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Biography
Lucy Booth-Jay is a Canadian artist raised in British Columbia. After completing school, Lucy moved to the Hawaiian Islands where she lived for nine years. While there, she briefly attended the Hawaii Academy of Painting where, instructed by Jim Raker, she learned the basic color-mixing and blending techniques of oil painting.
Though the artist enjoys experimenting with various mediums and enjoys painting a variety of subject matter, she admits to a passion for portraits in oil. An avid observer of the human form from an early age, Booth-Jay has a natural ability for portraiture and has continued to refine that skill.
While she likes to meet her subjects in person when possible, for convenience the artist prefers to paint from photographs. In capturing character and personality, intuition allows her to bypass facades and get a very real sense of people, then her keen eye for detail adds to the realism of her portraits. She is constantly amazed by the nuances that make one face different from the next and the way thoughts and emotions affect the expression.
"What inspires me," the artist says, "whether in people, buildings or scenes, are subjects that in some way provoke an emotional response in me. I respond to everything in life according to how it feels to me; whether pensive or relaxed, excited or amused, strong or wounded, joyful or sad, sympathetic or even angry." |
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My challenge is to transfer those feelings to the canvas and I consider my painting a success when I get from the finished piece the same things I felt when I first saw the subject. Regardless of what thoughts I may have about any work of art, I want to be fully present on the feeling level when I experience it."
An executive member of the Okanagan Artists League, the artist enjoys participating in the art community. Her work is regularly accepted into juried shows and can be found in private and corporate collections in BC, Alberta, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Mexico, Hawaii, the Cayman Islands, and France.
Kept busy with commissions and the growing demand for her pet portraits on ceramic tile, Lucy also offers private or semi-private instruction in portrait painting, an activity she finds very rewarding. "Students find it fun to learn and are quite amazed at what they are able to accomplish."
To request a commission or for information on the availability or prices of displayed works, please e-mail the artist. Thank you for your interest.
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