Capturing Memories in Pastel

Old family photographs are California artist Deborah Matlack's chief inspiration. "The past intrigues me," she says. "I have always felt great respect for the older people in my life and have enjoyed the stories of their lives." At 73, Matlack harnesses her memories in evocative pastels that explore what it might have been like to live in a different time. "Things go so fast now," the artist remarks. "In the past things moved slower and impressions lasted longer. I like to capture that nostalgia."

Best known as a portraitist, Matlack believes that there is no subject more inspiring than an individual. The most interesting subjects, she finds, begin in her own memories. Rather than troll family albums for inspiration, Matlack is guided by the passage of her thoughts. "It is not as if I search for a photograph to work from," she explains. "Instead, I think about someone special?maybe because of a celebration?and then I remember a photograph in the family album. Strawberry Blonde, for instance, is a painting of my grandmother's cousin. When I knew her, she had wrinkled skin and gray hair but was still very beautiful. I wanted to bring her alive?someone who died 60 years ago. It was her freshness, her youth, and her playful innocence that captivated me and that's what I wanted to capture in the painting."

Before she begins a painting, or even makes a preliminary sketch, Matlack pictures herself back in time. This exercise helps her translate a black-and-white photograph into color. The artist will often combine a photograph of her subject with her memories of other people. Lost in Time, for example, was inspired by a photograph of Matlack's great-uncle, Joe. The painting, which casts the youthful grace of a young man with palpable sensitivity, is an attempt to meld the expressions of different men in the artist's life with her memories of her great-uncle. "I will try to arrange the composition so that it is in character with the person who is portrayed," Matlack says. "My great-uncle had characteristics that I admired: dignity, gentleness, and composure. This pose helped to express them."

The artist's next step is to draft a series of sketches. She is quick to emphasize, however, that she does not spend too much time on this stage. "I don't make a lot of sketches, because I'm impatient," the artist admits. "I want to get on with it. Too much planning can dampen my enthusiasm." For portraits, Matlack makes a careful drawing in hard pastel, while sketches for her landscapes and interiors allow the artist to block in major areas and establish forms more broadly.

Working on a large sheet of pastel paper, Matlack covers the surface with pastel and, if needed, an alcohol or acrylic wash to tone the paper. She prefers to work on Wallis pastel paper, as she finds it holds the most pastel and allows her to work deeply. "I work all over the painting," she says. "I can start on a figure, a face, or the background. It really depends on my mood. The beginning of a painting is quite conscious. I know what I want to achieve, but not necessarily how I want to achieve it."

Matlack admits that it's not all about working intuitively. The connection between her subjects and their respective backgrounds is often pondered at length. In Cousins' Tea, which the artist based on live models, Matlack adjusted the setting to enhance the ladies' colorful costumes. Instead of rendering the concrete wall that stood behind her models, she used greenery to add the suggestion of a garden.

As she works from hard to soft pastels, Matlack often paints with a mirror behind her. She finds that the mirror helps her to evaluate her progress; for the same reason, she documents her painting process with digital photographs. The artist will also hold her work upside down to check the design. Likening the process to cooking, Matlack notes, "You add a little bit of this or that to change the balance." Indeed, one of the reasons the artist enjoys pastel is that it affords her the capacity to make changes at her discretion?and at the time of her choosing. "I can walk away and come back whenever I have time," the artist remarks. "There are no restrictions."

Many of Matlack's paintings are melancholic in tone, although the artist insists the often somber tenor of her paintings is not intentional. "I am never after a certain emotion," she says. "I paint what I see. When I'm working with models, it is impossible to have them smiling for hours. Holding a pose is difficult enough." Other works exhibit a certain quietude, or a more reflective mood. Commenting on Spring Break, a pleasantly meditative self-portrait of the artist at the age of 22, Matlack says, "I was in love and happy. I was going to art school; it was spring and warm. It was a totally good feeling. Most of all, I was thinking about my future."

Memories also prevail in Matlack's pastel Ocean City, 1943. "It's my great-aunt's summer house that we opened after a harsh winter. I remember the dark, old furniture, and the curtain blowing," the artist remarks. Although some viewers may sense a kind of sadness in the painting, or a feeling of isolation or seclusion, Matlack prefers to see the work in a different way. "I love to capture mystery and not spell out everything for the viewer," she says. Commenting on the work's ability to evoke a sense of loss?or a lost past?the artist remarks, "The good thing is that a lot of young people feel the same way when they see my work. They, too, are aware that time is going by quickly."

Being captivated by the past does not mean that Matlack is not also inspired by the present. She emphasizes that her creativity is fueled by the synthesis of time and place, as well as by light conditions and the way in which a scene unfolds at a particular moment. Bright, early morning light, for instance, resulted in City Arts and Lectures, which depicts a scene from New York that might have sprung from any urban center. Here, a wooden door suggests the transition, borders, and boundaries between beautiful life and the sadder, more destitute side of the city. "This was a timeless moment," the artist reflects, "and it could have been in any city. Anybody who lives in a city can relate to this image."

When questioned about her choices, the variety of her work, and her use of color, Matlack is apt to fall silent. The artist attributes this tendency to her desire to keep her creative options open?and to avoid locking herself into a set pattern or approach when painting. "I know most people, including galleries, like you to be consistent," she concludes, "but the thing is, I am not."



Heidi van Beurden is a journalist who lives and works in Amsterdam. She is the former editor-in-chief of Atelier, a magazine for painters in the Netherlands.

About the Artist
Deborah Matlack, of San José, California, studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in Philadelphia; the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia; Portland State University, in Portland, Oregon; and in Europe. Her Californian instructors have included Bob Gerbracht and Linda Harris. Matlack has had two solo shows and has participated in numerous group shows in California, Washington state, and New York City. Among the artist's many honors are six Best of Show awards. Matlack is a signature member of the Pastel Society of the West Coast and the Sierra Pastel Society, and is an associate member of the Pastel Society of America. For more information, e-mail the artist at: matlack@aol.com.