By Bonnie Gangelhoff
Red Rock Rhythms, pastel, 9 x 12.
Northern California pastelist Kim Lordier finds inspiration in the paintings of the early California Impressionists and the Taos Society of Artists. “My work is also inspired by the unique displays of Mother Nature, forever caught up in the poetry and rhythm of light and movement,” Lordier says. “I paint to push pigment around and to create an element of beauty that is experienced from a unique perspective.”
WRAPPED IN LIGHT and RED ROCK RHYTHMS are among her pieces in the Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale this year. WRAPPED IN LIGHT provided the artist with the opportunity to play with abstract shapes. “In the painting I am pushing my personal envelope while varying the quality of the edges and discovering how to reach the essence of time and place,” she says.
On her first visit to Colorado’s Red Rocks Park, Lordier was struck by the magnificence of the line and rhythm of the rock formations—a landscape that eventually evolved into RED ROCK RHYTHMS. “The deep reds, mauves, and pinks provided a beautiful foil for the young cottonwood,” she says.
As a committed plein-air painter, Lordier proclaims that there is nothing like the inner peace that comes from working from life and exploring the way the light can transform an ordinary object into something stunning. “I want people to see the beauty in what we pass by every day and also acknowledge the importance of open space in our lives,” she says. Lordier is represented by Knowlton Gallery, Lodi, CA; James J. Rieser Fine Art, Carmel, CA; Sekula’s Fine Art and Antiques, Sacramento, CA; Fairmont Gallery, Sonoma, CA; and Windrush Gallery, Sedona, AZ; www.kimfancherlordier.com.
Featured in January 2012.
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- Wrapped in Light, pastel, 18 x 24.
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- Chatfield Poetry, pastel, 24 x 30.
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- Red Rock Patterns, pastel, 24 x 18.
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- Red Rock Rhythms, pastel, 9 x 12.
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- Searchin, pastel, 16 x 20.