“We are nature, and in nature is our peace. What we most need to do is to sing with the Earth on the inside.”
A dynamic use of paint, applied with immediacy and without fuss, charges James' paintings with a balance of chaotic energy and an organic structure mimicking that of the natural world. Working primarily with palette knife and rag keeps the work raw and energetic.
“For my purposes, precision, and exactitude of process kills the painting. The energy is lost. The importance of the messy drip, the misplaced color, the accident in my work is paramount.” Nature is not always perfect/neat and tidy, but is almost always beautiful. The placement of the fallen leaves on the ground, the scattering of pine needles is perfect to the senses. James’ work carries her core belief that nature exists within the person, as well as outside. To quote Cezanne, ‘Nature is on the inside.’ From the artist to the canvas, the energy of the natural world flows. The goal is to work without thought, to allow the paint to flow from the artist onto the surface, just as the pine needles fall in perfect array. The intuited aspect of the natural world is one that has been closed off to the modern person, but is a deep wellspring of knowledge and understanding if we work to tap it.
Hart James studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Art Institute, and with Anne Truitt, Vera Berdich, and Ed Pashcke, among others. In addition she studied art history
and biology at Northwestern University, which has provided a strong background for her devotion to the arts. She has participated in artist residencies across the country including Oxbow, Morris Graves Foundation, Seaside, and the Vermont Studio Residency. James lives and works in Anacortes, Washington.
Influences on James' artistic perspectives include the landscape painting of the Sung Dynasty; painters such as Matisse, Cezanne, Burchfield, Bonnard; and contemporary artists David T. Alexander, Jennifer Pochinski, Peter Doig, Eric Aho, and Marlene Dumas.
“We are nature, and in nature is our peace. What we most need to do is to sing with the Earth on the inside.”
A dynamic use of paint, applied with immediacy and without fuss, charges James' paintings with a balance of chaotic energy and an organic structure mimicking that of the natural world. Working primarily with palette knife and rag keeps the work raw and energetic.
“For my purposes, precision, and exactitude of process kills the painting. The energy is lost. The importance of the messy drip, the misplaced color, the accident in my work is paramount.” Nature is not always perfect/neat and tidy, but is almost always beautiful. The placement of the fallen leaves on the ground, the scattering of pine needles is perfect to the senses. James’ work carries her core belief that nature exists within the person, as well as outside. To quote Cezanne, ‘Nature is on the inside.’ From the artist to the canvas, the energy of the natural world flows. The goal is to work without thought, to allow the paint to flow from the artist onto the surface, just as the pine needles fall in perfect array. The intuited aspect of the natural world is one that has been closed off to the modern person, but is a deep wellspring of knowledge and understanding if we work to tap it.
Hart James studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Art Institute, and with Anne Truitt, Vera Berdich, and Ed Pashcke, among others. In addition she studied art history
and biology at Northwestern University, which has provided a strong background for her devotion to the arts. She has participated in artist residencies across the country including Oxbow, Morris Graves Foundation, Seaside, and the Vermont Studio Residency. James lives and works in Anacortes, Washington.
Influences on James' artistic perspectives include the landscape painting of the Sung Dynasty; painters such as Matisse, Cezanne, Burchfield, Bonnard; and contemporary artists David T. Alexander, Jennifer Pochinski, Peter Doig, Eric Aho, and Marlene Dumas.
Arist Statement:
Some people were born to work with numbers, with computers. I was born to work within the visual realm and to bring my emotion into that work. I feel the world around me. I feel places, nature, events, beautiful homes. Sometimes I get so excited upon meeting an artist or seeing a work of art or seeing a magnificent vista in the natural world, that another personality takes over and I am outgoing, excited, jumping up and down within my own skin. All of this is what I put into my painting. The emotion comes across to the viewer and a connection is made.