It all began with doodles.

Susan (Chickilly) Sidoriak grew up in Tamaqua, where she spent a lot of time on her grandfather’s side porch.

The duo would pass the time creating drawings. They would each start with a piece of paper and a squiggle. They would exchange their squiggles and add to them.

“My grandfather always looked at my drawings in amazement, saying I’d astonish the world with my artwork one day,” Sidoriak remembers.

Her love of art grew throughout her years at Tamaqua Area High School, as did her love for running.

“I started running in high school and I’ve never stopped,” says the woman who completed the Boston Marathon earlier this year.

After graduating high school in 1989, Sidoriak attended art school in Philadelphia, pursuing a career in graphic design and photography. She and a friend opened their own boutique, Silverbox Creative Studio in Collegeville, just one month after her grandfather, her rock and most ardent supporter, passed away.

“He left me with the strength I needed to be passionate in whatever I do,” she says.

Sidoriak considers running to be her own personal form of meditation.

“I clear my mind as I run and ideas come to me. It’s the best form of therapy and it’s free,” she says.

While she enjoys crossing the finish line after a marathon, she also enjoys snapping photos of other runners crossing that line.

“Every runner has a story behind why they run.”

With that thought in mind, her two passions came together. Sidoriak began tracking down the marathoners she photographed to see if they would be willing to share their stories.

Most were, and the end result is Sidoriak’s inaugural art exhibit, which opens tonight at the Tamaqua Community Art Center.

The exhibit will feature 26 black-and-white photographs, one for each mile of a 26.2 mile marathon.

The artist wanted to have her first exhibit in Tamaqua because it’s where she began developing her passions.

Tamaqua is also where her heart is, both figuratively as well as literally. She was one of the artists who participated in the art center’s Tamaqua Has Heart initiative.

Her designed heart, covered with photos of her hometown, is permanently placed in front of the Tamaqua ABC High Rise, 222 E. Broad St.

As for the doodles, they resulted in her drawing a map of her favorite early morning run. She turned that map into a piece of art and shared it with her running partners.

They immediately recognized the “doodle” for what it was.

A second business venture, the Side Porch, was created, dedicated to running, marathons and her grandfather.

Both websites include blogs where stories are shared.

To read those stories, visit www.shopsideporch.com or www.silverboxcreative.com.

The gallery at the art center, located at 125 Pine St., Tamaqua, will open at 6:30 p.m. today. Light refreshments will be served.