Carol Fucci studied art at LSU but spent her working career
in another artistic medium, the dance. She taught dancing in her own studio,
Dance with Carol, for thirty-five years. When the youngest of her five children
left the nest for college, she found herself with time on her hands.
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| Carol Fucci with a work in progress in her back yard |
“We had a lot of wall space in here that didn’t have any art
on it,” she says of her Northshore home. She and her husband Eddie visited some
friends who had decorated their home with several big, beautiful paintings.
Carol and Eddie decided to do the same.
“Then I looked at the price of big pieces of art,” she
laughs. “I thought maybe I should paint my own big pieces of art.” Reasoning
that the results would be in her own home and not subject to public scrutiny,
she began recalling her college classes. When Carol returned to painting five
years ago, she found the lessons coming back as clearly as if the classes had
been only weeks ago instead of decades. Family and friends gave her kudos for
her work. Her topics were people in her life, favorite places and things and
subjects suggested by loved ones. Soon people were requesting art for their
homes.
“The very first time that a piece of art left my home and
went to someone else, it was very traumatic for me,” she remembers, “because
your art becomes like one of your children…It was very tough to do.” She
overcame the feeling and now regularly paints beautiful portraits and scenes on
commission, to the delight of satisfied clients everywhere.
About a year ago, Eddie suggested she try to sell some of
her paintings. Her earliest sales were paintings of the world of ballet, a
world she knows well. She sold them at her dance studio and gained the
confidence to approach galleries with her work. Her art hangs in several
galleries, including Artists’ Galleries de Juneau, where she is the Artist of
the Month for October 2016. The gallery, in Historic Olde Towne Slidell,
displays several of her works.
Carol might still be dancing full time and painting for a hobby
had a hip injury not sidelined her in the last year. A total hip replacement
surgery led her to sell her dance studio and focus on the visual arts side of
her art.
Responsive to the public’s desires, she has paintings
hanging in restaurants throughout the Northshore as well as the galleries. She
participates in the Mandeville Arts and Crafts Farmers Market on Saturday
mornings in Mandeville. In addition to the “big, beautiful pieces” she
initially set out to paint, Carol also paints smaller pieces of iconic local
images. Another popular item is her souvenir state road maps, typical maps with
the addition of a pertinent image over a special location.
Dearest to her heart though are the commission paintings of
children. Based on photos provided by the person ordering the image, she brings
the child to pulsating life with the perfection of aspect and setting only a
painting can provide.
To contact Carol, visit her website or visit Artists’ Galleries de
Juneau, 2143 First Street, Slidell, LA. She will be featured at the October Third
Thursday celebration at the gallery on October 20 between 5 and 7 p.m.
© 2016 Mary Beth Magee
