JERI SALTER
FEATURE ARtist NOVEMBER 2018

Jeri Salter

---

Landscape artist Jeri Salter is drawn to the vast beauty of open spaces, big skies and rolling plains across western landscapes, particularly Texas. Jeri says that, “It’s exciting to find remnants of humanity captured in those scenes of derelict buildings and worn dirt roads.”  

A resident of Austin, Jeri has lived her adult life in Texas, including Houston, where she studied at Glassell Art School. Pastels have become her favorite medium for their immediacy and vibrancy. Her work has been extensively exhibited and is held in private, corporate and museum collections.

​

View Jeri's Website

PSST: You will be demonstrating for our members and teaching a mini workshop at the November 3rd PSST meeting.. How should the members prepare for your workshop?
 
JERI SALTER:  Other than bringing the supplies I mentioned, just come and experiment and have some fun. Most importantly, don’t expect to do a completed painting that you hang on a wall. Hey, if it happens great, but I think that is rare for any workshop. The point is to maybe pick up a few pointers and see things from a different perspective.

PSST:  Your Texas landscapes have the definite feel of space and aerial perspective. How do you go about planning for a panoramic scene?
 
JERI SALTER:  If I am working from photos, which I usually am if it’s a painting of any size, I have numerous photos of the same place. I sketch it out using the elements that I want to include. First I pick the most important aspect that attracted me to begin with, and then I build the rest to support it using multiple photos, if necessary. Also playing around with the cropping tool for photos is very helpful.
 
PSST: How do you describe your painting style and color choices? Have you found particular colors that are essential for the landscapes in various parts of Texas?
 
JERI SALTER:  Describing my painting style is not something I think about except when people ask me. It can be loose in some spots and tighter in others. Generally I like the foreground to be loose and the center of interest to be a little more detailed. It definitely is representational but hopefully not more detailed than I feel it needs to be.

PSST: Do you have a favorite art material, tool, or brand of pastels that you would like to recommend?
 
JERI SALTER:  I use a lot of different types of pastels but I must mention Terry Ludwig’s pastels; especially the darks. They are so deep and rich. There is a weird tool I use a lot and it’s a nut pick (to lift color). The kind that comes when you have a nut cracker set. I use it to pull off spots that are hard to get at otherwise, and they are great for making a telephone line in the sky.


PSST: Please, tell us what special events or classes you have coming up.
 
JERI SALTER:  I have a painting in the Mountain Oyster Club Western Art Show on November 17 in Tucson AZ. I will also be in the Texas Aesthetics Show at William Reaves and Sarah Foltz Art Gallery in Houston this spring.

 

"Trying to capture the scenes as they are today while doing it in my own way was daunting and fulfilling.”

- Jeri Salter on returning to and plainting places in Texas that Frank Reaugh painted during his lifetime