The Pastel Journal, February 2011 Sample - Artist's Network

Teri GortmakerCOLOR & CONTRASTColorado artist Teri Gortmaker grew up on hergrandparents’ farm in an area of southeast Texascalled The Big Thicket. “My childhood was pineforests, vegetable gardens, flower beds, cows,pigs and hunting dogs,” she says. “The landscapewas always changing and miraculous. It seemedthe logical subject matter for me, as an artist,because it was what I was most connected to.”Later, as a transplant to Boulder, Gortmakerfound she was still attracted to the land; andColorado, she says, has attitude. “It’s rugged,bold, diverse and filled with dynamic colorcontrasts—big mountains, fl at gold prairie allthe way to Kansas, and a giant blue sky hangingover it all.” On the subject of that sky, Gortmakeradds: “It just stuns me with its clarity. How cananything real be that color of blue? And what isthat color exactly? It’s always exciting to paintthat blue next to the gold of aspen trees or thestark cold whites of new winter snow.”The aspen, mountains, prairie; these subjectscontinue to thrill because they’re never the same.“I often paint my favorite places again and again,”she says, “and it’s different every time. Nature isalways in flux so the possibilities are endless.”Gortmaker’s approach to painting beginswith the organization of shapes and colors intowhat she refers to as “a visual dialogue thatworks.” For larger paintings, she prefers to workin the studio, but she does enjoy working en pleinFeedin’ Time (16x20)24 The Pastel Journal • February 2011