http://www.outdoorpainter.com / August-September 2019 35
45 minutes,as I didwhenpaintingDahliasat
HalfMoonBayNursery. If I workonit backin
thestudio,whichI didwhenI delineatedsome
of thepetalsof thewhiteflowersandempha-
sizedthebackdahliasfora centerof interest,
I’mcarefulnottooverworkanypartinorderto
preservethatinitial freshness of movement and
pastelstroke.”
SUBLIMEBEAUTY
FreshBeauty,ElkhornSloughis butoneof the
manyrecentworksthatexemplifiesLordier’smas-
teryin simplifyingdesignandshapeto createvisu-
al strength.Reinforcedbyherfacilityforcreating
sublime,expressivemark-making,Lordierusesa
varietyof edgequalitiesfromhardto softto create
movementandemphasiswithinhercompositions.
“I usedto bemoreheavy-handedanddescriptive
of thethingI waspainting,usingbolder,thicker,
moredirectstrokes,”shesays.“Overtime,my
mark-makinghasturnedintomoreof a dancing
movement—lessaboutdescriptionandmore
aboutthegestureof theobjects.InFreshBeauty,
ElkhornSlough, I triedto capturethesparkling
qualityof thelightandthepoeticmovementof
thoseeucalyptustreeswithmymarks.ButI didn’t
wanttheemphasisto beonthetreesthemselves.
I likedtheideaof thefreshnessin thewaterand
thecolorvariationsthatwerehappening,so I
de-emphasizedthembysofteningallthoseedges
in back,creatinga senseof atmosphereanddepth.
The more neutral warms existed in the bushes at
right,butI pushedthecolorwithlittlemarksof
purecadmiumorange.”
Sheadds,“Yes,I dolovecolor,butI’malways
seekingto anchormycompositionswithwell-
definedvaluepatternsin orderto expressa strong
tonalquality.That’swhyit seemsI’malways
backingupfrommyworkor lookingat it in a
mirror. Up close, it’s so easy to get lost in detailsandoverworkthings.WhenI’mdone,I wantto
stillbeableto seemyoveralldesignstrengthened
by that underlying idea of my notan.”PleinairandstudiopainterROBERTK.
CARSTEN(robertcarsten.com)teaches
workshops and enjoys writing about art
and artists.(TOPLEFT)DahliasatHalfMoonBayNursery, 2018,pastel, 12 x 12in.,collectiontheartist, pleinair•(TOPRIGHT)TheRiver of Mercy, Yosemite, 2018,
pastel, 12 x 12 in., private collection, pleinair•(BELOW) Isthmus Harmony, 2017, pastel, 8 x 10 in., private collection, plein air