Perspectives: Peg Usner

Sponsored by Tangipahoa Parish Tourism

It takes a certain fortitude to be a plein air painter in Louisiana. Our climate is often not a comfortable one for long periods spent concentrating, out of doors. But given the otherworldly beauty of the state’s land- and waterscapes, its vegetative exuberance, roiling skies, and the teeming birdlife that flocks across them—those with the constitution to weather its challenges can reap great rewards. “I’ve always been an outdoors person,” remarked Mandeville artist Peg Usner. “When you paint en plein air the scene is constantly changing.” Usner explained that, for the painter, every breeze, every cloud across the sun reveals some new detail to the keen observer. “It gives you a certain intimacy with the landscape that you just don’t get in the studio. Sometimes you’ll be painting a scene, then the light changes just enough that you notice a tree in the distance that you didn’t see before. As an artist, I get to decide which elements to focus on at which time.” 

Born and raised in New Orleans, Usner spent her career as an interior designer, working at various New Orleans firms and teaching at Delgado Community College before moving to Mandeville in 1991. “As a lifelong lover of the outdoors, I guess it’s weird that I would become an interior designer,” said Usner. “But the principles of good painting and good design are the same: work within the composition; use line, shape, form, texture, and color to create harmony and balance. It’s the same concept—just in a different medium.” 

A new twist: Usner has started stacking canvases—a technique that enables the artist to add an element of depth to her landscapes. Composing several different-sized canvases one atop another, she paints her scene in different layers, consigning a background to one; a dominant tree to another, a fishing egret or a passing boat to a third. As when viewing an actual landscape, the eye is drawn to particular elements and features. “You get a better sense of depth,” said Usner. 

Although she still makes the drive across the Causeway to paint in and around New Orleans—in City Park or Lafayette Cemetery—Usner loves the wide open landscapes north of Lake Pontchartrain. “Over here, you can find yourself in an area that feels very distant from civilization very quickly. That creates a bond between you and nature. And even the things you’re not capturing, they remain part of your experience.” 

Several times a year, Peg Usner leads plein air painting workshops on both the Northshore and in New Orleans. Beginning September 9, an exhibit of recent work entitled The Intimacy of Plein Air Painting will open at the St. Tammany Art Association in Covington. pegusner.com for details. 

This month the art of Peg Usner will be profiled on LPB’s Art Rocks, the weekly showcase of Louisiana’s visual and performing arts hosted by Country Roads’ publisher James Fox-Smith. Tune in Friday, September 15, at 8:30 pm, repeating Saturday, May 14, at 5:30 pm, across the LPB network. lpb.org/artrocks.