Websites

Http://ArtApprenticeOnline.com

 

http://www.suepruett.com

"When I first started painting I didn't set out to become an artist, instead my goal was only to paint pretty things like my sister was painting and sending to me as Christmas gifts.  I never would have imagined that nearly 30 years later I would still be painting or that being an artist would become a career.  Becoming an artist has been the result of twenty years of studying to understand how to take a two dimensional surface and make it look three dimensional. 

My first teacher, Judy Duarte, was a huge inspiration and mentor to me; I put her on a pedestal and wanted to be just like her when I grew up.  I was a young woman of twenty one, newly married, full time job, and going to college at night to become a secretary.  Still thirty years later Judy is one of my closest friends and if it wasn't for her I'm not sure if I would still be painting today. 

I was so fascinated by painting that I quit college, because it was getting in the way of my painting classes.  Through my relationship with Judy, I was asked to teach at an art store in Southern California's Orange County in 1981.  I can remember how terrified I was at the thought of teaching because I was always the slowest student, and my teacher had to fix my mistakes.  When I saw how excited my students got during that first class it made me realize that teaching was more fun than it was scary, and because of the student's excitement teaching now became my passion.

In 1988 I tried for my Certification test from "The Society of Decorative Painters".  My score was so low it devastated me and gave me the drive to become an 'artist' instead of only a painter.   I did pass the 'Certification Test' the following year but this was just the beginning of an eight year journey to become a "Master Decorative Artist".  To accomplish this I would have to pass three more tests based on my technical skills, color, realism and dimensional knowledge.   I owe a lot to the Certification program for forcing me to learn and strive for excellence. 

Through my quest I took a color seminar from David Jansen in 1993, and now thirteen years later I am working for David as the Traditions Education Coordinator.  I now have a wonderful job where I work with seven other accomplished artists and collectively we have written a comprehensive education program for teachers to teach their students about art and painting.