Today we’d like to introduce you to Judy Mcsween
Hi Judy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was once asked what my superpower was. I couldn’t name an extraordinary skill but I could pinpoint what fuels me and my work—I’ve always felt loved. And I am so lucky for it. Growing up in NE Ohio as the second of eight children, I learned that our hearts can stretch far beyond our imaginations. My family was a big noisy collection of personalities that somehow my parents were able to nurture with success. I used my active imagination back then to draw, write poems and make up fictional characters for stories I told my younger siblings. It’s no surprise I became a teacher, though it was never my plan. When I decided I’d rather be an artist than a writer after only one year of college, I calmed the “you-can’t-make-a-living-being-an-artist” naysayers by getting my art teaching certification. I know the powerful impact of sharing what I do best, what will help others, what I love. I’m proud that my students felt free to explore and be curious in my art classes. I witnessed lights going on in their heads, and I was the first person to hear about what they were thinking and making and why. Being greeted by smiling children entering the art room and observing standoffish middle schoolers relax and engage with ideas made me appreciate the power of art even more. I felt loved as their teacher.
So back to that being loved superpower—I can’t tell my story without telling you about how family is integral to my art. The satisfaction I feel as a mom along with memorable moments shared with my kids are woven into the feelings I express in my paintings. When they were young, I stayed home. I painted dinosaurs on their walls. We made crafts together. We traveled on school breaks, and those family trips provided subject matter for my paintings. Travel continues to inspire my work to this day. And my Michael, husband of thirty eight years, believed in me as an artist from day one, even if he didn’t “get” a lot of art. He never questioned me when I asked him to paint our living room “crimson lips” or our family room deep violet. I stole his office space in the house for my painting studio and he barely said a word. Adventures with him on our road trips have energized my travel inspired landscape paintings for years.
I SO believe in the power of art and creativity to give meaning to our lives at whatever stage we are in. It hit home during the Covid lockdowns. I live streamed painting on Fridays for homebound viewers. I participated in “Put Art on Your Porch,” each day setting up easels outside with paintings that I shared on social media. The response to both was heartwarming. Strangers reached out to tell me how the art lifted their spirits. That’s a whole different kind of love, isn’t it?
Flash forward to today. I retired early from teaching to paint full time. It was the best decision ever, and I honor the curiosity and fearlessness of my students in my paintings. I had a solo show at Dare Gallery in Charleston two months after retiring and shipped pieces to two exhibitions out of state the next month. And I’ve just kept moving forward since then. My work has been juried into numerous shows and has even been recognized— like the Best Painting Award at Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibit at City Gallery in 2022. I’m set to have my fourth solo show, Lost and Found, at Dare Gallery this March!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
What obstacles have I faced? Me and Myself—and Teaching. Everything you hear about self doubt and not thinking you are good enough was true for me for a long time. I had to push myself to risk failure and put myself “out there”. At first that meant I posted the start of a painting on facebook. I had to be accountable once people started following me asking to see my progress. Then I opened a shop on Etsy, My Brilliant Brush. Those were early days on that platform when fine art was a category, and I sold steadily for a few years. I was gaining confidence with each step. Enough to apply for Atalaya Fine Art and Craft Show at Huntington Beach State Park—and be accepted! By then, I was teaching part time, and was splitting my time between both jobs. I realized I had to choose between being a teacher who makes art or an artist who teaches, and I made being an artist my priority. So when Covid came along, and it shifted how administrators valued art when students returned to in school learning, I closed my teaching chapter. Through every struggle, I’ve learned to look at obstacles as shuttered windows that I have to crack open to let in fresh air.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a painter working mainly in oils who unapologetically paints what makes me and others around me happy. I enjoy the physicality of moving paint across a surface and manipulating space and texture with it. I alternate between realistic subject matter and intuition in my work. If I’m inspired by a photo I took, I begin sketching it and go from there. Sometimes it stays familiar and other times it transforms into a startling abstract. I like knowing that I can paint decent replications of most images, but I’m really excited that I can alter them to uncover the essence of why they are special. Abstraction—and simplification—are my art loves. I value the knowledge about color theory, composition, and history that I gained in college as an art major, but I’m absolutely thrilled to break rules and experiment now. (Though in my paintings, composition will always rule.)
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Authenticity is synonymous with my work. I am IN all of my paintings. They come from my imagination or from personal photos. Everything that touches my senses is prospective subject matter. Accordingly, my life experiences are road maps through my paintings. Abstract pieces are often visual metaphors for grief and consolation, amazing discoveries, and momentary joys. Every stage in my story deepens and strengthens the work I do today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://judymcsween.com/home.html
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judymcsweenpaintings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judymcsweenpaintings
- Other: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/judy-mcsween
