International Artist – June-July 2019

Art Challenge 13

Finalist

John Hulsey Kansas, USA, Daybreak on the Pond, oil, 36 x 36" (91 x 91 cm)

My Inspiration
As a painter, my work is defined by light.
For 40 years I worked with watercolor, oil
and pastel to create evocative, light-filled
landscapes and still lifes filled with my
fascination and excitement about light. Over
the last few years, as I worked intensively
in the woods and ponds surrounding my
studio, I realized that light wasn’t enough. I
discovered what I think the impressionists
were after—a deeper reality resonating in
everything. I noticed that as I poured my
attention on any detail of our world, it
responded by revealing more of its underlying
connection to all that is, including us. It is
this perception of larger connections that
I try to communicate in my work.

My Design Strategy
In abandoning the horizontal for a square

format, I am forced to ignore the larger

generalities of nature and focus on the

meaningful specific. I am selecting certain

vignettes and moments for their beauty and

power, essentially making portraits of those

moments. The square format signals that

something special is going on. It separates

the image from traditional landscape

painting and presents it in a new way.

Working with knives on top of brushwork

allows me to suggest spontaneously natural

forms free of the limitations of brushwork.

I want people to be struck first by the

representational beauty inherent in the

work, and as they get closer realize that it is

a work of pure abstraction layered with both

paint and meaning.

My Working Process

My recent experiences in nature required

me to adopt a new way of painting—

with knives. Knives allow me to develop

both representation and abstraction

simultaneously. I often begin with a

conventional 12-by-12-inch oil study that

helps me to understand my composition and

try out color relationships. If it makes the

grade, I will enlarge it to a 36-by-36-inch

linen canvas. Following a quick, brushed on

color block in, I switch to painting knives

and begin applying thick strokes and shapes

of color that gradually build the image and

the surface up. As I work values, shapes and

edges, I also scrape back in places to reveal

the underpainting. When the painting is

done, it tells me.

Contact Details

» Email: [email protected]

» Website: http://www.johnhulsey.com

Bits of thought: soften edges of hair against the background. — Harley Brown