The American Landscape | Dinah K. Worman

Excerpted from Art Journey America: Landscapes.

Cows on the Edge, pastel, 12 x 12. Photo: Barry Norris Photography.

Dinah Worman’s landscape paintings are instantly recognizable for their clarity and depth. Worman says, “I work to press beyond method and into a flow of creative instinct, using pastel, oil, acrylic or printmaking to express myself with unusual compositions and expanding vision.”

What inspired this painting?
The most compelling aspect was the stepped landscape that provided layers and diagonals.

In what locations do you paint and why?
I am looking for two things: I want to see the “bones” of the landscape found in the openness of an arid climate or the stacked fields of cultivated land. I also love the compositional elements of a cluttered, close scene that allows me to treat the landscape much like a still life. I’m looking for the compositional elements of both of these types of landscape paintings rather than the beauty of individual objects.

Do you paint en plein air?
I do paint en plein air. I rarely finish on location. I start with a compositional underpainting and advance to color and contrast notes. I finish in the studio with inside lighting to match the light that the painting will be displayed in.

What galleries represent you?
Act I Gallery, Taos, NM; Ann Korologos Gallery, Basalt, CO; M.A. Doran Gallery, Tulsa, OK; www.dkworman.com.

Featured in January 2012.