John Jaster

Forest Abstractions - Spring Break, Original Painting

2021

Artist Comments
Artist John Jaster displays a forest with tall aspens rendered in a playfully abstract style. Bold shades of yellow, orange and red suggest a warm autumn day in the woods. In his process, John creates stunning color combinations by utilizing multiple layers of heavy body acrylics and brushwork. He results with captivating scenery with intense contrasting hues and high-spirited energy.

About the Artist
Artist John Jaster paints in a style he describes as realistic impressions, capturing colorful views of his adventures across the Americas. "People always ask me how I get such deep brilliant colors," says John. "The answer is layers. Since acrylic paint dries mostly transparent, it requires multiple layers of paint to build up to a specific color. With the right lighting that depth of layering is like sunshine glistening through clear water." In college, John felt a pull towards computer science and pursued a career in software architecture. Although the two paths may seem unrelated, John says his work in software strongly influences his artwork in terms of distilling complex systems without losing the magic and wonder. Today, John works from a large home studio with a fireplace, lots of natural light, and jazz playing in the background. Since 2010, John’s paintings have been displayed in over 90 juried exhibitions and published in leading art magazines and books.

Words that describe this painting: forest, trees, birch, aspen, nature, playful, impressionism, grove, warm, impressionism, nature, acrylic painting, orange

Forest Abstractions - Chorus Line...

Artist Comments
Artist James Hartman draws inspiration from the experience of seeing sunlit colors and details appearing through the strong vertical tree pattern. He expresses the painting sections to appear like stained glass. James highlights small areas where collaged 100-year-old paper show through the surface, he does this in a non-disruptive way. James applies heat to fuse the oils into a mixture of beeswax and damar crystals to seal the work.

About the Artist
When James Hartman was in art school, he became fascinated with the Society of Six, a group of artists who painted en plein air (outdoors) and exhibited together in the San Francisco Bay Area during the early 20th Century. James's paintings of the Northern California landscape pay tribute to some of the great Bay Area artists of the past. His expressive scenes feel alive through his vibrant use of color and his painterly brushwork. James’s paintings have an immediate visual impact from a distance, yet up close, dissolve into a series of confident marks and strokes. There is a simultaneous complexity and steadiness in his flattened, color-blocked planes. Knowledge and observation are essential elements of James’s working practice. To this end, he spends a large proportion of his time painting on location. His body of work captures the fresh and sunlit essence of the coastal California hills.

Words that describe this painting: expressionism, encaustic, beeswax, collage, antique ephemera...