1. Southern Lady | october 2014 20
SOUTHERN SPOTLIGHT
T
The gentle flap of a bird’s wings, the
meeting of sky and water during a
Southern sunset, the velvety coat of a
Labrador retriever—these are images
that inspire Alabama artist Sue Key to
create large-scale paintings, rich in
color and emotion.
She has had a keen interest in the
arts from a young age, but Sue says it
wasn’t until she began studying photog-
raphy in college that she truly discov-
ered her love for creating serious art-
work. “That was my first real visual art
form,” she remembers. “It taught me a
lot about composition, values, hard and
soft edges.”
With this newfound interest, Sue
started to explore other creative outlets,
An Alabama artist transforms wildlife into
something larger than life in her acrylic
paintings that overflow with Southern imagery.
Southern Sceneryby Sarah Cook | photography by William Dickey
mainly with a painter’s brush. She
participated in several workshops and
submitted her work to various art
shows, after which her side hobby
evolved into something much more. “It’s
funny how all the things I had done be-
fore just came together in painting,” Sue
says with a laugh. “I started to realize
that this could be more than a hobby—it
could be a career.”
Surrounded by scenic views—offer-
ings of the rural South—the budding
artist simply looked out her window for
inspiration. Wild geese, hunting dogs,
and coastal landscapes became staple
subjects—and established her as an
emerging wildlife artist. Most of the
time, she uses photographs as a
launching point for her paintings. “I like
to hone in on a small detail, like a bird’s
feathers, then try to loosen up the rest,”
she says of her unique style. “I try not to
be a really literal painter, but I like to
get it sharp in the area I want to draw
attention to, then let the rest kind of
float away.”
Choosing to make subjects “larger
than life,” Sue uses canvases that are
greater than a few feet in height and
width. A small bird may tower several
feet high in one of Sue’s paintings. “I
love that surprise element of seeing a
small animal enlarged to 4 or 5 feet tall,”
she says. Her favorite work, a painting of
a quail she named Bob, hangs promi-
nently above the mantel in her Alabama
home. “It was kind of a turning point for
me,” Sue says of her first bird painting.
And while wildlife is not the only sub-
ject Sue has painted, she says it will
most likely remain a recurring theme in
her trade, as she enjoys celebrating the
Southern scenery that surrounds her.
While viewing her large-scale works,
one can almost feel a warm breeze blow-
ing off a creek and hear the subtle
splash as a bird breaks glasslike water.
“I hope my work does have a South-
ern look to it, because I love the South,”
Sue says fondly. “I want my paintings to
evoke some of the charm, the grace, and
the beauty of the South.”
For more information, visit suekeyart.com.
19 Southern Lady | october 2014