Interview with Suzy Schaefer, RSF Art Guild Vice President Rancho Santa Fe, California
As I drove up to Suzy’s beautiful Rancho Santa Fe home I was greeted by Dino, dressed in his Easter duds. Dino, the life-sized dinosaur in front of Suzy’s home, dressed in his many seasonal transformations has been a landmark for those of us attending the Rancho Santa Fe Art Guild’s workshops. Over the years Suzy has generously donated workshop space in her studio, transformed from an equipment shed. With its ample parking, room for dozens of artists and their equipment it has been an ideal space for so many fun and productive workshops.
Inside, Suzy and I begin to talk about the RSF Art guild and its origins. Suzy and her late husband, Rob Schaefer, were founding members along with Marianne Champlin, Marileigh Schulte, Corinne Grunwald, Joli Beal, Teresa Blake, Alice Dieffenbach, Jennifer Nelson, Pat Beck, Dale Steffen, Devon Springer, Frank Glendening and many others. The original group of 19 artists and patrons began meeting in 1996 with a primary goal of encouraging the visual arts in North County, San Diego. Over these past 25 years Suzy has held most of the Guild’s Board positions, from President and Vice president to Public relations. If there was work to be done, Suzy had her hand up and was ready.
Suzy’s life as an artist started at an early age. More interested in painting than the standard reading, writing and arithmetic, Suzy painted murals on her Warner Avenue Grammar school in Los Angeles under the encouragement of her 5th grade teacher. She continued her studies in high school and then went on to USC. At USC Suzy took advantage of the large art department and took every class offered. She studied ceramics, jewelry making, pottery and more. Her experience in the arts was evident to me when I first met her 3 years ago while attending Guild classes and workshops. Because of her proficiency in multiple crafts and her inventive use of common items as artistic tools, I nicknamed her my “MacGyver”.
Suzy’s art has evolved through the years but she has concentrated her passion on oil painting. Her subjects vary from portraits to still life to animals and much of the beauty in her world. She has preferred to paint small 5x7 or 8x10 canvases. Suzy’s love of art rubbed off on her two children. Cayli Malone, her eldest, is a designer of patterns and loves to knit. Cayli’s knitting patterns are available online.
https://www.ravelry.com/stores/cayli-malone-designs. https://www.ravelry.com/designers/cayli-malone.
Suzy’s son, Alex Schaefer, an Arts Center graduate has recently relocated to Rancho Santa Fe from LA. Alex has worked as a video game artist and a professional expressionist painter. His work is collected by many and shown in galleries across the country. Alex is one of the best master painting instructors I have experienced. paintwithalex.com
Suzy and her husband Rob collected Western American art for many years and have compiled a most thrilling collection of both paintings and sculpture. Suzy’s interest in American Western Art encouraged her to take a board position at the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The authenticity and quality of each piece in the collection is a reflection of what the couple admired in the genre. Influences include the work of Howard Terpning and Laura Robb.
https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/
https://www.laurarobb.com/about
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Terpning
Suzy also cites Carolyn Anderson and Russian Artist, Nicolai Fechin as two of her art heroes. Check out all the links to learn more about art and all the artists Suzy loves.
https://www.carolynanderson.com/about
https://drawpaintacademy.com/nicolai-fechin/
Suzy feels the best part of being a member of the Rancho Santa Fe Art Guild is the workshops and lectures from local professional artists. The workshops allow members to get together with other artists and experience and discuss art. She is also proud of the Guild’s community efforts in our local schools. With generous grants from the RSF Foundation the Guild has been able to provide working artists, such as Alex Schaefer and Tom Balderas, to bring hands-on art instruction to our students.
Come join us at the Guild and meet other artists and patrons. Meetings, workshops and more are available to all members.
Thank You,
Adele Hendricks
