Press
Two Shows: Hart James and Aisha Harrison
South Sound Arts etc.
March 5, 2015
by Alec Clayton
Hart James is a landscape painter who is fairly new to Olympia. Her show at the Washington Center includes 48 paintings spread throughout the lobby, mezzanine and balcony. Most are woodland scenes with dense tangles of trees and patches of sky poking though. In almost every instance the sky seems to advance forward to lie on the same surface as the trees — everything flattened in the modernist fashion. The paint is predominantly a heavy impasto applied with palette knife or other flat instrument, sometimes applied in contrast to lightly brushed background colors. Cezanne immediately comes to mind, and to a lesser degree Van Gogh. But her landscapes are not from French woodlands but most definitely the dense forests of Western Washington. One striking exception, however, is a painting titled “Land, Water and Sky — Iceland,” which has an open feel, a windswept ski and colors that are cold as ice.
South Sound Arts etc.
March 5, 2015
by Alec Clayton
Hart James is a landscape painter who is fairly new to Olympia. Her show at the Washington Center includes 48 paintings spread throughout the lobby, mezzanine and balcony. Most are woodland scenes with dense tangles of trees and patches of sky poking though. In almost every instance the sky seems to advance forward to lie on the same surface as the trees — everything flattened in the modernist fashion. The paint is predominantly a heavy impasto applied with palette knife or other flat instrument, sometimes applied in contrast to lightly brushed background colors. Cezanne immediately comes to mind, and to a lesser degree Van Gogh. But her landscapes are not from French woodlands but most definitely the dense forests of Western Washington. One striking exception, however, is a painting titled “Land, Water and Sky — Iceland,” which has an open feel, a windswept ski and colors that are cold as ice.
Postcard Show Review Featuring Hart James
South Sound Arts etc.
January 29, 2015
by Alec Clayton
South Puget Sound’s most popular annual art exhibition returns for 2015 and it’s bigger and better than ever. It’s the postcard show. Artists are invited to enter postcard-size works of art. Size is the only limitation, and artists are encouraged to respond to a theme. This year’s theme is “Out of Sight.” No entry is turned down, and artists are encouraged to interpret the theme in whatever way they want, no matter how far out.
More than 100 artists are included in this year’s show, most with multiple submissions. The art stretches around three walls of the gallery in three tiers.
South Sound Arts etc.
January 29, 2015
by Alec Clayton
South Puget Sound’s most popular annual art exhibition returns for 2015 and it’s bigger and better than ever. It’s the postcard show. Artists are invited to enter postcard-size works of art. Size is the only limitation, and artists are encouraged to respond to a theme. This year’s theme is “Out of Sight.” No entry is turned down, and artists are encouraged to interpret the theme in whatever way they want, no matter how far out.
More than 100 artists are included in this year’s show, most with multiple submissions. The art stretches around three walls of the gallery in three tiers.
Hart James: The Ancients
South Sound Arts etc.
January 7, 2015
by Alec Clayton
Paintings by Olympia artist Hart James are now on display in the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia.
I first discovered Hart James when she had a show of small collages at Olyphant Art Supply in September 2013. In my review of her show I wrote: “. . . surrealistic images, lots of gilded frames, butterflies, Renaissance figures, leafs and feathers. They appear to be delicate, and are meticulously constructed in the tradition of Joseph Cornell boxes and Kurt Schwitters collages.”
South Sound Arts etc.
January 7, 2015
by Alec Clayton
Paintings by Olympia artist Hart James are now on display in the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia.
I first discovered Hart James when she had a show of small collages at Olyphant Art Supply in September 2013. In my review of her show I wrote: “. . . surrealistic images, lots of gilded frames, butterflies, Renaissance figures, leafs and feathers. They appear to be delicate, and are meticulously constructed in the tradition of Joseph Cornell boxes and Kurt Schwitters collages.”
Painter Hart James is absorbed in the nature of trees
The Olympian
January 2, 2015
by Molly Gilmore, Contributing Writer
Three years ago, Hart James was an overworked business owner who dreamed of moving to a beautiful place and pursuing a life as an artist. Today, she’s doing just that — and the place she chose is Olympia.
“I love the rain and how the rain makes everything grow,” said James, whose oil paintings will be on display for the next two months at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts. “You can just watch the process of nature.”
The Olympian
January 2, 2015
by Molly Gilmore, Contributing Writer
Three years ago, Hart James was an overworked business owner who dreamed of moving to a beautiful place and pursuing a life as an artist. Today, she’s doing just that — and the place she chose is Olympia.
“I love the rain and how the rain makes everything grow,” said James, whose oil paintings will be on display for the next two months at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts. “You can just watch the process of nature.”