Fresh takes on classic subjects
This story was featured in the December 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
EVER SINCE Susan Lindsey first picked up a paintbrush at age 12, she has been fascinated with portraying the human figure, but when it comes to inspiration, the artist embraces variety. “Artists definitely have things they gravitate to,” she says, “but I think if you are a serious painter, you should be able to paint anything.”
And Lindsey does. On any given day, a visit to her studio in Anchorage, AK, might reveal a painting of apple blossoms, radishes, or peonies in progress. You may also catch the artist in the midst of a portrait commission or a painting of one of her seven grandchildren. Or, if the weather is agreeable, you might instead find Lindsey capturing the sparkling Prince William Sound en plein air from the boat she and her husband keep off the Kenai Peninsula. All that northern exposure, while beautiful, can leave Lindsey hungry for a little southern sunshine, and she gets her fix when she and her husband head south for their annual sojourn in Fort Meyers, FL. There, you’re likely to spot the artist painting the local surf and bright botanical life. “But figures I’ve always loved and always come back to,” she says.
The Buffalo, NY, native studied fine art at Nazareth College in Rochester and earned her degree in art and design from Rochester Institute of Technology. Since then, she has studied with artists like Sherrie McGraw, Steven Assael, Robert Liberace, and Thomas Kitts, enhancing her own signature style along the way. For optimum color harmony, Lindsey uses a limited palette of just six colors, and she often depicts her subjects from unique, unexpected angles, such as close up or from above. Take Lindsey’s portrait of a young ballerina, titled SHADOW DANCER. Viewers are invited into the outdoor scene from a slightly elevated perspective, as if they are looking upon the girl from a porch or second-floor window. Earlier this year, Lindsey snapped up an honorable mention at Oil Painters of America’s national exhibition for the innovative composition. Even the palette of the piece is delightfully original: varying shades of pink infuse everything from the girl’s tutu and satin slippers to the shadows around her. “I think my intent is just to provide people with a different perspective, so viewers look twice and take a pause in their day, and it makes them happy,” says Lindsey. —Kim Agricola
representation2 Friends Gallery, Anchorage, AK;www.susanlindseyart.com.
This story was featured in the December 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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