By Devon Jackson
Colorado painter Malcolm Bryan mentored Susan Evans and guided her early on in the ways of still lifes in oil, but she needed no tutoring in drawing or composition. That’s because Evans, born in 1952 in Shreveport, LA, had worked as a commercial artist for nearly 20 years by the time Bryan stepped into her graphic design studio.
“Malcolm taught me the technical aspects of oil and how to paint a very dark background in that chiaroscuro, Old Masters kind of way,” says Evans from her studio in Albuquerque, NM. “But I’ve branched out in the past couple years,” she notes, pointing to a painting of tomatoes and peppers as an example. “I’ve gone from an incredibly dark and baroque Rembrandt style to the influence of Mexican still-life artists. The Mexican style is brighter, flatter, more decorative, and very vibrant. I have more fun with this style,” she says.
Whichever style she paints in, Evans’ paintings are never just about peppers or tomatoes, a single pear, or a cluster of blueberries. “They’re about the simple beauty that can be found everywhere,” says the artist. “About a beauty that comes in the form of light.”
She is represented by Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, Telluride, CO; Breckenridge Gallery, Breckenridge, CO; Keating Fine Art, Basalt, CO; Jane Hamilton Fine Art, Tucson, AZ.
Featured in “The Produce Aisle” portfolio in November 2008