(previous) The artist’s earlier work primarily took shape as landscape painting in watercolor and gouache. These earlier works can be seen as expressionistic interpretations of the land, dominated by poignant fields of color and punctuated by minimalist shapes of mesas, mountain ridges, and desert brush. They have within them the seeds of abstraction that she is now exploring in full. While there is kinship with the Taos Moderns in her work, the artist also cites influences including Fauvism, Surrealism, and Der Blaue Reiter. Follingstad’s works reflect aspects of each of these distinct schools, including a strong emphasis on the energy and communicative potential of strong color fields that interact within the picture plane. The work also shares in these lineages in her exploration of spirit. In her artist statement, she says, “When I paint I am always aware of intrinsic abstraction in the world I observe, and compositions of line, shapes, rhythm, and color images emerge. My paintings – like Haiku – are unique observations of being and spirit in the moment.” (continue)