"Resting With A View"

"Resting With a View", Oil on canvas board, 12" x 16", Available

Near our home in Portola Valley is a great hike up to the top of a mountain that is aptly named Windy Hill. The hike is a few miles along a steep grade to the peak. First the path winds through the trees and past a little duckpond; then it opens up to sweeping views of the nearby hills and the San Francisco Bay Area.

A friend and I hiked to the top with our sons (two 5 year olds, and two 7 year olds), which was quite a feat for the little guys. It was a beautiful sunny day and I took lots of photos as reference material for paintings.

This image brings back strong memories of our fun excursion, as well as many other hikes and bike rides I've taken on Windy Hill over the years.

"On Art" Newsletter - Extrovert or Introvert?

"Lakeside Play", Oil on canvas, 16" x 20"

To keep in touch with friends (art friends and other friends, old friends and new friends), I publish a short, fun "On Art" newsletter by email every few months. This issue, "Extrovert or Introvert", is about about art and personality. Are you an extrovert or an introvert, and does this impact the type of art you like?

Click here, take a look, and send me a note (holly@hollyvanhart.com) to tell me what you think. I'll report the results in the next newsletter.

To subscribe, click here.

Happy reading, and thanks for your interest.

1st Place - "Having Fun"

"Having Fun", Oil on canvas, 20" x 16", Available

Hi Friends. I'm reposting "Having Fun" to share some good news with you. At today's Los Gatos Art Association meeting, this painting was awarded 1st place in the peer judging contest. The judges were the 30 or so artists who were present at the meeting. I feel very honored by the award. Thank you, fellow artists, for your votes and support.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay area and are interested in meeting other artists and seeing demos by established artists, I encourage you to come an Los Gatos Art Association meeting. At today's meeting, there was an oil painting demonstration given by Shannon Grissom; she painted a large-scale still life. I learned a lot from Shannon, and she's a very funny lady so we all had lots of laughs along the way. Hope to see you at an upcoming meeting!

"A Thought of the Universes"

"A Thought of the Universes", Oil on canvas, 36" x 12", Available

Hi friends. "A Thought of the Universes" was inspired by Walt Whitman's poem On the Beach Alone at Night (click here to read the poem). I had lots of fun playing with the yellows and reds on this piece. There's also some green to complement the red and make it pop out a bit (especially near the small red circle in the upper part of the painting). Enjoy!

"Wild Red Flame"

"Wild Red Flame", Oil on canvas board, 8" x 10", Available

Hi Friends. Welcome back! Here's a small painting in my abstract landscape series. I named it "Wild Red Flame" after a phrase in a Walt Whitman poem that seemed to capture the spirit of the painting. Other paintings in this series include "Red Etty" and "You Too I Welcome". Of these three, do you have a favorite? Please leave me a comment and let me know!

'Three Souls', Oil on canvas, 24" x 18", Available

Hi friends. Here's my latest painting - 'Three Souls' - inspired by Walt Whitman's poem On the Beach Alone at Night. This series is about how we're all connected.

Other paintings in this series are 'A Vast Similitude', 'A Vast Similitude 2', 'All Distances', 'All Souls 1', 'All Souls 2'. Unlike the others, this painting is on a single canvas (it's not a diptych like 'A Vast Similitude' or hexaptych like 'All Souls').

Thanks for visiting, and enjoy!

"All Distances"

"All Distances" (Detail), Oil on canvas, 36" x 18", Available

"All Distances" is the latest painting in my series inspired by the Walt Whitman poem On the Beach Alone at Night. This series is about how we're all connected - across nations, distances, time, civilizations, etc. Of course Walt Whitman said it best in his poem. My job is to convey it best visually (which is a really fun job).

I'm also working on an "All Distances 2" and hope to post it here next week. Thanks for visiting, and enjoy your weekend!

"All Souls"

'All Souls 1', Oil on canvas, 6" x 6", Available

'All Souls 2', Oil on canvas, 6" x 6", Available

Hi friends. Continuing the series started with "A Vast Similitude", here are two of six small paintings that comprise a work titled "All Souls". Like "A Vast Similitude", the title comes from a Walt Whitman poem called On the Beach Alone at Night.

This series (like the poem) is about how we're all connected - all souls, all nations, all civilizations, all lives and deaths, etc. Of course Walt Whitman said it best in his poem. My job is to convey it best visually.

Each painting uses multiple circles to convey connectedness. Connectedness is also underscored by the use of multiple canvases for a single work. "A Vast Similitude" spans 2 large canvases (a 'diptych'). "All Souls" spans 6 small canvases (a 'polyptych', or 'hexaptych'). The paintings are designed to hang together or to hang individually.

On the theme of connectedness, here's a current example from my life - Fifteen years ago while on some business trips to Tokyo I befriended a wonderful woman named, Mayumi O. We met at an English-speaking cafe (a place where Japanese people go to practice their English, and visitors go to meet Japanese people). We spent quite a bit of time together then, and kept in touch by mail every few years since. Well, a few weeks ago, out of the blue, I got a telephone call from Mayumi. She was thinking of coming to San Francisco and could she visit me? Yes!!! So she's staying the better part of the week in my house; we're having loads of fun getting reacquainted and touring the local sights. What a special experience. We're all connected!

"A Vast Similitude 2"

"A Vast Similitude 2", Oil on canvas, 30" x 40", Available

Mr. George Rivera, Executive Director of the Triton Museum in Santa Clara, offers his time to artists once per month for a portfolio review (by appointment). I met with George last year, and he provided extremely valuable advice and insights. So I met with him again this year, just last week. Wow, I learn so much from George.

Among other things, I presented George with eleven images of my abstract landscapes, and asked for his input. Which were the strongest? Why? Which were the weakest and why?

He gave me detailed feedback, which was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you George!

When I paint a realistic painting, I'm pretty good at determining what's working well and what's not. But with abstract work it's different. I find it harder to judge.

I was very pleasantly surprised when George selected as his favorites "A Vast Similitude" and (shown above) "A Vast Similitude 2". They were designed to hang together, but each one is also meant to stand on its own. These two paintings are some of my favorites as well, and are currently hanging on my dining room wall. They are also for sale, and could soon be hanging on your dining room wall!

"Etty Bay"

"Etty Bay", Acrylic on canvas panel, 8" x 10", Available

Hi again! Here's the realistic version of Etty Bay, painted in plein air (outside) while I was there in July. Click here for the abstract version, "Red Etty". The little boy playing in the creek is my older son Skyler. My husband, my two young sons, and I spent a few wonderful days at Etty Bay. The beach was lined with palm trees, and the shade of the trees made a perfect spot for observing and painting.

The Australians are a very friendly bunch, and many approached me to see what I was up to with my paints and canvas. It was a perfect opportunity to meet the locals. It was great fun to befriend a precocious 8-year old boy named Morgan who was VERY interested in painting, and gave me some amazingly insightful critiques. Many many thanks to Morgan and all of you who stopped by to say hello!

I love to paint in oils, but you may have noticed that my paintings from Australia were done with acrylics. Oils are my fave, but they dry so very slowly. Too slow for a family on the move in Australia. So I decided to give acrylics a try. I used very slow drying acrylics called Atelier Interactive Artists Acrylics; they behave closer to oils than any other acrylics I've used. I also mixed Atelier Thick Slow Medium with the paints, which increased the drying time even more. I was very pleased with the Atelier Interactive product. And, I'm glad to be back home and using my oils again!

"Red Etty"

"Red Etty", 8" x 10", Acrylic on canvas, Available

G'day mates! Here's the first of three plein air paintings that I'll post from my trip to Australia. ('Plein air' simply means painted outside.) It's called "Red Etty" as it was painted on a gorgeous beach called Etty Bay on the Queensland coast.

My family and I stayed at Etty Bay for a few days to visit with our Australian friends, Susan and Grant. Susan was celebrating her 50th birthday. In fine style, as it turns out, with over 50 friends, all ages and from all walks of life, a live band, an outdoor dance floor, awesome Asian foods, lots of liquid refreshment, and to top it all off, a super-yummy chocolate cake.

In the US, many people who turn 50 just try to forget the whole thing and hope nobody notices. In Australia, they throw big parties for themselves. Woohoo! Looks like we have lots to learn from the Australians. Thanks for sharing your celebration with us, Susan and Grant!!

My other plein air paintings from Australia were also painted on a beach, but they are realistic (vs abstract, like this one). After painting many beach scenes - with sand (tan), the water (blue and green), sky (blue) and trees (green and yellow) - I was missing my red paints!

Sitting on the beach in the shade of some palm trees, while my children played in the waves, I squeezed out a big blob of red paint, and a little bit each of the other colors, took out an 8" x 10" canvas panel, and set to work. The result is "Red Etty". Although the painting looks nothing like Etty Bay, it will always bring back strong memories of our awesome time there.

Award of Merit - California State Fair

"You too I welcome", 24 x 30", Oil on canvas, Sold

Hi friends. We're back from our 5-week trip to beautiful Australia, where the beaches are stunningly gorgeous and the people are super-friendly. It was loads of fun. We spent most of our time along the Queensland coast, snorkeling, boogie-boarding, and just playing around. We spent 3 nights on a deserted island along the Great Barrier Reef. We were the only people there for the first two nights, and on the third day a friendly American couple showed up . . . and wouldn't you know, it turned out that they live in San Francisco, about 30 miles from us! I posted photos on my Facebook page. Feel free to 'friend me' if you want to take a look.

I have some good news to share. My painting "You too I welcome" was accepted into the California State Fair, and it won an Award of Merit. Click here to read my previous blog entry on this painting. The juror was Jack Ogden, Professor Emeritus, California State University, Sacramento. Jack Ogden has received numerous awards and honors over his career, and his work is in the permanent collections of many museums.

The California State Fair is being held August 21 - September 7 in Sacramento, CA. It looks like fun stuff to do for the whole family. If you go, please stop by the art exhibit and check out the paintings, sculptures, and clay and glass art. Click here for more details on the fair.

I'm glad to be back, and I'm glad you visited. Hope you're having a great summer!

From 2007 - "Two Pelicans"

"Two Pelicans" (detail), Watercolor

G'day mates. And greetings from Australia!

While I'm away on vacation, I'm posting paintings of my bird series in watercolor from 2007. Here's a detail from a painting called "Two Pelicans". I loved the sparkle in this guy's eye, hence this detailed view. His beak was a brownish color, but I charged up the oranges and reds to make it more exciting. Enjoy!

Soon I hope to be back to a location where I can upload my paintings from Australia. Thanks for visiting, and stay tuned!

From 2007 - "Lilac Breasted Roller"

"Lilac Breasted Roller", Acrylic on canvas, 4" x 6"

Glad you're back!!

"Lilac Breasted Roller" was created acrylic paints on canvas. It was inspired by a photo taken by my friend, Veronique Gillard, of a bird called (what else) a lilac breasted roller in Africa. I loved the colors on this bird. Thanks Veronique!

This painting is now in the home of my son's awesome kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Crespin, who tells me she is still enjoying it.

From 2007 - "Two Flamingos"

"Two Flamingos", Acrylic on canvas, 6" x 4"

While I'm on vacation, I've scheduled some blog postings from my animal series in watercolors in 2007. Here's "Two Flamingos", a little experiment in acrylic on canvas. I liked how the flamingos seemed to be so comfortable with each other, like an old married couple. Enjoy! And please come back next week!

From 2007 - "Seven Pelicans"

"Seven Pelicans", Watercolor, 11" x 15", Sold

Thanks for visiting! While I'm on vacation in Australia, I've scheduled some blog postings from my animal series of watercolor paintings created in 2007.

Here's "Seven Pelicans". This painting was inspired by a photo I took on a family vacation in Mexico. We were enjoying a quiet morning on the beach, and a bunch of pelicans landed on a nearby fishing boat. They looked so contented and peaceful, which is just how we were feeling at that moment, so I snapped some photos.

Back in the studio, I found a photo I liked, cropped it, changed the contrast to suit my purposes, and got to work with watercolors and paper. I like to use colors creatively, as you may have noticed from this painting. The pelicans were actually brown, not purple as shown above.

Now "Seven Pelicans" is beautifully framed and hanging on a wall in Switzerland.

Gone Fishing . . .

"Fishing" (detail), Watercolor, 2007

G'day, mates. My family and I decided (on fairly short notice) to head off to Australia for a vacation for a few weeks! So I'm gone fishing. Well, really I'm gone vacationing and painting.

I'm taking my paints and canvas panels, and plan to paint lots of Australian-inspired landscapes and abstract landscapes. We'll be traveling to remote locations (like the Outback), which means I may not be able to post any work along the way. Instead, I've scheduled blog postings of my previous watercolors, one each week, in the hopes that you'll keep visiting!

The painting above, "Fishing" is a watercolor completed a few years ago of my beautiful niece Kirsten. She's fishing in a little pond at my parents vacation summer home in New York. I took some photos of her there, and then painted this when I got back to my home in California. Now the original is hanging in my brother's home in New Jersey.

Thanks so much for visiting and for all your comments and support. Hope your summer's starting out to be a fun one.

Please come back next week to check out the next installment from my watercolor series!

1st Place - "Lakeside Play"

"Lakeside Play", Oil on canvas, 16"x20", Available

June 13, 2009 update: "Lakeside Play" won 1st place in the Los Gatos Art Assocation peer group judging contest today. Thank you, fellow artists, for your votes and for your support!!!

Previous blog posting for "Lakeside Play": This is the latest in my series of oil paintings that depict people who are totally absorbed in what they are doing. This little boy was playing quietly on his own for a long time at the side of the lake, just checking out what was under the water, and throwing some pebbles every now and again. For those of you who have met my sons, you might recognize that the "model" for this painting is my younger son Erik.

In the art world, this is called a 'figurative' painting, and 'people' are called 'figures'. 'Figurative' painting differs from portrait painting in that it includes most or all of a person's body. In a portrait painting, the face is the main attraction, although a portrait may include some of the body as well.

Thanks for visiting! I'm signing off now, and heading back to the studio for some more figurative painting.

2009 Artfest in the Park

My painting "Shopping" (Blue Ribbon winner) and me at the 2009 Artfest in the Park

Hi there! Thanks to all my friends (old and new) who came to visit the 2009 Artfest in the Park in Mountain View, CA last Saturday. It was a fine sunny day, warm but not too hot, in a beautiful, grassy park, filled with art lovers (but not too crowded). What a perfect combination!

Many thanks also to Marian and Ned Gault, Catherine Rodriguez, and all the other event organizers who worked tirelessly to make this event successful. Jeff Owen from the Los Gatos Art Assocation also gets a big thank you for gathering a large group of unruly artists and organizing us and our artwork into a professionally presented booth. And thanks to Jeannie Kahwajy, the always-smiling friend who sent me this photo!

"City Lights"

"City Lights", Oil on canvas, 24" x 36", Available

Hi friends. When I painted "City Glow" for my demonstration at the Fine Arts League of Cupertino, one of the members (I believe it was Rajiv Khilnani), suggested that I take the idea and go bigger. Thanks for your suggestion! The result is "City Lights", which is about 3 times larger than "City Glow". In both paintings, I wanted to give a feeling of excitement, something so compelling that viewers would want to immediately jump into the city and explore it. What do you think?

Friendly reminder . . . if you live locally, please stop by and see me (and 100+ other artists) at the 2009 Artfest in the Park on Saturday June 6 in Mountain View. Click here for details.
Hope to see you there!!

Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence - "Shopping"

"Shopping", Oil on canvas, 36"x18", Sold

May 26 update - I'm reposting this painting, "Shopping", because it just won a Blue Ribbon "Award of Excellence" at the upcoming 2009 Artfest in the Park in Mountain View, CA. Woooeeee! That made my day. The juror (judge) was Dale Laitinen, a nationally known artist who paints in watercolors and oils.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, please come visit us at the 2009 Artfest in the Park on Saturday June 6, 2009, 10am-6pm at Pioneer Park in Mountain View (behind the Center for Performing Arts). There will be lots of great art at reasonable prices. You can enjoy a stroll through the park and meet the artists. Over 100 of us will be there. I'll be at the booth with the Los Gatos Art Association. Click here for details. Hope to see you there!!

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Previous blog posts:

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January 10 update - Today this painting won 1st place in the Los Gatos Art Association peer group judging! Fifty artists voted on 17 pieces of art (mostly paintings), and "Shopping" got the most votes. That felt nice!

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"Shopping" is a new painting in my People in Action series. This painting was inspired by a 3-week trip I took to China over 10 years ago to see the ethnic minorities in the Yunnan province, and by a photo taken by an excellent photographer named Veronique Gillard. Veronique is also a close friend. Thank you Veronique!

The woman in this painting is part of an ethnic group that lives in both China and Vietnam. The group is called "Red Yao" in China and "Red Dao" in Vietnam. She was dressed for a normal shopping trip to the market. I find her clothing amazing! She just purchased some beads, which are in a bag in her hands, and she is looking for the next stop on her shopping trip.

I also thought this woman's face was gorgeous. There were lots of reasons to paint her. So here she is, in oil on canvas, waiting to be hung on a wall in my home or yours . . .

"City Glow"

"City Glow", Oil on canvas, 16" x 20", Available

Hi friends. I was invited by the Fine Arts League of Cupertino to give a palette knife painting demo last Monday night. It was my first painting demonstration in front of a large group. Thirty or more people were present, and we all had great fun! In about 1.5 hours, I created the initial painting, and then took it home and finished it. The completed version is shown above.

I want to thank Tamar Assaf of FALC who invited me to do this demo, Marion Kumar of FALC for taking photos during the demo and sharing them with me, and all the FALC members present on Monday, who were so very friendly and supportive.

1st place - "Dreaming"

"Dreaming", Oil painting on gallery-wrap canvas, 20" x 16"

Hi there. I'm re posting this image of "Dreaming", as yesterday it won a 1st place award at the Los Gatos Art Association's peer group judging contest. The judges were the 30-40 association members who were present at the meeting. To them, I say 'thank you'!

Also, Happy Mother's Day to all you hard-working moms out there. Being a mom is not an easy job, and your children may not know enough (yet) to thank you, so I will. Thank you!!

And thanks go especially to my own Mom, who is an amazing artist and who is so very supportive of me and my art endeavors. Thank you for everything you've done for me, Mom.

"A Vast Similitude"

"A Vast Similitude", Oil on canvas, 40" x 30", Available

Welcome back! "A Vast Similitude" is the left painting of a two-piece painting (diptych). This painting was inspired by Walt Whitman's poem "On the Beach Alone at Night", which I absolutely love, and will quote here:

On the beach at night alone,
As the old mother sways her to and fro singing her husky song,
As I watch the bright stars shining, I think a thought of the clef of the universes and of the future.

A vast similitude interlocks all,
All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets,
All distances of place however wide,
All distances of time, all inanimate forms,
All souls, all living bodies though they be ever so different, or in different worlds,
All gaseous, watery, vegetable, mineral processes, the fishes, the brutes,
All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations, languages,
All identities that have existed or may exist on this globe, or any globe,
All lives and deaths, all of the past, present, future,
This vast similitude spans them, and always has spann'd,
And shall forever span them and compactly hold and enclose them.


Wow.


When I originally read this poem, I needed to look up the word 'similitude'. It's defined as "a visible likeness" and "an imaginative comparison". To hear how it's pronounced, click here.

I've created a few paintings inspired by this poem, and think I'll keep going and create a series. Please stay tuned for more . . .

Have a great weekend!

P.S. If you live locally, please come see my demo in Cupertino on Monday May 11 at 7pm. Details are in the posting below. Hope to see you there!

Please Come See My Painting Demo

On Monday May 11 at 7pm, I'll be giving a palette knife painting demonstration at the Fine Arts League of Cupertino. The event is open to the public. Details are below.

The Fine Arts League of Cupertino is a very friendly group of artists. If you live locally, please come. I'd love to see you there!!!

May 11 , 2009 / 7:00pm

Fine Arts League of Cupertino General Meeting,

Creekside Park, 10455 Miller Avenue, Cupertino

Open to the public. Guests welcome.

Holly Van Hart - Demonstration of the Palette Knife Technique

Holly Van Hart is an award winning artist who especially loves painting with a palette knife. Holly's passion is creating landscape, figurative and abstract oil paintings that reflect the beauty and complexity of life. She has the ability to capture nature, with a palette knife, from realism to abstraction. Holly will demonstrate her palette knife technique using oil paints and her favorite oil painting mediums.

"Orange and White Sparks"

"Orange and White Sparks", Multi-media on canvas, 24"x 18", Sold

Hi friends. Abstract paintings with reds and oranges seem to be my favorite these days. Here's the latest, "Orange and White Sparks".

My other abstract paintings were done with oil paints. This one was created with many media - watercolor, acrylic, collage, and oil - roughly in that order. This painting has lots of texture, which you can see when you click on the image. Some of the texture comes from the acrylic painting and collage underneath, and some comes from the oil painting on top. Most of the 'sparks' were painted with oil paint on top of the underlying texture. It was great fun to paint. I hope it's also fun to look at.

Thanks for visiting!

"Happy City (Left)"

"Happy City (Left)", Oil on canvas, 36" x 24", Available

This painting completes the "Happy City" triptych. The other two paintings in this triptych are below.

I designed them to work together, and also to hang independently of each other. My critique group liked them, which always makes me feel good. These paintings are big (each canvas is 2 feet by 3 feet) and I like to think they look more impressive in person than when you're viewing the tiny digital images on your computer screen. Anyway, please feel free to visit me in my studio, and tell me what you think!

"Happy City (Middle")

"Happy City (Middle)", Oil on canvas, 36" x 24", Available

Hello friends. Here's installment 2 of the Happy City triptych. This is the middle painting of the three. The previous posting was the rightmost painting. They will go together like this:

Middle and right paintings of the "Happy City" triptych

Please come back soon to check out the third (left) and final painting in this triptych.

"Passion for Painting" Award!

Thanks to Nava Attia-Benoit, I have been awarded the "Passion for Painting" award! Thank you Nava. I feel very honored!

Nava and I share a passion for painting. And a passion for blogging. I especially love reading Nava's Unchain My Art blog, in which she shares with us all the ups, downs and arounds associated with growing as an artist.

Nava and I participate in a monthly painting critique group (along with 7 very talented and fun artists), so I get to see her incredible work every month. She creates dramatic paintings of people, mostly faces, and mostly watercolor, and now some really cool acrylics too.

Thank you Nava, for the "Passion for Painting" award, for your excellent advice in our critique group, and for your friendship!

"Happy City (Right)"

"Happy City (Right)", Oil on canvas, 24" x 36", Available

"Happy City" is one painting of a triptych (which is 3 paintings that will hang together). The other two paintings will be posted soon. There's a surprise in how they will be hung. Please come back to check it out!

1st place - "Red Dao Face"

"Red Dao Face", Oil on canvas, 40" x 30", Available

Hi Friends. I'm reposting "Red Dao Face" (which you may have seen before) to share some good news with you. At the March meeting of the Los Gatos Art Association, this painting was awarded 1st place in the peer judging contest. The judges were the 40 or so association members who were present at the meeting. To them, I say 'thank you'!

About "Red Dao Face": I was so taken with the face of the woman in "Shopping" that I painted "Red Dao Face" right afterwards. To keep it loose, I mostly used a palette knife as my painting tool. You can click on the painting to make it larger and see the texture.

This work is my largest yet - 40" high by 30" wide - which makes it HUGE for a painting of a face. Now we just need to find a spot on our wall (a big one) to hang it on!

Which do you like better - "Shopping" or "Red Dao Face"? All comments are welcome.

"Splendor"

"Splendor", Oil on canvas, 20" x 24", Sold

Hello friends! Thanks for checking out my latest abstract landscape painting, "Splendor". I wanted lots of texture in this one, so I used a thick acrylic underpainting with browns and reds, and then piled lots of oil paint on top. Where I wanted the red acrylic underpainting to show through, I scraped the oil paint off with a palette knife; you can see hints of that throughout the painting. (You can click on it for a larger image.)

I also wanted a nice deep yellow glow. To get the right color, I mixed yellow paint with it's complement, purple, and then added a little red and white. Sounds like a strange combination but it did what I wanted it to!

Some lines from a Walt Whitman poem are etched into the paint on the lower right side - "Splendor of ended day, floating and filling me". That's where this painting gets its title.

Enjoy!

"Orange Glow"

"Orange Glow", Acrylic on canvas, 20" x 24", Available

I was in a happy mood when I painted "Orange Glow". I was at a meeting of the Fine Arts League of Cupertino, where we were offered the opportunity to try Atelier Interactive Acrylic paints. These paints have a long 'open time' similar to oils (or so it was claimed) and I was excited about testing them. ('Open time' means the length of time that the paints are still wet and you can change them and blend them. Oils have a very long open time, sometimes days, which is a feature that I love; traditional acrylics dry within minutes.) It was just announced that I had won the artist of the month award for "You Too I Welcome", and after that was it time to paint with the Interactive Acrylics.


We were allowed to use as much paint as we wanted (fun!) so I put some big globs of orange, yellow, green, black, and gorgeous pinkish purplish paints on my palette, took out my canvas and palette knife, and got started. I loved the colors and was pleasantly surprised by blendability (open time) of the Interactive Acrylics. I painted most of "Orange Glow" at the meeting, and then went home and finished it the next morning.


The colors in this painting are, for me, very happy ones. What do you think?

"Love Your Art Blog" Award

Wow, I feel so honored. Peggy Stermer-Cox, an artist that I admire for her amazing creativity and drawing skills, has awarded me the "Love Your Art Blog Award". Thanks very much Peggy!!!

I invite you to visit Peggy's wonderful blog, http://peggy.stermer-cox.com/, and see (among other things) her Kitty series of abstract drawings. At last count, Peggy was up to 32 variations on this theme! Not only does Peggy create wonderful art, she also shares insights into her creative process. For all these reasons, I am a big fan of Peggy's blog.

Thanks again for this honor, Peggy!!!

1st place - "You Too I Welcome"

"You too I welcome", Oil on canvas, 24" x 30", Sold

One night at a painting critique meeting, fellow artist Belinda Lima showed us some wonderful paintings in her Guitar Series. I was awed and inspired by her gorgeous deep reds and yellows, and the next day got to work on this abstract landscape using similar colors.

It's titled "You too I welcome". This phrase is part of a poem by Walt Whitman that I etched into the deep red painting in the bottom left of the painting. The lines read, "You too I welcome, and fully, the same as the rest. You too I sing with joy."

At the February meeting of the Fine Arts League of Cupertino, this painting was awarded 1st place in the Artist of the Month contest. The judges were the 30-40 FALC members who were there at the meeting. To them, I say 'thank you'!

"Quiet Morning"

"Quiet Morning", Oil on canvas, 18" x 24", Available

This painting, "Quiet Morning" was inspired by a photo taken in Vietnam by my friend Veronique Gillard. Thanks Veronique! I've spent a lot of time in Asia, both for pleasure and business, and when I saw the photo it struck a chord. I loved the sense of quiet, and the sense of depth created by the receding mountains.

Most of "Quiet Morning" was painted with my favorite palette knife, with a brush used for some of the smaller details.

Did I capture the sense of quiet of the lone boater?

"Coastal Poem"

"Coastal Poem", Oil on canvas, 12" x 36", Available

Here's a new painting in my landscape series, "Coastal Poem". This was inspired by a gorgeous sunset I saw on a recent weekend away with my girlfriends to a little town north of San Francisco.

If you look closely you can see some text written into the oil paint on the left hand side of the painting. (You can click on the image to see it in more detail.) This text is a few lines from a Walt Whitman poem that captured the essence of our weekend trip. It reads as follows, "The beautiful sister dances on with the rest, With the fascinations of youth, And the equal fascinations of age."

What do you think?

(In case you're wondering, Walt Whitman's poems are in the public domain; this means I can use them freely in my work without infringing any copyrights. Many thanks to Walt for his absolutely amazing work!!!)

"Blue Moon"

"Blue Moon", Mixed Media on canvas, 24"x30", Available

Hello again!

"Blue Moon" is part of my abstract landscape series. I wanted a moody night-time painting with interesting texture.

Unlike most of my other paintings, this is a mixed media work. I created an underpainting in acrylic and string (yes string!). If you click on the image for a close-up view, you can see a strong S-shape starting in the center of the painting, and another curved line coming up and over the moon. That's the string. There's also acrylic medium in the underpainting with some lines etched into it with a comb. You can see the lines under the moon (in the close-up view). On top of all that are oil paints (the blues and darks and lights).

The string was an experiment for me, and this painting took a few iterations to get right. In earlier iterations, it felt like I was fighting the curved shape of the string, and I wished I never put it in there. I stored the painting away for a while, and later took it out for another go. Then, for whatever reason, everything flowed easily.

My mother and sister visited us recently from their homes in New York. They each took at tour of my studio (independently), and both chose this painting as one they especially liked. What do you think? All comments are welcome!

Thanks so much for your interest and support, and please visit again soon!

"On Art" Newsletter - "Go Figure"

Hello!

To keep in touch with friends (art friends and other friends, old friends and new friends), I publish a short, fun "On Art" newsletter by email every few months.

This issue, "Go Figure", is about the passions that drive great figurative paintings (paintings of people), including examples from Munch, Degas, and Nieman. Please click here - Issue 4: Go Figure - to take a look.

If you'd like to subscribe, click here.

Here are the previous issues -

Issue 3: Art and Feelings

Issue 2: The Art of the Kiss

Issue 1: Auguste Rodin

Thanks so much for your interest, and happy reading!

"Swim (Bike Run)"

"Swim (Bike Run)", Oil on canvas, 24"x18", Available

Hello, and happy new year!!!

"Swim (Bike Run)" is an abstracted version of an earlier painting called "619". I liked the earlier painting, but not enough to stop there, hence this new version. With "619" my intention was to make it painterly (that is, to have visible and energetic brushstrokes and/or streaks of paint), which I thought would help show the action of the triathletes. But somehow the earlier painting came out more realistic than intended.

With "Swim (Bike Run)" I wasn't going to let my realistic instincts take over. So my primary tool for this painting was a medium-size palette knife. I had recently completed "So Many Worlds", and decided to use a similar technique for this painting. I sketched out the figures and background in charcoal and then went over the lines with a dark paint. Then, armed with the palette knife, huge piles of paint and Weber Res-n-Gel medium, I set to work applying the paint.

Two days later I finished it. After it dried, I asked for a critique from my painting friends. They made some excellent suggestions, which I incorporated, and this is the result.

There was one question about the slanted horizon line. I thought it contributed to the feeling of movement and action. What do you think?

Thanks for visiting, and best wishes for an amazing 2009!

"Autumn Poem"

"Autumn Poem", Oil on canvas, 24"x30", Available

I want to wish all of you a very happy holiday!!! Thanks so much for your visits and comments and support in 2008. I look forward to even more fun together in 2009!

Here's an abstract painting I created a couple of months ago, in autumn. For the first time, I incorporated a poem into a painting. Hence the name "Autumn Poem". If you can't already tell, the poem is written on the right side of the painting. The painting was created in oil, and the poem was written into the thick oil paint with charcoal. (You can click on the image to enlarge it and see this better.) My artist friends really liked this one. Under the influence of their opinion, I like it too. What do you think? I want to know!

These days I'm painting two different series - people in action, and abstracts - both using oil paints on canvas. (A "series" is a group of paintings that have many common characteristics, for example, subject matter, medium, style, and/or colors.)

Sometimes it feels like painting people is harder than abstracts. And it can be, because our eyes are so sensitive to correct facial and body proportions, body positions, etc. But abstracts are also very demanding, albeit in a different way. As an artist, if I'm not relying on some 'real' object or person as the source material, then I need to make up a whole painting in my head, and have it convey the right mood, and have it conform to lots of important design criteria too. So, sometimes it feels like painting abstracts is harder than painting people.

Painting people (also called 'figures') and painting abstracts is all great fun and I love it! Someday I may combine the two to create what some folks call "Figurative Abstracts".

Thanks again for your visit, and stay tuned for more . . .

"So Many Worlds"

"So Many Worlds", Oil on canvas, 24"x32", Available

Back to abstracts again! Here's a new painting called "So Many Worlds". When I started this painting, I was aiming to create something with a happy optimistic feeling, that was primarily yellow, with beautiful greens, blues and purples, using a circle design, and a dark band at the bottom. And of course it was supposed to conform to all or almost all of the design criteria I learned from my art instructors over the years.

I started with a blank canvas and a piece of charcoal. I sketched out the circles and a line at the bottom in charcoal, and squeezed the paints out of the tubes onto my palette. Then I picked up my palette knife, and started applying paint to the canvas.

When the painting was well underway, it came to resemble worlds and planets. I thought of my children (boys, ages 4 and 6) and the lives they have ahead of them. They will have so many opportunities, so many "worlds" to seek out and explore (figuratively and maybe literally too). I decided to name it "So Many Worlds", and carved these words into the thick oil paint. If you click on the image, you can enlarge it and you should be able to make out some of the letters and or words near the boat shaped image with the 3 circles.

This painting has lots of texture, and when you see it in person, the paint glows. Viewing it on a computer screen just isn't the same. To give the paint that glow, I used a "medium" (something that you mix into the paint) called Res-n-gel by Weber. According to Weber, the gel makes colors more transparent and "adds brilliant gloss". I agree!

What do you think? Please leave me a comment. If you want to see the painting in person (and check out that special glow you can't see on the screen) please email me and stop by!

Olive Hyde Art Gallery, "Mother and Child"

"Mother and Child", Watercolor on paper, 8" x 10"

Three of my watercolor paintings (including "Mother and Child") are currently on display at the Olive Hyde Art Gallery in Fremont, CA. This weekend (December 5-7) is the gallery's annual holiday gala and show, with a huge selection of quality fine art and handcrafts for sale. It's the perfect place to buy beautiful and unique holiday gifts at attractive prices. If you live locally, it's definitely worth checking out. Click here for details. Hope to see you there!

"College Soccer"

"College Soccer", Oil on canvas, 16"x20", Available

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! My husband, two boys and I had a delicious meal with some very good friends in their new home near Santa Cruz (a coastal town about an hour's drive from where we live). Thank you Larry and Kim!

And thanks very much to all of you for your support and encouragement on this blog. It means more to me than you may ever know.

Continuing with my 'people in action' series . . . here's "College Soccer". This painting shows three college soccer players caught up in the moment and totally engrossed in their game. It also shows some other team members and spectators absorbed in the action, and aims to give a feeling for the excitement of the game.

For source material for this painting, I went to the Stanford vs Oregon State game recently (at Stanford) and took over 200 photos of the game. Although neither Stanford nor Oregon scored any goals in this game, it was full of amazing action and exciting plays.

I was hoping that one of those photos would be perfect (all by itself) to use as source material for a painting. Well, it didn't turn out that way. To get the design I was looking for (including exciting action, with a few players, and some team-mates and on-lookers in the background, and parts of the wooded campus in the background), I needed to piece together a few photos. It was more than a few, actually. This painting is based on five different photos.

Given that Stanford is my alma mater, I wanted to show off Stanford (in the white) to best advantage. But the best of my photos had Oregon State (in orange) looking like they are in control the ball. Reds and oranges are some of my favorite colors to paint, so perhaps the team colors swayed my choice in this case.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the painting!

"619"

"619", Oil on canvas, 16"x20", Available

Hi there. Here's a new oil painting in my series of people in action. It's a scene from a swim/bike/run triathlon; the athletes are leaving the water and will quickly get themselves ready for biking. I wanted to convey the energy, focus, and excitement of these athletes at this moment. Did it work?

Also, can you see why it's titled "619"? (To find the answer to this question, it might help to click on the image and see a larger version.)

Painting people ("figures") is very demanding because our eyes our so sensitive to facial and body proportions, body positions, etc. But it sure is fun. Especially (for this painting) capturing all those muscles.

I'm working on some other paintings in this 'people in action' series, and also some abstract paintings, and will post another new painting after Thanksgiving.

Hope you have a wonderful turkey-day! Thanks for visiting, and please come back again soon.

"Beyond the Trees"

"Beyond the Trees", Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20", Available

Hi there, and thanks for visiting!

The itch to do an abstract painting got me again, and here's the latest, "Beyond the Trees", in autumn colors.

I used acrylic paints for this piece, and did an underpainting of the whole canvas in a gold color (a new color for me). When the underpainting was dry, I painted this piece "alla prima" (in one painting session). Acrylic paints dry very fast, which means I had to work very fast to get the look I wanted before the paint dried. This piece has some thick paint in places, called "impasto". An oil painting with impasto might take weeks to dry, but this acrylic painting dried overnight. (Oil paintings can take weeks to dry to the touch, and a full year to dry thoroughly.)

Tiny bits of the gold underpainting show through in many places, and help pull the piece together. My husband, who rarely comments on my paintings one way or the other, told me (unsolicited) that he liked this one. That was nice!

"Playing Soccer"

"Playing Soccer", Oil on canvas, 12"x36", Available

"Playing Soccer" is part of a new series I'm working on with people in action, especially people who are really wrapped up in the moment, such as these 6 year old boys playing soccer.

This long format (one foot high and three feet wide) is also something new for me. I chose it because I wanted to show the action of all these players on the field. I worked from photo references, and had to put a few photos together to make the composition work.

My husband coaches one of these soccer teams. He really tries to impress on the boys that the most important things are to 'play your best' and 'have fun' (versus winning). For this reason, he doesn't keep score during the games. Also for this reason, I chose to make this painting monochrome. In actuality, this was a game in action, not just a practice, and the players on each team were wearing their team colors (light blue and green).

To reinforce the action in the game, I painted "Playing Soccer" a little looser than my normal style. I was aiming to show the energy of all those boys on the field, and didn't want to get too wrapped up in the details of their faces.

It was fun to paint and I hope you enjoy viewing it!

"Hiking Out"

"Hiking Out", Oil on canvas, 16" x 20", Available

Thanks for checking in! Here's my latest painting, "Hiking Out". It's a representational painting, which means that the subject of the painting is something you can identify. In this case, the subject is a small dinghy sailboat with a man and a child leaning back to counter the force of the wind. The boy is actually sitting out of the boat, using toestraps to keep from falling out; this is called hiking out. That's a description of what you see in this painting. What the painting is really about is the fun and excitement that these two sailors are experiencing in the moment depicted.

This is part of a new series I'm working on with people in action, especially people who are really wrapped up in the moment (such as these two sailors).

Thanks again for visiting, and please stay tuned for more!

"Orange Sky"

"Orange Sky", Oil on canvas, 20" x 24", Sold

Hi friends. Here's "Orange Sky", a new abstract painting completed this week.

Some people love abstract paintings and some people don't. Some people buy these abstracts, others send me fan mail for these abstracts, and others politely suggest I should not publish them for the world to see. In any case, as you might guess, I like painting abstracts and like sharing them with you. I particularly like abstracts with lots of red and orange, including this one, Fiery Lines, Red Sweep, and Red Knot.

This painting actually started as a predominantly green abstract painting, and I didn't like the result. I painted this fiery orange sky over it, and then fell in love. (All artists fall in love with their subjects and/or their paintings. If artists didn't have this passion, then art wouldn't happen!) Some of the original green shows through in this painting, which makes the red and orange glow even more.

Hope you like this painting too. Whether you do or don't, please let me know by leaving some comments on this blog.

I'm also working on some more 'representational' paintings (paintings of things that you can easily recognize). I'm trying something new . . . paintings of people in action. When they're ready I'll post them here too.

"On Art" Newsletter, Art and Feelings

Hi again.

To keep in touch with friends (art friends and other friends, old friends and new friends), I publish a short, fun "On Art" newsletter by email every few months. This month's topic is "Art and Feelings". Some people say the best art enables you to feel the emotions of the artist as he or she was creating that piece of art.

Coming from an ex-engineer (which I am), this seems like a very touchy-feely subject. But now that I am an artist and no longer in high-tech, I can write about these things and share them with you. How fun!

Please click here to see the newsletter - Issue 3: Art and Feelings. To subscribe, please send me an email (holly@hollyvanhart.com).

Thanks, and happy reading!
Holly

Previous issues:
Issue 2: The Art of the Kiss
Issue 1: Auguste Rodin