Aly Ytterberg First Place Winner in Visions of the American Landscape

Remember that Barn, 2022, acrylic, 30” x 24”

Visions of the American Landscape, April 8, 2021 – May 7, 2022, showcases regional artists and their diverse artwork and mediums dealing with the American landscape. Aly Ytterberg’s piece, “Remember that Barn,” stood out to juror Emmy Lingscheit and was awarded first place for several reasons. We spoke with Aly Ytterberg about her prize-winning piece and her art practice.

- The linear lines and blocks of color remind me of the Midwestern landscape as seen from a moving car. Is this painting inspired by the Missouri/Illinois landscape?

Good Eye! Yes, my in-laws live in the Chicago suburbs, so we do a lot of driving on I-55. I used to think the scenery was pretty boring and repetitive, but over the years I have come to love the rolling fields and farms and how they change with the seasons and the years. It’s like they’ve become an old friend! The reference photos for this piece come from looking out of the window while we were driving north one summer.

- The painting’s analogous color palette is beautiful and calming. Can you tell me why you used this limited palette?

The color palette came mostly from the reference photo I took during an extremely sunny day. I was drawn to the bright whites, ochres, and greens and the gorgeous dusty blues of the skies. So those are the colors that I drew from the photos and used as a jumping-off point for the piece. Sometimes a color palette just pops out at me, and this is one of them. I am still experimenting with this palette in my current work!

 -  How do you begin a painting? 

Every piece that I start begins on the computer. I like to work my designs out in Adobe Illustrator and then paint from there. So I generally start with a reference image and use that to pull colors and shapes from in order to build up a composition. There’s lots of tinkering and playing at this stage, but that’s easy to do because it is all on the computer. Once I am happy with the design, I transfer it onto the canvas and begin to paint.

- Who are the artists that inspire you?

Oh, there are so many! But, the group of artists that I have adored and admired since I began to love art as a little kid, are the Impressionists. It sounds cliché probably, but I have always loved their work. My favorite part is walking into a gallery, seeing an impressionist piece from afar, and noticing how it looks completely realistic. Then you walk closer and closer and see the dots, lines, brush strokes, and blobs of color that start to appear. And when you are really up close, the piece looks almost abstract in nature. They were the first group of artists to truly break away from the traditional styles of art. They experimented with new colors, new materials, and new methods. They broke down images and scenery into simpler swatches, dots, lines, and brushstrokes of color. Something I naturally find myself doing as well. They truly were masters of color and composition and shadows and light. And I study their pieces still!

I have also always been drawn to Louise Nevelson’s work. Her assemblage pieces and the balances, contrasts, and harmonies that she creates with objects, space, shapes, and forms are truly astounding. I studied sculpture in college, and her pieces were always ones that I would come back to and study. There are hidden treasures and new parts to see in each of her assemblages.

 - Was this the first juried exhibition you’ve won/ entered?

 I am honored to have had work in juried exhibitions throughout the years, but I am pretty sure that this is my first big win. That being said, when I was in high school, I actually won an award in the St. Louis Artist Guild Young Artist Showcase for an assemblage sculpture that I created. So this is a nice full-circle moment.

- If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would that person be?

Oh, this is always a tough question…I am not one for favorites or picking just one answer. I would definitely love to throw a dinner party and then just sit back and listen!

 - When did you start to call yourself an ‘Artist’?

Ha! Good question! I quit my full-time job to pursue art in 2016. But whenever anyone asked what I did as a job, I would always cringe a little bit when I said “artist.” I was kind of afraid of judgment and questions and honestly didn’t truly believe I deserved such a title. That being said, now I am much more confident saying that I am an Artist and I think that confidence has developed as I have narrowed down my style, gained clients and collectors, and honestly, as I became a mom. I am lucky enough to get to stay home with my 3 kiddos (a 3-year-old and twin 9-month-olds), it’s a hard job, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. And as most parents know, Parenting is all-consuming! Art is the one little piece of me from before kids that I have kept and held onto tightly. I learned very quickly that I needed to keep being creative in order to be a better mom to my sons and a better me. Being a Mother-Artist is pretty much the greatest job title I could have asked for! I have created more work than I am immensely proud of in the last three years of being a mom and an artist than I created before having kids.

- What type of music do you listen to in your studio?

The hum of baby monitors and white noise machines or a Frozen soundtrack that I forgot to turn off! I used to listen to podcasts, watch shows, or listen to things in my studio before kids came into the picture. But now my painting window is so short (generally a two-hour nap time) that I just go from laying the last kiddo down for a nap and jump right into the studio. This is my sacred time, and I don’t allow much to get in the way of it!

If I happen to have some free time to paint while my husband watches the boys, I will generally turn on some bluegrass, mostly instrumental upbeat music.