Thank you for finding your way to my website and for your interest in my artwork. Many of you have sent supportive and encouraging e-mails which I have enjoyed responding to. Beginning in June, 2011, I will be taking a sabbatical from my art career to serve a three year mission for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My husband and I will be moving to Salvador, Brazil where he has been called to preside over the mission there. Salvador is the olderst city in Brazil and sits in a beautiful spot on the coast. I am confident that the experiences we will have in a new culture and in getting to meet many new people will result in even more meaningful subject matter for me to paint when we return. Hopefully I will be able to post some of my experiences on my blog as time permits.
Artist Statement:
"As an artist it is more important for me to paint the excitement I feel for a subject than it is to create a photorealistic rendering of it; consequently my paintings lean more to impressionism than realism. Painting for me is a way to communicate emotions that can't be expressed through the language of words alone."
Biography
Laurel Hart graduated from the University of Utah in Education. As the mother of five children, she decided to pursue a career in art which would allow her to work at home. She enrolled in watercolor classes at the Petersen Art Center in Salt Lake City and credits her great love of the medium to her first mentor, Harold Petersen. Upon seeing his work, she felt an overwhelming sense of coming home and knew she had found her life's passion. For the next twenty years she took every watercolor workshop she could, studying with such nationally known artists as Arne Westerman, Alex Powers, Don Andrews, Frank Webb, Alvaro Castagnet and others.
Laurel's paintings have hung in many national juried exhibitions including those of the American Watercolor Society , the National Watercolor Society, Rocky Mountain National, Watercolor West and the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies. Her work has been featured in The Artist's Magazine, Watercolor Magic and the popular watercolor books, Splash Eight, and Splash Nine. She is the author of the book, Putting People in Your Paintings , published by North Light Books in 2007. Laurel is the recipient of the Gold Medal of Honor presented by the American Watercolor Society at the 2005 International Exhibition, which she considers one of the highest honors she has received as an artist.
Laurel is a new signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the fulfillment of a lifetime dream for her, and holds additional signature memberships in the National Watercolor Society, Watercolor West, Western Federation Society, and the Utah Watercolor Society. Her paintings have won numerous awards and can be found in public and private collections across the country, including the Utah State Capitol Building.
In June of 2008, Utah's Governor Jon Huntsman honored her with a one person show at the Governor's Mansion.
Currently, Laurel has been invited to teach workshops and has presented lectures and demonstrations for various art organizations.
Artist's Statement
As an artist it is more important for me to paint the excitement I feel for a subject than it is to create a photorealistic rendering of it; consequently my paintings lean more to impressionism than realism. Painting for me is a way to communicate emotions that can't be expressed through the language of words alone. I tend to work in an abbreviated style where the suggestion is more important than the completed statement, as I believe leaving some things unsaid allows the viewer's vision to come into play. I've learned that the less I give away in my paintings, the more people seem to find in them. Light is always the subject I find most exciting. I'm particularly drawn to the dramatic extremes of subjects bathed in full sun, or those backlit in minimal rim lighting.
Laurel's work can be seen at Twiggs and Moore and Apple Frame galleries in Utah and on her website at laurelhart.com
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l.jpg "Photo of Laurel Hart")
