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May Issue 2008
Sylvan Gallery in Charleston, SC, Features
Works by Susan Lyon
Sylvan Gallery in Charleston, SC, will present the first solo show in Charleston of works by Susan Lyon, on view from May 2 - 31, 2008.
Dedicated painter Susan Lyon grew up in Illinois, the daughter of an artist/collector. Her conscious awareness of this presence in her life was not strong until recently. She credits a television show on Georgia O'Keefe for igniting her interest in art. She began classes after this spark. Lyon studied painting at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and participated in Chicago's Palette and Chisel Club. There she first exhibited and sold her work. She was the youngest winner of the prestigious Gold Medal that she won for two consecutive years in their annual show plus a third place in the Silver Medal Watercolor Show. She entered the Oil Painters of America show once receiving a 7th place. She is a member of the Northwest Rendezvous Group in Helena, MT, and in 1998 and 2000 she won an artist choice award in the group's shows.
Lyon draws much inspiration from painters such as Zorn, Fechin, Sorolla and Celia Beaux. She paints wet on wet to start and adds her finishing touches over dry paint. "My style is realistic with as much impressionistic color as possible. I like to combine wide brushes for sweeping strokes in the background with small, soft brushes for subtle details in my center of interest." Whether working in oil, watercolor or conté, Lyon's work is a delight to view.
Many of her ideas come from the everyday objects. "What I hope to accomplish is to convey the whimsical beauty I see around me as well as to make the viewer smile when they look at my work. Even when I'm painting fairly traditional things, my greatest joy is figuring out original ways of setting up the most common of still life objects so that they appear dynamic."
Lyon lives in a rural area of North Carolina with her husband, fellow artist Scott Burdick. Surrounded by nature, her studio inspires as much as do her painting trips that have included most of Europe, Turkey, Greece, Mexico, Canada, Nepal, Thailand, China and Africa. Her work has been feature in Art Talk, Art of the West, Southwest Art, International Artist, U.S. Art and The Artist's Sketch Book.
Beginning its sixth year in business on King Street in Charleston, the Sylvan Gallery represents 35 artists including both painters and sculptures. Works by artists Rhett Thurman, Nancy Bush, Joan Potter, William Berra, Dan Gerhartz, Ted Ellis, Glenna Goodacre, Guido Petruzzi and many more. Paintings and sculpture by national artists of note are displayed over two stories of gallery space at 171 King Street in Charleston in the heart of the famous antique district.
Returning to the east coast after many years in the Houston and Santa Fe art markets, Joe and Janie Sylvan contribute to the rocketing Charleston art scene by providing a broad, worldview of images created by artists living throughout the nation and who travel regularly for inspiration. They are highly collected throughout the United States and beyond. Visit this gallery with works depicting locations all over the world as well the charm of Charleston's lovely scenery.
The Sylvan Gallery focuses on 20th and 21st
century representational art. Since opening in late 2002, they
have shown that diversity is success. The gallery
is a member of the Charleston Fine Art Dealers' Association and
a founder of the Charleston Art Auction in partnership with Morris-Whiteside
Gallery of
Hilton Head Island, SC.
For further information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/722-2172 or visit (www.thesylvangallery.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2008 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2008 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.