Passionate About Pastels

Lambeth Villager – September 2017

Artist Alley – Featuring Lois Fuchs

By Jim Kogelheide

Passionate About Pastels

It was Picasso who said that, “The meaning of life is to find your gift.  The purpose of life is to give it away.”  Some people may not find their gift until they are grown and then there are others – like Lambeth’s own Lois Fuchs – who are fortunate enough to find their gift at a rather early age.

Lois grew up in Ohio and at the age of five, drawing had become a favourite pass time.  Throughout her childhood and into her teenage years, Lois dreamed of becoming an artist.  Her earliest influences were the life paintings by world famous artist Norman Rockwell.  “I think it was Rockwell’s ability to capture those spontaneous moments in life that helped to steer me towards my love for portraits,” explains Lois as we talked about the differences between being a portrait painter and a landscape artist.  “I love looking at and enjoying landscapes, but my art is more about looking more closely at what people and animals are doing in landscapes that really grabs my attention.”

We shared stories about the trails and tribulations that are faced by most artists and Lois smiles as she tells me that her mom was, “very practical.  She encouraged me to learn a skill that would help me to find a job while I continued exploring my creative passions.”  And to that end, Lois studied to become a nurse and soon had enlisted with the Army Nurse Corp.

These studies did not interfere with Lois’ passion for art, as she continued taking art classes during this period of her life.  She learned whatever skill her teacher had to share, including oil, watercolour and pen & ink painting, but once she felt the soft, chalky textures of pastels in her hands, Lois fell in love.  “I’ve been creating in pastels ever since!”

Lois had spent some time creating art working with live models which, again, strengthened her love for portrait painting and she explained how one of her moves to the southern part of the US had forced her to use her imagination in new ways.  “There were no live models in the part of Georgia where I was living, so I started putting arrangements together using the quilts and hand-made teddy bears that mother used to make.”

Lois shared how pastel painting was the perfect medium for her during her children’s early years because, “you can put down your pastel to tend to your children very easily and then get back to your art at a later time.”

Many years later, Lois found herself living in North Carolina when a wonderful opportunity presented itself.  Her position as an RN was flexible enough to allow her to attend the University of North Carolina where Lois earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the studies of painting and print making.  North Carolina also presented Lois with another life changing opportunity and soon she was walking down the aisle to wed her second husband, Pete.

Pete and Lois love to travel and they had found a very affordable way to do so.  Lois explained how they would do ‘home exchanges’ with others living in different countries around the world.  Lois pointed to a painting of a pigeon and said, “That painting was based on a photo I took while Pete and I were in France.”  A look towards another wall in her studio space showed a painting of a dog that she had seen while in Australia.  I soon came to appreciate that Lois’ studio was also a collection of memories that highlighted her travels to Alaska, Scotland, New Mexico, Chile and many other exotic locations around the world.

In 2002, Lois and Pete had itchy feet and decided that it was time to move somewhere where they could relax during their retirement.  Pete had spent his youth growing up in Canada and for many years he had worked in Ottawa and Montreal so he suggested that they cross the border.  It didn’t take long until they found the house in Lambeth where they still live today.

Lois has since become an active member in the Lambeth Art Association as well as the Brush and Palette Club and she was very pleased to show me several of the ribbons that her art creations had earned during previous exhibitions.  This summer was Lois’ first time getting involved in the Westland Gallery’s ‘Square Foot Show’ and she hinted towards the plan that she and several other pastel artists are gearing up to organize a special exhibition for this coming fall.  If this comes to fruition then I will have to attend just so I can see what new paintings Lois will have created, inspired by her upcoming travels to Iceland.  Bon Voyage!!

To learn more about Lois Fuchs paintings, portrait commissions as well as to keep tabs on this unfolding plan for a fall exhibition of pastel artworks, simply visit her website:  www.loisfuchs.com