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AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR AWARD WINNER
WILLIAM A. SUYS JR. www.williamasuys.com
Emotional Response While William A. Suys Jr. works in a number of genres, he always allows the subject’s essence to come through.
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illiam A. Suys Jr. has had a lifelong affinity for art, and regardless of his situation, art always has been something he has done. “I’ve always created it, and there is something about the process and being part of that process that I just love,” he says. “All of the results that flow from it are just an additional blessing.” Suys studied art in college, but went on to a corporate career before leaving it behind to pursue art full time. During his college training, Suys found that most classes were not about how to teach you to paint, but instead how to express yourself as a painter. “I always thought what I should do is really learn my craft and when my vision comes out—when it naturally comes out—I’ll be able to express it,” he says. When Suys started painting, he would think “power and presence.” Each painting he created was infused with this power and presence, leading to personality and character in his works. Suys works across a number of genres—still life, figurative, animal, landscape, etc.—but each subject has its own power and presence. “Even if I’m doing a still life—and I love them because it lets me paint live from a model without constraint—there is a form and individuality,” he explains. “If I paint a nectarine or cup, it has its own presence.” Figurative paintings and portraiture— whether humans or cows—are a large cross section of Suys’ work. More so than creating a narrative in his work, Suys finds his paintings to be a “visceral response” to what is presented to him. Sharing the story behind his cow paintings, Suys explains, “I worked in sales and I would drive in the Wisconsin countryside and see the Holsteins, and they have this rectangular shape and have 1
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black spots on white background. When you see them the spots and shapes kind of meld and they become an abstract shape. As I spent more time around those animals I started to see their personalities and they really started to intrigue me. I have a really strong understanding of anatomy and character. I can kind of tweak an animal to give a feeling.”
Currently Suys is working on more elaborate paintings. “I really enjoy creating the animals and the individual personalities, but I want to add more of a conceptual bend to my work and I’ll be doing that over the next two years,” he notes. “I’ll be applying my life experience along with my craft to create pieces and what they’ll be tomorrow or a year from
now I can’t be sure...but that growth and development will continue. It will still reflect my love of beauty and life and personality.” Suys received Best of Show and American Art Collector’s “Editor’s Choice Award” at Greenhouse Fine Art’s 2013 Salon International. 1 Pink Hour at Midday, oil, 16 x 12" 2 Expecting, oil, 12 x 24"
AM ER ICA N A R T CO L LE C TO R AWA R D W INNER
3 Chisholm Cousins, oil, 30 x 40"
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