The bold and undeniably eye-catching acrylics of Arizona-based artist Claudia Hartley will be on view at an upcoming exhibition at Bonner David Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona. From Sunrise to Moonrise, which will feature a new body of work from Hartley, runs February 6 to 18 with an artist reception the first day from 6 to 9 p.m.
Having spent most of her life in Atlanta, Hartley began her art career working with oils, painting trees, gardens and portraits of people and pets in what she describes as a more impressionistic style. Nowadays, however, she lives in the Cottonwood and Sedona area of Arizona and has shifted her attention toward acrylics after oil paints began to affect her health. “After I moved to Phoenix, I wanted an excuse to be outdoors enjoying the magnificent beauty of clouds, mountains, rocks and saguaro cacti. I began to hike and sketch and plein air paint alone or with other artists who also loved being out here in this Western landscape,” says Hartley. “I wanted to paint in a way that would express my overwhelming joy at the beauty all around me…The bold, bright colors show my excitement by exaggerating the shapes and colors…The comment I get most often is that my paintings are ‘happy.’”
The artist explains that her travels all around the West—Colorado, Utah, California—filled her sketchbooks with mountains, valleys and “fluffy white clouds against a bright blue sky.”
The works in her upcoming show depict Arizonan nature scenes rendered in bold and beautiful colors that have a mosaic-type aesthetic. “I am focusing on the sky in all its glory of sunrises, sunsets, rainbows and gorgeous clouds.
I am fascinated with the way the sky influences my emotions on the land below.
I am trying to capture that feeling,” says Hartley. “The desert with saguaro cactus giants, Sedona red rocks where I live, Flagstaff with Aspen trees, Superstition Mountains, creeks with water reflections…Almost all of my paintings are real places, even though I might change the colors just a little bit.”
Bonner David Galleries • 7040 E. Main Street • Scottsdale, AZ 85251 • (480) 941-8500 • www.bonnerdavid.com
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