“Cape Cod is a mirror,” says gifted watercolor and oil painting artist Lee Surette, reflecting the stunning beauty of natural light echoing off the ocean. There are few places, says Surrette, where natural light is so majestic and constantly changing. The artist who enjoys his Cape Cod life in Popponesset has mastered this art form, with challenges that inspire.

Surette—taught early-on by master landscape colorist Henry Hensche at the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown—has suffered with Dyslexia since childhood and has overcome its challenges. And thus, Surette learned to paint from the soul, using natural light as his lamp post.

“I could always see the art,” he says. “I had a better vision than others who had to learn that. In painting, it’s not so much how you wiggle your hand; it’s more about how one sees what they are painting—the vision of it.”

“I try not to paint just scenes,” he adds. “I try not to paint the object. I try to paint light on an object. Natural light drives my art; natural light changes the color of an object every hour. You just need to have the patience to wait for the right light.”

The influence of the late Hensche and others were important mentors to Surette. “Through Henry and the Cape Cod School of Art, I learned the secrets of painting color in the style of the French Impressionists, from the legacy of Charles Hawthorne, who founded the school,” says Surette. “The unique and changing light of the natural landscape on Cape Cod is my continuing inspiration.”

Surette then studied under the late Lee Boynton, renowned American Impressionist painter, who further taught Surette to use the Impressionist palette to render the delicate subtleties of light.

Born in Dedham, Surette, who summered on the Cape in his youth, hails from a family of artists. His mother was a skilled calligrapher. His father stained and embossed church statutes and crucifixes. His sister attended the former Vesper George School of Art in Boston and became an impressive fashion illustrator.

Surette attended Xaverian High School in Westwood and struggled in school. Upon graduation, college was not an option. Facing the prospect of being drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War, he reported for a military physical. “I didn’t want to go to Vietnam,” he says. “I had friends who fought there and some of them didn’t come back.”

Given his perseverance, Surette was accepted at Vesper George School of Art where he excelled over time. The rest is creative and art history. Earlier in his career, he ran a successful ski newspaper in Frisco, Colorado, increasing the size of the paper from six pages to 56 pages. He also was an art and creative director in Chicago and Boston, overseeing television commercials for McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Coors beer, and Hubba Bubba bubble gum.

Asked about advice for upcoming artists, Surette always encourages artists to persevere. “Yeah, painting is supposed to be fun,” he says. “It shouldn’t stress one out. Like if one takes up golf, and it’s really frustrating, and a person is not having fun, they often quit. Artists often do the same thing. They get so frustrated with painting that they walk away for periods of time. Good art, like golf, takes time. You need to have fun, patience, and confidence. If you’re having a good time and you have a talent for art, you’re going to get better.”  

Surette continues painting today and teaches at the Cape Cod Art Center in Barnstable. Initially, he painted watercolors and oils en plein air, then began taking photographs of scenes to paint in his art shed in Popponesset where some of his work is on display. You can see his work at his Facebook page, LeeSurettePleinAirArtist or on display at Barnstable Cape Cod Art Center.