Sue Luddeke
art appreciation, drawing
MFA, East Carolina University
luddekes@ecu.edu
321 Erwin
252-916-8426
Sue Luddeke has always made art; she drew and modeled in clay as a young child, continued drawing throughout her adolescence, and started to paint in oils in high school her my own. Sue’s taste is historically and visually didactic and this is evident in her work as well as reflecting her interest in the history of art, which she channels to art appreciation students.
Sue studied painting and drawing at ECU as an undergraduate and MFA student. She paints the figure, landscape and still life in oils and explores other media as well. She taught a variety of classes at the college level including painting, drawing, design, gender and art, multidisciplinary performance art, and art appreciation.
I came to East Carolina University and Greenville, NC in 1972 presumably to get a degree in Art and move on. After several false starts which included living in the mountains for a year to get NC residency, working as an artist/musician for a Community Arts Center on Albemarle Avenue called The Roxy, having a child and joining a Rhythm and Blues / Swing band called The Lemon Sisters and the Rutabaga Brothers as a singer, I decided to finish my degree.
After securing a BFA in Painting and Drawing in 1986, I continued my education, receiving a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting from East Carolina University in 1991. I have been teaching in the School of Fine Arts and Design since that time.
Historically I have primarily painted in oils, focusing on the figure, quite often a portrait, but also landscape and still life. My approach to the still life paintings exhibited here were inspired first when I went to Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris in the 1980’s and saw the little exquisite mausoleums with windows you could peer into. Inside were little altars with special and sacred objects and photos. I would say that my still lives here are really a sort of reliquary.
I think most all of my paintings have a magic realism component, but I also work from observation and feel that the work embodies both characteristics of visual truth mixed with a more ephemeral one.
More recently I have been creating illustrations for my own literary works of a poetic nature, using a style more whimsical surreal and magical. As a professional singer/songwriter writing lyrical poetry is a major component of that process. My storybook Zulu & Zot is a very long song in that sense, though spoken.
Areas of Research
visual art , music
Courses Taught
Art Appreciation (1910)
Drawing (1020)
Painting Materials and Methods (2560)
Figure Drawing (1030)
Selected Problems in Drawing (4551)
Color and Design (1001)
Design I (1005)
Intermedia Studio I and ll (3000 -1)
Problems in Interdisciplinary Studies (6991- 4)
Advanced Painting (4560, 4561, 4562, 4563, 4564)
Advanced Drawing (5551)
Independent Study (3500 and 5500)
Multi-disciplinary Performance Art (HNRS)
Introduction to Women’s studies, the Arts (WOST 2200)
Special Topics in Women’s Studies (WOST 3520 and 6100)
Art Spaces /Found Places (HNRS 2012/3102) a Multidisciplinary team taught class
Gender and Art. (WOST 3520 and 6100)
Portrait painting /Independent study
CV
Teaching Philosophy
My intensions for teaching this non major class include facilitating a wonderful art experience for them. We explore concepts of art history as well as ideas about art, and art making. I try to encourage them to explore and think about how the visual arts enrich their lives and are a way of communicating about and revealing information about the culture and time periods it comes from as well as expressing contemporary ideas and socially relevant topics.
I like students to understand the class is a starting point for understanding and looking at Art, a practice that has been around for thousands of years and so looking at it and understanding it can take a lifetime at least.
Each student will have different experiences when looking at art. Learning to literally see and understand the many concepts about art is complex. By see I mean for them to be able to visually analyze details, ideas behind form and content or meaning. We also explore ideas around aesthetics regarding personal or cultural taste.
My hope is that they will be inspired to continue to explore it on their own, take more classes or even make it themselves.
I want them to understand that Art cannot be separated from its political, religious, social, cultural and philosophical context or the circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place.
I want to help them enjoy looking at it and making it. To that purpose I have these students create simple to make, but college level in thought art projects. These require no real learned artistic skill or art background since some have none. They just require care and an honest effort and following directions. Discussion boards allow students to view and critique these art projects and reflective essays.
