SUZANNE YOST MCCOURT

ART OF STORYTELLING

Born to be an Artist …

Suzanne McCourt’s life as an artist began early. With a mother, grandmother, and numerous family friends deeply committed to an artistic life, she was surrounded by inspiration and willing teachers. Her mom took weekly tole painting from a neighbor, and she would run down to sneak into class. She got the art bug! For as long as she can remember, her childhood home in Oregon had a creative space in a converted garage where her mother taught her to mix colors and allowing her to use “grown-up” artist brushes with Grumbacher oils. Her first public artistic acknowledgment came at the age of 6. A fanciful drawing of her orange and white cat, Carter, lapping up a saucer of milk won her 1st place bike in the statewide Mayflower Milk & Oregon Dairy Farmer’s Association drawing contest. She loved growing up in the rich cultural and natural environment of the Pacific Northwest. Having graduated with a nursing degree in 1980, a paintbrush and palette of saturated color were never out of reach. With a strong foundation in drawing, watercolor, acrylic, and multimedia, Suzanne’s artistic reach is vast.

A Golf Legacy …

Suzanne is the eldest daughter of Richard “Dick” Yost, whose distinguished golfing accolades include being a US Amateur golf champion, 1955 Walker Cup Member, 1957 Master's player, and invited guest player by Bing Crosby himself to play in several Pebble Beach ProAM “Clam Bake” Tournaments, now the AT&T Pebble Beach National Golf PRO-AM. Reaching into her past by tracing her father’s historical golfing roots lead to numerous accolades of her own. In 2010, she was honored to become the first female since 1947 to become the Invitational Artist for the 25th Anniversary of AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm Golf Tournament & published in Cover Stories: Celebrating Tournament Cover Art. It’s no coincidence it is the very tournament in which her father played decades before.

Suzanne takes great pride in a series of works that inspired by her father’s golf legacy, creating connections to her dad’s inner circle of golfing legends like Ben Hogan, E. Harvey Ward, and Ken Venturi. In 2014, Suzanne became the VIP Artist for PGA TOUR HQ 1st TEE at TPC Sawgrass Country Club, FL, and invited guest of President Steve Mona, World Golf Hall of Fame, to the induction of Mr. Venturi. Her late dad’s presence was felt when she met CBS sportscaster, Jim Nantz, as he recited her dad’s accomplishments in 50-70’s. It was here she also met the Venturi family & Jules Alexander, Ben Hogan & Tiger Woods photographer, and created her Hogan Series. In 2016, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am once again displayed her Hogan Series images in The Fairway One Hogan Library & the painting she made for Mr. Venturi.

Art and Music ...

A serious health scare helped the artist in Suzanne to recalibrate her purpose and mission, revealing a desire to make deeper connections with her work and audience. With an early interest in watercolor, she found herself in a master's watercolor class with the renowned cartoonist Hank Ketcham (Dennis the Menace), who had known her father from the Pebble Beach Clambake days; another a profound connection to her father. He encouraged her pursuit of a deeper connection to meaningful imagery with the musician series she had just started. Utilizing a variety of materials and multi-faceted layers of color, shape, and abstract elements, her very successful “ GuitarMan ” series was born. (2000) With great success the universal language of music and the images of musicians seemed to resonate across varying markets and audiences. Music plays a significant role in her artistic process, often singing, dancing and playing music in her studio to inspire her creative voice.

In 2016, with " GuitarMan " and a variety of other musically inspired works, The Blues Foundation & The Blues Music Awards honored Suzanne as the Official Artist for their annual gala event at the Memphis Convention Center, honoring legends each year as the great B.B. King, & 2016 induction of Elvin Bishop & John Mayall to Blues Hall of Fame, joining past inductees Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, and Muddy Waters.

Suzanne has been published in many magazines and books such as full-length feature in Acrylic Artist Magazine, AcrylicWorks, The Artist’s Magazine, International Acrylic Artist Magazine. As a full-time working artist, she still loves to open her studio doors each year to a local and international following during the annual Open Studios in her hometown of Santa Cruz, California. Her colorful website, www.suzannemccourt.com, details her vast body of artistic works.

In her words …

“Multi layers of various medium; charcoal, paint and mediums, digital images, music, handmade paper, are always within reach. I respond to the canvas, and then sensitively paint to help an image emerge. I “see” images that excite me everyday. Sometimes I’ll stop my car and make a quick sketch or take a photo of what I see. It could be a great light creating a cool image, or an emotion on a face. I respond to the movement, feelings, and emotion of images that I see. I believe that is the true spirit of what I paint.”

The Art of the Entrepreneur …

Along with her husband Dany and a team of talented professionals, The McCourts created, designed, & built a retail coffee enterprise, Surf City Coffee Co., Inc.®. With four coffee stores and local roasting facility, they served up retail & wholesale coffee nationwide. Suzanne’s creative skills were integral in the design of merchandise and marketing materials; a standout coffee bag design won Surf City an ADDY Award of Silicon Valley for design. Suzanne’s forte: putting together collaborative teams of creative people.

“ The 4 stores creation of Surf City Coffee Co. was one of the most enthralling & collaborative artistic creations in which I have been involved. Conception, designing, planning, creating, and building from the ground up, while putting artistic passions to work in the world of business was a blast! ” SUZANNE YOST MCCOURT

RESUME

JUST THE FACTS

Art.Com & Image Conscious - Worldwide Publishing Representation L Ross Gallery Invitational Elvis Shows - Memphis, TN

• Annual Invitational Elvis Show by Linda Ross; her son’s own Elvis’ Sun Studios AT&T Pebble Beach Golf ProAm, Pebble Beach, CA - Hogan Series, Hogan Fairway One Library Acrylic Artist Magazine - F+W Publications, Feature Artist The Blues Music Awards & Blues FDN, Memphis, TN - Invitational Artist INCITE 3: The Art of Storytelling, North Light Books The Artist’s Magazine, Annual Art Competition – Experimental, Finalist Awards (2) Art Solutions, Inc., Jacksonville, FL - Representation The Stellers Gallery, Ponte Vedra, FL Avondale Artworks, Jacksonville, FL st PGA TOUR Headquarters - TPC Sawgrass Country Club, FL, Featured VIP Artist,1 Tee of N. FL World Golf Hall of Fame – St. Augustine, FL Invitation by World Golf FDN, CEO Steve Mona Southwest Art Magazine, Featured Finalist from The Artist’s Magazine th The Artist’s Magazine, 29 Annual Art Competition-Experimental Finalist Award Phillips Gallery & Gallery i, Representation

2018 2017, 2016

• Gallery i Fine Art, Solo Show - Monterey, CA

• Phillips Gallery, Solo Shows - Carmel, CA

2016 2016 2016 2015 2017, 2014, 2012 2014, 2013 2014, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2012 2011- 2006 2008 2008, 2006

25

th

• “Memoirs of The Crosby Clambake”- Personal art journey as daughter of top USA amateur golfer Dick Yost Anniversary AT&T Pebble Beach Golf ProAm

2010

• Official artist & first female artist since Pebble Beach origination of Crosby, 1947

• Cover Stories: Celebrating Tournament Cover Art

• All AT&T & Crosby program cover/poster artists since 1947

• Images Gallery of The Lodge at Pebble Beach

2010

• Pebble Beach Fairway One House exhibition Wharf To Wharf, Santa Cruz, CA - Invitational artist Concours de Elegance, Carmel, CA - Multi gallery invitation, solo artist for Classic Car show Kreiss Collection, Montecito, CA - Solo Show th Int’l Society of Acrylic Painters (ISAP) 10 Annual Signature Member, Int’l designation awarded The Gottlieb Gallery, Portland, OR - Solo Show Kuumbwa Jazz Center , Santa Cruz, CA - Solo Show Cabrillo College Gallery - Invitational Show

2010 2010 2010 2008 2007 2007 2005 2007 2008, 2006 Morgan Stanley, Santa Cruz, CA - Invitational Show Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA

2006 2004

• Awards of Merit (2), Triton Museum of Art: George Rivera: Director, former Curator, Juror Works: “ Antique Landscape” & “Saxy Guy” Hewlett-Packard®, Palo Alto, CA - Solo shows (3) for “CoolTownUSA “auto-docent” technology 2005, 2003, 2001

• Artist interview and images used to develop/feature HP devices and product-wide digital imaging SOLA Stars Competition, Palo Alto, CA - Star Award 2005

• Stanford Cantor Museum, Bernard Barryte – Juror/Curator Open Studio Tours, Santa Cruz, CA - Annual Juried Event 2011-17,05,04,00,02,95,93 Santa Cruz Art League, Santa Cruz, CA - Winners Circle & Members Shows 2003, 2002 The Academy of Friends, San Francisco, CA - Painting LOOK models posed at Oscar event 2004 Delphine Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA 2003 Int. Designer Showcase-Flanders Estate, Carmel, CA 1994 C.L. McRae Interior Design, San Francisco, CA 1993-1995

PUBLICATIONS

Acrylic Artist Magazine, featured story of the artist spanning her career INCITE 3: The Art of Storytelling, North Light Books. “The Hawk” rd th th The Artist’s Magazine - 33 ,30 , 29 Annual Art Competitions

• Experimental, Finalist Awards (7) AcrylicWORKS - Featured Artist in new publication by North Light Books Southwest Art Magazine - Featured as finalist in The Artist’s Mag completion Cover Stories: Celebrating Tournament Program Cover Art

• AT&T & Crosby program cover/poster featured artists since 1947

• 2010 AT&T Anniversary official artist & poster Carmel Magazine

2016 2015 2017, 2014, 2012, 2006

2014 2013 2010

• February Issue. Feature Article: Artist family memoirs of Crosby Clambake

• Cover: The Gallery Guide

• Feature Article: Holiday Issue The Monterey Herald - Feature Article in GO!

• Featured for Phillips Gallery show based on Memoirs of Crosby/AT&T th th The Monterey County Weekly - Jan. 28, 2008 & Sept. 14 -20 2007 Santa Cruz Sentinel - Featured in 2 page article & photos CAP + Winn Devon Encore Art Group - Worldwide Publishing Representation International Artist Magazine Aug / Sept Issue #20

• Art Prize Challenge Juried Competition, 1500 entries / 15 Countries

• Honorable Mention - Guitar Man Series: “ Blues Guitar ” C2F, Inc. - International Importer/Exporter-Manufacturer Art Supplies General Catalogue Cover, Christmas Catalogue Cover

Suzanne Yost McCourt
Aptos. California
831.246.3004
paint4me@gmail.com
www.suzannemccourt.com

THE ARTIST

What I love about Art + Design …

“Globs of paint, brushstrokes of color, the surprise of texture, and passion of creativity.

I am the painterly storyteller using mixed media to embellish the story and emotion of the artwork.

In my design of art, 1 + 1 does not equal 2, art equals an infinite creative process beyond the sum of parts.

Paintings are cinematic, engaging the viewer to participate in my movie, missing details, lost and found edges, gestures of figures, color and texture draw the eye into my work, creating surprise, as paint wraps around the canvas profile.

I leave only what is necessary from previous layers of texture, abstract form, shape, color, and line, leaving the viewer to fill in their own version of the story.

Tapping into my humor & avid curiosity, I grab whatever media is within my reach, building layers of mixed media, charcoal, photos, music, handmade papers, I scratch & scribble my way across the canvas.

Artistic blocks are part of the process, a nagging little voice echoes inside, telling me, “Do NOT quit your day job!”

I am and artist, this is my day job, I turn down the volume and press on!

Now I trust who I am, and I know what I was meant to do with my life, the paint starts to fly, onto skin, clothing, floors, walls, and even onto the ceiling, everything is a palette, paint, and canvas when my art is happening!”

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