Robin Southecorvo

Mixed Media

Suz Roach

Painting

For the month of October, local artists Suz Roach and Robin Southecorvo will be featured in the FW Gallery at Woolworth Walk.

Suz Roach is a long-time doodler and part-time artist. She is self-trained and fiction inspired. She did not attend art school, but she has loved to draw and paint since a young age. She fuels her imagination with books, movies, jokes, games, and caffeine overdoses. Once she began developing her own signature style and brand as an artist, she focused on painting animals, robots and fictional creatures with bright colors, fun patterns, and clever twists. Her paintings serve several purposes. The act of planning, drawing, and painting, brings her joy and satisfaction. They hopefully bring a smile to the viewer. She wants to bring out the inner child and silly side of adults and children. 

Robin’s first clay experience goes back to her high school art class. She sold her first piece, a small clay sculpture, to a teacher. That day, clay and art wove their way into her life. In college, as an occupational therapy student, she was required to take a clay class. Of course, this was her favorite class! After graduation, with a degree in occupational therapy, she started taking a nighttime pottery class at Anne Darling Studio in Sarasota, Florida. She inspired and encouraged her to go to Penland School of Crafts here in NC, where she took 2 classes over 4 weeks. The 2 sessions in clay pulled her further into the world of clay and art. She quit her job as an occupational therapist, and pursued clay full time with a part-time job at UPS to help financially. She started doing the craft show circuit in Florida. She took more workshops,

including a 2-week session at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. This inspired her to go back to college. It took a year, but she went to Boston for a semester at the Program in Artistry. Later she transferred to The NY State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, where she received a BFA. At Alfred, she started creating mixed media sculpture. After spending 2 years in California, she moved to Asheville, NC. A few years later she and her husband started Friendly Hollow Studio where they taught pottery and sculpture. This was short lived (only 3 years) but resulted in building a wonderful studio! Through the years she has continued to work in clay and art but on a limited scale. Soon after moving to Asheville, their son was born. She decided to work as an OT. After several years she became a Certified Hand Therapist. She found hand therapy rewarding, meeting wonderful people, and helping them recover from injuries and different hand diagnoses. She continued doing artwork and participated in shows including a show at the Asheville Arts council and one at the Walker Art Center at The Asheville School. Since 2016, she is creating pottery and small mixed media sculpture full time. It is wonderful to be back in the studio, pursuing her passion for artwork on a full-time basis.