"Georgica Series IX."

Sag Harbor - Continuing with our artist profiles of artists both living and working in the Hamptons, our next artist is Linda Capello, who lives in Sag Harbor.

Artist Linda Capello is a master of figure drawing. A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she worked in the New York City fashion industry for over 20 years. She is listed in Who's Who of American Women, and received the Miriam Russo Enders Award: For Works on Paper, from the National Association of Woman Artists (May 2009), for her red conte drawing, "So Inclined."

Capello states "All I have ever wanted to do was draw, and all I have ever wanted to draw were people. I am a classically trained anatomist, but instead of the rigid, mechanical representation of muscle, bone and flesh, I look for the subtlety of the line; the strength and sensuality of the thick, thin and lost line. The curve of the neck and arch of the spine speak volumes."

She teaches extensively on the East End at Guild Hall, the Veterans Hall in Southampton, The Art Barge, the Southampton Cultural Center and is a member of Southampton Artists and the Artists Alliance of East Hampton.

When did you start making art and what medium(s) do you consider to be your roots in art?

Linda Capello: I can't remember ever not drawing, and I was always drawing people. My mediums are charcoal, conte, pastel and watercolor. I like painting in oils but I'm not a great colorist. I prefer black and white and sepia. My training was very specific to fashion, but back then, (the 1960s), we were taught to draw above everything else (this was when most art schools considered drawing a dead art). We had intensive anatomy classes (you could get extra credit for attending autoposies) and the history of art and culture as represented by the fashions of the times.

"Red Male."

What is it about the Hamptons that brought you here and enticed you to stay, work, and pursue your art here as opposed to some place else?

LC: My husband and I bought a house in Sag Harbor in the late 1980s after renting a few years. We had friends out here. I had been working as a fashion illustrator and the industry was changing and illustrations weren't popular anymore so we moved to Sag Harbor.

How do you support yourself as an artist?

LC: I'm currently not with a gallery, so I sell from my studio and website. I teach life drawing and portfolio prep classes through the high schools and at the Southampton Cultural Center and the Barge in Amagansett.

Why live and work in the Hamptons as opposed to elsewhere?

LC: It just worked out that way. I'm close enough to Manhattan to continue showing there.

"Georgica Series IV."

What local environmental or historical aspects of the Hamptons do you relate to that may be reflected in your medium?

LC: As I am a figurative artist, my work really doesn't reflect the Hamptons light, which is extraordinary, or the vistas. I do however, work out of a studio in Georgica with a 360 degree view of the ocean and pond absolutely spectacular! I get to draw my models at the beach.

What artists do you feel have influenced you and your work?

LC: The oldies of course: Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Pontormo and later artists like Boucher, Kollwitz and most of all, Sargent. Also I look to the great anatomists like Haile and Bridgeman for teaching inspiration.

What advice would you give an emerging artist?

LC: Follow your passion, learn from whoever you can and then make the work a reflection of yourself. Great art is personal vision, communicated very well. It's what I say to my High School students.

What gives you an edge (if any)?

LC: Technique is very important, but if you simply reproduce what you've been taught without investing yourself, you'll always just be a student. My edge is the very disciplined training I had - fashion was (and is) an incredibly competitive business and if you didn't stand out, you didn't make it.

Artist Linda Capello. (Billy Rayner)

What are you working on now, and are you involved in any upcoming shows or exhibitions?

LC: I'm currently in a show at the Manhasset Library until the end of January.

To see more of Capello's work go to at www.lindacapello.com.