by Erin Flynn Jay

Long-time Chestnut Hill resident Susan Rodriguez has a passion for the human figure. As an artist, teacher and writer, she justifies this lifelong affinity. “The human figure is the moon and stars of the universe we call art. It’s been often said by master artists: If you can draw the figure, you can draw anything. Why is this? The answer is in a time -honored tradition: to understand the figure is to understand the very form that identifies us all as human.

“Think about Michelangelo and Rodin, whose art captures the essence of emotion through their creation of the male and female body unadorned. Now that’s the gold standard. Yet you can speak visual volumes with a gestured mark on a page. Consider the simplicity of the lines in Japanese prints. They create intimate little worlds. (She pauses and laughs.) Do I sound too much like a teacher?”

If she sounds like a teacher, it would certainly be justified. As the saying goes, once a teacher, always a teacher ... and Rodriguez has been teaching at so many levels for so many years, it’s second nature to her. Rodriguez began her educator’s journey at the Philadelphia School District in the Latino community “with adorable Puerto Rican children.” As it happened, she was soon transferred to the school district’s Program for Visually Impaired and Blind Students … “yes, as a visual art teacher, with no special training in this area.” It was unexpected, yet it turned out to become one of the most transformative experiences of her life.

Have you ever watched a blind child paint? “Contrary to common belief, this is enthusiastically achieved! I was so inspired by my students that my first book, ‘The Special Artist’s Handbook,’ was the result,” she said. It was around this time that Rodriguez was invited to teach at Temple University about art and special education. Another teaching offer followed from what is now called the University of the Arts.

Rodriguez continued the blind children (30 years) while also teaching as an adjunct professor at UArts. “Fortune favored me because I love teaching (obviously) and was lucky enough to be widely acknowledged for my work. Much of my teaching methods, conducted in the art classroom, became popular art books,” she noted.  

Does Susan have one favorite book? She said that to select one would be like asking a mother, “Who is your favorite child”? Rodriguez believes you must genuinely love people of all ages to teach effectively. “Models, after all, are not furniture. The interaction created in the studio between artist/student and model is an authentic living, breathing way to learn. There’s really nothing like it.” Rodriguez recentlyhadwhattheycallinZen a “Satori” moment, which translates as a moment of enlightenment or “kick in the eye.”

Having lived in Chestnut Hill for decades, it dawned on her that now would be a perfect time to give back to the community in the best way she can through teaching studio art, specifically figure drawing. As for the best place to offer classes — Allens Lane Art Center, of course! “My private studio, which is filled with kimonos, sarees, sarongs to offset the models, is a stone’s throw from Allens Lane. It’s also a part of our family history in this delightful, art-friendly neighborhood where our own two children, now adults, were raised. I’m up for sharing my lifelong love affair with art with our community. All skill levels welcome.

Rodriguez is the third generation of artists in an art-loving family; it’s her heritage and in her DNA. “Every Sunday when growing up, my grandfather, Aunt Elaine and the young Suzy went to our house of worship, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in pop’s turquoise Chevy. Grandpop (pop) used to keep a studio in the back, his upholstery shop. I would spend my pre-school years there. Best education ever … it made kindergarten pretty boring by comparison.”

But when you grow up with art, there may be surprises, such as the night her very talented but starving artist aunt Elaine decided to take Rodriguez with her to her favorite sketch club. “She dropped me off at the sculpture studio with a pencil and blank paper, and off she went ... It was in that sculpture studio that I drew my first nude model at the totally inappropriate age of 9. Please do not try this with any nine-year-old. it is developmentally prohibitive, but it may have given me a running start, and my interest in life drawing has evolved ever since. Go figure!”

Rodriguez’ classes, “Drawing the Figure from Life,” at Allens Lane Art Center will run Thursdays, March 12 to April 2, 6:30- 9 p.m.

For more information: www.mtairylearningtree.org or 215-843-6333. Erin Jay Flynn is a local freelance writer. Her Twitter handle is @ErinFJay