SUE VINSON STEWART

Sue Vinson Stewart passed away on March 23, 2023 at the age of 78, walking with her loyal dachshund Juniper near home in the hills of North Carolina. Sue was a founding member of the Plein Air Painters of the Southeast and an original member of the Plein Air Painters of Georgia. With oil paints and easel in hand, she traveled her region, the country and the world to capture the hidden beauty in passing moments of sunlight. Her execution was confident and precise. Her eye for color was exceptional. A lifelong student, Sue graduated with honors from University of Georgia with a double-major in painting and sculpture and extended studies in illustration. She studied plein-air under nationally recognized expert Kevin Macpherson, on location in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and New Mexico. Her other nationally recognized teachers included Brian Stewart, Charles Sovek, Kim English, and Dolores Kennedy. Galleries from Maine to South Carolina carried Sue’s work, and she participated in many juried art exhibits. She set up her own gallery in Charleston -- Stewart Fine Art -- and hosted students for workshops at her mountain retreat in Scaly Mountain, North Carolina. Prior to her meteoric career in plein-air, Sue was a homemaker, a caregiver, a published landscape designer, and a founding member of the North Buckhead Home and Garden Club. She brought community to her neighbors, consternation to her brothers, pride to her parents and inspiration to her son. The fulcrum of Sue’s life was her marriage. She was, in turn, an adoring and devoted wife; an untimely widow; an unconquerable single mother. Fearless, talented, imaginative -- Sue successfully reinvented herself as an entrepreneur and adventurer, but could never replace the love of her late husband, architect John Carroll Stewart Sr; her creative equal, counterpart, and partner for life. Sue is predeceased by her parents Thomas Oscar Vinson and Roesel Stanford Vinson, her brother Paul Vinson and her beloved husband John. She is survived by her son John Stewart II, her brother Tom Vinson and her loyal companion Juniper Underfoot-Stewart. A memorial service will be held on April 22 in Macon Georgia, with graveside service at 2:00 PM at Liberty United Methodist Church and an evening gathering at Vinson Valley.