E S DeSanna

There has never been an alternative to creative living for me. I can’t remember a time when I was not involved in creative activity. As a child, I always had to be making something, whether cardboard sculpture, or painting, drawing, or creating clothes for my dolls or myself.
My primary medium now is pastel, and I prefer to work “en plein air”. I am fortunate to live in the beautiful Hudson Valley at the edge of the Catskills where I find an everchanging vastness of light and color to meditate upon, and to try to capture on paper. I love to explore my surroundings, and record my reactions to time and place. I paint outdoors to force concentration, to achieve a rapid, lucid response to the parameters set by the changing light... I sometimes travel to distant locales, paints in hand, to use the novelty of location to insist on a more intense concentration. A change of scene sharpens my vision and forces extreme focus. But every outing is an adventure. Atmosphere and light effect a mood and sense of place that I try to capture in my work. Even the most familiar site can be especially alluring in certain weather or light conditions. I believe it is important to record the rural areas of my world as both an inspiration and a reminder to appreciate and preserve the beauty of nature.

After a career teaching Fashion Design, E S DeSanna now paints mostly landscapes en plein air. Pastel is her primary medium, the splendor of the Hudson Valley her sustaining inspiration. Wanderlust has often taken her to Europe, where she has painted in England and across northern and central Italy. Her work represents the beauty of nature, but often acknowledges a human presence with the occasional road, the distant village, or a patchwork of fields.
She also translates her study of the landscape to fine print. She has long loved the spontaneous aspect of monotypes, and enjoys more formal printmaking, as well.
She has received awards for her work in pastel and printmaking, and shows extensively in the Hudson Valley. Paintings and prints are in collections in the U.S., and in Italy and the U.K. She has taught pastel workshops for small groups around the Valley and in Italy, and currently offers classes in pastel privately, and at Woodstock School of Art and The Shokan Art Group.