Renee Hartig
The land is a steady element in nature that can change both instantly and can take thousands of years to evolve. I strive for my work to capture the land and sky as they are - moving and changing ceaselessly.
The land is a steady element in nature that can change both instantly and can take thousands of years to evolve. I strive for my work to capture the land and sky as they are - moving and changing ceaselessly. Capturing this movement is what attracted me to painting in an impressionistic style.
Although many impressionist painters set out to capture a single moment, they were also able to infuse their work with a movement that makes the painting feel alive - you can feel their hand working on the painting and see each distinct decision they made through every brush stroke or mark. My goal is to capture that kind of a timeless element and movement not only in the subject matter but to the application of the paint as well.
By nature, the act of landscape painting itself forces movement. Whether it is hiking to a location, driving across continents, visiting places in the world, or experiencing the new ways the land is formed and pieced together, it all demands physical movement by the artist.
Formally, my paintings are contemporary-impressionistic works. All of my work is done with oil paint on canvas. First I apply my orange tint to the surface. I then proceed with my under-painting and my final layers. My smaller works are painted ala-prima (one session), so I am always working with wet-on-wet paint giving me freedom to move and manipulate the medium. My larger works are done in sections so I can still work with the same method but over a few days time. Painting this way allows me to work in one layer, which helps to keep a fresh quality to my work. I also refer to my style of painting as gestural painting because l apply quick, broad brush strokes that gives my work a lot of movement.
My inspirations stretch from impressionist artists like Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Manet, Monet and Pissarro to painters like Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper. I'm also very interested in printmaking techniques like woodcut prints and screen printing - the use of minimal colors, layering colors and keeping colors separated are all elements I utilize in my work.
Local artist inspirations: Walter Rane, Leiv Fagereng, Fran Kievet, James Shay, Dawn Emerson
Address: 347 SE 27th Ave. Portland OR 97214
Oil|Painting|Paper
Community: Inner SE Portland
Studio Number: 48
Email: renee@studiohartig.com
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