By Bonnie Gangelhoff
Spooky, funny, beautiful—these are the adjectives California artist Susan Driscoll uses to describe her subject matter of choice. Driscoll has a bachelor’s degree in English from California State University at Fullerton but began taking painting classes seven years ago at Santa Ana College. “I always wanted to take art classes, and I just kept putting if off,” she says. “Since I was a child, I wanted to do something where I could express myself.”
Driscoll is drawn to what she calls emotional realism and scenes that she describes as “a little Edward Hopper-ish.” SOLDES is inspired by a dress-shop window in Paris—one she saw on her last night in the City of Lights during a summer visit. “Everything is hot with bright colors,” she says. “I’m attracted to the exotic, to beautiful buildings, and to anything that is haunting and removed from the humdrum of daily life.” The painting is one in a series Driscoll has been working on titled Paris at Night. See more of her work at www.susandriscoll.com.
Featured in our annual “21 Over 31” issue in November 2009