What is it that Agnes Neusch seeks to communicate through her art? Is it simply the inner world that she expresses through color, or is there something more that she is trying to say? Through her landscapes, Neusch paints scenes that touch her heart and hopefully the hearts of those who view her work. Her paintings have an emotional quality that goes beyond the physical world and speaks to something deeper within us.

Neusch was born in Korea and came to the United States with her family when she was one year old. Her father was in the military, and she and her mother, father, and three sisters moved around until settling in Austin, Texas, when she was seven.

Neusch’s mother had been an orphan in Korea, never went to school, and had Neusch before she was married, when it was unheard of for an unwed woman to raise biracial children. Despite this, she was determined to provide a home and education for her children.

Recently, Neusch discovered that her mother was born in what is now North Korea. She had never heard from anyone in her family but is listed in her mother’s Korean birth registry. The artist has wondered if she will ever get to see her mother’s homeland or meet her extended family.

The artist loved to draw as a young girl, as it was only limited to her imagination. She and her sisters would spend hours drawing on a chalkboard, creating dresses and other things they wanted. In school, Neusch’s talent for drawing became her claim to fame.

Young Neusch attended the Saturday morning art project at the University of Texas in high school, which further ingrained her love for art and creating. She continued to study painting and became an art major in college, spending one semester abroad in Holland at the Academic Minerva. As a student, Neusch won a Ford Foundation Grant in a portfolio competition, and she graduated with honors.

After college, Neusch continued her winning streak, including First Place and HIghest In Sales in the Marble Falls Plein Air Event and Second at the Burnet Bluebonnet Plein Air Event. She is also an active member and exhibitor at the Highland Art Guild and a member of the Oil Painters of America. She has her work displayed in various venues and shops throughout Central Texas.

Besides her art, Neusch’s mother’s difficult childhood as an orphan led the artist to devote much of her life to fostering and adopting children. Through her ministry’s efforts, the number of local foster families has more than tripled, and Neusch has welcomed two foster children, in addition to her four biological children, into her own family. She’s also the proud grandma of eight grandchildren.

Now working as a full-time artist, Neusch paints from her studio in Marble Falls, Texas. As she undergoes radiation for breast cancer while simultaneously having her house under construction, she is a force with which to be reckoned. She is encouraged and surrounded by loved ones and is happily the premiere cook for family gatherings.

Neusch now focuses primarily on landscapes but loves to paint anything in which she finds beauty. Often, the reasons she chooses a particular landscape are because of the color adjacencies, patterns, mood, or because she wants to try out a new technique.

The creative process for the artist usually starts with a sketch, followed by studies to capture the desired image. She often works small but says that she loves painting large paintings as well – she cites an instance where a collector asked her to do a larger piece and loved the experience.

As she continues to grow creatively and learn new techniques, Neusch has allowed more personal subject matter to become part of her work. Although her paintings are often representational, Neusch’s recently self-taught skills have given her a newfound visual vocabulary, allowing her to create with an expressionistic flair.

Another recent development in the artist’s work has been using color for her emotive purposes rather than copying what is already there. Combining this play with color and her newly discovered expressive side, Neusch’s art is unique in that her life experiences inform it; every painting she creates is the outcome of this deeply personal and meaningful practice.

A notion that’s stuck with Neusch is that artists are already living in Heaven as they gaze at the beauty of God while they work. This ability to reflect on the wonders of nature through art is what Neusch feels elevates humanity from other living things. She believes that art lets us express our souls, helps us understand one another, and adds a sense of living a noble adventure to one’s life.

With her paintings, Neusch hopes to teach others to focus on the wonders around them. Using her expressive and colorful paintings as the catalyst, she aims to lift the viewer from their everyday troubles and give them a newfound perspective to see life’s true beauty.

To view more of Agnes Neusch’s artwork, visit https://www.agnesneusch.com/