Susan Mackin Dolan was born in a small town in Maine near the northern end of the Appalachian Trail. She received her MFA at the University of Colorado Boulder, in printmaking and papermaking. In 1984 she helped establish the first papermaking studio in south Texas, Picante Papers, at the Southwest School of Art and was the original Chairperson. She has been an artist and educator for over 30 years and has taught and had artist residencies at many colleges, universities, and art centers including: University of Colorado, University of Oregon, Colorado Mountain College, West Texas State, Haystack Mountain School and Oxbow School of Art.