"Pastel Paintings"

Marcia Wegman
Hay Bales in Evening Light
Chalk Pastel

Marcia Wegman received an MFA in intaglio printmaking from the University of Iowa, then worked in oil, watercolor, acrylic, handmade paper, and mixed media collage over a thirty-five year period. In her earlier years as an art student, pastel was not considered an appropriate medium for serious artists, thus the long delay in trying this medium. She eventually tried painting an English Lake District landscape with an old set of pastels and discovered it was the perfect medium for her. She says about her work:

"The Midwest landscape has surrounded me all my life, first in Ohio, then in Iowa. I delight in showing with my paintings that Iowa is anything but boring as many people perceive it to be. Each month of the year I find a subtle beauty that I never tire of exploring. The most exciting aspect of any landscape is the quality of the light that illuminates the natural and manmade forms. The drama can be heightened by the way the light, and thus the shadows, are depicted. Pastels lend themselves to developing the ephemeral aspects of light and color in the landscape. I enjoy challenging myself in constantly finding new ways to explore the forms, rhythm, lines, repetition, light and color in the Iowa landscape.

The sky is a very important element in all my paintings. Observing the light, color and forms in the sky throughout the day, and the year, has become a very major part of my discipline as an artist. Since I work totally from photographs I have taken, I have the liberty to pair any sky with any land. A change in the sky has the potential to change an ordinary landscape into something of breathtaking beauty. Nature's possibilities are endless."

Marcia lives and works in Iowa City. Additional information about her is available at www.marciawegman.com