ART
The goal in her current work is to see how
skin tones are affected by the reflective nature
of water and how the image becomes abstracted
in water. She says, “My work involves mixing
highly saturated skin tones with blue hues
to illustrate the intricacies of how the flesh and
water interact.”
PSL “FEELS LIKE HOME”
Loughlin, who lives near Tradition, says
growing up and living in Port St. Lucie has
influenced her art. Besides her parents, her
grandparents, Paul and Marlene Neal, also live
in Port St. Lucie. “Anytime you have a strong
emotional connection to a place, I think it has
an effect on how you perceive your surroundings,
which ultimately gets incorporated into
my work,’’ she says.
She’s seen the transformation of Port St.
Lucie firsthand, from the expansion of Gatlin
Boulevard, the growth of Tradition and the
construction of the Port St. Lucie Community
Center, where she had the first solo art exhibit
in 2013.
When she’s not painting, she can be found
attending local events at Tradition, eating at
local restaurants or visiting one of the city’s
many parks. “Port St. Lucie just feels like
home,’’ she says. “Even with its continued
growth, it feels like a small community.’’
Loughlin’s Peace is an example of how she blends the abstraction of water with the realism
E of the figure.
42 Port St. Lucie Magazine
ED DRONDOSKI PHOTOS
Downtown Stuart is within walking distance of Loughlin’s studio, which is a new venture where the young artist can explore her creativity.