Lucia Earle grew up in Durban and finished school in Johannesburg. Having trained at the Johannesburg Art Foundation in 1997 and 1998, the next year she moved to Knysna, Western Cape, where she finished her 3rd year History of Art through the University of South Africa, UNISA and worked full time. Here she discovered her fascination for African masks and has been a working, traveling artist ever since. Using mostly oil on canvas or board, she often finds weathered pieces of wood found in and around boatyards, seashores or other objects found in the African bush.
She followed her childhood dream to sail around the Southern tip of Africa on a beautiful hand built H28 wooden boat and across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil and onto Antigua. She lived in the Caribbean for 5 years, working on boats and selling her paintings in galleries there. She also started working as a mural artist in a Wall Decoration business and has experience in painting beautiful murals for homes, businesses and children’s bedroom interiors.Lucia Earle has taught art and run many workshops for children around the world with special interest in Gestalt Art Therapy. She facilitates their discovery of art through many mediums, including painting, murals, nature journaling, silk screen printing and dance.
Thereafter, Lucia had the opportunity to live and work in Mali, West Africa where she explored the African mecca of Dogon country, the mud city and World Heritage Site of Djenna and the Bandiagarra Cliffs. She embarked on a project called 100 Faces where she painted and sketched 20 minute portraits of the people living in villages there. Research into the cosmology, masks and rituals of this incredible place led to an exciting commission to record and document an impressive personal mask collection. She later spent 2 years living near the southern shores of Lake Victoria where she passionately painted the rugged fishing boats in harbors. She took the opportunity to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and trained with the oldest child in an AIDS orphanage she was involved with. Much of her inspiration came from the children living there.
She held a solo exhibition at Amazwi Gallery for Contemporary African Art in Saugatuck on arrival to the USA in August 2014. “Water Crossings” is a collection of paintings of rugged fishing boats in harbors from her Atlantic crossing and living on the southern shores of Lake Victoria. Her art making process involves photography, found objects, painting mostly with oil on canvas and you can see how her travels have guided her passions.
She is currently living and working in her downstairs studio in Fennville, SW Michigan.