left Minneapolis I wouldn't see Chai tea again."

The Brick House sells gourmet coffee, sandwiches and soup. Owners Adam and Kristin Ansorge also sell local artwork. Crane is the restaurant's only painter.

"It really seems to go with the place well," Adam Ansorge said. "It gives the place a neat feel."

Crane describes her artwork as "symbolic dreamscapes." They portray fantasy, but also have a meaning behind them. Many of her works are inspired by literature and mythology.

"I dream this stuff up or I read something and I see a vision in my head," Crane said.

Crane uses acrylic paint and mixes other media with her work. A painting called "Dragonfly Maiden" has gold dust, mica and copper wire to create its wings.

She uses rich, often bright colors, in her work, which some people mistake for oil paint.

Sometimes her work isn't completely fantasy. A painting in The Brick House of a tree trunk with a door actually exists in a park in Minneapolis. It's an outhouse on Lake Harriet.

"It's one of the netherworld things that crossed over," Crane joked.

Crane said she has been impressed by Austin residents.

"People have been so kind here and interested," Crane said.

Crane has her first area exhibit in May at the Albert Lea Art Center. Her work will be shown at the center, located at 224 Broadway, May 2 through 29. A reception will be held from 12 to 2 p.m. May 4. She also is planning an exhibit at the Owatonna Art Center in August.

In her short time here, she feels she made the right choice in moving her studio to Austin.

"I think that I feel I'm on the right path and this is the path for me," Crane said.

For more on Crane's paintings, stop by The Brick House at 412 Third Ave. NE or call the Austin Area Arts Center at 433-8451.

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at cari.quam@austindailyherald.com