Suzanne DeCuir

"With every painting, I strive to create an image that cannot completely be taken in with one glance. I like to leave a little mystery, with room for the viewer to bring a memory or a personal point of view to the work. "

In her paintings, Suzanne DeCuir likes to take a reductive approach, stripping a landscape of detail so that color and shape can play a more important role. She often introduces competing dynamics: stillness and motion, color or lack of color, strong lines and amorphous shapes. She finds inspiration in the landscapes along the coast, aerial views, and solitary figures.

DeCuir works in a light-filled, second story studio in her home. Since she spends a lot of time creating an interesting, textured underpainting for each work, she usually has 2 or 3 paintings in progress at once. She works in acrylics and oils. In addition to traditional brushes, she likes to use brayers, rulers, and palette knives to build up unusual textures.

DeCuir is a third generation painter, following in the footsteps of her grandmother, a still life artist, and father, a portraitist. She is largely self-taught, but was able to expand her knowledge of oil and acrylic painting techniques through a series of painting courses at Otis College of Art and Design. She also holds a BA and MA in English from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.