GALLERYONE962 had the pleasure of interviewing Lucia, an artist of unmistakable talent, to discover and share the rich facets of her extraordinary creativity.

I am Isabel Lucia Anderson, but I go by the second name; Lucia.
I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in June 15, 1960. I lived my childhood and adolescence years in Caracas, Venezuela. In my early twenties, I lived in Champaign, Illinois for a couple years, then I went back to Venezuela until September 2014.
I’m a Full time Abstract Artist and this is my story.
Ever since I was young, my passion for creativity burned brightly and my dream of becoming an artist never turned in to reality.
When I reached my college years, I had chosen a major that was not supported and encouraged from my parents. They did not understand my passion, an ember of inspiration that refused to be extinguished. I was essentially dragged into getting a degree in Business Administration which I never enjoyed it, but I just had accepted the path.
Decades later, on September 2014 when my husband Pedro, my daughter Gabriela, and myself moved from Caracas, Venezuela to Chicago, Illinois, USA, I realized that it was never too late to reach for my dream and do what I always love the most; making art. From this immense eager desire to learn about art, how to paint, and become an artist, I had to start from the basic things; learn the terminology for art materials, medium, and many more in English which is now my second language. I had begun watching YouTube art tutorials in Spanish, and short later in English to get use to the language again. I also enrolled in art classes and workshops with professional art teachers. Those workshops and classes helped me get an idea of what kind of medium I will like and use the most.
Additionally, having worked at a Children’s Museum on the art room as an Art Teacher Associate for five years was there where my whole artistic training begun in a natural and spontaneous way. There, I confirmed what I always wanted to be; an artist.

I’m basically an intuitive artist. Most of the time I do not plan what to paint. If I do it, I’ll struggle the most. The only thing I plan is choosing the palette depending on my mood and/or the weather conditions.
Every time I paint, I paint for myself, not for a commission nor for art fair or else. It gives me freedom, confidence, and better results.
Before diving into the surface, I prepare my space, gathering materials, color palette, and setting the mood. I draw my inspiration from various sources – perhaps a fleeting emotion, a vivid memory, or the play of light on everyday objects by making marks either with graphite, markers or ink. I pick them randomly-using my non dominant hand (left hand) and by blind drawing. From there, it’s a way of breaking the ice of a blank cradle wood panel or Bristol paper.
As the marks begin to accumulate, the wood transforms into a landscape or shapes of possibilities. I pick the one I like and either transform them into something else or enhance them. I love experimenting with collage and different tools - knife, brushes, my fingers, doodling lines - each leaving its unique imprint on the surface. Building layers of collage and paint are applied, each adding depth and texture to the evolving composition. From that point, I could see where I am on my piece. Another technique I use is the image transfer method. Using it, helps me to emphasize the theme of my artwork, then the use of stencils is added for final touches. Of course, I take breaks from one stage to another one, so I could see how am I doing. When I’m back, there’s always a change to do or get rid of some elements or colors that bothers me. Anyway, I use several techniques. The one that suits the best according to what the piece already has or missing something. Sometimes, it had had happened me, if I got stuck or I did not like anything I had made, with no remorse or fear I just full cover with gesso the entire piece and started it over again. The results are even beautiful!
In 2016, at the beginning of the year, I started painting flowers in watercolors. I was enchanted and engaged by this delicate medium that I first discovered. Loving and enjoying this floral-botanical style for a while. A year later, I wanted to learn, explore, and acquaintance with another medium to change the style used. I wanted to do something different, vibrant made by my intuition and heart and include it as part of my art creation. That was the use of mixed media collage, acrylic paint, watercolor or Gouache paint, oil pastels, graphite, and Chinese ink. After finding this new energetic, dynamic technique as my favorite method, I dedicated my time exploring and practicing it every day and my art turned into lively, spirited style as an Abstract Contemporary work. I identified with his type of skill because I can express better myself with it.
Through my abstract art I want to convey everyone to engage the sight of the beauty, the energy, the emotions and even the minimalism way I see the nature, a landscape, the colors of the four seasons, any shape of some elements, and even a simple line on the sky that evokes me to create art.
When I started reading about art’s movement and getting to know artists from the past, there were many of them from the Contemporary tendency and other artists from different artistic trends who have deeply captivated me. Each one with its own unique style, techniques, and philosophy. They aroused me emotions that sparked my innate way to reflect their techniques in my process of creating art. These artists are as Wasily Kandinsky, Joan Miro, Mark Rothko, Henri Matisse.
My artistic journey began with a simple desire to paint for myself, finding comfort and fulfillment in the act of creation. While formal training provided technical skills, my true motivation lies in using painting as therapy to nourish my soul. Guided by the belief that nothing is impossible with faith and conviction, each brushstroke becomes a testament to the transformative power of painting as a conduit for authenticity and spiritual nourishment on my artistic odyssey.