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August 18, 2022
Creative Contemplation
S1E3 Kathleen Speranza

Creative Contemplation podcast host & creator, Suzanne Lago Arthur interviews oil painter Kathleen Speranza about her work, her education and training, and her advice to painters who want to make their work more emotive, Suzanne and Kathleen go deep on discussing the sublime in art and its influences in her work. This episode is an ode to the rose, which is a frequent subject in Kathleen's work.

Kathleen Speranza Bio:

Kathleen Speranza earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University School of Art.  She has had an academic career of more than thirty years teaching painting and drawing at the college level.  She has been on the Faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design for the last several years. Ms. Speranza now leads painting workshops both nationally and internationally.

Her paintings have always explored the visual language of space, light, color and form as it relates to specific subjects from nature.  The most recent paintings are an ongoing investigation of the poetic potential of botanical life. The body of work relating to Garden Roses with their extreme subtlety of color and structure are perhaps her best-known images.

Kathleen has exhibited work in group and solo shows throughout the US and U.K.  Her work can be found in numerous private and public collections.  Her most current show called “Vanitas Vita” at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art will be on view from May through July of 2020.   

Influences mentioned:

Jake Berthot
Andrew Forge
William Bailey
J.M.W. Turner

Other mentions:

The Garden of Mottisfont Abbey,  Hampshire UK
"Contemplative Sublime"


Website: kathleensperanza.com
Instagram: speranzafineart
Facebook: kathleen.speranza


Host Bio:

Suzanne Lago Arthur is a contemporary realist painter from Northern Virginia. Born in Puerto Rico to Cuban-American parents, her artistic explorations were nurtured from an early age by her family.

Through her paintings Suzanne explores the themes of beauty, transience and memory. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally in such venues as the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Art Museum of the Americas in Washington DC, the United States Interests Section, Havana, Cuba and in art galleries across the United States. She holds a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art and an MA in Museum Studies from George Washington University.

Website: lago arthur studio
Instagram: Suzanne Lago Arthur (@lagoarthurstudio) • Instagram photos and videos
Email: [email protected]
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Artwork, "Abby in Contemplation" by artist Suzanne Lago Arthur