From ace reporter to noted artist: Will Shuck’s paintings on view at Easy Reader

Three local artists plus…

…a former Easy Reader news editor who now wields a paintbrush

by Bondo Wyszpolski

In the late 1990s, Will Shuck covered the Manhattan Beach beat for Easy Reader, and his cubicle was next to mine. We became pals as well as colleagues and so, one day, when the Boss was otherwise occupied, we jumped ship, as it were, and headed out to catch an early screening of “Titanic” on opening day. That’s a quarter of a century ago and not too long afterwards Shuck went on to successful careers elsewhere, including Northern California. But we’ve stayed in touch and I’ve been astonished and pleased to watch him develop his talent as a visual artist.

With a nudge from another former colleague of ours, Elka Worner, Shuck was persuaded to submit work to his former place of employment in the hope that some of his art could be shown locally, and in fact this Friday a few of his paintings, along with art by Richard Stephens and Alison Corteen, plus photography by Don Adkins, are going on view in this paper’s downtown Hermosa Beach office. The reception takes place from 5 to 8 p.m., although Shuck himself cannot attend. The work will be up through Jan. 5 and can be viewed during office hours.

Art by former Easy Reader reporter Will Shuck

Will Shuck: “I’m actually quite experienced at this. That’s wildly overstating it, but I have twice hoisted a tent at a local art fair. And three times I’ve given paintings for auction as part of a museum fund-raiser.”

ER: Tell us about your connection to the newspaper? What was the best thing you took away from here?

Shuck: “I owe everything to the Easy Reader. I went on to a lot of career good fortune, but I was dead in the water when Kevin first hired me in the ‘90s. And I want to think I repaid him by doing a good job covering Manhattan Beach. Then he repaid me again (that’s double repaying) by introducing me to my wife, who worked in ad sales at the ER and who, among other things, gave me two beautiful children.”

ER: Let’s see, you then went to the Press-Telegram in Long Beach and then up to Sacramento to work for a government official?

Shuck: “Yes, after a few years of covering politics in Sacramento, I took a job as a press secretary and became a chief of staff. And after some years at the Legislature, Governor Brown appointed me to an executive job at the Department of Transportation.”

ER: I don’t remember you doing art back when we were colleagues. Perhaps you did some but were too shy to share it with me, knowing how fierce of an art critic I was?

Shuck: “I was and still am intimidated by your erudition, so I might have hid it if I had been painting, which I wasn’t.”

ER: So let’s try and describe your work. Some of it’s cartoonish in nature, or do you see it differently? I say this as one who likes the simplicity and allure of these colorful works, sketch-like in a way but often well composed.

Shuck: “Cartoonish is right. In some cases, entirely cartoonish. I think what makes some of my works enjoyable is that there’s a part of them that reaches beyond cartoonishness to another kind of representation only to be drawn back by an overtly cartoonish element. It’s a fun blend.”

Will Shuck. Photo courtesy of the artist

Shuck: “For about a year, I sat in the backyard and painted just about anything I could see. Flowers. Pots. Fences. Trees. Houses. And after a while I noticed that my striped gray tomcat was always there, monitoring. And I knew I couldn’t portray him in any photorealistic way, so I stylized him. Duck is a complete hallucination and I think giraffes make you happy.”

ER: Are you making political or social statements with your art? That is, are there topics that inspire you… or do you go with whatever motivates you at the time?

Shuck: “My art is about friendship and getting along. The cat and the duck are friends. Our world, the so-called real world, is pretty darn hostile. But not theirs. They live in a world where getting along is normal. And if you can imagine a world where a cat gets along with a duck and they both like cars and record players and skateboards and stuff, then you can imagine peace in our own world. It’s propaganda for love.”

ER: You seem rather prolific. How long do you spend thinking about and creating your pictures?

Shuck: “I’m not sure if I paint very fast, but I paint all the time. There’s a wooden chair in my living room where, when I’m done painting for the day, I set the painting so I can look at it during the night and think about it and imagine what I’m going to do to it tomorrow.”

ER: At this point, do you consider your artwork a hobby… or a career move? Or maybe some combination of the two?

Shuck: “Absolutely.”

ER: Do you have collectors?

Shuck: “I do. It started very early on. It’s amazing. Three or four people have several paintings each. They’ve been super supportive. They keep looking and they keep encouraging.”

ER: You created a set of coasters based on your duck/cat images. Are you marketing, or thinking of marketing, other paraphernalia, such as postcards, T-shirts, mugs, or shower curtains?

Shuck: “Holy cow, shower curtains is a great idea! I have some very nice greeting cards. And the super cute landmark coaster.”

The duck and the cat have driven down to Hermosa Beach. Artwork by Will Shuck

Shuck: “I even have a website thanks to a supportive friend, catandduck.net. It’s a neat site, but the thing is, how do you get people there? I should be constantly trying to publicize it, but, like I said, I have no idea what I’m doing.”

ER: Well, what’s next for Will Shuck, artist extraordinaire?

Shuck: “Outlandish good fortune, I hope.”

The work of Will Shuck, Richard Stephens, Alison Corteen, and Don Adkins goes on view Friday, Oct. 4, with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Easy Reader, 67 – 14th St., Hermosa Beach. Through Jan. 5. Call (310) 372-4611 or visit easyreadernews.com.

On the same evening, Gallery of Hermosa is hosting a curatorial walk from 5 to 7 p.m. in connection with “Thresholds,” curated by Genie Davis and featuring Hung Viet Nguyen, Linda Sue Price, Angelica Sotiriou, Eileen Oda Leaf, and Snezana Petrovic. Gallery of Hermosa, which has a closing reception and artists’ talk from 5 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 17, is located at 138 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach. Info at galleryofhermosa.com. ER