DECEMBER 29 • 2022 | 43

him not to take any lessons and to try to 
develop his skills and creative vision on 
his own.
Day-by-day outside of work, Schlussel 
tried his hand at drawing. Eventually, 
he transitioned to painting. “I started to 
paint with a feel, and I was able to become 
more expressive,” he explains. “I feel like 
I’ve blended both the discipline of being a 
lawyer with the freedom to explore how I 
want to express myself on canvas.”

FINDING ENRICHMENT IN 
CREATIVITY
Now, Schlussel, who lives in Southfield 
at the same house he’s called home for 
more than 40 years, refers to painting as 
an enriching activity rather than a hobby. 
Looking at his artwork over the past 
decades, he can see through his art how 
his life has evolved.
“I can see paintings when I was feeling 

melancholy, paintings when I was feel-
ing very ambivalent,” he describes. “
And 
paintings that are rigorously disinclined 
when I was feeling very much in my 
head.”
There are the more “perfect” pieces, he 
says, with precise taping, measuring and 
coloring, and the “not-so-perfect” pieces 
that are free-flowing and what Schlussel 
calls “an expression of the inner emotion-
al self rather than the inner cerebral self.”
Over the years, Schlussel has sold his 
artwork at various art shows. He uses 
different textures, shapes and colors to 
paint abstractly, finding inspiration in 
the world around him. A recent artwork 
that he named “First Tablets” was even 
inspired by Judaism.
“I was inspired by the Torah portion 
of the giving of the 10 Commandments,” 
Schlussel explains. “It’s a depiction of the 
first tablets with the beginning of the 

words of each of the 10 commandments, 
and then there’s fire around it. It’s the tab-
lets Moses destroyed.”
To create powerful pieces like this, 
Schlussel says, is a “spiritual experience.” 
“I find it very gratifying and very 
enriching,” he explains of painting, 
describing his personal style as abstract 
expressionism. “You create something 
that really energizes you.”
While Schlussel confesses his creativity 
has sometimes come in spurts and he’ll 
go periods without painting, the attorney, 
healthcare CEO and Jewish community 
leader is serious about his artwork and is 
committed to getting it further into the 
world.
“I just finished three pieces that are 
a combination of all the styles that I 
began to develop over the last 25 years,” 
Schlussel says. “That’s why I’ve decided 
it’s time to really push forward.” 

Samples of Schlussel’s paintings

