PHCC features landscape artist: Bethany Hartman

On Thursday, April 6th, Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) hosts Lynchburg artist Bethany Hartman for a gallery talk and reception at 12:30 p.m. in the Walker Student Center Art Gallery. Hartman will discuss the work from her show, STAND. Her work has been on display in the gallery since March 6th.

Hartman’s STAND features a collection of oil paintings on canvas and board. With bold earth tones, Hartman abstracts massive landscapes into loose forms of mountains, valleys, and streams. Through landscape painting, Hartman finds “patterns and sensory experiences in nature and brings them inside to be understood and remembered.” She says this aspect of painting landscapes “enchants” her.

In her art studio, a converted shed on a central-Virginian farm, Hartman crafts her paintings. “There is no equation I can use to create a painting,” Hartman remarks regarding her process which varies widely from the position in which paints – sometimes lying on the floor, sometime seated – to the pace with which she paints – sometimes fast-paced, sometimes listless. She says the only pattern she follows for her process is a pattern of paradox.

The PHCC Art Gallery introduces students and the community to the work and technique of successful artists in the surrounding area. The gallery is free and open to the public on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Walker Fine Arts Building. For more information about the art program at PHCC contact Gerry Bannan at gbannan@patrickhenry.edu or 276-656-0336.