Aline Ordman, our guest this month, shows up three times in my past Monthly Picks. “Golden Light,” is a favourite of mine (you’ll see below) – you can see what I wrote about it here. Check out what I said about her beautiful bartender here. And very early on in my blogging picks, I chose a landscape by Aline Ordman.

Today, Aline tells us some of the story behind her work: struggling in art school, finding her way into pastels, pushing beyond her comfort zone to build a career, dealing with rejection even after years of success, and continuing to take on things that don’t come easily.

It’s always reassuring to discover that artists who seem to have it all figured out didn’t simply arrive there without struggle. And perhaps even more reassuring to know is that the challenges don’t stop once you become accomplished. They simply change.

As Aline shows us, confronting those challenges is part of what keeps us growing.

Before I hand the blog over to Aline, here’s a wee bit about her.

Aline Ordman Bio

Aline Ordman is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America, an Eminent Pastelist with the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS), a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society (AIS) and a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America (OPA). She resides in Vermont but teaches workshops throughout the USA and Europe. Check out more of Aline Ordman’s work here.

And now, here’s Aline Ordman!

*****

I often wonder how I got here as an artist. The challenges along the way can be daunting, especially when we first start on our journey. Our first attempts can be exciting and also discouraging. 

Although I always drew starting from a young age through college, I was not one of those natural artists who created magic on the page. I struggled! After four years in the Fine Arts department at Cornell, I came no closer to knowing what I wanted to do…was it even art?! However, sometimes happy circumstances create a window to our future, and, in my case, it came with a designer who encouraged me to go to the Academy of Art in San Francisco. And then, my true journey began.

I enrolled in illustration classes where I was told continuously that I needed more figure drawing, and so I started taking those classes as well. My weekly illustration projects never stood out. The teacher would always ask the class to pick their favourite and then the first person would choose their favourite and on down the line. I was never picked at any point down that line. I’m not sure what kept me going, but I worked harder than I ever had before. 

On our last assignment we had to do a wine label in gouache. I made a colour discovery. I saw that if I changed the hue on each grape but not the value, they would sparkle. Then, on that last day, the teacher came in and said “Class, every week I ask you to choose your favourite painting, but this week I want to choose my favourite” and it was mine. That was the first time I discovered what little victories do for us. We will never succeed in every painting we do, but sometimes we create something that gives us that push to want to continue and get better.

Art school was wonderful and challenging, but graduating was even more difficult. I had succeeded in becoming one of their top students, but making the calls to show my portfolio to get illustration work was a hurdle I could barely climb. 

One day, however, when I’d finally gotten a job, I was asked to do an illustration for packaging that would hold a cassette of classical music. The style I was using at the time was very tight and it is what they saw when they hired me. So, I gave them an illustration in that style. But I also thought it might be fun to do a conductor with hair flying and lots of movement. For that, I chose pastel. And they chose that piece as well. It was a lesson in following my heart and it started me working in pastels. I discovered this was a great medium for me.  

I found my strength was in teaching and I started that career when, upon graduating, I was hired to teach figure drawing at the Academy. After eight years though, I moved to the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire and suddenly, teaching was not in the cards…yet. I continued to paint and discovered pastel was the medium I was drawn to the most. 

While making inroads into the community, I finally started teaching locally and developed a core group of students. I was married and comfortable in that little niche, raising my two children and doing some art. 

And then came divorce.

I’m sure I am not alone in discovering that what you think is the worst moment in your life can actually be a gateway to something different and possibly better. For me, I knew I needed to go beyond my comfort zone and create a true career. I literally said to myself, “Where do I want to be in 10 years?” I decided I wanted to be teaching nationally and maybe internationally. I wanted to be in galleries. And I wanted to go beyond where I was artistically. 

I started slowly by approaching the newly built senior centre where I would teach painting and be paid three times more than where I had been teaching before. I also got part time work as I beefed up my portfolio. In finding a place to show the work my students created, I found myself in a gallery for the first time showing my pastels. 

I am forever grateful for the internet where I discovered juried shows and magazines where I could apply to show my work. It is a long process and one that has many ups and downs. 

We all know the joy of being accepted into a show and the pain of being rejected. This is where we go, this is where we grow. 

I was lucky to be accepted the first time I applied to the Pastel Society of America (PSA). If I recall, it was not a great painting, but it was a start. I think that back then, there were not as many pastelists or submissions as there are now. I had the same success with the American Impressionist Society (AIS) and the Oil Painters of America (OPA). I thought, hey this isn’t so hard. It was 15 years before I had a painting accepted into the Oil Painters of America again. Nothing like beginner’s luck to keep you going!

One of the best ways to improve your work and build your national network is to listen to others. 

When I started out in pastels, it was all Canson Mi-Teintes paper and hard pastels. I knew nothing of sanded paper and probably there were not that many choices then. I first worked on sanded paper using Ersta and toning it with liquid wood varnish. It was while teaching a class that I first learned about sanded papers and soft pastels – I started using Art Spectrum Colourfix Paper and Sennelier pastels. 

I’m a creature of habit so this is where I stayed for a long time before, once again through my students, I learned about Schmincke, Unison Colour, Great American, and finally, Terry Ludwig pastels. I also discovered I could never have too many pastels and now I pay attention to the new ones that come out. I also learned about Pastelmat and I now use that paper along with Canson Velvet and Blue Earth Pastels. The supply discoveries are endless.  

One of the great things about teaching is that simply by having to put oral words to what you are doing, you also learn a lot. Teaching was always how I learned. So as I taught, my work improved as well. It also changed.

I started working in water-miscible oils. Oil painting was eluding me. I couldn’t seem to get the same vibrancy of colour as with pastels. So I avoided trying for quite a while thinking it was something I just couldn’t do. The distance between my hand and the canvas caused by holding a brush, felt insurmountable. I discovered oil sticks and started working with them, but in time I wanted to be able to get more details. Working with the sticks gave me the incentive to try oils again. 

My pastels had changed from feeling like I was colouring in my initial drawings to creating shapes in colour. I started seeing painting as more sculptural than drawing…putting down shapes and carving them back as needed. Though I still feel more comfortable with pastels, my oils were beginning to reflect much of what I could do with pastels.

Emails and Facebook became my marketing friends. My fear of making phone calls to market myself never left me…so emailing was a great alternative, and by posting paintings on Facebook and Instagram, I was not only able to improve my name recognition, but I also developed a wonderful network of other artists. 

And along with that, came the realisation of where I was not in my work. Looking at great artwork – whether by masters of the past seen in museums or by other contemporary artists – is a great way to learn what can be done. Painting a lot and working on getting better, also meant I was accepted into more national juried shows. 

I also realised that I needed to create a good website before I went much further and, once again, it was a friend who suggested FASO (Fine Art Studio Online) which is the platform where my website is found. Name recognition brought more workshop offers and my goal of having more national recognition had begun.

Two years ago, I applied as usual to the PSA, AIS, and OPA shows. I didn’t get into any of them. Needless to say, I was devastated and completely questioned the work I was doing. I always say: when you don’t get in, grieve briefly then dust yourself off and move on. Easier said than done! 

I started to see that I wasn’t painting for me. Instead, I was painting what I thought might be accepted. I decided to just paint without expectations – paint what inspires me and don’t force it. 

I had long breaks where going to my studio didn’t feel good. Patience paid off when I finally felt inspired to work again. I took my time and didn’t work for a masterpiece, but just to get better and improve my skills. Working from the heart as they say and without any goals other than that, I was enjoying myself as well. 

This year, I was accepted into every show I applied to. It was a lesson in creativity and one I hope to keep and not forget.

Most of the paintings I create are done in my studio. It isn’t that I don’t ever paint en plein air, but it has never been my strength. 

Last June, I was invited to go to Maine and paint en plein air with some of the greats…artists I so admire and truthfully, am in awe of and intimidated by. I was truly nervous, but couldn’t say no. I packed my little panels and off I went to eat, sleep, and paint with these amazing painters. 

On my first day out, I did my usual uninspiring but not terrible plein air painting. I mostly worked in oils as they are harder for me and I wanted to face this challenge head on. 

The next morning, I chose to just work with pencil and paper and truly study the anatomy of those Maine rocks. I took my time. Inspired by the others, I decided to slow down and really spend time looking. I realised that often, when I’m on location, I rush through a painting and don’t make good decisions.

On the second day out, I finally did a painting I felt good about. Most importantly, I learned a lot doing it…and enjoyed the process!

Facing our challenges is often a difficult thing to do. As artists, it seems every painting can be one of those challenges. Finally getting recognition is quite wonderful…but there is no end to the story.

No matter how much we improve, there is always room for more growth. Trying new mediums (I am now attempting gouache!) or even new approaches to the mediums we use, can feel like we are back in kindergarten. However, it is a great thing to do. As I always tell my students, “If you think you have arrived, you never will.”

~~~~~

Thanks Aline!!

What I love about Aline’s story is her reminder that there really is no end to the story.

Wherever we are in our art journey, there will always be something that asks us to stretch a little further, try something we’re not good at yet, or keep going when things haven’t gone quite as we hoped.

And maybe that’s the point. The challenge isn’t something we need to get past before we can finally feel like a “real” artist. It’s part of being one.

So we’d love to know: What resonated with you in Aline’s story? And what challenge are you confronting in your own art right now?

Perhaps Aline’s experience has encouraged you to meet it a little more head on.

Let us know in the comments!

Until next time,

~ Gail