THIRDPLACE
SusannaGriswold
“I’minspiredbywhattouchesme,
andI paintwhatinspiresme,”says
Orinda,Calif.-basedartistSusanna
Griswold(griswoldart.studio).
“Whenpaintingportraits,I lookfor
thatspecial‘something’thatcan
communicatea feeling,a moodora
charactertrait.ThenI trytoexpress
thatwithcomposition,color,light
andshadow,andtechnique.”
It wasthesepurposefuldesign
elements,primarilyGriswold’scolorwash,I createdthe underpainting
andthencontinued building the
layersofpastel,”she says. “At some
pointintheprocess, I let the paint-
ingitselfguideme, especially when
choosingcolorand building color
relationships,but also when deciding
onthefinalshapes and the value
patternofthepainting. Ye sterda y was
oneofthosepaintings in which artis-
ticproblemsresolved naturally.”
Griswoldworks in other media,
sayingthevariety “enhances my abil-
itytoseetheartistic challenges of
a subjectandhow to address them.”
Shestaystruetoher favorite subject,
however.“Portraits are my first love,”
shesays.FOURTHPLACE
BevLee
The97-year-oldsubject in A Life Well
LivedinspiredBev Lee (bevlee.com)
duringa difficulttime. The Grand
Junction,Colo.-based artist met the
subjectatanartretreat in Virginia.
“Iwatchedthiswoman during her
dailytrekouttopaint, and enjoyed
herwit,wisdomand life stories as
wesataroundthe table each night at
dinner,”saysLee.“On the last day,
I foundherlyingback reading a book.
Seeingthelightcome in from the
windowandthepatterns of the quilt
andpillow,I knew I had to paint her.”
Thequiltandpillow needed
someslightchanges for the scene
towork,soLeemade sure the quilt
piecesandpillow shapes were angled
sothattheypointed toward the
subject’sfaceinthe triangular com-
position—acomposition Nguyen
describesas“beautiful.” The jurorYe s te r d a y (13½x11)
by Susanna Griswoldchoice, that caught Nguyen’s eye.
“I love the simplicity of the artist’s
colors, which helps to emphasize the
emotion in the model,” he says. “The
soft lighting and direct gaze make the
portrait an engaging one.”
Part of why Ye sterda y is so engag-
ing may be due to the real-life
connection between Griswold and
her sitter, whom the artist knows
well. The two took an afternoon to
gather photo references, from which
Griswold sketched a notan before
translating the basic shapes onto
sanded paper. “Using an alcohol64 Pastel Journal APRIL 2020