If asked why she devotes her talent exclusively to painting children, Lucelle Raad is quick to reply ... "There's more character in an offhand gesture by a small child than in all the posturings of our adult world." A passing glance at the paintings and prints in her Long Island studio confirms the point. She appears in her work to be obsessed with capturing the single gesture, position, attitude most suggestive of an individual nature. She remembers sketching as soon as she could hold a pencil and in her early twenties was introduced into the art world by a friend, who she painted alongside her at every opportunity. The local art league president, watercolorist Keith Hoffman, was so impressed by her work that he encouraged her with the idea that there was a place for her as a professional artist, if she could paint children. Since then, painting initially her own two children and later others, Lucelle has rarely missed a day at the easel. Her popularity grew quickly, soon winning awards at shows from Maine to Florida. In the eighties her works were first published and today her paintings and prints can be found at galleries in every continent of the world. |