Joyce Lusk sold her first painting as a little girl, but it wasn’t paintings on paper or canvas that she sold to her art buyers. Instead, she painted on small napkins.
From there, she just kept painting. In grade school she took art classes and placed in contests, and out of high school she was accepted to the Art Institute of Chicago, though she didn’t finish.
Now the 68-year-old Ooltewah resident spends almost all of her time painting, calling it a God-given gift and a part of her testimony to her life.
“I had bone marrow cancer and then the recession hit, but I’m always positive. I’m always happy – you got to be,” she said. “It’s just a super blessing to me to be able to paint.”
Lusk said she loves the Tennessee outdoors and that it shows in her paintings, which are mainly of landscapes and scenery. She used to paint with oils, but has moved on to acrylic painting.
“I just love the freedom of it,” Lusk said. “I spend all my time painting now. I just have [paintings] everywhere. I love the trees, the woods, the skies, the clouds … it’s so beautiful. I just get lost in it.”
Her pastoral paintings could be scenes from anywhere and everywhere, she said. While her paintings are always inspired by real life scenery – the woods around her or a sight off the highway – they change.
“Somewhere down the road it just changes, and then it’s my own little world. With the way I paint … it just turns into something different,” she explained. “I can’t copy anything … and 99.9 percent of the time there’s no place like [the scene I painted].”
Lusk’s first show in years is coming up at her church, Ooltewah United Methodist Church, Oct. 18.
“A couple ladies at church really noticed that I was an artist and they organized this show for me,” Lusk said. “Really, I am so grateful for it.”