Kathy Vellard’s oil pastels compress issues of human existence into intimate works on paper brimming with reflections that range from the critical to the mischievous.

Painstakingly created, the complexity of their making is mirrored in their delicate appearance and rich geologic layering.  These painting/drawings are powerfully influenced by her Louisiana background, and her interest in nature, specifically, its organic and archaeological contents.

The linear elements of her visual vocabulary represent selected images and objects that vary widely, yet they easily co-exist in a mostly monochromatic spatial envelope of luminescent color; color which convincingly sets the stage for her evocative iconography.  These grounds are multiple pastel layers, endlessly reworked and overlaid.  This concentrated strata of energy and pigments, which eventually unite to form a predominant color, suggest depths both literal and emotional.

Vellard’s extensive language of mark-making predominates in all her approaches, whether the piece is ostensibly loaded with a menagerie of intriguing recognizable artifacts or slants toward a sumptuous world of abstract concerns.  The pastel Eventide follows the dictum of Paul Klee, to take a dot for a walk, producing a delightful wandering line, which undergoes a lyrical excursion where journey and destination coalesce. Serene and confident, these lines display a rich calligraphy of private pleasures.

This serenity is less evident in other abstract pieces, such as Tempest where highly expressive lines are potent and direct, evoking moods of agitation and anxiety.  Beginning with vertical emphasis, these pieces are rich in linear cadence and pattern and quite varied in their treatment of pictorial space.