Crazy About Color
Work by Hallie Strock
On Display March 15 - April 30, 2020
On Display March 15 - April 30, 2020
Crazy About Color
Jackson Pollack, “The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it through.”
I have been experimenting with materials and process for a long time, painting, collage, printmaking, quilting; and more and more I turn to creating visual excitement with color. I play by eye, exploring the expressive power of color, and what it can express without representing anything. I try to use colors and textures to their best visual strength and create a sound composition.
Sometimes I work more intuitively, and other times carefully planning details. But painterly abstraction, the versatile nature of acrylics, their vibrancy and stability, often inform my work. Throw in some experimentation with fabrics and collage!
Then I encourage involvement and imagination. I know I have been successful when my work evokes emotion.
I have been experimenting with materials and process for a long time, painting, collage, printmaking, quilting; and more and more I turn to creating visual excitement with color. I play by eye, exploring the expressive power of color, and what it can express without representing anything. I try to use colors and textures to their best visual strength and create a sound composition.
Sometimes I work more intuitively, and other times carefully planning details. But painterly abstraction, the versatile nature of acrylics, their vibrancy and stability, often inform my work. Throw in some experimentation with fabrics and collage!
Then I encourage involvement and imagination. I know I have been successful when my work evokes emotion.
About the Artist
About Hallie Strock
I grew up in the desert north of Phoenix. Since our nearest neighbor was a mile away, and I started school on a Pima Indian reservation, I spent a lot of time alone, and learned to make things early on. I was always “messing around” with art materials, sewing, and cooking, as well as reading voraciously.
I received my BA in studio art from Mills College, primarily in the three-dimensional: sculpture and ceramics. While earning a living in teaching and non-profit organizations, I continued to “mess around” with making things.
Recently I have become fascinated with printmaking, especially linoleum block prints. Printmaking is a fussy process, but I enjoy each step, and it provides endless interest and challenges for me. I see linoleum block printing as a way to push drawing further; the prints have an unmistakable graphic look that I love; and there is the opportunity for lots of subjects to be interpreted.
I use source photographs as well as my own inspirations, developing them into drawings, and then designs which may be carved. Pre-design thinking involves my personal point of view, how much I want to abstract images, and how much black to incorporate into the design. At some point, it becomes all about the creative side of shapes and patterns, negative and positive, rather than the subject matter. The prints are made on a professional printing press. Each print is hand-colored with watercolor, and no piece is ever the same.
I grew up in the desert north of Phoenix. Since our nearest neighbor was a mile away, and I started school on a Pima Indian reservation, I spent a lot of time alone, and learned to make things early on. I was always “messing around” with art materials, sewing, and cooking, as well as reading voraciously.
I received my BA in studio art from Mills College, primarily in the three-dimensional: sculpture and ceramics. While earning a living in teaching and non-profit organizations, I continued to “mess around” with making things.
Recently I have become fascinated with printmaking, especially linoleum block prints. Printmaking is a fussy process, but I enjoy each step, and it provides endless interest and challenges for me. I see linoleum block printing as a way to push drawing further; the prints have an unmistakable graphic look that I love; and there is the opportunity for lots of subjects to be interpreted.
I use source photographs as well as my own inspirations, developing them into drawings, and then designs which may be carved. Pre-design thinking involves my personal point of view, how much I want to abstract images, and how much black to incorporate into the design. At some point, it becomes all about the creative side of shapes and patterns, negative and positive, rather than the subject matter. The prints are made on a professional printing press. Each print is hand-colored with watercolor, and no piece is ever the same.