Pastel
landscapes by Contemporary realist painter VICTORIA RYAN have become
some of the most sought after works of fine art across North America and
internationally. Collectors and admirers are drawn to Ryan's use of
color, light and ability to transform the way we perceive even the most
subtle and overlooked landscape details by portraying the true visual
poetry that lies within them. RYAN lives and works in Northern
California and is particularly inspired by the marshlands, vineyards and
farm properties that pepper the landscape there and her depictions are
soaked in a sense of dreamlike reality. Lucid dreams and the heightened
sense of reality that is experienced in those and similar states of
consciousness and the inexplicable feelings and sensations that
accompany those experiences are the cornerstone of her artistic mission.
RYAN studied
art at Otis Art Institute, Art Center College of Design and the highly
regarded California State University at Long Beach Fine Arts Department,
where she earned a B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing in 1982. Her works
were immediately noticed by curators and collectors alike for her
dynamic and inspiring palette, her unique approach to landscape
painting, and her mastery of technique which she attributes to her
traditional academic training in the arts and her respect for the formal
elements of craftsmanship. These attributes give her art a timeless
quality.
Ryan's current
focus is working with soft pastels on various archival surfaces. She
states that nothing compares to the richness in color that can be
achieved with the medium of soft pastel or provide her with the level of
spontaneity that they provide her. She works with several commercial
brands as well as homemade varieties from the butter-like Unison pastels
from the UK to Art Spectrum, Rembrandt and Sennelier to name a few. Her
favorite surfaces to work on are LeCarte and Wallis papers as well as
prepared boards. Layer upon layer of color is applied and some blending
is achieved using fingers, cotton and blending tools. Color is pushed to
the edge of realism to straddle the line between reality and dream
imagery or what she would describe as a heightened sense of reality as
we perceive it.
Over the past
two decades Ryan's original pastels, paintings on canvas and limited
edition prints have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the
United States and can be found in prestigious collections worldwide
including The Mayo Clinic, Reebok International, Weyerhaeuser
Corporation, Clorox Corp, Advanced Micro Devices, Shearson Lehman
Brothers, Scripps Hospital, Price Waterhouse, Harris Bank, and Coopers &
Lybrand to name but a few.
