Barbara Hart, Toronto, Canada, creates original paintings in acrylic, oil and water colour that are infused with light and energy and are expressive abstractions and impressions of nature, still life and portraiture. Largely self-taught, she has studied at Ontario College of Art, Haliburton School of the Arts, Fleming College as well as learning from studying the works of the masters. Artists of present interest are Cezanne, the Group of Seven, Max Lieberman, Georgia O’Keefe, Wolf Kahn, Peter Doig, John Hartman. She has had numerous solo shows and engaged in group exhibitions in the Toronto area as well as frequent showings in her Artbyhart Studio and gallery in Haliburton. A professional musician who is also gifted in art, her works hang in galleries and private homes in Canada, the USA and Europe.
My Story
I like to sit away from the crowd, in a quiet place and let my sketches appear in a free flowing manner, quickly executed and then blocked into larger shapes. After several water colour studies, I work on a large canvas, first in acrylic and then in oil. What begins as a landscape often becomes a “dreamscape’, offering harmony and a quiet beauty that has moved off the main subject of the painting. Solitary figures in nature are especially intriguing, figures at one with nature and at one with themselves; with sensation or an emotion that takes the everyday into the extraordinary. The subject of the painting is not a rendering of the image, rather it is a starting point to reveal feelings and sensations. I strive in the portraits to make the back story unfold, the intimacy of the moment and the deep insight that comes with the complexity of the human experience. In the landscapes I am striving for emotion and reflections arising out of large bands of colour and light. And it has to be filled with drama. At present I am exploring the topic of alienation and self imposed solitude in an increasingly complex world, replenishing the inner self to discover common ground with others. I have a music degree from the University of Toronto, am a former music teacher and presently, play in a string quartet. Throughout my musical training, I was surrounded, as a child, by the paintings of my father; geologist and artist, who inspired and shared with me the special joy and inner fulfillment that comes from putting paint on a canvas; the emotional impact. Very early, I became aware that art and music both touch a place deep inside me where words are not enough. They share that place, augment and reflect each other. In my case, both disciplines are needed to accomplish my goal.