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The deep blue rectangle in the center of the painting is its genesis, the pool of creativity, a wellspring of movement and energy. Broad strokes of bright orange flecked with red surround it like corridors of growth, reflecting the artists' fervor as her creation expands. Streaks of green reach from the fiery perimeter to the cool interior, as if fueled by the painting's center.
What a bunch of bunk.
"People will ask me, 'What do these lines mean?' " artist Su Daitch said. "I say, it means that's where I put the paint.' "
How's that for unpretentious?
"It took me a long time to say I was an artist," she said, then added almost sheepishly that she's sold 51 pieces so far this year. "Doesn't that mean there's something to it?"
Daitch, who lives a few miles south of the Marietta Square in Cobb County, has been selling art since 2002 out of Cafe Tu Tu Tango, the popular in-town restaurant/art gallery (www.cafetututango.com). On Saturday, she has her first official artist event, a reception at J. Reid Gallery in Buford.
"She has several distinct styles," said David Armstrong, general manager at Cafe Tu Tu Tango. "Some of it I would call pop art. Some is impressionistic art that is full of color. Very much like her --- it's exuberant, it's energizing. She sells a lot of art here."
Daitch, 57, worked for years in corporate settings as an office manager. Then about eight years ago, she began suffering memory loss due to a neurological condition and could no longer work. She filled her time by making quilts for children in the neighborhood and in children's hospitals.
"Then one morning I got up and said, 'I want to paint,'" Daitch recalled.
Her husband, Gordon Daitch, asked, "Which room?"
Soon after his wife started painting, Gordon Daitch learned to make canvases. An accountant by trade, he's in charge of cataloging the hundreds of paintings that now fill their home. Su Daitch sells most of her pieces for $400 to $600 and offers clients their money back if they're not happy. So far, they're all happy.
"One woman said she got tears in her eyes" when she hung one of Su's paintings, Gordon Daitch said.
Su Daitch works in acrylics (they dry faster than oils) and produces paintings that range from abstract to stylized, with some whimsical detailed works in the mix. A Chicago native, she has never taken an art class and never really cared much for art. Now she teaches and says she has sold at least one out of every four paintings she's created.
"I'm not in it just for the money," Su Daitch said. "The money's nice; it buys groceries and stuff. But I paint for fun. I walk up to the canvas and it comes out." IF YOU GO: > What: Reception for artist Su Daitch > Where: J. Reid Gallery, 75 Main St., Buford > When: 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 23 > Information: 770-271-0008 www.artsbysu.com
Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
