Harriett Hritz

Harriett Hritz

I am fascinated by the play of color, pattern, and light found in nature. I draw my inspiration by photographing landscapes and use my images to interpret the color palette and composition of each piece. I experiment by applying effects and filters to my photo references. These alterations increase the contrast and intensify the colors in my images. I draw and paint my subject matter in a gestural style, using bold color and energetic strokes to capture nature’s essence. By adding whimsy through textured patterns of saturated color, I want to ignite an emotional connection between the artwork and the observer.

My large canvas painting approach is both impressionistic and expressive. Working with mixed media, I look for the perfect balance between applied paint, charcoal scribbles, and oil pastel marks. These large format captures of nature are alive with vivid brushwork and washes of color.

My small format work is mixed media on gessoed card stock paper. They might be a snapshot in time, a special memory found in an old photo, or a still life of fresh tomatoes. With the mix of colored pencil, marker and paint I tell a colorful story.

Recently I have been discovering new painting directions in abstract and surreal subject matter, and creative approaches with collage work.