Lockdown Artist's Statement
I have long felt lucky to be an artist, and during this pandemic, along with a racial / human rights crisis, I feel even luckier. When needed most during art has the power to deliver a reprieve of joy, peace and hope. For years I spent a few days each week working directly from live models, often alongside other artists. By contrast my days are now spent painting alone in self-isolation in my studio. Still, any day in the studio is a good day. One silver lining of cocooning is the quieter pace without the usual commitments and interruptions has made this a very productive and creative time for me. The blurring of days during quarantine has contributed to me spending considerably more time on each piece. I hope to continue working at the same luxuriously unrushed pace after Covid-19, pouring endless hours into each piece.
I am a representational artist, mainly working with figures and portraits. I am eclectic in my work, mostly working with oil paints, pen and ink, engraving, watercolor, pastel and chalk., as well as other mediums. People think I “work" a lot, but in truth it’s too much fun for me to think of as work. It's truly a labor of love and every moment a joy.
With the unavailability of live models during quarantine, I enabled myself to continue working with the figure by creating a series influenced by the old masters, rearranging and juxtapositioning their figure drawings to tell my own narrative.
I love the timelessness of the art, as well as using ancient narratives to tell contemporary mythology.
My drawings and paintings use the same medium(s) that the master originally used. This slow and meticulous process is ideal for lockdown. Even with a drawing that an artist spent brief time on from start to finish, my process of dissecting and recreating the piece is still time consuming. I enjoy the unique visual language of each individual artist.
Another major sift in my art since quarantine, is I now have something I want to say . For the first time I now consider myself a narrative artist.
I was born in New Orleans, but have lived most of my life in San Francisco where I did postgraduate studies in painting, which I juggled with a rewarding career as a food stylist. I lived in Paris for a year and a half studying at Le Cordon Bleu and La Varenne, which had a profound effect on me. Today I live overlooking the ocean in Santa Monica, CA.
Photos
CV
Born in New Orleans, LA.
Has lived most of life in San Francisco and Santa Monica, CA.
Education
Academy of Art, Masters of Fine Arts (Painting) Program, San Francisco, CA.
Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, France.
Representation
Saatchi Art
https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/297471
Artist Residency
2019-2020 18th St Arts Center Airport Campus, Santa Monica, CA
2019 Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles at Bergamot Station, Los Angeles, CA.
Organizes
Brentwood Art Center Uninstructed Figurative Workshop, Los Angeles, CA.
CIACLA Uninstructed Figurative Workshop, Los Angeles, CA.
Getty Center: Drawing with the Masters, Los Angeles, CA.
Awards
Brand 40 National Works on Paper, Brand Library, Pasadena, CA.
Professional Affiliations
Women’s Painters West
Exhibitions
2020 Drawing Connections Exhibition, 18th St Arts Center Airport Campus, Santa Monica, CA
2019 Z Art Academy Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA.
2019 18th Street Airport Campus's WestEdge Open Studio, Santa Monica, CA.
2019 Transformations Exhibition, 18th Street Arts Center Airport Campus, Santa Monica, CA.
2019 Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
2019 Only Hearts, Santa Monica, CA.
2019 Montana Avenue Art Walk, Santa Monica, CA.
2018 Only Hearts, Santa Monica, CA.
Montana Avenue Art Walk, Santa Monica, CA.
2017 Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
2016 Montana Avenue Holiday Walk, Santa Monica, CA.
Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
2015 Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Espresso Cielo’s, Santa Monica, CA.
2014 Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
2013 Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Café Montana, Santa Monica, CA.
2012 Laguna Beach College of Art and Design, Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
17th Street Café, Santa Monica, CA.
2011 Brand Annual National Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA.
Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
2010 Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
2009 Student Faculty Exhibition, Brentwood Art Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Press
2020 The Louvre Museum, Paris retweeted my artwork, and liked it on Twitter.
2020 The Getty Museum liked my artwork on Twitter.
The Louvre Museum's retweet of Susan's Work.:
April 8, 2020
Lockdown Artist Challenge
by Jacques-Louis David
La Mort de Marat
by M Susan Broussard
Reimagining David's La Mort de Marat
Organizes workshops at two venues and lectures at The Getty Center
Brentwood Art Center Figurative Workshops - This year celebrates the 5th anniversary of creating and running the uninstructed figurative workshops at Brentwood Art Center. At the time, due to L.A.'s astronomical real estate, a string of artists lost their studios, sadly ending most of the Westside's figurative workshops. I approached BAC about me organizing and running an uninstructed figurative workshop as part of their community outreach. Being a non-profit art school, BAC generously allows our twice weekly workshops to be affordably priced and welcoming to artists of all levels. My goal is to hire diverse models celebrating all skin colors, races, ages and sizes. These models, along with our workshop artists, are a lovely group of people I feel lucky to call my art community.
Brentwood Art Center www.brentwoodartcenter.com 13031 Montana Ave. (at 26th St.), Los Angeles, CA. 90049 Tel: (310) 451-5657 Email: info@brentwoodart.com
CIACLA (Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles) Figureative Workshops - After two years of discussions on both sides of the pond the wonderful and generous people at CIACLA have allowed the dream of a monthly uninstructed figurative workshop at CIACLA's newly opened art center at Bergamont Station to become a reality. Aside from hosting our workshops, CIACLA supports Irish and local artists in a multidisciplinary program of visual arts, theatre, performance, dance, music, literature, design, film. and comedy.
CIACLA (Contemporary Irish Arts Centre Los Angeles) www.ciacla.com Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave,., Suite B1, Santa Monica, CA. 90404 Email: info@ciacla.com
The Getty Center Lectures - Along with everyone else in attendance, I was exhilarated by what was supposed to be a one-off Getty lecture by the extraordinarily talented Zhenya Gershman. A gifted speaker, she has uniquely mastered the art of wearing all three hats of artist, art historian and teacher. Her wealth of knowledge comes from years of extensive research and 11 years of working at the Getty. I urged her to create a series of lectures and help her organize them.
The Getty Center www.getty.edu 1200 Getty Center Dr., Los Angeles CA 90049 Email: visitorservices@getty.edu
Brentwood Art Center
Brentwood Art Center
Brentwood Art Center
Uninstructed Figurative Workshops
The Getty Center
Brentwood Art Center
Brentwood Art Center
Drawing With the Masters by Zhenya
CIACLA at Bergamot
Brentwood Art Center
CIACLA at Bergamot
Uninstructed Figurative Workshops
Copyright © 2020 M Susan Broussard - All Rights Reserved.