Rapid River Magazine: Tell us a little about your art and what inspires you.
Veronika Hart: I was born and raised on an isolated farm in Tanzania, East Africa. At the age of 15 I left Africa for school in Europe. Shortly after finishing art training in Germany I met my American husband and after moving to the US settled in the suburbs of NYC. Living there for most of my life I worked as an illustrator, raised a family and studied figurative oil painting.
In 2003 I visited Tanzania and travelled to the farm I had once lived on as a child/teen. After returning to the US I began painting “Africa”; images mostly of people and animals and at some point began melding them together, launching a visual journey I have followed over the past 10 years. In 2007 we moved to Hendersonville where I continued exploring ways to blend human and animal forms. My latest work features bears, wolves and horses.
RRM: Animals play an important role in most of your work. Why is this?
VH: Living on a farm in Africa I was surrounded by both wild and domestic animals. As a child and in my formative years I drew and painted images of animals relentlessly and continued to be fascinated by them throughout my adult life. Many of my paintings depict portraits of overlapping animal and human forms.
RRM: What drew you to become a painter and how would you describe your style?
VH: My older siblings were all very good at drawing and painting and I learned a lot by watching them in my early childhood. When they moved on to other talents I became the family artist, school artist and finally a professional artist. I have always been drawn to figurative artwork and think my form of expression lies somewhere between the realm of contemporary realism and surrealism.
RRM: Is art about ideas or feeling?
VH: In my opinion logic, thought and feelings are partners in the creative process. A good visual idea is only such if it evokes an emotion in the viewer. In other words an eye-catching abstraction can be just as moving as a visual narrative rendered with figurative accuracy. It takes confidence and skill to deliver both in harmony upon the same canvas. Although the figurative aspect of my work dominates, I also let the unplanned flow of color and shape guide me.
RRM: How do you go about creating one of your paintings? How much preparation time do you spend prior to actually putting paint on canvas?
VH: Initial size and format determine how and where I begin my thought process. Very often I will start with charcoal on paper. After establishing a light grid with the golden cut intersection in mind, I think in terms of the relationship of light and dark shapes with no specific figurative image in mind.
Invariably at some point my figurative training kicks in and I begin turning abstract lights and darks into specific figurative shapes, blending and adding or erasing as I go along.
Once I am satisfied with the general appearance on paper, I will move onto my primed canvas. Working on a grid identical to the one on my paper sketch, I apply light washes to the canvas with diluted oil paint to recreate the same image as I have on paper. If time allows I will also prepare a small color sketch to guide me.
After the under painting has dried I get serious. I make sure I have mixed a lot of paint ahead of time then work swiftly balancing shapes, colors and values, keeping everything free and flowing but also allowing room for unplanned abstractions.
Visit www.veronikahart.com
Veronika Hart’s work is on display at The Art House Gallery and Studio, 5 Highland Park Rd, East Flat Rock, NC 28726. Call (828) 595-9500 or visit www.arthousegalleryandstudio.com
