Name: Lynn D. Pratt
Age: 40
Hometown: Pawlet, VT
How would you describe yourself in three words? Creative. Loved. Driven.
What’s something not a lot of people know about you? My family and I like to do obstacle course races like Spartan and Savage races and we have obstacles built all over inside our house.
How do you start your day? I start my day first with Coffee, then getting my kids up for school and sitting down at my desk to paint.
What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve done in your life? When I was in college I studied abroad in France and backpacked to over 20 countries, often on my own. Either that or closing a successful architecture practice and deciding to try out painting for a living.
What’s your favorite food? Candy corn or cheeseburgers, it’s a toss-up.
Do you have a day job? Yes, painting. lol
What medium do you work in? Watercolor primarily and I dabble in alcohol inks and plan to start colored pencils as well.
Why this medium? I love the way you can control watercolor while it also has its own mind. I also love the vibrance of the colors that their transparency creates. You really don’t get that with many other mediums.
What inspired you / how did it start? I started painting as a hobby and quickly became obsessed with it. I would paint right when I was done working for the day and often late into the evenings. I slowly took less and less clients for my architectural firm and painted more and more until I finally started painting full time and closed my architectural practice completely.
Do you have a process for creating? I start with something that interests me or catches my eye, then I take about 100-200 photos of the subject, usually in different orientations. I use photoshop to edit the photos and usually combine multiple images to form the perfect reference photo. I then paint from that image.
When are you the most inspired / what’s your favorite time of day to work? I love mornings. I have a fresh cup of coffee, my husband goes to work and my kids are at school (or at remote school in their rooms these days) and I have a quiet house to listen to music and create in.
Which artists inspire you? One of my favorite artists is Peter Huntoon. I not only love his paintings, but he is also a super inspiring person to talk to. When I first started painting, he gave me wonderful advice and encouraged me to stick with it. Another is Robert O’Brien. I paint in a very similar style to him and he was the first artist I got to know who didn’t think painting in a realistic style with watercolor was wrong!
What do you listen to when you work? I like to listen to hard rock and EDM mostly with some rap and pop music mixed in. Definitely something fast paced with a good beat.
What are your thoughts on being an artist in Rutland? Living out in the country makes it a little harder to sell art and teach classes so having Rutland so close by makes it a lot easier for me.
What’s your earliest memory of making art in Rutland? One of the first shows I ever did was Art in the Park in Rutland through Chaffee Art Center. I absolutely loved it and have gone back every year!
Why do you think artists are attracted to Rutland? Rutland is a great centrally located area in the middle of many smaller towns making it a great place to gather and create!
Which arts organizations in town are you involved with and how has it impacted you? I am a member of the Chaffee Art Gallery in Rutland and do many shows, classes and activities with them. They have been wonderful!
What’s your favorite art exhibit/project you’ve seen in Rutland? I always enjoy the variety of artists that come to Art in the Park in Rutland. It’s a great community of creative and talented people.
What would you like to see for the future of the arts in Rutland? I would love for there to be more art classes available in Rutland. We need a large, open, centrally located space to hold them and I think many teachers and students would go there.
