Gusan Lyon A Contemporary Master of American Art

The award-winning portrait and figure painter Susan Lyon is best known for her beautiful edges and inviting cultural renditions of the human form, capturing life from around the globe

- VANESSA FRANÇOISE ROTHE

Adept in many mediums from pastel to watercolor and oils, Lyon makes use of these many artistic tools to portray the subject in dramatically lit poses, primarily painting directly from life. Traveling the world to find alluring subjects, she brings a unique body of work to the American art world that often conveys dazzling moments in the lives of her figures. With a first place gold medal award from Oil Painters of America and other fine accolades, Susan has a place among the Contemporary Masters of realism today.

Formative Years 

Growing up in a home surrounded by art, one might think Lyon has been drawing since she was a child. Her fi rst memories of creating however were after she saw a PBS program about Georgia O’ Kee† e while in high school which encouraged her try colored chalks. “I just liked the feeling of touching the chalks and rubbing them into the paper,” she says. “I tried to do some copies of her paintings. My father had gone to the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1950s but back then it was impossible to make a living at being an artist so he worked a lot of odd jobs and sold creative merchandise. He did buy art, so we had fine art in our house, but he never drew or painted while I was growing up.”