coloricombo 2023: The fourth #coloritree prompt

March Challenge

This is the fourth prompt for #coloritree, part of the ongoing #coloricombo 2023 challenge. There will be ten posts in total, all linked to artworks featuring trees by female artists from the past. These will be released on Monday and Thursday until the end of March.

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“One could pick almost any painting of a doorway or window that Dodd did between 1971 and 1997, a stretch of more than twenty-five years, and quickly discern the following; all of them establish a palpable relationship between subject matter and picture plane”

-John Yau

With the research Este is doing for this March Challenge, a focus on female artists who created paintings featuring trees, she has discovered some wonderful artists that were not known to her before and she is so pleased to have discovered Lois Dodd.

Dodd (b. 1927) is an American artist who’s known for her vibrant paintings of landscapes and still lifes. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, she attended Cooper Union in New York straight after the Second World War. There she studied textile design but she painted throughout and eventually abandoned textiles altogether after graduation. She also attended the Skowhegan School in Maine then later taught at the Brooklyn College and the Skowhegan School.

In 1951, Dodd moved to Italy with the sculptor William King. When they returned to New York, they were involved in the Tanager Gallery. It remained open until 1962 and was the most influential of the cooperative galleries based around Tenth Street, attracting artists like Alex Katz, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston and Helen Frankenthaler.

Dodd’s paintings are defined by their bold use of colour and composition and they evoke a sense of joy, often due to their simplicity. She depicts everyday scenes including still lives, views from her studio and buildings and windows all whilst working quickly, often sketching a scene before the light changes. Dodd is an observational artist who worked at the time (and place) when both Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art were dominant.

Dodd has exhibited her work in numerous institutions across the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. In 2012, she was the subject of a retrospective entitled Catching the Light. Dodd still paints and lives between houses in New York City and Maine.

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Colour Combination

The colours for this weeks prompt are Pale Heather, Raisin, Apple Green and Soft Mint.

For this March Challenge, please add the tag #coloritree along with the usual #coloricombo and @estemacleod and @lorisiebert.studio when posting on Instagram. You are also welcome to post on the private Facebook group Creative Prompts with Esté MacLeod.

Four Seasons

A little treat coming up, when #coloritree finishes there will be a mini-course offered in April through Este. Four Seasons is a five day course linked to the topic of trees and will run from 1-5 April with free access during the month of April. More information about this course will be released on 13 March.

We are loving all of your works.

XO