Lydia Pottoff

Lydia Pottoff is a Colorado-based artist working in both oil and pastel, known for her impressionistic landscapes and figurative works that explore the interplay of light and color in the natural world. She paints both in the studio and en plein air, often capturing a vivid sense of place and atmosphere through direct observation and expressive mark-making.

Lydia holds a Bachelor of Arts in both graphic design and fine art from Metropolitan State University. Before returning to fine art, she spent over twenty-five years as a designer and art director, eventually becoming a partner in a successful Colorado creative agency. In 2001, she shifted her focus to painting full time, seeking a more personal and direct mode of creative expression.

Her work has been strongly influenced by the late Elizabeth Mowry—Master Pastelist and author—whose poetic approach to landscape painting continues to inform Lydia’s technique and artistic philosophy.

Lydia is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of Colorado and has received numerous awards for her work in both oil and pastel. Highlights include second place in the 2018 Plein Air Artists of Colorado exhibition, the Heilman Award of Excellence in the 2019 Mile High National Show, and Best Town Painting and Poster Contest Winner at the 2019 Estes Park Plein Air Festival. Most recently, she received the Dick Blick Award of Excellence for Winter’s Eve and the Elizabeth Mowry Poetic Landscape Award for The Sheltering Sky in the Pastel Society of Colorado’s 2022 and 2024 Mile High International Shows, respectively.

Her paintings are represented by the Art Center of Estes Park, Red Canyon Art in Lyons, and Mary Williams Fine Art in Boulder. In addition to her studio practice, Lydia enjoys teaching pastel workshops and classes. Her work is held in private collections throughout the United States.