Deborah Paris - Painting the Luminous Landscape:

This course will introduce students to the Tonalist landscape aesthetic and techniques. Tonalism, a distinct style of landscape painting which developed in the late 19th century, is experiencing a resurgence of interest today. It is characterized by simple design, a narrow range of values, a limited but luminous palette and an emphasis on atmospheric effects in the landscape, particularly during the hours of dawn, sunset, dusk and evening.

Techniques for creating luminosity will be explored including transparent underpaintings, and glazing.  Students will learn how to utilize transparent passages to create rich, mysterious luminosity and optical effects in their work.

The class will include daily demonstrations as well as lectures and slide shows on historical  Tonalist painters and related art historical topics, which provide context and and inspiration for contemporary artists working in this style.

Biography:
“Deborah Paris holds fast to the vision of the Hudson River School painters - that the American landscape is both sublime and divine."
Southwest Art Magazine, Artists to Watch, December 2004

Deborah Paris is a contemporary American artist. Her moody, tonalist landscapes reflect an intense, intuitive connection to the natural world and its rhythms.  She has been featured in American Artist, Southwest Art and The Pastel Journal.  In December 2004 she was named an Artist to Watch by Southwest Art Magazine. 

Her work has been shown at the Laguna Art Museum, the Albuquerque Museum of Art, the Panhandle-Plains Museum and the Gilcrease Museum. Since 2006 her work has been featured in three books, Landscapes of New Mexico (Fresco Fine Art Publications), Plein Air New Mexico (Jack Richeson Art Publications) and Texas Traditions (Fresco Fine Art Publications). In 2009 New Mexico Magazine chose her work for their 2010 Enchanting New Mexico Calendar.

She has been invited to participate in many of the most prestigious plein air invitationals including the Laguna Plein Air Invitational, Sedona Plein Air Festival, Carmel Plein Air and Telluride Plein Air.

She is represented by Galerie Kornye West in Ft. Worth, TX, Hildt Galleries, Chicago, Illinois,  Huff Harrington Fine Art, Atlanta, GA,  Isherwood Gallery, Newport, RI,  and Blackheath Gallery, London, England.