Susan Lyon | The Language of Painting

Susan Lyon speaks in portraits

By Elizabeth L. Delaney

“I choose portraits because I am drawn to the human face. I think it’s a primal thing,” says North Carolina artist Susan Lyon. In choosing to paint portraits, she connects with humanity via the many captivating faces of our multifaceted world. Fresh or wizened, animated or stoic, the faces Lyon paints become vehicles for expressing the essence of being, for stories yet to be told. They present the artist’s unique perspective, allowing us to see the world through her artistic lens.

Lyon doesn’t paint commissioned portraits, instead opting to find her own muses, to delve deep into the study of a face that calls to her, inspiring her to pick up a paintbrush or stick of charcoal. She finds subjects for her portraits in unassuming places like local restaurants or stores, and also in locations far afield on her extensive travels around the globe. “I’m in love with the human face,” she says, and she lets that love guide her in every composition as she endeavors to capture the inherent intrigue that speaks to her artist’s soul.

Lyon’s paintings exude the joy and light embedded within the human spirit. In fact, she seeks it out. “I’ve always wanted hope in people’s looks,” says the artist, who works to make each composition a balance between inner and outer light, a coalescence of her subject’s natural energy and her own as the artist. “You fall in love with your creation, with their energy,” she says.

Yet even as Lyon finds inspiration in faces and sustenance in their power, the portraits she paints evolve into something beyond mere representation of character. “I don’t think it’s so much a story about them,” she says. Indeed, the subject seems to grow inside the composition, to fuse with the artist’s emotions to tell her story in the language of painting—in heady, intense light or soft, disappearing edges or arrays of color that dance around the space.

Lyon paints in a traditional representational style combined with impressionistic elements that lend an air of vivacity and movement to her compositions. Her portraits often evoke a sense of drama, manifested in strong shadows and radiant juxtapositions of light against dark. As such, her subjects radiate energy. She employs abstracted backgrounds as well, which both intensify the focus on her subject and create a sense of timelessness, absent any references to geography or era.

Lyon’s creative process is that of a seasoned, tenacious painter who knows exactly where she wants to go and how to get there. She takes her time with each composition, adjusting every element—subtle or overt—until she achieves the effect she desires. Years of practice have taught her to be honest and persistent in her self-editing, and she has learned the importance of persevering through moments of doubt.

Lyon grew up in Oak Park, IL, just outside of Chicago. She attended Chicago’s American Academy of Art, where most of what she studied centered on illustration and commercial art. However, her interest in painting portraits and figurative fine art led her to join the Palette & Chisel Academy, where she met her husband, artist Scott Burdick. Her time there also afforded her opportunities to meet other painters who inspired her to cultivate her own love of painting and passion for portraiture.

Lyon watched and learned, observed and absorbed, and incorporated it all into her work as she honed her technique and style through ardent practice and repetition. Without much in the way of mentorship, she forged her own path from the outset. Soon she was exhibiting at the club, selling work, and winning awards. She has been a professional painter ever since.

Today Lyon lives and works in North Carolina, where she and Burdick moved in the mid-1990s. Though the two have studio space at their rural home, Lyon also works out of a studio in nearby Winston-Salem, where she can be more accessible to both models and students.

Recently, working with art students has taken on a much larger role in Lyon’s professional practice. She has taught painting and drawing classes for years, offering multiday intensive workshops and retreats. But amidst the turmoil of the pandemic, such classes had to be put on hold, and like most of society, she had to find a new approach: technology.

Lyon started offering online painting and drawing classes through platforms like Zoom and Patreon, taking herself to her students and opening up the world of art to virtually anyone from anywhere. To date, she has students all over the country and around the world, from such far-off places as Tunisia and New Zealand.

Lyon is glad to make her online classes available and affordable for those interested in learning to paint or draw, charging only a small monthly fee to students. In addition to these classes, she also mentors artists one-on-one; she and her husband also have produced a series of instructional videos available online.

As it turns out, transitioning to virtual classes was just what she needed. It has provided her with a new way to share the thrill of art-making, and to help others discover the fulfillment to be found in paint, charcoal, and pastel. For Lyon, being an artist isn’t just about using her gifts to produce pictures—it’s also about imparting those gifts to others. “I’m more excited to teach, to see people have ‘aha’ moments,” she says.

“It’s really just the enjoyment of being creative,” she continues. “Anything that’s creative enhances your life. Just the joy of being tactile, touching chalk or touching paper, or looking at flowers and being able to spend a whole afternoon seeing the beauty of light hitting them, will make your life so much more enjoyable.”

As Lyon continues to paint and draw, she finds that her most recent work is often informed by her teaching, as she finds ways to show students how various elements coexist with one another, how light plays against a background, or why charcoal or pastel might be the best choice of medium for a particular subject. “The idea is to help people see,” she says. In fact, she has found that teaching others to access and mold their artistic ability drives her own creativity.

Lyon works with students of all levels, from novices to established artists. She remains adamant that art isn’t just for certain people, nor must it be accomplished in a certain way. It’s for anybody who wants to explore their creativity. “I feel that everyone can learn to do this,” she says. In that vein, along with the fundamentals of light, line, color, and composition, Lyon teaches a mindset: through practice and perseverance, elevating artistic ability is possible for anyone. “It’s very important to start off with good habits, like picking easy things to draw or paint at first, and have little victories to build on,” she says. “Confidence is very important. If we are constantly trying things that are above our level, we will get frustrated and defeated.”

Part teacher and part cheerleader, Lyon relishes the chance to help budding artists, in part because she laments not having her own mentor early on. She uses her personal experiences, both positive and negative, as examples of how to navigate learning to paint. She teaches the fundamentals and gives students tips on things that seem simple to seasoned painters but might be a mystery to beginners, like how to hold a brush or how much pressure to use. “It makes me really happy when people are excited,” she says.

By transforming her painting practice into a teaching enterprise, Lyon feels like she has really found her purpose. She plans to continue teaching online for the foreseeable future, in addition to resuming in-person events once it’s safe. In the meantime, she remains grateful for the many new connections she has made, and for the opportunity to start a wide swath of new artists on their own paths to creative discovery. “Now I feel like I’m helping people,” Lyon says. “If that’s all I do the rest of my life, I would be so happy.”

representation
InSight Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX; Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.