July 25 - Artist Meet and Greet: Robert and Susan Perrish

Robert Perrish is an award-winning designer, sculptor and painter whose love of nature is evident in everything he creates. This was first expressed through wildlife painting and sculpture and has since evolved into painting landscapes, portraits, and still life.

Robert worked in the commercial art field in illustration and design for 30 years. A lifelong resident of Michigan, he has lived with his family in Livonia for the past 34 years. He has traveled extensively throughout the United States and abroad, capturing as much as he can on canvas along the way. Plein air painting has become a regular habit and has helped his studio work as well. He is one of the co-founders of Michigan Plein Air Painters and paints with them on a regular basis, as well as traveling out of state for other painting opportunities.

Organizations and Affiliations:

• Oil Painters of America
• New Mexico Plein Air Painters
• Michigan Plein Air Painters
• Laguna Plein Air Painters

Awards include Michigan Wildlife Artist of the Year, Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year, as well as DU Carver of the Year 3 times, 16 Best-of-Shows in national and international carving competitions.

His artwork and sculptures have appeared in national magazines, calendars, books, limited edition prints, and various art galleries.
 

Susan S. Perrish is an award-winning portrait-figurative artist living in Michigan. Susan’s art is of a traditional realist manner, but also tells a contemporary story. Her works include oil, soft pastel, and graphite, and charcoal. Susan began studying portrait and figurative drawing in 2014 under the tutelage of Amy Foster, and subsequently at the Atelier School of Art. Since 2016, she has been a member of the De La Vie Studio, where she regularly paints and draws from life.    

Susan has exhibited in many shows around the country, including the International Guild of Realism, where she recently received the John Singleton Copley Award of Excellence. She has been a finalist in the 14th and 16th Art Renewal Center International Salons, and a semi-finalist in the 15th Salon. She has also had paintings in numerous Oil Painters of America and National Oil & Acrylic Society competitions, recently receiving an Award of Excellence in the NOAPS Best of America Exhibition.

Statement:
I am a romantic at heart. The extravagance of Sargent, the delicacy of Bouguereau, and the mystique of Waterhouse all inspire me. I am swept up by them, taken into another world of grand costume and emotive storytelling. I love to paint detail, yet search for what lies beneath the physical — the intrinsic, magnetic, indefinable beauty that exists uniquely in each of us.