Color,Color, Color,Color, ColorColor
Fromearlyon,ArleneRichmanwas
drawntotheAmericanabstract
expressionistsand,ofallthecom-
positionalanddesignelementsthese
artistswielded,it wascolorthatmost
consumedherinterest.“Nothinghit
meassquarelyasdeKooning,Kline,
Motherwell,PollockandRothko,”
shesays.“JoanMitchellisnowa
favorite,too.Theywereallcolor
hogs,exceptmaybeforKline,whose
lineisenergy.”“My paintingsare,nodoubt,roadmapsof mycumulativeexperiences,
butI find‘meanings’in thesamewayanyotherviewerfindsthem.”
ARLENERICHMANRichmangoesontosaythatit’s
oftena particularcolorortwothat
providestheimpetus,thefirsttilted
dominothatsetsofftheseriesof
reactivedecisionsculminatingina
finishedpastelpainting.“I’ma color-
ist,”saysRichman.“Coloris,forme,
shape,subjectandintention.”PathPath to Pastelsto Pastels
Vivid color is, in fact, the quality of
pastels that Richman finds mostattractive. She describes the medium
with an epicure’s vocabulary: “deli-
cious,” “luscious,” “addictive.”
Her discovery of pastels, however,
was years coming. Although she’d
studied painting, history of art and
fashion design as an undergraduate
and has earned a master’s degree in
art history, she took an “accidental”
20-year side trip from her art career
to edit magazines dealing with
finance and high technology. During
this time she nurtured her artistic54 Pastel Journal OCTOBER 2019