Judella Lacle is an artist and a physician.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF
YOUR FIRST NAME?
“My mother made it up. She was praying to St. Jude to have a baby.” After a decade of supplication, Lacle, an only child, was born.
WHAT KIND OF DOCTOR ARE YOU?
A family practitioner, Lacle is the interim medical director at Shands. Previously, she worked at St. Vincent’s Hospital. She has been a physician for six years.
WHAT MEDIUM DO YOU PREFER?
“Photo tinting. I take my own pictures and then paint over them.” She paints with oils, watercolors, acrylics, and lately, Chinese ink.
WHAT IS YOUR MAIN INFLUENCE?
“Nature. It’s so beautiful but sometimes we forget to take a minute to really see our surroundings.” Architecture and landscapes are favorite subjects, but a recent addition to her repertoire is underwater photography.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT Medium TO USE?
“Lately I’ve been doing mixed media because it gives a different texture [than watercolors]. Oils are usually more nostalgic, soothing and romantic. If I want something more vibrant, I use acrylics.”
WHEN DO YOU FIND TIME TO PAINT?
“When I put my seven- and six-year-olds, Chuckie and Gabriella, to bed at night or on the weekends.”
WHY DABBLE IN ART?
“It’s an escape from a stressful job. Medicine is intense. Art absorbs me, relaxes me. I was always interested in photography. My sister-in-law, a known artist in Gainesville, introduced me to it and I got hooked. She [Mary Haush] is one of the founders of the Hippodrome Theater.”
WHEN DID IT BECOME MORE THAN A HOBBY?
“I kept exploring the medium and people started to enjoy it. Two years ago I began doing bigger pieces. I had a yoga class [at home] and was asked if my work was for sale. The chairperson for Art After Dark had seen my work and asked me to take part. Art After Dark was my first show in 1988 or 1989. I sold about 10 pieces. From there I realized I needed to be educated on it, so I took classes.”
WHAT’S AN EXAMPLE OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ART AND MEDICINE?
“Palm trees have a healing effect. Art gives a bridge between reality and imagination. I think medicine is an art so there is a tie. Even chemistry is like an art form with how neurotransmitters connect.”
WHAT’S CHALLENGING ABOUT THE ART?
“When I take a picture, I have the colors in mind. When you’re developing in black and white, the dark colors don’t absorb light like you want so when you start painting, you may not like the color. Watercolor is difficult because it is unforgiving.”
IS THERE A THEME TO YOUR WORK?
“I like for it to have a calming effect. I think art is relaxing for anybody so I try to get my patients into it. Life has to have a balance to it.”
WHERE HAVE YOU HAD SHOWS?
Mixed Media Gallery in Avondale, the Women’s Center, Theatre Jacksonville, the Hyatt Regency in Aruba, at a benefit for South Jacksonville Presbyterian School and Art Reach in support of AIDS victims.
BIRTHPLACE
Aruba.
WHAT IS ARUBA LIKE?
“It is a Dutch colony but it is very close to South America so there’s the Latin influence. Papiamento, a mix of seven languages, is the official language. Aruba is not a tropical island. It’s very much like a desert. Cactus and the divi-divi palm tree are indigenous. I love to go to the beach to unwind.”
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO
THIS COUNTRY?
“I met my husband, Charles, at a hospital in the Dominican Republic. He was also attending medical school. He thought the island was too small. After he did his residency in Jacksonville, we decided to stay.”
WHERE DOES SHE LIVE NOW?
San Marco, with her husband and children. The couple just celebrated their 12th anniversary this month.
TO WHAT GROUPS DOes
she BELONG?
Lacle is a member of the Duval County Medical Society, the Academy of Family Physicians, Friends of the Florida Theatre and Epping Forest Yacht Club, where she regularly plays tennis.
PERSONAL FAVORITES
Traveling, practicing yoga and reading John Grisham books. She enjoys light-hearted movies, but she would pay to see Tom Cruise in almost any film.
FIFTEEN MINUTES
Lacle was once the chief resident backstage for a Sting concert in Gainesville. Apparently, all musicians must have a doctor on standby. She didn’t have to actually treat the singer, though.
WHO’S YOUR HERO?
“My mentor, Dr. Andrew Kane. He still practices with me. I admire him because of what he’s accomplished in medicine.”
— by Monica Chamness