Finding the Fundamentals of Life in Art – After Dusting Off Her Easel, One Local Artist Returns To Her True Passion

When Suzanne DeCuir moved to Santa Clarita in August 2015, she looked at the valley with the eyes of an artist.  She noticed the red clay in the canyons, the colors in the mountains that enveloped the valley, the shapes they created as the hills met the skyline.  Inspired by her newfound home, Suzanne stood in front of her easel with charcoal and tubes of acrylic and oil paint splayed out around her, and she picked up the brush.
Though her signature style quickly began to mark the canvas, there was a time when painting felt unfamiliar – more like an interesting but distant dream.  As she explored that dream, however, Suzanne never expected to be here: painting professionally, winning awards and finding fulfillment with each and every stroke.
“My dad has always been a terrific painter,” Suzanne recalled.  “I’d fiddled around with canvases as a kid, but I’d always assumed that, while I liked art, I wasn’t good enough to actually pursue art as a career.  I didn’t paint again for 20 years.”
Suzanne was living in Washington when she picked up the paintbrush again.
Immediately, she remembers thinking: “This is what I really want to do.”
She began taking classes and painting as often as she could.  Under the direction of a phenomenal teacher, Franklyn Liegel, Suzanne discovered her style, and about 8 or 9 years ago, she started painting professionally.  Honing in on her vision while simultaneously taking a different approach to each canvas, Suzanne has developed her personality as a painter.
“I like to cross abstraction and representation, usually with landscapes,” Suzanne said.  “I’m less interested in creating a detailed rendering of a scene and more interested in looking at the more fundamental elements: shape, color and line.”
By looking at landscapes – urban and rural – Suzanne takes in the shapes.  Playing with lines and surpassing details, she focuses on form.
“At first, it may just look like shape and color, but there’s something in there that draws the eye deeper,” Suzanne said.   “I like to make something interesting enough that you want to look at it over time – you can’t just take it all in with one glance.”
Suzanne will often glean inspiration from aerial views, which really plays with the angles and abstractions.
“Looking at something from above already gives you those interesting shapes and lines,” she said.
To add complexity, Suzanne mixes different types of paints and adds charcoal, as well.
“Sometimes I start with charcoal, painting over some parts and leaving others,” Suzanne said.  “Then I start with acrylic paint, which dries quickly, and then layer oil paints, which are really rich and give it a nice complexity and texture.”
And her technique seems to be working.  In addition to several past and current gallery displays, she has won many awards and been featured in publications.  Suzanne won First Place in the Daniel Smith National Customer Art Competition, a national contest hosted by a fine arts supply store.  She also took top honors in The Artist’s Magazine Online Competition for Oil and Oil Pastels, which also earned her publication in the July/August issue.  And after meeting with a curator, Suzanne’s work was selected for a solo exhibition on display at the HBO Television Network corporate offices in Santa Monica.  As Suzanne continues to explore and grow in her love for painting, more recognition can be expected from this new local artist.
“If you get lucky enough to find something you really enjoy, the time just goes by, and you don’t even notice,” Suzanne said.  “This doesn’t feel like work.  and because of that, I’m so glad to be able to do this every day.”
For more information about Suzanne DeCuir, visit www.suzannedecuirfineart.com.
photos by Joie de Vivre Photographie

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