If you’ve not been by Sound Bites Eatery during the month of March, you’re missing quite a bit! Not only can you enjoy some of the freshest food in the city, like their Boppin’ Berry Salad or their G.O.A.T. Avocado Toast, you can take in the art of Lucy Spence, and maybe even take a piece of her art home with you!
Lucy Spence says she “grew up around art and artists, forging early experiences using clay and paint. My mother was a potter who involved her children in the local art scene in Arizona. My father supplied us with drawing paper, pencils, and encouragement.” After starting her family, as well as earning an M.Ed. in Education as a Ph.D., Spence moved from Arizona to SC and taught at USC’s College of Education.
Both an oil painter and a watercolorist, Spence says she strives for “a loose style, using both dry and wet paper,” but “wanting to learn more, I enrolled in drawing and painting courses at USC’s School of Visual Art and Design,” because she “wanted to learn oil painting to recreate a memory of flower fields from my childhood. My oils are impressionistic, using bold, quick strokes.”
In 2025, Spence retired from her position at the College of Education in order to practice art full time. “My Jasper show includes floral still life in watercolor and flower landscapes in oil,” she says. “These were influenced by shared interests with my brilliant husband, John.”
Both Lucy and John practice ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, and they are building a Japanese garden on their property near the Riverbanks Zoo. “John and I grew up in the same neighborhood in Phoenix and his Japanese mother worked as a florist at the flower gardens that I remember so well. We have travelled to Japan many times and will return soon. John and I are planning to take a class in sumi-e painting while in Japan and I hope to gain inspiration for my art during a pilgrimage on the Chichibu temple route.”
Spence has recently added abstract elements to her paintings. “I have just finished a large format piece on Yupo with oil and am working on a smaller abstract piece on canvas. I experiment with a variety of tools and methods including sumi-e brushes and techniques. I also use hard-edged tools to drag my paints. My work is inspired by experiences that leave an indelible imprint on my mind and body. Painting allows my visual and tactile senses to come together in my body’s movements. Standing at an easel or table, my memories and emotions combine with my tools, paint, and surfaces,” she explains. “This makes complete sense to me, having studied how our brain and body systems continually communicate and interact with our environment.”
Spence’s solo exhibition via The Jasper Project at Sound Bites is her first solo show, demonstrating a unique and innovative take on fairly traditional subject matter. “I hope to soon have my new project appear on my website, lucykspence.com,” she says.
Spence’s work will be on display at Sound Bites Eatery at 1425 Sumter Street through the end of March. Stop by, grab a delicious Sammy or salad, and pick out your favorite piece of Lucy Spence art. Just scan the QR codes and the work is yours!