A PICTURE of artist Susan Gunn's multi-layered life would include her years as a Bolton beauty queen, her life as a WAG married to a Premier League footballer and her warm family life.

But, at the age of 50, Susan has long ago shrugged off her WAG reputation to establish herself as an international artist and has just been chosen to create a 20-metre long painting for a landmark building project.

Susan was a pupil at St Bartholomew's Primary School in Westhoughton when one teacher, Mrs Cunliffe, spotted the artistic streak in the youngster and told her mother that Susan had a "special gift".

After attending Westhoughton High School, Susan took a foundation course at Bolton Art College and planned to go to university.

Instead, though, the pretty young girl began entering beauty contests and became both a successful beauty queen and a model.

An unexpected cash legacy from her godmother enabled her to open her own bridal shop in Bolton town centre, where Susan copied Vogue patterns and created unusual bridal gowns.

At just 19, she was was a successful businesswoman, but a last-minute holiday to Spain was about to change the course of Susan's life.

Here, she met Bryan Gunn — unrecognised by Susan as Norwich FC and Scotland goalkeeper.

In a whirlwind romance, he proposed and she accepted, and the couple married a year later, taking Susan off to Norwich to start a new life.

Her contentment continued with the birth of daughter, Francesca, but tragedy soon followed.

When Francesca was one she was diagnosed with leukaemia and, in spite of intensive treatment, she died at just two-and-a-half leaving the couple bereft.

They turned their grief to action by launching a charity campaign in Francesca's memory, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for research.

The couple received awards for their campaigning and became well-known in the region — and they were overjoyed when their second daughter, Melissa, arrived, followed, five years later, by son Angus.

During the long hours and days that Susan had spent at the hospital during Francesca's treatment, Susan had rekindled her love of art and started sketching.

"It occupied my mind then," she recalled.

Later, she realised that she would, at last, like to gain that art degree, and she enrolled at Norwich University of Arts.

She studied hard, gaining a first-class honours degree, and then beat more than 300 European artists to take the inaugural Sovereign Art Prize.

She won £17,000 and had her work displayed at the famous Bonham's auction house in London.

Susan's artistic style is unusual and distinctive.

She became interested in gesso, the traditional mix the Old Masters worked in, which she has brought up to date.

"I became fascinated with the way that it cracked on the canvas and decided to use this itself," she explained.

Susan works on large canvases and the trademark textured results have brought her fans all over the world, also making her the ideal choice for the huge painting at the groundbreaking new Enterprise Centre in Norwich.

Susan and her family are now back living in the north west, where Bryan works for a football agency, looking after young footballers.

Daughter Melissa has just graduated from the University of Manchester and Angus is a young professional footballer with Manchester City.

"So my life is still all about football," laughed Susan.

Susan herself works from her studio in Salford, currently creating the large panels for this latest important commission.

She is grateful for her unusual and busy life, and for her work.

"It's a part of me," she stated. "It's who I am and I'm just glad that I was able to find it."