(continued from page 3)
Posselli, now in her 60's, has a reputation for being a rugged, quintessentially dauntless artist who paints in any weather condition, with any subject, at any time so long as the object of her eye is bathed in natural light. "I work mostly in the studio these days, with spurts of painting outdoors about twice a month. The studio lends itself to more experimentation, which I love to do, playing with washes to create a stimulating ground for the painting and then working with palette knife and brush to build texture. Sometimes I use washes and glazes, scrapes, and scumbles, or anything that works," she explains.
Despite her current preference for working in the studio, her knowledge is built on long days of sunburn and hypothermic soakings. She's gone north to Alaska to experience 23 hours of continuous daylight, traveled through South America several times, retraced Edgar Payne, has trips in the works to both the Galapagos Islands and France. A book on her work is soon to be published by Utah State University Press.
When on location, Posselli is rarely daunted by the elements. On a painting trip to the coast of Oregon, for example, Stats and Posselli endured drenching rain every afternoon. Undeterred, they set up an awning made of an umbrella and raincoats. When the downpours started reaching their paint boxes, they temporarily pulled back into a tent and refused to flee the beach.
|
Brocade, Oil, 36 X 48
The act of being a painter, Posselli says, is about far more than what one records. It's the complete sentient experience that is breathed in. The paintings that resulted from that bivouac in Oregon are informed by the sounds of splashing waves and the sweet smell of rainforest dampness.
"The West is big!" Posselli proclaims. "So big that there is no end to the thrills that unfold in it." She mentions the tale of artist Everett Ruess, who--like Dixon, Edward Abbey, Ansel Adams, and Edward Weston--was smitten by the terrain of southern Utah, documented it and wrote about it. One day Ruess disappeared in it, never t be seen again. "It is no wonder that Everett Ruess lost his sense of limits and finally wandered to his demise in the beauty of Escalante," Posselli speculates in a sense of kinship. "It is an exhilarating, almost euphoric experience that can be addicting. To paint it is a humbling and awesome responsibility."
|