What’s New – Page 7 – HOLLY VAN HART

Possibilities Alight

: Possibilities Alight
24 x 30 x 2.5″ oil painting by Holly Van Hart
$2500
Story behind the painting

Meet “Possiblities Alight”. This painting features a bird’s nest resting in the middle of brilliantly lit branches and flowers.

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.

Interested? For purchase info, email holly.vanhart@gmail.com.

More info here –
Studio visit
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If you’d like to see more available paintings, click here.

‘Building the Future’

Building the Future
24″ x 18″ oil painting by Holly Van Hart (sold)
See available paintings here

‘Building the Future’ is about the choices we make for ourselves, and the excitement of preparing for a big life-change.

If the hands in this painting look at all familiar, it may be because they were inspired by Rodin’s sculpture ‘The Three Muses”. To see some of my earlier work inspired by Rodin, click here.

This is the first of a few paintings in my Possibilities series that were inspired by Rodin. Living in Silicon Valley, we’re close to Stanford University and its amazing Rodin Sculpture Garden. I love any excuse to get back there! Stay tuned for more . . .

(If you’re curious about the Possibilities series, you can read more here, “What’s up with all the eggs and nests?“)

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Do you believe in fate?

Do you believe in fate? Or in creating your own future? Or a bit of both?

“Actions are the seeds of fate. Deeds grow into destiny.” – Harry Truman. Seems he was ‘a bit of both’ kind of guy.

This new painting was inspired by the idea of creating our own destiny . . .

: New inspiration!
While walking with my sister along the High Line trail in Manhattan, we spotted these cool looking flowers. I especially liked how some flowers were much taller and stood above the rest.

: I wanted to capture the strength of these tall flowers. Also, I wanted to keep pushing myself with new watercolor-like techniques using acrylic paints. (See all those drips?)

: In this next step, I added many smaller flowers and aimed to get the feeling of movement.

: To test a design, sometimes I snap a photo and look at it in black and white. A good painting will look good even without the colors.

: Done!
Writing My Own Fate
48 x 60″ mixed media painting by Holly Van Hart (sold)
To see all available paintings, click here.

To see all available paintings, click here.

You are welcome to come for a studio visit, or to try-before-you-buy.

New! A Deep Breath

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

Starting a new forest drip painting. After failing at a bunch of earlier drip paintings Im determined to approach this differently | Holly Van Hart

One cool way to make a perfect, imperfect painting is to rely on lots of drips. That’s what I’ll do here.

Forest landscape painting in progress | Holly Van Hart

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.

Detail - A Deep Breath - Mixed media painting by Holly Van Hart - 48 x 48

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

Installed painting - Landscape forest - A Deep Breath - Mixed media painting by Holly Van Hart - 48 x 48 INSTALLED (Custom)

‘A Deep Breath’ is hanging in my entryway.
It could be hanging in yours!
Purchase info here
To purchase, email holly.vanhart@gmail.com

To see all newly released paintings, click here.

For more paintings & inspirational quotes, click here.

Beckoning (new abstract floral painting)

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 –

: Beckoning
50 x 31″ mixed media painting by Holly Van Hart
$4500
Story behind the painting (with pics from our garden)

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! 🙂

Do you like to dream big?

: How Dreams Are Made
36 x 48 oil painting by Holly Van Hart

Do you like to dream big?

I do! As a die-hard optimist, my art (and life) are inspired by the idea of limitless possibilities.

In ‘How Dreams Are Made’, the flowers represent the colorful opportunities in our lives . . . exciting and bountiful opportunities swirling all around us.

The visual inspiration came during a walk in Saratoga on a windy day. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught some gorgeous yellow flowers getting tossed around by the wind. A quick snap of the camera gave me a photo reference to work with.

Back in the studio, I quickly got to work. I wanted the painting to have a breezy look and lots of movement, like Field of Dreams.

This painting was fun, but it did not come easy! There were many points when I wondered whether it would succeed.

For some strange reason, a lot of my best work comes after those sinking moments of doubt. I think the uncertainty frees me up to make bold decisions.

Speaking of which . . . bold decisions are exactly what we need to chase big dreams. Let’s go for it!!

btw, you might also be interested in this article How do you know when a painting is done? One of the hardest decisions in making a painting is knowing when to stop!

Wishing you a fabulous day!

Abstract nest painting by Holly Van Hart | Nest, eggs | Brown, blue, white | Oil painting

Soft Start
Oil painting by Holly Van Hart (sold)
Buy a print

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.

New! Petite Treasures

The holidays are almost here. Need a special gift for your special someone?

New! Petite Treasures are gift-sized original paintings by yours truly. They are created with the same great care used with my large-scale paintings, and with the highest quality archival materials. Each painting is museum-quality and ready to hang in the finest of homes and work spaces.

Click to see all available Petite Treasures

: Magical Mystery Tour
9 x 12″ watercolor painting on paper by Holly Van Hart
$350

: Curious Poses
9 x 12″ watercolor painting on paper by Holly Van Hart
$350

Treat yourself or a loved one! Click to see all available Petite Treasures.

Additional info here – Purchase / Guarantee / Gift Certificates, Petite Treasures, Try Before You Buy, Studio Visit

A passion for lovely things

: Posh
54 x 72 Oil painting by Holly Van Hart

Meet “Posh”. In this swirl of shiny ribbons, three eggs are being incubated by parents who have a passion for lovely things.

We all share a passion for beauty. Some of us prefer the beauty of nature, others prefer human-made beauty. And many of us (like the birds that built this nest) seek a big dose of each!

A Full Life

: A Full Life
30 x 40″ oil painting by Holly Van Hart
$3800
Story behind the painting

The abstract nature paintings you see on this website are inspired by life’s limitless possibilities!

Each painting is meant to convey a sense of plenty, fullness, color, prosperity, and opportunity. Sometimes we have all of these things in our lives. Sometimes we’re only wishing for them.

But it’s always nice to think and dream about them!

‘A Full Life’ is available for purchase (30 x 40″ original oil painting on canvas, painted on the edges, wired on the back, ready to hang, $3800 + tax). For a limited time, shipping is free for VIP members. Contact holly.vanhart@gmail.com for details.

To see all available paintings, click here.

A feeling of quiet and serenity

Painting by Holly Van Hart, landscape, lake, fallen leaf lake, morning, light, reflections

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”