The colorful canyons, rivers and desert landscapes that Moab artist Serena Supplee is most known for painting are taking off from the Southwest and traveling 8,000 miles across the world for an international broadcast.
Supplee’s work is inspired by the Grand Canyon and the wider Colorado Plateau. Her landscape paintings of southeastern Utah and northern Arizona have been shared for decades in part through the sale of her prints, greeting cards and calendars. In November, Supplee’s business reputation as an artist may be further enhanced when a video about her work is released online.
“Colour in Your Life” is a TV show that films and interviews artists as they work, and the crew came to Moab on Aug. 7 to feature Supplee in a new segment. The episodes are broadcast internationally on both commercial and PBS TV stations in Australia and are shared worldwide on YouTube.
“Colour in Your Life” Founder and CEO Graeme Stevenson, based in Australia, said he realized the potential of TV marketing when his own artwork sold after being featured on a TV program called “Fine Art Showcase.”
Stevenson decided to study multimedia and TV broadcast to help artists market their work. He founded the “Colour in Your Life” website in 2010, and since then, 235 artists from six countries have been featured in shows and added to its digital library. The shows have received more than 10 million views worldwide.
“I realized what TV could do for an artist,” Stevenson said.
Supplee, 60, with long, silver-colored hair and turquoise-framed eyeglasses, welcomed Graeme and videographer Sophia Stacey to her home studio on Aug. 7, where they spent several hours filming for the show.
“We’re not just making a TV show — we’re making a documentary. We’re telling the story of the artist’s life,” Stevenson said. “What that does, in turn, it gives them a marketing tool. They can use the documentary themselves to give to galleries, investors, clients … We step into her studio, and give people access to see her ability and creativity which generally people never see.”
During the interview, the Australians learned about Supplee’s decade-long career as a river guide at Grand Canyon National Park. The national park has a number of Supplee’s paintings in its permanent collection, and her cards, calendars and prints are sold in the Grand Canyon Association Bookstore at the South Rim.
Her art has gained attention at Arches and Canyonlands national parks. The National Park Service and Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks crowned Supplee “Queen of Canyonlands” at their 2014 art contest exhibit honoring Canyonlands’ 50th anniversary as a national park. A Canyonlands 50th commemorative poster features Supplee’s painting titled “Joining Journey.”
During some of the filming at her studio, Supplee sat in front of a drawing table with jars full of paintbrushes. Attached to the walls above her were detailed sketches of various landscapes from around the region. Taped to the bottom of each black and white drawing was a small color photo of the completed work that shows the progression from sketch to painting — the creative process that is a part of what Stevenson seeks to convey to TV viewers.
Supplee makes drawings from various outdoor vantage points throughout the Colorado Plateau and later paints the scenes back in her studio.
“I work from my drawings, not photographs,” Supplee said. “Then it gets in your head.”
Stevenson and his staff approached five Utah artists to spotlight this year for the “Colour in Your Life” series. Jo Frederiks, an artist featured on the show, now works with Stevenson, and she said she discovered Supplee while researching regional artists.
“I was struck by how bold, dynamic and unique Serena’s work is,” Frederiks said. “Her oils in particular, the colors are so vibrant.”
The day before they met with Supplee, Stevenson and Stacey were in Vernal filming artist Deena Millecam.
Millecam paints mostly with watercolors and is currently showing her work at a St. George gallery. She also paints murals for her community. Although she’s been mentioned in a national arts magazine, and was highlighted on Fine Arts Studio online — where Stevenson discovered her — she expects the “Colour in Your Life” broadcast to give her even greater exposure. She said she is drawn to the legacy the series will create of her work as something she could leave for her seven children.
“It was a delightful experience for me,” Millecam said. “I was a little nervous at first, but it was so much fun. He asked questions as I painted.”
Supplee said she was a little nervous, too, as she talked about her life as an artist and her experiences as a river guide in Utah and Arizona. She retired from guiding river trips professionally in 1989 to focus on her artwork fulltime.
She said she decided to be part of Stevenson’s series because “I felt it would be a great way to document what I’m doing. I’ve never marketed. I’ve just created relationships.”
Three additional Utah artists to be added to the show this year are Geoffrey Blackburn, of Salt Lake City; Bryan Mark Taylor, of Alpine; and Andrew Smith, of Lehi.
“‘Colour in Your Life’ gets about 20,000 views each day on the YouTube channel,” Stevenson said.
Supplee’s artwork is sold at several Moab businesses.
Tumbleweed shop owner Amanda Domenick grew up in Moab and said she is familiar with seeing Supplee’s work.
“I’ve always loved it,” she said. “People often recognize her work when they see it. It’s such a distinct style. Other times, people come in knowing nothing about her. They see it and fall in love with it.”
For more information about the show visit “Colour in Your Life” at www.colourinyourlife.com.au.
Australian ‘Colour in Your Life’ program expands business marketing for artists
“We’re not just making a TV show — we’re making a documentary. We’re telling the story of the artist’s life. What that does, in turn, it gives them a marketing tool.”
