Artist
Salis is a portrait and comics artist who was raised in New York City and Massachusetts and spent formative years in L.A. and South America. She's mixed/Black and the daughter of Black Historian Sterling Stuckey and granddaughter of poet Elma Stuckey. She studied drawing and sculpture at Columbia University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree. She studied painting and illustration at The School of Visual Arts and in the studio of portrait painter John Murray, both in New York as well. She completed the professional four-year atelier painting program and teacher training program at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia. She has exhibited art in Peru, Colombia, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Richmond. Salis’ approach to teaching is based on a proven method - largely drawn from her studies at a traditional atelier and specifically with her teacher, the master draughtsman, painter, and educator Jon deMartin. She has co-taught portrait workshops at Studio Incamminati and currently teaches traditional figure drawing, portrait drawing, cast drawing, still life, and master copy drawing at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. In addition, she is a musician and composer, and the founder of the band Cast Shadows.