Emerging Artist | Lynn Sanguedolce - Southwest Art Magazine

A passion for the figure

Lynn Sanguedolce, Tom Poyner in the Studio, oil figure painting

Lynn Sanguedolce, Tom Poyner in the Studio, oil, 68 x 50.

This story was featured in the September 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art magazine September 2012 print edition here, or purchase the Southwest Art magazine September 2012 digital download here. Or simply click here to subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!

California painter Lynn Sanguedolce is fond of studying faces—not just for fun, but for art’s sake. A certain vulnerability in a person’s demeanor may capture her attention. Or in the case of her recent painting titled TOM POYNER IN THE STUDIO, it was the intensity of her subject’s gaze that caught her eye.

Sanguedolce first noticed Poyner when he was a panelist at a PTA meeting she attended. “I’m always trying to keep my eyes open for inspiration. I noticed the beautiful bone structure of Tom’s face, and his hands with their long, elegant fingers,” she says. “I could tell he was a sensitive, intelligent individual, and I felt a connection to him.”

Poyner is an Episcopalian chaplain, but he and Sanguedolce decided that he would not don his religious garb for the portrait but instead wear a suit with one of his trademark bowties. Sanguedolce added some of Poyner’s favorite things to the scene, including a recorder, a painting, and books to represent his interest in music, art, and reading. The result was a moody portrait that seemed to spring from Rembrandt’s era. It received a top award at the Portrait Society of America’s annual competition this year, as well as an Award of Excellence at the Salon International show held at Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art in San Antonio.

Being an artist has been part of Sanguedolce’s identity for as long as she can remember. Her first art teachers were her parents and an older sister. She went on to study art at the School of Visual Arts in New York before becoming an illustrator. In her spare time she focused on the figure, creating charcoal drawings for five years before learning to paint the figure in oils.

Her art is a culmination of a lifetime of study, practice, and experimentation, she says. While Sanguedolce paints in all genres, she returns often to the human figure and face. “I feel as if it’s the ultimate art experience. Figurative art challenges all my skills,” she says. “I have to be on top of my game in drawing and use everything I know about painting. And I’m just drawn to the beauty and character in the human face.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff

representation
M Gallery of Fine Art, Charleston, SC; lynnrenee.com.

Featured in the September 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art magazine September 2012 digital download
Southwest Art magazine September 2012 print edition
Or click here to subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!