COASTE | MAY - JUN 2017

But her evolution wasn’t complete until Lovegrove met artist Hollis Jeffcoat, who looked at her work and told her to think bigger. During a critique, Lovegrove recalls, “she put a big paintbrush in my hand and told me to never paint small, that I had too much energy in my paint strokes. So I’ve painted large ever since, and I generally paint three foot by four foot, or four foot by six foot. That was about 15 years ago, and that’s when my brand really came to life.” So, if you’ve been adding along with us, it’s taken Leoma Lovegrove around 25 years of hard work and persistence — with a never-stop- learning attitude — to arrive as the artist she always believed she could

be. “I believe my art is impressionist expressionist style,” she says. “More paint, adding neon, trying to create something no one has seen. If I’m bored with it, the public will be too. I’m so lucky, I get to paint whenever I want and I work every day. I also play hard, too, and my husband and I have a lot of fun.” That fun includes a garden in Matlacha with “heritage seeds” from Monet’s in France, traveling the world, visiting family in the Midwest, getting feedback daily and directly from fans and — yes — getting a kick out of seeing so many people embracing her work via her Bealls line of apparel, dishware, bath goods, kids clothing and more. “With my

glasses, it’s hard to not be noticed,” she says. “Sometimes I’ll stop and just watch folks wearing my work, and it’s cool. I want to be known as the people’s painter, and I think people embrace my art because it’s happy art.” And as for tomorrow? Well, this joyful artist with her over-the-top persona, bold creations and humble attitude doesn’t plan on changing a thing. “I’ll paint, as I do every day,” she says. “Artists don’t stop painting. I’ve never considered it. I can’t imagine it.” Lucky us. LeomaLovegrove.com { }

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