(light music) - Will you "Consider This"?

You just find yourself, at some point in your life, which is really good, because a lot of people don't do that.

But this young lady, like Suzette Boulais, found herself through art and express yourself through art and share that talent, that wonderful talent and beauty and peacefulness through your art.

Welcome.

- So glad to be here, Chris.

And what's kind of interesting about my art is I didn't learn it in grade school, I didn't learn it in college, not through high school, not early adulthood; it was later in my life that I found my bliss.

I took a class at Lakeview Museum and decided that's what I want to do, that's what I want to play with for the rest of my life.

And I can say that we worked for what, 40, 45 years in the world of work, and appreciated having a work and professional life.

But now I'm playing.

And I enjoy it with all my heart.

- Wow, playing at your work.

- [Suzette] That's really it.

And that's really it.

- It's too bad more people can't do that.

First of all, before we get into all that, and you didn't have any really formal training, but you're from Connecticut.

- Born and raised in Connecticut.

My dad got transferred to Indianapolis, Indiana, went to school there, went to Purdue University, got a master's, then found a job opportunity after my master's in Peoria, Illinois.

- [Chris] And you were a counselor?

- My first phase of life in the work world was a counselor.

I worked with troubled teens.

But when I came to Peoria, I'm one of the ones that can say that when I came here, I absolutely, totally loved it.

Its pace, that it's accessible, that to go anywhere wasn't two tollways there and two tollways back.

So just very affordable, easy to get around.

So when I came here in the early '80s, I knew I was gonna stay.

And I absolutely love our little town.

- How about it.

Good for you.

Well, I came just a couple of years before you, but I met you through counseling when I was doing some stories.

And that was a lot of insight.

So you could draw on a lot of those experiences then later in life as you got into painting.

- That's right, yeah, use what I've learned.

And what I have found in my life, that I've used in painting, is use my philosophy.

Some people said, "Well, you are now an artist, right?"

I said, "Well, I can say I'm an artist.

But actually, first and foremost, I would say I'm a philosopher."

The word means a love of wisdom.

And I love beautiful words.

I love personal development.

I love reaching for one's highest star.

And so what I try to do through my art is express my philosophy.

And my philosophy says follow your dreams, follow your bliss, follow your hopes, follow your joy, find happiness.

And I think there is a calm and peaceful joy in my art.

That's what people have said.

And it's certainly what I try to depict with the paintbrush.

- Well, you do.

And so you like, you mostly do oil painting, right?

- [Suzette] It's actually acrylics.

- Oh, acrylics.

- Oil is too sophisticated for me.

And it takes so long to dry.

- It takes- - Sorry.

- I'm telling you, I tried it once or twice.

Chris, it was like two weeks before the paint dried on the canvas.

I said, now, that's not for quick Suzette that likes to paint it; if I don't like it, I can wash it off, I can work over it.

But that takes a long time.

so that's not my medium.

- Okay.

Alright.

Okay.

So acrylics.

And beautiful acrylics.

And so many of your things that I've noticed are like horizontal, you know?

And where does that come?

Is that the peaceful calm that you're drawing on?

- Yes.

And I would say they are peaceful landscapes.

That's probably where you're getting the horizontal and colors of nature.

But something that I aim to interject in almost every single piece, if not every piece, in every abstract landscape, is some aspect of light.

And that light can be the sun or the moon or light breaking through the clouds.

And in my philosophy and in my spiritual, excuse me, spirituality, that is the light of God coming through our lives.

We are a landscape, our lives are a landscape.

And what are we without the light of the pure living source.

- I love that.

- It makes for a painting fuller and more complete to include that light in every piece of work.

- So the master's degree that you got at Purdue was in what?

- It was called Counseling and Personnel Services, to counsel people.

Yeah, to any types of individuals, there was a particular therapy that I liked, called rational emotive therapy, that said it is our thoughts that come through our feelings.

You know, that's our thoughts first and how we feel.

If I'm angry, it's 'cause I'm thinking an angry thought that comes out as anger.

So it's rash.

Your mind is the charge, the driver for the way you feel.

So I love that, and there are different types of therapies, but I love that therapy.

And that's what I used when I worked with troubled kids.

And it was here in the area, the Tazwood Center, in Pekin, Illinois.

That's where I worked with troubled teens, and enjoyed that for several years.

But as life would have it, and life calls us to different opportunities, I got a job at counseling and family services doing their PR, their marketing, their branding, do their annual reports, design their brochures, design slideshows; but talk about how it's a strength, not a weakness, to go for counseling.

- Well, it is.

And so from some of those experiences, again, that probably led you into... Did you even dabble in painting or art when you're doing all that creative?

I mean that's definitely creative.

- I was creative.

But what's interesting is I never once at that time took up an actual paintbrush.

Now, at the counseling and family services, I had to design brochures.

And I worked with clip art and I tried to make them look more artsy than perhaps other nonprofit brochures, but enjoyed an artistic expression.

But it wasn't until mid to late 40s that I actually picked up a brush.

And I actually come from a family with two very artistic brothers, a very artistic sister.

It never once occurred to me that i had that in me too until I took that class at Lakeview.

And I said, "I'm going to explore this because it's so much fun, and it's pulling into some aspect of my desire to play."

- Well, so how many classes were there?

I mean, it wasn't just one class.

It was a series?

It was one?

- It was one class.

It was like, you know, three to five sessions where it was called Introduction to Painting.

And after that class was over, still wanting to play in art, I thought, "What kind of artist do I want to be?"

Even the instructor at the time said when other gals, it ended up being an all-gal class, and they're doing a realistic flower or realistic cows, and the teacher looked at my work, she goes, "Suzette, you're going somewhere else."

And you didn't know if that was good or bad at first.

But she goes, "But it's kind of abstract.

Go with it, keep going with it."

She says, "I can see something in your work.

Go with it."

So here's where I had an epiphany.

I went home to my computer and I said, "You're going to do art, but you don't know how it's gonna be expressed exactly."

I spent several hours on the computer looking at artist after artist after artist.

None of the masters, you know, the Rembrandts, the Renoirs, those weren't my types.

I finally stumbled on my guy.

I call him my muse.

I had never heard of him in my life, but artist Mark Rothko.

And he would do these huge paintings, almost as big as a wall, of let's say a beautiful block of orange and another block of yellow.

And people would think, you know, is he overrated?

But I saw the warmth, the beauty, the vibrant colors.

So I saw one after another after another of this work by Mark Rothko.

I thought, that's who I'm going to pattern after.

And from some of the work that I'm doing, and even the show that I've got coming up, a few simple, basic colors.

But how do you put them together to evoke a feeling?

And his bright, bright orange with that bright, bright yellow evoked to me warmth, and almost like a closeup of looking at the sun.

And after reading about him, what I found out is he put layer after layer of all these different shades of orange, that if you were to look at the piece close up, they almost shimmered.

Yeah, the painting was almost alive.

So I thought that's my muse.

And I patterned my work after him for a number of years until I stumbled again on my deviation, my growth into finding my own style.

Yeah.

- Wow.

Well, let's talk about your style, because you name your pieces, and they're all just very different messages.

And you're trying to uplift people.

- Yeah, there's one right there.

- Prayer is the breathing of the soul.

So this is, how did you come up with that one?

What was your inspiration?

- That's a great question, because... Do you know Joan Erikson, our friend Joan Erikson?

- Yes.

- She posted online a photograph that her husband took looking like that.

And I loved it.

It looked almost like that blue with a little white and the little bit of pink, you know, the happiness.

Pink always represents happiness in my life.

And I loved it so much that I made, I don't want to say, a 24 by 36, - Painting.

- and gave it to Joan of her photograph.

But I think it's quiet and it says prayer.

That's words by my brother Mark.

Prayer is a breathing of the soul.

That's a beautiful thought, that how you breathe for the soul, it's a prayer for the breathing of your life.

So I think it's beautiful.

And there's my little Chloe.

That's my little godchild.

- This is, okay.

This is Chloe the godchild.

Oh, she's on the back here too.

- Oh, she's on the back.

She has lapped Aunt Sue.

Chloe, my godchild, has lapped it.

She's taking art classes at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and she's won all kinds of awards.

So that was her at about, what, four or five or six.

And she's been one of my stars on my Facebook page, because people go, "What's up with Chloe?

What's she doing?"

Chloe's one of the stars, so she's fun.

- And so each one of these, you have books, you've done some books here: "Thoughts That Soar."

This is volume... - One.

- This is volume one.

- I now have 17 volumes for my friends that know me from "Thoughts That Soar" and on Facebook.

I have posted a thought, a very short, profound thought, for almost 10 years.

And I now have people, which is wonderful, all over the world, that know me from this series of short inspirations.

Because I have on my own Facebook page what I call a nondenominational inspirational site, that that's what I do.

I'm not political.

I'm not snarky.

It's like I want to promote the beauty of living.

And through pretty art, which is sometimes someone else's, it's to the point now where some of my friends will say, "This is a photo my cousin took."

Or "Here's a photo my niece took."

Or "Here's a photo I took.

Do you think you could use it for your series?"

I say, "Heck yeah.

Bring it on."

Or someone will say, "Here's a beautiful expression.

Can you find a picture for it?"

- To go with it.

- Certainly.

So now on Facebook, I have friendships and a community of people that contribute to the "Thoughts That Soar" series.

- And that was another one of those things.

It's like, don't know where that came from.

You weren't expecting it.

- No, but isn't life full of surprises?

- It is.

- And when we take opportunity, when we embrace opportunity, I would've never known in grade school, high school, college that I would have a "Thoughts That Soar" series.

I would never know we'd be here talking about art.

But here I am.

And I think I'm an example, since I found it later in life, and Grandma Moses was what, in her 80s, - Exactly.

- that it's never too late to follow some creative passion.

And I also believe everybody has it.

- Well, that's interesting.

And you have to find some time every day to be creative, even if it's just creating something in your mind, if it's creating a meal.

- That's it, Chris.

Because some people think to be creative means to be artistic.

To be artistic is one aspect of being creative.

But I have a very, very dear friend, he has since passed, but he was the most creative person I ever knew in fixing things.

And he loved, and if was a camera, a furnace, the refrigerator, he had a knack and he was a fixer.

Now, that's creativity.

- It is.

- Or a mom who's under, you know, has a certain limitation in how much he can spend each week for food, but finds ways of having creative meals and stretching those dollars.

So I believe we're all creative, and it's a personal theory, that we are in more of a state of joy when we are being creative.

It's an extension of the light being inside of us.

And it's a joyous, wondrous opportunity to get to express it.

- You're just an inspiration.

I want to mention this really quickly to that make sure that, you have something at Carl Sandburg College.

- Yes, I received an email from them not too long ago.

It's an art show called A Moments Peace, where 40 of my pieces are there for a solo show.

And I can remember when I was thinking what do I want to call the show?

And I had at least a half dozen ideas, but I called it A Moments Peace, because in my time, in my art room where I light several candles, I put on real pretty instrumental music, I am in a moment's peace when I'm painting these pieces.

My hope is that whatever piece, if someone would be interested enough in buying one, that piece gives them a little sense of peace.

So it's a moment's peace for me, and I would hope it's a moment's piece for someone else.

- So do you do a painting a day?

Or how long does it take?

How long did it take you to put that one together?

that particular one.

- Longer than you think.

Because I'd say, maybe a couple of days.

I'll do the framework.

I know that I want to go from navy to royal to yellow, which incidentally, I think those are WTVP colors.

(Christine laughing) I'm seeing WTVP's logo at the bottom there (laughs).

If they ever want to use it for a post.

- Marketing.

- I'm just saying this is WTVP-looking.

But I wanted to make the sun, but I didn't want a blotch of sun.

I wanted it subtle, so I had to play with it a little bit.

But I love the colors.

The blue that leads to the yellow, which is a very, very typical Mark Rothko type of piece, where he has one block of color on the bottom and he usually has another block of color on the top.

- And then you just ease into it.

- That's right.

And then I'll kind of build on, build on.

- Now, is he still alive?

No, he was an artist in the 1950s, so we don't have him anymore.

But he is my muse.

He's the one that really set it in motion for me, where I thought I'm finding my style and I'm finding my stride.

- So that's kind of, I call it a Holy Spirit thing, that you found it, that you found it.

- That is the word.

Another theme that I like in my paintings is a bird flying towards the sun.

Now, someone else that likes literal, literal language, may say: Okay, it's a bird flying to the sun.

But for me, a bird is always, always intentional.

It is the spirit finding its source, seeking its moment in the sun, finding its hopes, living toward its dreams.

It's got a more figurative poetic point of view.

And I have found, of the people that buy my work, they see that I'm not painting from literal: I'm painting from figurative and poetic.

So it's someone that sees the bird heading towards its source or flying to its dreams.

It touches them enough that those are, and I have several people that have purchased those kinds of paintings with the flying bird, which you called spirit.

- So you have a painting in your lap right now too that is just beautiful.

- I would say it's simple but typical of the type of work I do.

it's a little boat with, again, a moon or the sun.

And someone can say, okay, you know, moon and boat.

But I love the idea of the boat is being driven by the light of the moon or light by the sun, that the boat is in a journey.

And my style, I would say is kind of feminine, simple, but deep and symbolic: a boat that finds its way in its journey of life.

- And it could be getting out of a storm also.

And sometimes that's exactly where we are.

- [Suzette] That's it.

And we all have our storms.

- We do.

- We have our storms.

- We do.

So what else do you have now?

You're on book number 17 of "Thoughts That Soar."

- Yep.

- So tell me about another one, and the inspiration that you get; just every day it's something different?

- Alright.

Every day it's a new thought.

But here's something that is me.

And I don't know if the camera can see this, but it says: As I grow older, the more I appreciate living a simple private life.

- And here I have you on television.

- Yeah, I know.

It took a little luring.

I said, "Chris, if the art could talk for me, let the art talk for me."

But no, you had to have me talk for me.

(Christine laughing) But I have found that, in this phase of life, I'm a little more private.

I like things a little more simple.

I've cleared out aspects of my home.

It's like living a more simple, uncluttered, not scattered life.

So I enjoy the simplicity of living.

- But you're not gonna move to Japan or anything, where they do like really simplicity kind of things.

Oh, I see some more Chloe things in here.

So show me something.

- Oh, that's one of my nephew, GB did.

Doesn't it look like a little Marc Chagall?

- It does.

- it looks like a Marc Chagall painting.

"Prayer is a simple look toward heaven, a cry of recognition, of love, embracing both trial and joy," which again is life, Chris.

We know we have both trials and joys.

- And sometimes together.

- Yeah, I was gonna say, they're the same day.

The same day, that's right.

- Okay, so we have this show coming up at Carl Sandburg.

And it goes until January 13th.

- Yes.

- All right.

And how did that come about?

They just contacted you?

- They contacted me, but I'm a member of the Central Illinois Artist Organization, called CIAO.

And about three times a year we have shows in the Peoria area.

But every now and then we have a show out of town.

I was lucky enough that last year one of my pieces sold at Sandburg College, got an email from the director and said, "Your piece has sold.

And we do have solo shows several times a year.

I don't know if you'd be interested.

But if you are, these are the several dates available."

And of course I said yes.

I was shocked beyond belief.

I was surprised as heck.

But I said I will take that opportunity.

- Good.

Good, good, good.

- I'll take it.

- And then so people could get tickets to go to that on your website also?

- Well, it's open.

It's open to the public.

And it's open until, it started, you know, October 20th, and it goes through January 13th.

And I'm excited that I'll have a meet and greet with the artist.

That's kind of exciting.

And I'm hoping to meet and greet the folks and hopefully talk about the work.

I have found that when people talk about my work or ask questions, it makes them appreciated on a little bit deeper level.

- Right, well, you also, you challenged me to talk about this a little bit.

Now, this is, you'll have to share your website here.

- Yes.

My website, suzetteboulais.com.

That is hook, line, and sinker a very typical Mark Rothko type of card.

I talked about he was my muse.

He usually likes two color blocks.

And as you can see, green and red, Christmas, with a little bit of gold.

- Do I have it the right way?

- It doesn't matter.

See, you know, it doesn't matter.

But the gold band there represents the light, the saving light.

Some people would put, and in some of my cards I've put a little Star of Bethlehem, or just, you know, somewhere where it's the saving light.

But that's the gold band.

And if someone wants that card, I'm gonna say, whenever this airs, we'll give it a week, if someone says I relate to that serious style, 'cause I'm calling it the Solemnity of Christmas, it's a 5x7 that they can, and I'll give them an envelope, they can mail it to someone if they wish or they can frame it, but I'd like to give that card away to someone who relates to that particular style.

- [Christine] I like that.

- Yes.

- I like that.

So what's your website?

- It's suzetteboulais.com.

All they would need to do is where it says Contact Me, and then you'll see my email address contact.

I would like a person or two of the WTVP audience, I would like one or two.

- That would be a beautiful- - Would be neat.

Someone gets that card for Christmas.

- [Christine] That would be a beautiful Christmas gift too.

- Thanks.

- Very pretty.

Very pretty.

So what are your plans for the near future?

- Here's my dream for the near future, 'cause we talked a little bit about spirituality; in my art room, my sanctuary, where I feel the most peace, I probably have another 40 or so pieces of art of a spiritual nature.

And I'm wondering if there's a nonprofit, an ecumenical space or some sort of religious organization that might have a wall, that I call it kind of my prayer wall, I would love to donate these pieces.

And they can either keep them there, or they can have a fundraiser, or someone donates to that organization, but gets a little prayer as a gift.

So I'm gonna keep getting the word out about my work.

I have found, in my tiny little art room- - [Christine] You are bouncing out of your comfort zone.

- Well, here's what I realized.

In my art room, the art isn't doing any good standing there.

It needs to go out.

- You need to share it.

- So I'd love to share it.

And I do have something for you for Christmas.

- Okay.

- 'Cause it's a little something for you.

'Cause I thought, you know, I'm crazy about you.

And my style is simple, but it's Christmas from the heart.

So that's for you, Chris.

- Aww.

- Isn't she's kind of cute?

- Yeah, it's beautiful.

- So you could put on your... Look at you, little doll.

And, you know, it could go by a bookcase or a mantle, but Christmas from the heart.

- It is.

- 'Cause we are both heartfelt people.

- We really are.

We are.

And sometimes it gets me in a lot of trouble.

- I know.

Me too.

I know it.

- Okay.

- Bless your heart.

- Well, this has been so much fun, to learn where your inspiration comes from.

And even the quotes and everything that you have, do you have like a Rolodex or something, that you pull 'em out?

- I do have a book of quotes.

I do have a book of quotes.

And what's a joy is what's the right picture for just the right quote.

- Wow.

- So it's fun.

It's so fun.

- Well, thank you for jumping out of your comfort zone.

And people can find you on a line at your website.

They can find you at Carl Sandburg College.

- That's right.

- And I can find you right here in town.

- Thank you so much for inviting me.

It means a lot.

- Oh great.

Thank you.

- Thank you, Chris.

- And thanks for joining us.

Isn't she fun?

And you all, be well, please.

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