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LINDA COULTER

Linda Coulter’s work is inspired by three distinct roles in her life: artist, student, and teacher:

● The role of artist has been there from her earliest memories, always finding an outlet.

● The role of art student began in adulthood, giving her even greater appreciation for it.

● And the role of art teacher–going strong now for more than 25 years–embodies her belief in art’s power to enrich us personally and to bring people together.

An associate member of the Pastel Society of America, Linda first discovered pastels in a portraits class and knew she had found her medium. It allowed her to work with her hands–every inch of her hands–in a way both new and familiar. It felt perfectly natural to her.

Pastels give Linda all the tools she needs to capture moments–especially moments of natural beauty–in strokes of color, layers of texture, and variations of light and dark. Her style is impressionistic realism–with impressionism to spark viewers’ imagination and realism for them to recall similar moments from their own lives. “I am inspired by the beauty of the world around us and the way it can lift our spirits. My goal is to interpret it in a way that touches the viewer and helps them feel the same excitement I do.”

Growing up, Linda was always drawing. She drew fashion illustrations for the newspaper during high school and majored in fashion llustration & business in college. “Sensible” expectations lead her to an engineering firm after graduation, but the artist in her still found a way to draw. She helped the draftsman on her own time, learned the craft, and ultimately built her own business doing CAD drawings for architects, designers, and others. Drafting developed her strong sense of perspective, which especially reveals itself in her pastel landscapes.

A working artist for decades, Linda continues to take yearly workshops with master pastelists and travels extensively to learn from the best.

She also teaches weekly art classes, which she started 25 years ago in New Jersey and now continues in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She enjoys teaching plein air workshops, too, in such locations as Cozumel, Taos, and Italy, as well as places closer to home. “I learn from both teachers and students, and they learn from me. It’s an endless circle of community, camaraderie, and encouragement through art. What could be better?”

Email lindacoulter@comcast.net: