Pastel Paintings by Tennessee Artist and Pastelist Paula Ford

This week’s featured artist is Paula Ford, a pastelist from Tennessee.

If you look through her pastel paintings, you’ll see that they range from softer, rather impressionist landscapes to detailed renderings of the Tennessee countryside.

Full Bloom is one of the former, with blended colors and a beautiful sense of drama.

The central tree seems to lean into the wind and light, reveling in its brilliant fall foliage while the slope of the ground and direction of the windblown grass help to create a dynamic angle to the entire piece.

Paula also makes great use of more neutral colors to add depth, and blurs the edges of far-off hills to increase a sense of atmosphere and distance.

In Out in the Country, Paula’s eye for detail and use of bold colors created an entirely different type of scene—less drama, perhaps, but more of a story.

That’s because the real focus of this pastel painting isn’t the red barn or the bright flowers, and it’s not the scenery or clear blue sky either—it’s that old country lane drawing you deeper and deeper into the painting.

In fact, most of Paula’s work pulls you in, whether it’s an old road, a curving stream, or simply a glorious view of Tennessee, like in Autumn Field below.

I’d encourage you to take a look at all of Paula Ford’s pastel paintings, especially if you like Autumn colors and rolling landscapes. You won’t be disappointed.