Wilderness beauty
This story was featured in the November 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
More often than not, for Wyoming landscape artist Jill Hartley, it’s the sky that takes her breath away first. It could be a stunning sunrise or sunset, an impressive cloudscape, or an expanse of brilliant blue. And beneath those skies, you can bet there’s wilderness. “It’s usually the West, and it’s usually a pristine landscape,” says Hartley of her subject matter. “I like the quiet and being alone in nature.”
Born and raised in Colorado Springs, CO, Hartley’s artistic interests were encouraged by her parents, both painters. “They always had studios, so I thought every house automatically had a studio,” she chuckles. Early on in her own fine-art career, Hartley painted mostly florals in watercolors, and she continued to do so even after moving to Wyoming in 1976. “I didn’t see the color in Wyoming at that point,” she says. “It just seemed like winter was white and summer was brown. But after I started painting it, I realized there is a lot there.”
Hartley lives with her husband on 320 acres of land south of Rock Springs, WY, and many of her paintings are inspired by the small plein-air studies she completes right in her own vast backyard. These days she works in oils, and she primarily uses palette knives, which allow her to layer and blend her paint, “kind of like saucing a cake,” says Hartley. She often adds tiny dabs of pure color to her landscapes with a “little flick” of her knife. “I’m trying to unify the colors and catch that shimmer of light,” she says. “I enjoy getting caught up in the solidity and joy of the paint.” —Kim Agricola
Hartley is represented by Horizon Fine Art Gallery, Jackson, WY; Navarro Gallery, Sedona, AZ; Deselms Fine Art Gallery, Cheyenne, WY; and www.jillhartleystudio.com.
This story was featured in the November 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2018 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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