Here’s a video on the making of Paradise Found –
Questions? Interested in hanging this painting in your home? Contact holly.vanhart@gmail.com. Click here for purchase info.
For me, the answer is both yes and no. With a glass of wine or two, my mind sometimes opens up to new ideas.
But if I have a drink and then try to apply paint to canvas, mostly I make a big mess.
So, the trick is to harness the ideas without messing up any in-progress paintings!
Click here to see the rest of the Top 50 Questions
Have a question to add to the top 50? Email me at holly.vanhart@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Sometimes our dreams are so close we can almost touch them.
And sometimes we need to climb a ladder or a tree (or learn to fly) to reach our dreams. In any case, it’s worth the stretch!!! That was what I had in mind while painting the magnolia flowers and nest in ‘Outside My Window’.
Outside our windows at home, we’re lucky to have an assortment of oaks, redwoods, and other beautiful trees. No magnolias, although there are plenty in our neighborhood.
For purchase info, please email me at holly.vanhart@gmail.com.
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We all need to escape sometimes!
Yes! Here’s a video tour video. (Also, you are invited to visit in person. Click for details.)
It’s actually, 3 short video tours – a partial tour of my home gallery, a tour of the (cleaned up) studio where I paint, and a tour of the (messy) studio a few days before the event.
Want to check it out in person? My studio is located in Saratoga, CA. Please call or email me (650 646 5590, holly.vanhart@gmail.com) to make an appointment. Click for details.
Some people think that depressed or angry people create better art. Is that true?
Or, can happy people create masterpieces too?
There are no simple answers to these questions of course, but just for fun let’s look at a sample of the world’s greatest artists (my personal faves) and explore the question. Here goes . . .
“The New Novel”, Winslow Homer, 1877
Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was considered the greatest American painter of his time. He created extraordinary landscapes, marine paintings, and figures too. Homer was a recluse and a bit odd, but not depressed, enraged or insane. That’s one point for ‘satisfied souls’.
“Goat Horn with Red”, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1945
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) revolutionized American modern art with bold abstracts, landscapes and flowers. For decades she lived by herself in New Mexico, and sometimes suffered from serious depression. One point for ‘tortured souls’.
“No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue)”, Mark Rothko, 1954
Mark Rothko (1903-1970) was a Russian-Jewish abstract painter who emigrated to the US at the age of 10. He achieved huge commercial success during his lifetime. Rothko was most certainly depressed, drank heavily, took barbiturates, and sadly, at age 66, committed suicide. Add a second point for ‘tortured’.
“Norham Castle – Sunrise”, JMW Turner, c 1835
JMW Turner (1775-1851) was a renowned English landscape painter known as “the painter of light”. Turner seemed like a fairly normal guy. He had plenty of friends, and wasn’t depressed, enraged, or insane. Now it’s even, two points for ‘tortured’ and two points for ‘satisfied’.
“La Grande Vallee XIII”, Joan Mitchell, 1983
Joan Mitchell (1925 -1992) was a prominent Abstract Expressionist who lived in Chicago, Manhattan, and Paris. Mitchell was an alcoholic, often depressed, and described many of her paintings as “violent and angry”. ‘Tortured souls’ lead at 3 points to 2.
This last painting, very humbly put after the ‘greats’ above it, is mine. As for me, am I enraged or depressed or feeling like a tortured soul? No, not especially, but on any given day I may be any of those things. (Just ask my husband and children.) Is my art better on those days? No, but I think it is more experimental, sometimes to better effect but not always.
Summing up this totally non-scientific survey . . . The ‘tortured souls’ are ahead at 3 points (Rothko, O’Keeffe, Mitchell) to 2 (Turner, Homer). Perhaps the conclusion is ‘you don’t have to be unhappy to create great art, but it helps’.
What do you think? Do tortured souls create more expressive art? Leave a comment on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hollyvanhart or Email me with your thoughts – holly.vanhart@gmail.com
Soft Start
Oil painting by Holly Van Hart (sold)
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Wishing that your day will be as full of exciting possibilities . . .
as the eggs being incubated in this cozy feathered nest.
(Do any birds’ nests actually look like this? Well, yes, kind of . . . learn more here.
Holly
P.S. Soft Start was featured in my solo exhibition at the Triton Museum of Art. Would you like to know more about the show? You’re invited to read my interview in the Huffington Post, or to view the pics and videos from the museum exhibition.
Abundance
30 x 40″ oil painting by Holly Van Hart (sold)
Buy a print
Abundance is part of my Possibilities series that includes nests and eggs as the subject. This painting signifies the abundant possibilities that are available to the little lives that are in this very full nest.
The calm of the surface of the eggs is offset by the variety of colors and complicated weaving of the nest. This contrast reflects the reality of our lives, which are often some combination of calm, colorful, and complicated.
Like most of my work, Abundance was built up using multiple layers of oil paints. The layers give a special glow to the eggs, and extra texture and depth to the nest.
This painting is sold, but you can buy a print here.
Originally published in 2013 and recently updated to include information on prints
Many of you have been curious about the painting process, and how paintings are created. Watch this video to learn my take on this topic.
This is the first of a series of videos I’ll publish on how a painting is created. Enjoy!
As you scroll down, you’ll see the progression of a newly released painting called ‘A Deep Breath’.
But first, I’d like to share this quote because captures my inspiration for this painting . . .
“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.” — Alice Walker
One cool way to make a perfect, imperfect painting is to rely on lots of drips. That’s what I’ll do here.
The drips can look like trunks, and branches, and, well, drips.
In the art world, when you can clearly see signs that something is a painting (and not a photo and not a photorealistic painting), we call this “painterly”.
This will be painterly.
Here’s a detail view.
The closer up you look, the more painterly it gets!
And (take a deep breath) here’s the finished painting . . .
A Deep Breath
48 x 48″ mixed media painting by Holly Van Hart
$6500
‘A Deep Breath’ is hanging in my entryway.
It could be hanging in yours!
Purchase info here
To purchase, email holly.vanhart@gmail.com
The daisies in ‘Dream Field’ represent our dreams, some dreams bigger than others, some growing and developing, others on the decline, and all of them dancing around through the turbulence and beauty that we call life.
Here’s wishing that our biggest, boldest dreams come true!
Many many layers (and weeks) later, here is the finished painting . . .
So you can see the details, here’s a ‘flyover’ of Ideas Everywhere –
And here is how Ideas Everywhere looks in my home –
‘Ideas Everywhere’
This painting is sold. To see available paintings, click here.
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Funny thing happened the other night. A friend came to dinner and it was the height of the gladiolus season. He looked at my husband’s garden –
and then at this painting hanging on our living room wall –
He pointed to one, and then the other, and asked the question . . . which came first, the flowers or the painting?
Oddly enough, the flowers came from my imagination about 6 months before my husband grew his first gladiolus flowers. But his garden is spectacular and will inspire many more paintings to come!
‘Beckoning’ is currently hanging in our home. If you’d like to hang it in yours, please email me at holly.vanhart@gmail.com or call 650 646 5590.
To see all available paintings, click here.
High quality prints are available here (on canvas, paper, metal, framed, unframed, and so much more).
Treat yourself! 🙂
Summer Sparkle
48 x 36″ oil and acrylic painting by Holly Van Hart (sold)
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A couple of years ago, I set about creating a brand new art website (the site you’re on right now). I learned lots, had fun, and am happy with the result. But it took waaaaaaaaay longer than expected.
So that others could learn from my experience, I wrote an article about lessons learned called “Build Your Own Website in 10 Minutes (Not)“. The article is posted on Alyson Stanfield’s art marketing blog, artbizcoach.com blog. Read the article here.
btw, if you’re an artist, I’d highly recommend subscribing to the artbizcoach.com blog.
Do you have any experience with building your own website? If so, we’d love to hear from you – holly.vanhart@gmail.com
What does ‘vulnerability’ mean to you? Does hearing that word make you squirm and feel uncomfortable? It does that to me!
To put it all out there, my most vulnerable moments are when . . .
* I express love or appreciation to someone, and am not sure whether the feeling is returned
* My art is being exhibited and I’m in a room full of people seeing it for the first time
* I send an image of a new painting to all the people on my VIP email list
* Someone unsubscribes to my email list (ouch!)
* I post a new painting or article (like this one) on this blog
* My work is not accepted into a competition or exhibition
* My sons (now ages 11 and 13) are facing disappointment, and I can’t just ‘fix it’ for them any more
Luckily, from my years in high tech, I had many opportunities to experience both acceptance and rejection. I know how to roll with rejection. Sometimes I might need a few moments or hours or days to catch my breath and recover, but then I do, and life goes on and I can keep making progress. Thank goodness. Without that, life as an artist would be impossible!
To see the rest of my top 50 questions, click here.
Have a question for me? Click here.
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Do you love being in a forest and inhaling deeply? Forest air smells so pure, so fresh and so alive!
This sensory experience is what inspired my new painting ‘Woodscent’ (above). For purchase info, email holly.vanhart@gmail.com.
Thanks very much for stopping by! If you’d like to see more abstracted forest paintings, click here.
More info here –
Studio visit
Purchase details
Try Before You Buy program
In “Top Fifty Questions”, I’ll answer the top things I’m asked as an artist. (These questions are usually raised at cocktail parties and other fun social events.)
Silicon Valley, in northern California, is a hotbed of technology innovation. It is a place where anything is possible, and failures are just stepping stones to the next success.
I love this part of the culture, which played out in my life every day for 20 years as a Silicon Valley-based high tech exec, and now in my art. My whole ‘Possibilities’ series is rooted in the unrelenting optimism of Silicon Valley.
You can read more about my Silicon Valley experience here on LinkedIn.
Not everyone loves Silicon Valley as much as I do. Have you lived or worked here? What’s your take?
Friends,
Thank you! Because of you, my life is filled with warmth and friendship and color and fun. You inspire me! Don’t know what I’d do without you and your amazing support.
For a fun flashback, thought you might like to see a few photos from the installation of my 2014 solo show at the Triton Museum of Art . . .
With Preston Metcalf, Chief Curator at the Triton Museum of Art, on day of installation of my solo exhibition. Photo by my artist friend Marie Cameron.
Preston wrote an essay about my work. If you’re curious what it says, click here.
Oh, the glamorous life of an artist! With Bryan Callanta unloading 17 paintings from the Uhaul truck into the Triton Museum of Art. Photo by Marie Cameron.
Feeling gleeful after all paintings were unloaded and delivered unharmed to my favorite contemporary art museum 🙂 Photo by Marie Cameron.
Photos are compliments of Marie Cameron, a wonderful friend, artist and photographer. Thank you Marie!
Warmly,
Holly
Living a life of abundance means so many different things. For me, part of the satisfaction of an abundant life includes sharing with others.
I love it when friends, artists, gallery owners, curators and others share their secrets with me. Even after all these years here on earth, I have plenty to learn about life, love, art & everything!
And I’m happy to divulge my secrets in return. (I’m pretty much an open book, so there really aren’t many secrets. But I’m not a chatty person so you might have to ask me to draw them out.)
‘Divulging the Secrets’ is a celebration of sharing!
This painting is sold, but you can see available forest, flower, and landscape paintings here. (Also, you can check out the try-before-you-buy program, and purchase info.)
To see more flower paintings and read more about their inspirations, click here.
Morning Light
40″ x 30″ oil painting on canvas by Holly Van Hart (sold)
A few times a year my family spends the weekend at or near Lake Tahoe, CA. It’s a gorgeous place, with expansive views of the Sierras just about everywhere you look. And what makes it even more special is enjoying it with friends!
One Saturday morning, before everyone else was awake, I took a walk along the lake and snapped lots of photos. Back in my studio, I painted ‘Morning Light’. Morning is my favorite time of the day, and my aim was to convey a feeling of quiet and serenity.
Gallery Wrap side view of “Morning Light”
Does ‘Wandering in Wonder’ make you want to wander through this forest? And take in the wonder of nature and life? Hope so!
Here’s how this painting looks in a living room –
Wandering in Wonder is sold, but you can see available forest, flower, landscape, and nest paintings here.
More info here –
Studio visit
Purchase details
Try Before You Buy program
Questions? Email holly.vanhart@gmail.com.
Thanks for your interest!
This new commissioned painting was just delivered and installed in a gorgeous new home in Lake Tahoe, CA.
Thank you Karen & Greg!
“I love it” they both said. Music to my ears 🙂
Do you ever feel like leaving all your obligations and routines behind (at least for an hour or two, or a week or two)? Do you feel like running free?
I’d like viewers to look at this painting and get that exact feeling. To get lost in the forest and the light, and to feel completely unencumbered.
Ready?
If you’d like to see some in-progress pics of this painting, here you go –
Running Free is sold, but you can <a href=”https:///available-paintings/#forest-paintings” target=”_blank”>see available forest paintings here</a>.
Want to be the first to see new paintings as they are released? Become a VIP! Click for details.
Do you stick to certain daily habits? Would you think that habits help (or hinder) your creativity?
This might surprise you, but many creative people have strong daily habits. And we go to enormous lengths to maintain them.
Habits allow our mental bandwidth to be channeled to create new stuff (art, music, computer programs, legal strategies, etc), rather than being wasted on the mundane (for example, which route should I take to work?).
If this topic fascinates you (as it does me), you might like to check out the highly rated book ‘Daily Rituals: How Artists Work‘ by Mason Currey.
One of the conclusions of ‘Daily Rituals’ is that there is no set of habits that is best for creativity. But when we develop habits that suit our values and lifestyle, we are setting ourselves up for success.
Some of my habits include eating oatmeal for breakfast every day (all 7 days of the week, all 52 weeks of the year, with very rare exceptions), and heading to my studio to start painting as soon as my sons leave for school.
One of my habits is eating a bowl of oatmeal every morning.
The extras vary (strawberries, nuts, cinnamon, coffee, hot chili pepper, . . . ) but the Quaker Oats stay the same.
I have some other daily habits (bad ones) that I’m trying to kick and that do not contribute to my creativity – like eating far too much chocolate. But that’s a subject for another time.
What daily habits do you find most helpful?
At cocktail parties and other fun social events, people often ask me questions about life as an artist. They are answered in my ‘Top 50 Questions’ list. This blog post is the latest addition to my Top 50. To see the other questions & answers, click here.
If you dig the warmth of the sun (like I do), please step into my forest.
‘The Grand Escape’ is fresh off the easel, not even dry yet!
Additional abstract forest paintings are available for sale here.
Paint solvents, thinners, and thickeners are often toxic. I don’t use any of these, except for turpentine to deep-clean my brushes (which I do outside).
Oil painting mediums (such as thickeners and thinners) tend to be an artist’s best friends. I had some favorite mediums that were toxic, but after some intense experimenting around, I found and fell in love with two that aren’t – walnut oil to thin the paints, and Gamblin Solvent-Free Gel as a thickener.
And I try my best not to eat the paints 🙂
Click here to see the rest of the Top 50 Questions
Want to know what’s going on in my studio? Friend me on Facebook and see something new every day!
Trees and forests can be magical, beautiful and mysterious. They captivate me, and have inspired hundreds of landscape paintings.
With Architect of Peace, I want you the viewer to feel intrigued enough to step into the painting. To explore this new world that shimmers with light and colors and peace. Welcome. Enjoy.
To enquire about this painting, please email holly.vanhart@gmail.com.
Have you ever been drawn to something so strongly that you needed to do it? Even if it was risky and even if you might not succeed, you knew this was the right direction for you?
With ‘Into the World of Light’, I wanted the viewer to feel compelled to enter the painting. To bask in the warmth of the sun. To explore what’s over those hills. To ponder the freedoms that lie ahead.
To find the right direction for myself, I usually need lots of time to think and let my mind wander freely. Without that, it’s too easy to get pulled into everyday obligations and routines.
‘The gift of time’ is one of the best things I can do for myself. Do you find the same?
Here are in-progress pics for Into the World of Light –
The start of the painting. It may look like fog, but my plan is for this to become a well-lit forest.
Next I painted in the sunlit field and (at the top) some branches and leaves.
Here I’m using my new watercolor techniques (but with acrylic paints).
Close-up of the sunlit mountain.
Finished!
Into the World of Light
48 x 60″ mixed media painting by Holly Van Hart
Yes! I do custom paintings.
In fact, I just delivered a custom painting to a new collector, and this is what she had to say –
“You perfectly transformed my dream into a stunningly beautiful painting. I am deeply grateful.”
Wow, I feel so honored. That made my day (my week!). Thank you Sue!!!
I love creating custom paintings. Good thing, because I’m currently working on 6 of them, ranging in size from 16 inches wide up to 80″ wide. That’s wider than you are tall!
If you’d like to learn more about custom paintings, click here (http://hollyvanhart.com/commission-painting/) . (They make great gifts, and come with a 100% money back guarantee.) Or email me at holly.vanhart@gmail.com.
Whether you’re interested in commissioned paintings or not, thank you for your interest in my work.
— Holly
P.S. If you want more info, check out more testimonials and pics of paintings installed in collectors homes.
P.P.S. My custom paintings were awarded Best of Houzz. Check out the details here.