For painter Danielle Hatherley, art "is about the resonance between light and dark in landscapes.” That's what she writes in her Artist Statement. “In the landscape, that energy-filled moment where light and dark are forced to unify and seemingly find peace, this is what possesses me to paint…”
Hatherley recently held an exhibit called “Fleeting Moments” at Westward Gallery, 44th and Tennyson, which closed Sept. 15. She spent her childhood in Sydney, Australia, soaking up views of the harbor and beaches. She writes that she met her lifelong mentor, painter Ted Blackall, while studying fine art and fashion design, began an apprenticeship with him and was introduced to plein air painting. Throughout her 20s, she painted and exhibited her landscapes, won awards and attracted patrons.
She says she founded and operated the Plein Air Painting School, conducting weekly outdoor painting sessions and began to lean to interpreting the scene, later in the day, which she describes as “backlit.” That move changed her palette and focus.
Sixteen years ago, she moved to upstate New York and later to New York City, panting the “iconic locations” and again teaching plein air painting classes at sites in the city. “As adventure-filled as my time in New York was, Colorado is just where I am meant to be and interestingly, I can feel my work progressing in a way that it never could in New York City.”
She met and married her American husband, who understands her need for intense creative periods.
Blues and greens have overtaken the earth tones on her previous palette as she is inspired by the changing scene (landscapes, clouds and light) as viewed from her Boulder studio window.
Her first show since moving to Colorado reflects the effect of constantly shifting skies on her perceptions of her world.
She now “lives between Boulder and New York City.” She says she feels that her show at Westward Gallery contained “my best work to date…I would describe myself as an expressionist landscape painter…
“My favorite types of paint brushes are large house painting brushes from the hardware store.” And she finds that music is an aid to getting lost in her work. She works on 10 to 12 paintings at once, “bouncing from one to another.”
This allows her to wait for paint to dry on some, while she adds strokes to others. The first two layers are usually in acrylic paint, for quick-drying efficiency, and subsequent layers are in oil paints, which she believes offer a richer quality.
“My mind is always 5-6 paintings ahead and in 25 years of painting, I have never been able to get caught up!”
Hatherley is presently contemplating other galleries where she might exhibit her impressive new paintings, as she casts an artists’ eye toward the west and more patterns in that expanse of sky.
We will report when another opportunity arises to view Hatherley’s work. In the meantime, art lovers might enjoy a visit to her website.