Featured Artist for February 1999

Featured GiveAway by Victoria Jordan Camellias 16" x 20" - 1994 Watercolor On Paper Valued at $450

Sherry L Hindes Longwood, Florida

Camellias was a breakthrough painting for Victoria since it was the first watercolor that she felt was a "successful, intuitive painting". She was not the least bit worried about the so called "rules" of painting with this work. She simply used the brush and color to get her subconscious onto paper with the least amount of pain. This is the type of painting she loves to do, one that an eraser never touches. She only gets one chance and if she's relaxed and confident and in a happy frame of mind, everything usually comes together. That's exactly what happened with Camellias.


MEET THE ARTIST

Featured Artist Victoria Jordan

Victoria Jordan was born on March 23, 1953 in Corpus Christi, Texas. She really can't remember when she first started to be creative but her father made a slate blackboard for her and her two sisters when she was just a little girl. She used this chalkboard like an easel and would draw for hours on end, then erase and begin again. She loved that chalkboard and maybe this is why she enjoys pastels so much today ! Her father was a very good woodworker and she learned to enjoy the work of her hands from him. She also remembers sitting on the front porch when she was about 5 years old with her grandmother while she painted beautiful magnolias. So it seems that artistry is in her blood.

She majored in fine art at Holyoke Community College and has taken many classes and workshops since then, but sees herself truly as a self-taught artist. She says, "If I could do it over again, I would have relied more on my own intuition." But she did learn a lot of short cuts in the workshops, like types of paper and brands of paint and getting feedback from more experienced artists. She mentions that "painting with a number of other artists was the best thing about taking classes".

Spring Garden Scene shows a wonderful spring day In New England. After a long, cold, dreary winter, lively green sprouts finally arose and Victoria caught it in all its lushness. "This pastel was done en plein aire (from life) in my garden when everything was at its peak. The roses are Bonica shrub roses, and there's a Stella D'oro Day Lily, some great little native yellow flowers that my sister-in-law gave me, and orange lilies from my sister's garden." You can almost hear the birds singing, and see that the air was so clean in the fresh springtime.

Spring Garden Scene, 1997 24" X 30" Pastel on Paper, $500

The feeling that she has control over this one thing, the surface of a painting, inspires her to keep creating. Also, that it's such a challenge and requires all of her concentration and intuition. Victoria says, "There's always so much more to learn. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I really know." She prefers the medium of pastels simply because she feels they have an immediacy of application that enable her to preserve that initial impulse. Pastel colors are rich and brilliant and can be applied with a quick, instinctive spirit. Something Victoria has surely conquered.

Warm Summer Afternoon captures the lushness of the Fort River in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts. Victoria says, "It's a beautiful sight and is far enough from the road that you feel you are really away from civilization. It's quite a trek, what with easel, chair, pastels, drawing board, etc. But the relaxing space is just like a paradise, and makes it very easy to record the warm feelings of the sunlight and the birds and the breeze."

Warm Summer Afternoon, 1997 20" x 24" Pastel on Paper, $450

She feels her best in the morning and is happy and chipper at this time of the day. But, don't try to talk to her after 10 at night because she can't even think, much less talk. She has 2 children and a husband, so she always puts her family first and she says, "That's just the facts of life" and they apparently take up a lot of her energy. Of course, she tries to balance the constant urge to create, with the need to keep up with the laundry, cooking, etc., and considers it a real juggling act. But she always makes time for family and she loves that she has many, many good friends.

Calla Lilies is Victoria's favorite flower. They are so graceful and make her feel very calm just enjoying their beauty. Calla Lilies was created with very intuitive marks with no changes or corrections. Victories says that one of the best influences in her art was studying Chinese Brush Painting with Ning Yeh at the Worcester Art Museum. "With this style of painting, the artist gets one chance to get it right, so the artist has to prepare his whole feeling so that the brush will behave and he will get the feeling he wants. Pastels are perfect for this type of thing because you don't have to be distracted with mixing colors or cleaning brushes. You just pick up the pigment color with your fingers and put it on the paper. Nothing comes between the artist and the painting."

Calla Lilies, 1997, Pastel on Sanded Pastel Paper, 21" x 18" Sold

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Victoria is not one to brag about herself and finds the hardest part about this process is to sell herself. She'd much rather just paint. She has a quiet nature and would just as soon listen rather than talk. She does speak up at times, but having 2 outgoing sisters allowed her blend in the background all too often while they did all the talking! She got her love of books from her mother, and Victoria does loves to read. She grew up with a healthy respect for learning because her family, being Jehovah's Witnesses, felt that Bible education was valuable for having a full, productive life. She's tried to inculcate that in her own children between the proliferation of video games and TV which she indicates are true time wasters!

Sunflowers and Squash is a scene of the New England's winter squash and sunflowers. She first did a painting in acrylic, working briskly to keep the life in it. She then started in with Rembrandt and Grumbacher pastels. She says, "The pastels give it an interesting texture and a scintillating effect from the colors interacting with the underpainting. It's very lively and would be at home in a beautiful kitchen with gleaming copper cookware and accents."

Sunflowers and Squash 21" x 28", 1999 Pastel & Acrylic on Holbein Sanded multi-media Paper, $650

Victoria is happiest when painting and wishes that she didn't have this feeling because at times it becomes a distraction from life for her. And she says, " that's not good--we can't live in a dream world". But she does find things move better if she tries to keep her priorities in order and not overdo anything. She has a tendency to get really obsessed with her painting, and she just can't stop. It takes up her whole being and she can't think about anything else. So, she has to stop and tell herself that there is house work and shopping and cooking and studying and family that need tending.

White Lilacs gracefully adorn this blue-green pottery vase. Victoria states, "This is meant to be a pain reducing painting. All the edges are soft and comforting and the colors non-jarring".
	White Lilacs, 1998 16" x 20" Pastel on Sanded Paper $350

Victoria mentions that if she could only keep herself from obsessing, her work is much better since she is critical of her own work. She will ruin a perfectly good painting and literally vacuum it off the paper. Yes, she really does vacuum the pastel off the paper.

Her paintings grow out of a need to cause her viewer to feel a sense of calmness through the joyful use of color and the grace of her shapes. She thinks that pastels keep their beautiful colors, looking as fresh a hundred years from now as they did the day they were painted.

	Flower Pots is a very cheerful painting of a group of flower pots sitting in the sun. The colors are bright and sunny; warm shades of oranges, terra cotta, spring greens with a delicate blue background.
Flower Pots, 1999" x Pastel on Sanded Pastel Board, 11" x 6", $250

EXHIBITIONS

1999

Springfield Art League Exhibition, Tower Square, Springfield, Massachusetts


1998

Springfield Arts Festival, Visual Arts Exhibition juried by Rosanne Retz, Professor of Art at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Susan Danly, Curator of American Art at the Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts

Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival, Blandford, MA First Prize in Pastels

Springfield Art League Exhibition

Westfest Arts Festival at Stanley Park, Westfield, MA


1997

The Hart Gallery, Northampton, Ma Pastels Exhibition Juried by Jane Lund

Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival, Blandford, MA Winner of Judges Choice Award

31st Annual Longmeadow Shops Art Show Longmeadow, MA Juried by artist Doug Brega. Conducted a Demonstration of the use of Pastels in a Floral Still Life

Springfield Art League Invitational Exhibition

Mary Lyon Nursing Home, Hampden, MA "Living Images" Springtime Exhibit

Westfest Arts Festival at Stanley Park, Westfield, MA


1996

Meet the Artists Portrait Demonstration The Art Gallery, East Longmeadow, MA May 1996

Monson Arts Council Monson, MA Sculpture Among the Flowers Spring Art Exhibition April 1996

Barnes and Noble Artist of the Month Enfield, Conn. October 1996 Holyoke, MA January 1997

Agawam Public Library Gallery Agawam, Massachusetts Solo Exhibition December 1996

Springfield Art League Exhibition


1995

Westfest Arts Festival at Stanley Park, Westfield, MA


1994

Springfield Art League Exhibition

Westfest Arts Festival at Stanley Park, Westfield, MA



Gallery Representation

Arts Unlimited, South Hadley, Massachusetts
The Art Gallery, East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Wilkins Arts Consulting, Inc. Weston, Massachusetts
The Hart Gallery Northampton, Massachusetts
Ohana Wood and Artworks, Kapaa, Hawaii

Memberships

Springfield Art League, Springfield, Massachusetts - Council Member
Monson Arts Council, Monson, Massachusetts

Contact the Artist

Please Email ArtQuest for sales information

ARTIST STATEMENT

I get the most enjoyment out of seeing people's reactions to my work. I love it when someone says that the paintings make them feel calm or peaceful. This and a fresh, not overworked look is what I'm always striving for. One of the best ways for an artist to keep their work fresh is to work from life. An artist needs to be able to see the real object and touch or experience it. So I try to work from life as often as possible, whether it's a portrait, a floral, or a landscape. ~ Victoria Jordan