Susan Eleanor Seddon was born in Brazil in 1941 of English parents who had emigrated from South Africa. She grew up on a large citrus and cattle ranch, enjoying a strong connection to nature and a rich fantasy life fed by folktales told by her father and the ranch hands. Encouraged by her father, she began drawing; her first subjects were the ranch's cows and horses. Boulet never studied art formally. She said, in fact, that she never planned on becoming an artist--the vocation came to her as by accident.