Day 42/100: Lucila Zentner
Encouraging an Artist Who Makes Life Better with Her Diverse Passions
When I first encountered Australian painter, Lucila Zenter, on Instagram (a recent find — thank you mysterious Instagram Algorithm divinities), I was utterly charmed by the colors, patterns, and content of her paintings. And then I found out more about her story and was even more enamored!
Lucila has always loved painting, but she says that she deliberately laid down her brush in order to pursue her academic studies. She is a practicing medical doctor who trained as a nuclear medical specialist and radiologist — the branch of medicine dedicated to interpreting diagnostic images, such as x-rays.
For several decades, she managed a practice in partnership with her husband (who is also a radiologist/nuclear medicine specialist) while juggling the demands of family life with her children, and squeezing her passion for painting into stolen moments. About 7 years ago, she decided to drop-down to part-time hours so she could dedicate more time to her painting.
Through the years, Zucila and her family have lived on a farm in Sulky, Victoria; a home in the Murray River district (border of Victoria and New South Wales); and now a home with a sprawling garden closer to Sydney. In each location, it was always important for Lucila to have dedicated studio space. Her family knows that painting is part of what makes her feel whole and alive.
So, when she transitioned to part-time clinical medical responsibilities, she found it hard to think of her art practice as a job — it was simply too much fun to count as work. But she now sees that the balance of her creative work with the challenges and demands of the other areas of her life is actually vital for her well-being. Her multiple passions influence and sustain one another.
Her analytical eye that is so important when she’s reading diagnostic films is an ally as she reviews and assesses her own paintings. And she considers her paintings to be acts of creative problem-solving — how to best capture a moment or emotion in paint requires her to constantly be puzzling out the best brushstroke or color to convey her message.
Perhaps it’s her clinical practice, where she is always exposed to the fragility and mortality of the human body, that makes Lucila so aware of time — the gift of moments of joy and the fleetingness of those experiences. Her paintings are a way for her to hold onto those moments longer, handing them on to others, and creating tangible legacies for her children.
She has an ancient poet’s soul paired with a child-like sense of wonder. Consider these words penned in 2015 that are highlighted on her website:
"In the way one talks to a friend and takes pleasure in re-living a story;
I paint to prolong a moment.
Time is a Thief, and painting is my defense.
In the way one listens to sad music to cry;
I paint in protestation.
In the way one talks to a friend to make sense of something;
I paint to understand a subject.
In the way one enjoys life and beauty simply and without reference to anyone else,
I paint for the sheer love"
For Lucila, inspiration is a state of being, what she calls “part of the disquiet of being alive.” As a creative idea is taking form in her mind, she says that it feels like “the yearning of love before its resolution into calm contentment.” That yearning animates her still lifes with a sense of emotional movement that reaches out toward us as viewers of her work.
In her recent Poppies collection (which I am TOTALLY SMITTEN by), she uses bright colors and lively, intentional brushwork to capture the beauty of blossoms that are destined to fade. And yet, in the moment she captures them, they represent homey contentment and the triumph of beauty over brokenness. Her paintings beckon us to notice and memorialize these types of evanescent moments that surround all of us.
How You Can Be an Encouragement
Please check out Lucila’s work on Instagram, follow her, and send her some encouragement today by commenting on one of her posts or sending her a direct message.
Instagram: @lucilazentner
Website: www.lucilazentnerart.com