Come to Leicester Artist Studio Tour, August 17-18

After graduating with a BFA in painting from UNCA, Leicester native Suzanne Saunders packed her bags and headed south to New Orleans, leaving her family’s 30-acre tract behind. She lived in The Big Easy — a city she describes as “soulful and creative and very motivating” — for two decades, making a living as a full-time painter. But in 2016, after losing both parents, Saunders returned to her childhood home and began producing mixed-media works inspired by mountain flora and fauna. “People and architecture largely inspired my work when I lived in Louisiana,” says Saunders, “but now that I live in Leicester, nature has worked its way into my pieces.” Dimension has, too. Rather than produce 2D scenes, Saunders cuts wood into the shapes of curious characters, seals them with resin, and then affixes the curios to her canvases. What results is enchanting and ethereal, with a splash of Nawlins noir. “I have a love of dreamlike, spooky, and eclectic themes. I don’t really limit my ideas to one area, and I do love art to be bold and to say something,” says Saunders, who will show her works this August during the Come to Leicester Artist Studio Tour. A longtime fixture on the local scene, the self-guided driving tour features more than two-dozen makers working in mediums such as iron, glass, textiles, and wood.