03.05.23 01:51 PM

Corean painter Soo Cha Griffith lives in Knoxville, but her artist's spirit lives in the picturesque villages and gardens of Italy and France. Griffith paints and sketches a wide variety of subjects, but her favorites are old-world towns, streest, coastal areas, open meadows, flower gardens and people.Her favorite place to paint, she said, is around Lake Como in northern Italy, Griffith said.

Her modern impressionist style makes use of vibrant colors of sunflowers, poppies or the more subtle shades of ballet dancers or sailboats at sunset, with an emphasis on subjects that evoke feelings of harmony and serenity. She works mainly in oils and acrylics on canvas. With encouragement from collectors, Griffith now also offers for sale some of the pen-and-ink sketches or studies she has made in preparation for major oil and acrylic paintings. A few of her most popular paintings are available in limited edition Giclee prints.Griffith was a college student, studying art at Auburn University, when she met her husband, Karns native John Baxter Griffith, an officer in the U.S. Army.

When they were transferred to New Mexico, she continued her studies there and graduated from New Mexico State University with a bachelor of arts degree. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Griffiths were stationed in the Netherlands.She studied at the Pattien Art Academy and traveled widely throughout France and Italy, often painting on location. In 2000, Soo Cha Griffith returned to France to paint for six months. She continues to travel to Europe about once a year.Griffith is a former member of the Korea National Committee of The International Fine Arts Association and takes much of her inspiration from ancient Asian art forms, but prefers to paint European subjects in impressionist style.. A prolific painter, Griffith was represented by the Liz-Beth Gallery in Bearden and West Knoxville for more than eight years. She recently branched out on her own and opened Gallery Provence and the Soo Cha Art Studio in The Orangery at 5412 Kingston Pike. She is also the resident artist at Tea at the Gallery in Western Plaza, 4501 Kingston Pike. Griffith said she works every day, but prefers to paint in the mornings at her studio inside The Orangery, where a skylight has been installed to maximize the natural light.Griffith's paintings have received multiple awards and are included in many private, corporate and gallery collections.