Cultural Arts Alliance Spotlight on Susan Lucas

Susan Lucas is a professional artist, whose acrylic paintings are in galleries, homes, corporate and university collections nationwide.  She has exhibited and won awards in numerous regional and national shows, and has frequent solo shows.

Her work has been published in Watercolor Magazine, Palette Magazine, and in the books Best Acrylic Paintings, Landscape Inspirations, and Creative Inspirations.  Feature stories about Susan have appeared in the Thirty-A Review, Wiregrass Living, South Walton Life, and the Walton Sun.

A full-time resident of South Walton since 1999, Susan has loved this area since she was three years old.  She is a native of Louisville, Kentucky and a graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis.  She says, "living in this coastal landscape is indeed paradise - and an unending source of inspiration for my work."

Susan took some time recently to answer the following questions about her work:

How do you describe your style?
My work is studies of light and color in a semi-abstract landscape, my style combines the impressionists subjects with the expressionists gesture - landscape with a contemporary edge and sophisticated color.  My most recent body of work is about the way land and water meet, the reflections, the grasses, looking into the water.

Do you have any influences or anyone you look up to when it comes to art/design?
The artists I deeply admire are Richard Diebenkorn, for his exciting composition and abstracted landscape; Wolf Kahn, for his magnificent use of color and loose way with the landscape; Joan Mitchell for her gesture and sheer genius at conveying the essence of her subject.

Any advice for aspiring artists?
Work! Time spent creating art is what equals getting better. Open you eyes and your mind! Art is way more than the small idea that many have of it. Express your uniqueness! - Don't try to paint like anybody but yourself…. that's a big enough challenge but a fun one.
What jobs have you had other than being an artist?
I was a certified Montessori pre-school teacher.

Name something you love and why?
I love the beauties of nature and am enjoy being able to share that with others.
Susan Lucas is a featured artist in the current A+Art exhibit at the South Walton Campus of Northwest Florida State College titled "A Passion for Art."  Stop by the college during normal business hours to view this exciting exhibit.