Dream Field 24 x 30″ oil painting by Holly Van Hart $2500
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!
Amid the Scent of Roses 30 x 24 oil painting by Holly Van Hart
In “Top Fifty Questions”, I’ll answer the top questions I’m asked as an artist. (These questions are usually asked at cocktail parties and other fun social events.)
Question #4 – How long have you been painting?
I’ve been painting my whole life, with one hiatus while in college.
As a girl I made many types of art . . . I painted, made ceramics and did crocheting and calligraphy. My Mom was an artist; she gave us lessons and let us use her top-quality art supplies. (Thanks Mom!)
In college, studying engineering was all consuming and my art was put on hold.
After graduating, I worked in high tech and pursued painting passionately as a hobby – taking dozens classes, reading thousands of books and articles, forming an art critique group, and painting every spare minute.
Now, as a professional artist, I paint every day, all day (every weekday + some weekends). And every day I learn something new.
My art education will never be done. That’s a huge part of the fun 🙂
btw, the above painting is Amid the Scent of Roses. Interested in seeing how it was made? Here’s a short video for you . . .
In “Top Fifty Questions”, I answer the top 50 questions I’m asked as an artist (usually at cocktail parties and other fun social events).
I’ve gone crazy for nests. Well, really I’ve gone crazy for eggs and nests and what they represent.
All my paintings with nests are meant to express the boundless possibilities and opportunities we have in our lives, and are part of my “Possibilities” series. Larger-than-life eggs and nests symbolize the promise of our own capabilities, to be nurtured and explored and stretched to their fullest potential.
My intentions are given away by the titles of some of the paintings – Possibilities in Full Color, Unlimited Possibilities, and Possibilities Abound (winner of the California Statewide Painting Competition).
Forest Reverie 48 x 36 oil painting by Holly Van Hart
I am inspired by life’s limitless possibilities, and my abstract nature paintings are meant to spark new excitement about reaching our biggest, boldest dreams.
This latest painting ‘Forest Reverie’ represents the beginning of a new year or a new season. Colorful opportunities sparkle all around us, and beckon us to reach them. Will we pick the closest, easiest one, or will we stretch further to find our passion?
The Boundary of Spring 48 x 36″ oil painting on canvas by Holly Van Hart
Great question. I like all artists who push the envelope in some exciting way.
Some of my favorite artistic influences include JMW Turner’s late expressionistic landscapes, Georgia O’Keeffe’s magnified images of nature, Mark Rothko’s color-fields, and Joan Mitchell’s huge abstract expressionist paintings. I’m also a huge fan of Walt Whitman, an American poet.
The Secrets Within 40 x 30 mixed media painting by Holly Van Hart
In “Top Fifty Questions”, I’ll answer the top questions I’m asked as an artist. (These questions are usually asked at cocktail parties and other fun social events.)
These inspiration behind these paintings is about secrets, specifically, about sharing secrets.
I’m kind of quiet and not usually very good at sharing things; these emails are a stretch for me. But I’m aiming to get better! To read more, click here –
Writing My Own Fate, 48 x 60″ mixed media painting by Holly Van Hart
Writing My Own Fate (above) is sold. If you’re thinking of treating yourself or a loved one to a painting, please click here and you’ll get the best choice (before the holiday rush) –
Opportunity 30 x 40 oil painting by Holly Van Hart
Originally posted in 2013 and just reposted with updated links to pics and videos of the show
My solo exhibit at the Triton Museum of Art will run from late November 2014 – mid February 2015. If you haven’t been there before, the Triton is a beautiful contemporary art museum in Santa Clara, CA.
This exhibit opportunity came about because my painting ‘Possibilities Abound’ was awarded first place in the Statewide Painting Competition hosted by the Triton. The prize was a solo exhibit.
The title of the solo exhibit will be ‘Possibilities’, and the theme is the virtually limitless possibilities that are available to us in life. In the Possibilities series, eggs are used to represent the unborn promise in our lives, and the nests represent the wonderful variety of homes we build for ourselves.
I’ll need about 15-20 paintings for the exhibit. About 1/2 are done. Some of the paintings are sold but (luckily!) the owners have offered to loan them back.
Preston Metcalf, Chief Curator of the Triton Museum, will decide how the paintings will be hung in the Rotunda gallery. He asked that I be there to give input, and I’m very much looking forward to the day we work together to hang the show.
The reception is December 12, 2014, 6-8pm. This will be the biggest art event so far in my career.
When I look at the painting and am pleased with it, then it’s done.
To be pleased with it, the painting needs to convey the desired idea or feeling or mood, be well designed, well executed, and have some kind of pop or surprise or glow that makes it special. If it’s missing any one of these things, it’s not finished!
I sometimes have the feeling that a painting is done, but then after a couple of weeks, decide it needs further tweaks or even major changes. Then it goes back to the easel.
On rare occasions, I know right away when a painting is done. It feels like a personal breakthrough, and all the stars and moons have aligned, and I’m really digging what I see in front of me. Wish I had more of those days 🙂
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