My thought is that I am an entertainer at heart. Rather than choosing the performing arts to entertain, I've chosen the visual arts. Without a doubt, my genre is drama. Even though my choice of subject matter is diverse, consistently my drawings and paintings will show conflicting forces between light and dark.

I am the director, my subject the actor and my paper the stage. My desire is to delight the eye by giving the viewer a lot to look at, rich in detail, rich in color and rich in expression. Without using words, without music and without being disturbed by movement, my actor commands attention. When the spotlight illuminates the actor, something in my painting will say, "Notice me. See how pretty the light says I am".

I can't help but have an impassioned experience with each painting or drawing that I do because I love both my craft and my subject. I love being lost in the process, engaged in an affair that occupies me fully. My work and my pleasure is to share that love with you.

Linda Lucas Hardy has had a lifetime of experience in art. Accomplished in several media her preference for the last fifteen years however has been colored pencil.

Linda always felt she would one day become a professional artist, but her busy schedule as a wife and mother kept her from pursuing that dream for many years. Living in a small town and having limited resources meant that a traditional art education was out of the question so she made up for it by taking advantage of what was available in her area. In 1985, when her youngest, twins, started school, she signed up for an oil painting course at a local community college. That marked the beginning of an eight-year comprehensive art education. Her love for art rekindled, she signed up for every art class offered and took many, more than once. It wasn't until she was introduced to colored pencils in 1990 that Linda felt she'd connected with the medium she was "meant for". Relying on her lengthy background in drawing, she developed and fine-tuned her own techniques of blending colored pencil to an almost paint-like quality.

The depth and breadth of her work as well as the level of color saturation and power that she has achieved with colored pencil gives one a new appreciation of how a medium can be exploited by a dedicated master. Renowned for her glorious paintings of fruit wrapped in diaphanous clear plastic, Linda is currently enjoying considerable attention for her remarkable skill. Not only has her work has been shown in more than 30 national and international exhibitions she has received an equal number of awards and honors.

In 2008 Linda was named as one of the10 Artists to watch by Southwest Art Magazine.  Her articles and artwork have appeared in The "Artist's", "International Artist", The American Artist "DRAWING", "Southwest Art", "American Art Collector" and Northlight Magazines as well as International Artists Publishing, Inc.

In 2007 she won the CIPPY Award and the EXXPY Award - the  two highest awards given by the Colored Pencil Society of America.  Linda has the distinction of being the only colored pencil artist to have won both awards. She is also the only colored pencil artist to have won the International Artists Magazines Grand Prize Award which she received in 2005."

She is an Associate member of the International Guild of Realism, a five-year merit award recipient in the Colored Pencil Society of America, President of CPSA 215, the Dallas/Ft Worth District Chapter of the Colored Pencil Society of America and enjoys membership in the Mt. Pleasant Texas Art Society.

Linda currently lives in Omaha, TX with her husband of 36 years and Yorkshire Terrier's, Belle and Bazil. They have seven grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Linda has been teaching classes and workshops since 2000.

If you would be interested in purchasing her work, she is represented by Southwest Gallery 4500 SIGMA at Welch - Dallas, Texas 75244 - 972.960.8935- 800.272.9910 and Wally Workman Gallery, 1202 W. 6th Street, Austin, TX 78703 -  512.472.7428. For a complete list of Publications and Awards click HERE.

Education:

Texarkana Jr. College
ETSU Texarkana
Northeast Texas Community College


Studied with:

Dr. Ollie Theisen, Jo Taylor, Kim Wommack, Beth Wommack, Otis Lumpkin.

Attended workshops given by:
John Pototschnick   Barbara Krans Jenkins   Lee Hammond   Pat Averill, CPSA   Maggie Toole, CPSA  Janie Gildow, CPSA   Kristy Kutch, CPSA   Thomas Thayer Jr, CPSA   Jeffrey Smart Baisden, CPSA   Priscilla Humay, CPSA   Carrie Ballantyne   Betsy Holster, CPSA   E.Michael Burrows, CPSA   Melissa Miller Nece, CPSA  Michael Mentler, SOFA  Sherrie McGraw and Elizabeth Pruitt

Privileged to observe one day demos given by :

Margaret Kessler   Jo Anna Arnett   Marian Hirsch   Andrew Wages   Christy Kidwell, ACA   Bruce Peil  Don Andrews, AWS   Bob Rohm   Cecy Turner ~ NWS, SWS   Lucille Carter, PSA   Xiang Zhang   Priscilla Krejci, AWS   Jo Williams, SWS   Perrin Sparks   Richard Stephens   Sue Kemp   Jerral Derryberry   Connie Erickson  Kaye Franklin ~ OPA, PSA   and  Kay Polk

Teaching:

• Ongoing--Every Tuesday  from 10am until 1pm at the Hobby Lobby on 15th and Alma in Plano,Tx 
• If you would like to join my class or if you belong to an art group in the Dallas/Ft Worth and would like to have me do a demonstration, contact me HERE