James Hartman

Berkeley Hills, Golden Hour

2017

Artist Comments
A solitary cloud in a bright blue sky stretches over the sea. The water meets the shore with small waves rolling in. The grass adds texture in the foreground. H...

Artist Comments
Artist James Hartman captures the meeting point of the Berkeley Marina and San Francisco Bay in this expressive California landscape. A favorite Bay Area spot t...

Artist Comments
Artist James Hartman began this painting by creating texture with homemade tools. He envisioned standing at the edge of the woods, looking through to an indistinct light. The oil colors were allowed to drip and settle into the textured surface, enhancing depth and movement, while his tools helped define the landscape in a way that captures shifting light.

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: trees, texture, bright, woods, sunlight, panoramic, forest...

Artist Comments
The ethereal beauty of nature manifests as the warm glow of the sun kisses the water’s surface. Golden hour bathes the landscape in soft, radiant colors, ca...