From Mandeville to K-ville: Cover Artist Susan Morgan.
by Jamey Landry
It’s the typical Hollywood story. Small-town girl gets discovered by a traveling Hollywood executive who’s out scouting locations. She is whisked away to a new life of glitz and glamour to live happily ever after, except for those pesky paparazzi from TMZ following her all the time.
If only it were true.
The star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame might still be a few decades away for our cover artist, Susan Morgan. But her paintings are already a hit in Tinsel Town, thanks to “K-Ville,” the short-lived Fox Television series based in New Orleans. When the set designers were searching for elements to use on the show, they happened to stop in a New Orleans shop where some of Susan’s art was featured. “The set director was just out scouting and she found my art work. … [She said that] she just fell in love with it and adored it,” Susan recalls. “She picked up some literature on me and later gave me a call and asked if I would be interested in renting them some paintings” to be used on the set.
Okay, so it was a gallery shop and not a malt shop or drugstore cosmetics counter or whatever unlikely setting it was that PR agents in Hollywood’s Golden Era used in spinning rags-to-riches stories. But you have to admit it must be pretty exciting to see something you’ve created appear in a national TV program. Susan learned early on that people scanned each episode hoping to see how her art was used. It had the spirit of a “Where’s Waldo?” search game for artwork. Even Susan sheepishly admits she got caught up in it. “I taped all the ‘K-Villes,’ and it got to be where I would look for them myself!” Although she knew which episodes had which pieces, she never knew exactly where each piece would wind up.
Her contributions to the show began with her sending a photo CD of her available work to the set director, who then chose the desired pieces. They rented them for use on set for three to four days, and then returned them to Susan. During its 11-episode production run, “K-Ville” used up to a dozen pieces of Susan’s art before generally poor ratings and an industry-wide writers’ strike ended production in December 2007.
As they say in show biz, there was definitely buzz around the state. Demand for Susan’s work jumped as word of her participation on the show got around. Sales of her art were noticeably up, thanks in part to the cachet of that piece possibly having been used on a Hollywood production. Eventually, all 12 pieces were sold to local and out-of-state buyers.
She never asked, but Susan believes most of the buyers were fans of the show, and, hopefully, they are now fans of hers, as well. Buyers continue to seek out her work on its own merit. The show helped many in the local economy, and it will be missed by the vendors and suppliers. “It was a great way to sell art,” Susan beams.
Susan’s roots in art began at an early age. Her mother, a caterer for many celebrity functions (including John Goodman’s wedding), painted in her free time and would let young Susan join in. Susan drew and sketched so much that her parents nicknamed her “Doodle.” But she admits that envy was the motivating factor in her earliest artistic career. “I coveted her red artist case!” Susan says, recalling her mother’s art supplies. “The case was full of oils. I eventually took over the case and paints, and that’s where my interest started.” That was at age 10. By age 12, she had “started” her own line of greeting cards, which she bestowed on family and friends at just the right occasion.
In college, Susan’s interests turned to interior design, fine arts and photography. Her style evolved from both formal training and vigorous experimentation. She explains that today, as her style develops, a variety of factors affect her non-commission work; the weather, the medium being used and the styles of other artists all play a part. “I find inspiration to paint in everything. Once, even a button influenced me!”
Her painting on this issue’s cover, which is also the official poster of the Junior League of Greater Covington’s 2008 Harvest Cup Polo Classic, was inspired by the polo ponies themselves. For this project, Susan’s experience as a photographer came in handy. She worked from photos she had taken at the 2007 Classic, but it was still a challenge to capture the excitement and spectacle of the event.
“Horses are not something I’m real familiar with, much less polo,” Susan confesses, “so I went out there last year and took pictures at the event. Horses and polo players were totally new subjects for me.” The motion of the ponies and the vivid colors were Susan’s inspiration. She essentially competed against herself by creating two distinctly different works to present to the selection committee. Both are painted in what Susan describes as “realism with abstract backgrounds.”
A close friend helped with her research and provided knowledgeable critiques, drawing on her lifetime of working with horses to offer the expertise of an equestrian. It was just the constructive criticism Susan felt she needed to make the paintings come alive.
In contrast to the winning design of a group of horses and riders, the work not selected shows a single rider and horse against a more muted palette of cream colors and blues. It will be available for view and sale at the Harvest Cup festivities in October.
Since submitting the art for the Harvest Cup poster, Susan has resumed her work on commission pieces. Working with both designers and individuals, she has between two and three pieces in progress at any given time. As her website shows, the depth of Susan’s work runs from abstract to realism, with a little of everything in between. And though she paints for herself first, she is still humbled by the response her work receives.
“Painting and sketches are a great creative outlet for me. It’s a great feeling when someone else appreciates a piece of mine as much as I do.”
Susan’s work can be viewed at her website, susantullosmorgan.com. She is also available for commission work and may be contacted through the website or at (985) 264-2472.
