A Sense of Place

Dawn Bloom, Texas Sage, Chisos Dawn by Lindy Severns; pastel, 18"x38"

I grew up in a part of North Texas not known for the beauty of its landscape.  In fact, just the opposite 

was true.  Whatever charms my hometown could boast of (and I have to admit a certain bias here based on my tendency over the years to argue that there were few charms indeed) grand and compelling vistas were not among them.  It occurred to me in my formative years that one could choose any point on the compass and travel fifty miles in that direction and find an appreciably more pleasant and appealing terrain.  There may be others who delighted in that North Texas landscape, but simply put, I was not one of them.  Although it was my home territory, I did not connect with it on an aesthetic level; it did not move me toward a deeper appreciation of the beauty of my natural surroundings.  

Gifts from Yesterday's Storm by Lindy Severns, pastel, 34"x26"

Fortunately at a relatively early age, I was introduced to the rugged beauty and grandeur (at least to me) of Northern New Mexico and I have been hooked ever since.  Each time that I return, I feel the same deep affinity for the place.  For whatever reason, I connect with this land in a way that I never did with my actual home.

While I can try to capture my feelings about this particular place and convey that emotion with words, I am envious of those artists who can impart to the viewer a deep, visceral feeling about their favorite places.  These artists are able to show us not only what a place looks like, but also how it feels to them.  When we look at their paintings, we stand in their shoes and we at least have a hint at what they were feeling when they first looked upon the scene painted.  Because their emotions were so touched by their connection to that special terrain, our emotions are engaged as well.  Many artists have told me that one of their goals in painting is to allow the viewer of their art to see the world as they do, and just as importantly, to feel the same emotions.

Castle Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin by Thomas Moran, chromolithograph

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by Thomas Moran, oil on canvas

One can readily see and feel the profound effect that Yellowstone had on Thomas Moran.  He traveled there for the first time in 1871 and returned many times afterward.  He produced a wide range of interpretations of one of America’s most beautiful places, from large, ambitious oils (two of which were purchased by the U.S. government) to small drawings and intricate watercolors.  Moran was so affected by Yellowstone that soon after his first visit, he began inserting a Y in his signature to indicate how much the area meant to him.  I have had the great privilege and pleasure of spending days looking over the Moran collections at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York, and I can readily attest the power those works have to move one emotionally. You can actually feel his connection to and appreciation of the land.

Summer Morning, A Cloudy Morning, Southwest Texas by Robert Julian Onderdonk, oil on camas

A similar feeling is conveyed by Julian Onderdonck in his many interpretations of the Texas Hill Country around his San Antonio home.  Onderdonck trained with William Merritt Chase in New York, but he found his true artistic calling when he returned to Texas and began painting the craggy limestone cliffs, oak trees, and of course, the fields of bluebonnets of central Texas.  He was so adept at capturing the essence of a glorious carpet of wildflowers in the countryside, that he literally spawned a whole genre of Texas landscape painting.  Probably to his chagrin, he was primarily known for his bluebonnet scenes, but he painted the Hill Country throughout the year and was equally talented at depicting the Texas sky as he was at painting the land.  He obviously felt a great connection to the land he painted and he continually explored and refined those feelings to produce a body of work that gives us an equally deep appreciation for the subject.

Ancient Valley by Victor Higgins, oil on board

Like all of the members of the Taos Society of Artists, Victor Higgins was attracted to northern New Mexico because of the unique quality of the light there, the three distinct cultures that offered a wealth of artistic inspiration, and the land itself.  By the end of his life, Higgins had distilled his feelings about his adopted home down to the essence of the landscape.  His technique transitioned from realism and representationalism to abstraction, but his abiding interest was the land and sky of New Mexico.  Frequently at the end of his career, he drove his car out into the high desert around Taos, sat on a makeshift stool in the trunk of his car, which afforded him a little shelter from the bright sun and painted the land that had affected him so deeply for so many years.  He called those paintings, his “little gems,” an apt description. Each one is a lovingly rendered tribute to a special place.

Sparking the Desert's Inner Fire by Lindy Severns, pastel, 36"x24"

Such deep emotional attachments are often what drives an artist to return to a subject or location over the course of their entire careers.  They are connected to that land in a profound way and they are compelled, even driven, to paint it.  One can say that their goal is to capture the essence of a particular place, but their paintings also often offer an insight into their own essence.  Their paintings reflect both the land and themselves.  When the right combination of talent, emotion, and connection to place is present, the results can be spectacular and magical.

Several years ago when my friend, Larry Francell, then the Director of the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross University in Alpine, Texas and now retired,  asked me to be the judge for the art submitted to the museum’s annual “Trappings of Texas” exhibition and sale, I did not expect to come across such a combination. While sometimes judging any art competition is something of a thankless task (after all much of it is subjective and distinctions between first place and the rest of the show can be pretty subtle), this year, I was highly rewarded with the discovery of a talented artist’s work.  I was immediately struck by the pastels of Lindy Severns and have been captivated by her work ever since. 

Lindy has the ability to depict the rugged beauty of Far West Texas like few other artists.  She is obviously at home in the mountains and high desert of the Davis Mountains and equally familiar with the grand sweep of the Big Bend.  Where others may think of this environment as harsh, Lindy finds it inspirational.  She and her husband Jim, both former pilots, have spent many hours trekking across this terrain; each visit reveals a new nuance of color, texture, and form.

The Very Edge of Texas by Lindy Severns, pastel, 24"x30"

Her paintings present the splendor of grand vistas, as well as the subtlety of close up observations.  Each season carries with it a new  panorama to paint, each time of day calls for its own distinct interpretation.  Change is ever present, light and colors shift and blend, clouds sweep across blue skies, and warm sunlit afternoons fade to cool, clear evenings.

Waking Desert by Lindy Severns, pastel, 20"30"

First Rain by Lindy Severns, pastel 36"x24"

LIndy embraces all of these permutations of the land and sky.  Working in a difficult medium, pastel, she displays an uncanny talent in vivid, realistic depictions of the natural environment of Far West Texas.  But there is something else evident in her paintings, something more difficult to explain and categorize.  Lindy imbues her paintings of this corner of Texas with her deep feelings for the place.  Many artists have staked claims on places that speak to them in a language that they feel in both their hearts and their heads. Like those artists,  Lindy has found her special place.  With her art, she celebrates its unique qualities and she lets us share the joy of roaming across a land that provides her with an infinite supply of ideas for future paintings. 

A Welcome Drenching by Lindy Severns, pastel, 16"x12"

I am glad that Moran discovered Yellowstone and that Onderdonk and Higgins developed such abiding affinities for their favored landscapes.  I can’t say whether my feelings about my home territory would be different if it had been interpreted by an artist with Lindy Severns’s skill and talent, but I suspect that had that come to pass, I would have an entirely different perspective today.

Old Texas Giant by Lindy Severns

Lindy Severns' work can be seen and purchased at the following:
Michael Duty Fine Art, LLC.
Old Spanish Trail Studio
Midland Gallery
The Open Range Fine Art
Paloma Gallery