By Keith Imper, Mercer Island
The next artist in line to be featured at the Suzanne Zahr Gallery through the months of October and November is local painter Lucia Neagu (Nay-a-Goo). Ms. Neagu, a Mercer Islander, makes her residence in one of the condos behind New Seasons, which she states, “is convenient for a person my age.” However, the one problem with that statement is the 82 years-young artist hailing from Romania acts more like a 22-year-old as she bursts up her stairs with verve and vigor, making me think twice about my own health.
Ms. Neagu invites me into her home, which also acts as her studio, and I’m immediately greeted with a sea of art that she has prolifically created within the last year. No sooner then I could close my jaw from sheer disbelief, Neagu launches into her life story but quickly stops, shifts gears, and asks if I would be willing to share a little about myself. She says to me, in her Romanian accent “If we are to speak and understand each other, I would like to know a little about you and your background.” How could I say no to that? After a brief share of my artistic past we moved on to speak about art and her need to create.
