Hillary Brandeberry: More than What Meets the Eye

Today we look at various aspects of Hillary Brandeberry’s work: the ‘actual’ objective art, the subjective artist, and the evolution of her art.

Green Eye

Hillary attended Angola High School before moving to Hamilton for her junior and senior years, where she graduated in 2001. Those Hamilton years were formative, in large part thanks to Hamilton art teacher Jeff Ervin. In March of 2001 under the auspices of the Scholastic Art & Writing competition, Hillary won Golden Key and American Vision awards for her work, and won a partial scholarship at St Francis but declined to exercise that option. Beyond high school art class she is self-taught.

In 2006 Hillary produced her first one-woman show at the downtown Fort Wayne Artisan Gallery to raise money for the local Aids Foundation, and has shown a flurry of work in 2011 at the Bent Fork gallery, the Creative Arts Gallery, the first annual Alley Art Battle [all in Angola], at the Arts for the Mind gallery show in South Bend, and at Art Link in Fort Wayne.

At the Alley Art Battle,
photo by Miriam King

Hillary’s work is related to photorealism, which begins with underlying photographic information, but which is then transformed by painterly and/or other creative, artistic augmentation, inspiration, etc. In this case, however, the extent of the creative transformations place her work rather outside that genre. Until now, most of her art-related income has come through commissioned portraits, especially children’s portraits, but this year finds Hillary at a crossroads, reaching out in new directions.

This post is longer than most, as there is way more in Hillary’s work than what first meets the eye. To fathom this art and this artist, please join Hillary and me retrospectively in our August 2 interview at Cahoots Coffee Café, 218 West Maumee in Angola. Just two things before we really begin.

First you may want to peek ahead throughout the article at the additional images we will encounter, as if you were wandering through a gallery – that will provide helpful background and perspective throughout the interview. Second, remember we are in Cahoots, so find your favorite mug and fill it up … this is a good brew … relax, open your mind, and enjoy:

Q: Hillary, a bit ago you said “When I was about 17 and met Jeff Ervin, he gave me the freedom and confidence to find my own style and to grow as an artist.” Who is Jeff Ervin, and how did he give you this freedom and confidence?

Hillary: Jeff (Mr. Ervin) was my Hamilton high school art teacher. I’m very shy, so his encouragement meant a lot to me. Basically he recognized my talent and prompted me to enter a lot of art competitions. That kind of recognition and encouragement, first from Mr. Hamilton and then from the competitions, was what I really needed to open up and develop as an artist.

Q: You say “Women are by far my favorite subjects.”  Can you talk more about this?

Summer

Hillary: Sure, who doesn’t like to look at women? I love to look at women - they are beautiful, curvy, sensuous, not all hairy like guys ... Shy laugh, slightly embarrassed yet confident in her answer and its content.

Q: Making art is one thing, seeing it is another. What can you say about other people seeing your art? What should people look for and see? What do people look for and see?

Hillary: Long pause, seems to struggle for an answer, then:  I really don’t know, it’s something I never think about, I just do it. The individual works are simply my personal therapy sessions. I don’t really have any special meaning for each piece, which may be why I have such a hard time naming them. If I stopped to think about it in those ways, it just wouldn’t work. The art is just what’s inside me, that’s really all I can say.

Q: You say your works are personal therapy sessions. So how does it feel, painting these pieces, from conception, into initial stages, through to the end?

Hillary: In the beginning it’s work - I make myself paint, I know I have to paint so I make myself. Then as it gets under way the anxiety and stress start to dissolve, and ultimately the experience evolves into a state of total absorption.

Q: So you paint women, there is a strong element of personal therapy in these paintings, you are a woman, and there is a strong sexual charge - or at least a very strong sensuous charge in most of these, and as the work gets underway you become totally absorbed … now try to talk more about this … you don’t think about it, but what are you really feeling in these?

Hillary: Again a rather shy, yet confident and assured answer: Women are sensual, we all have that sensual, sensuous side that we mostly hide, but sometimes let it peek out just a bit … but painting, I can just throw it all out there, right onto the canvas …  

Blue

Q: About “Blue,” which you are showing now at Artlink in Fort Wayne, you say it is your current favorite: “I am really in love with how it turned out, which I do not say often.” What pleases you most about “Blue?”

Hillary: The colors and their shades. I mix all my colors from the primary colors, that’s not easy to do, and I’m really happy with the colors and their shading this time. Also the eyes, I love the eyes …

Q: OK, but talk about the expression. What is “Blue” thinking? One eye is partially hidden while the other is looking directly out, and that expression, is it a smirk or what? And why? What am I seeing here?

Hillary: Well I guess you’d call it ‘attitude.’ She’s slightly insecure, and the ‘attitude’ is a bit of a cover-up … Maybe that’s kind of like me?

Q: Anything else you want to say specifically about these works? What was your accomplishment in them, how similar/different are they to you, thematically and technically?

Hillary: Well I think you can see which were my early works and which are more recent. For instance, “Pink Panties” was very early, it’s very flat [graphically and emotionally], there’s a lot more dimensionality, complexity, and expression in the others, plus the coloring and shading. So you can see how I have developed since my earlier work.

Pink Panties

Q: You say “Right now I am focusing on becoming more public with my work” and that you want to sell more of these imaginative, non-portrait paintings. Who do you imagine the buyers may be and what is it they may be “buying?” And how will you market this work?

Hillary: I guess buyers would be people who love to look at chicks, but I’m not sure how to “sell” that, I really just paint because I want to, because I need to. These are things I need to figure out.

Stephen here with some post-interview thoughts: At this point I recall a famous quote, "Asking an artist to talk about his[/her] work is like asking a plant to discuss horticulture" [Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963], so let me try to articulate what I feel Hillary’s art is about, while discussing why this is so difficult for both her and me:

These paintings embody personal meditations on and explorations of a vast, complex, and ever-changing feminine psycho/socio/sexual/emotional landscape for which we have no vocabulary. There simply is no grammar or lexicon for expressing personal mood and feeling of this sort: even the words “mood” and “feeling” become inadequate as the meditation/exploration deepens. But some aspects of these subjective landscapes can be reflected in eyes, facial expression, bodily posture, perspective and emphasis, color, clothing, etc, and that is what Hillary does. Ultimately her individual paintings bear a conceptual likeness to the ‘avatars’ you see in Hindu and in other religious art. Avatars are incarnations, embodiments, expressions, etc of the multifaceted aspects underlying some spiritual or metaphysical reality. Hillary lives very close to an ineffable and personal feminine landscape that can be shared only through art ... and what you see here reflects its evolution and maturation to date.

Now back to Cahoots.

Q: Do you have an internet presence?

Hillary: Yes, I have other paintings and information at acrylicartworksbyhillary.blogspot.com, that’s new just since the June 4 Alley Art Battle.

Q: What else did you get out of the Alley Art Battle?

Hillary: It was a great experience because it forced me to push myself and finish a painting in one 4-hour sitting. This is huge for me because I will walk away from a painting a hundred times and not finish it for months. I now know I am capable of sitting down, focusing, and completing a quality piece in a day or two or three. Since the event, I have completed two different paintings, each in two days time, that I am very pleased with. I am excited about participating next year!

Since the June Alley Art Battle, public recognition has come phenomenally fast:

·         One of her works won the June People’s Choice award at Judy Houk’s Creative Arts Gallery.

·         By August 2 she won Three Sisters’ Diana Killian’s admiration, thereby earning space in a next-door Phantom Gallery.

·         Followed by mention in an August 6 Herald Republican newspaper article …

·         And exhibition space in city Hall!

Finally just a few words about the regional setting: I haven’t seen much like this at all in the various Steuben galleries, art fairs, library exhibits, etc, and yet Hillary’s work has been very well received and commented upon in these recent months. What can that mean? Should there be more?

Smooch

Maybe we can better discern the answer by enlarging its consideration: Frankly, there is a LOT of art out on Angola streets that we’ve seen but very little of prior to the August Phantom Gallery Renaissance, and it is generating a LOT of interest and excitement. Every day you see individuals and couples gawking, pointing, taking photos, etc … What a change! What energy!

So my vote is clear: Congratulations Hillary – I wish you continued success, and many thanks for sharing your art and yourself per a very personal and candid Art Beat interview.

Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns!

If you like this post and/or blog, please PARTICIPATE in building its internet presence. To share today's post through email, Twitter, Facebook, etc:

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If you would like direct email notification of new Art Beat posts, simply send an email with the words “requesting Art Beat notification” in the subject line to StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com

 Stephen Rowe currently serves as the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild publicity chairman and writes two additional blogs:

     ArtMissionary.blogspot.com
     OriGraphics.blogspot.com

Stephen welcomes correspondence of all sort per StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com

Bring the Young, Bring the Old

Just some quick notes here as the Easels on West Maumee / Phantom Gallery Renaissance celebration draws nigh. It’s official now, Mayor Hickman has proclaimed that “Angola IS an Art Town!”  Saturday August 27 is the all-day finale with art and some live music on the street, followed by an informal 5-7 PM cupcake reception at Cahoots Coffee Café, downtown, where the mayor is expected to read his proclamation [at least that was the plan as his secretary Suzy Adams left for a week of vacation].

This is a genuine, grass-roots / street-level triumph that we can ALL be proud of … even, and I could argue especially those who simply come out into the downtown streets just to see what has been wrought. It’s like the famous unobserved tree falling in a forest: if no one observes it, is there really a noise? Ultimately what makes this Renaissance a real success is that it really is appreciated, so please do come out and be gratified, talk with the artists [they love talking about their work], and behold a truly awesome, ponderous downtown transformation.

And if there are children in your life – child, younger sibling, niece or nephew, grandchild, whatever - bring them! Or if you are young but your parents or grandparents are old, bring them! Art is for everybody! ALL!!

Side-note: My wife and I brought our eight-year-old grandson downtown around 10:30 PM Monday August 8, and he was fascinated with Holly Dowidat’s ceramic dogs, and unexpectedly with Maria Davis’ computer-angst paintings, where he noticed the computer screen’s dots and bars reflected in the worker-bee’s eyes, I’ve certainly been there and done that!

Another note of interest, the Angola Regional Artists ' Guild now has a Facebook page. This is a very worthwhile group whose members have contributed much to the downtown event, and the Facebook page notes a lot of its goings-on. Yet let’s give credit where it is due: Diana Killian at Three Sisters downtown has been the primary driver, and some of the most-remarked on windows show the art of non-members. Another case of the theme “Art is for everyone! ALL!!”

So again, please do come downtown Saturday, August 27 … and bring someone else with you!

Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns!

If you like this post and/or blog, please PARTICIPATE in building its internet presence. To share today's post through email, Twitter, Facebook, etc:

 At the end of the post you will find several ‘Share’ buttons:

 Posted by Stephen Rowe at 7:00 AM

M  B  t  f etc

Just click on the F for Facebook [for example], and an Art Beat blurb will pop up. Then just click the final blue Share Link button.

Make our world a better place by sharing what matters to you.

If you would like direct email notification of new Art Beat posts, simply send an email with the words “requesting Art Beat notification” in the subject line to StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com

 Stephen Rowe currently serves as the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild publicity chairman and writes two additional blogs:

     ArtMissionary.blogspot.com
     OriGraphics.blogspot.com

Stephen welcomes correspondence of all sort per StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com

Miracles on West Maumee

Have you heard the growing buzz about a truly exciting, grass-roots Arts movement centered along Angola’s downtown West Maumee? First the key journalistic highlights: “Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?”

Who? This incredible development is about regional artists, downtown Angola landlords and businesses, downtown patrons, and the many, many more people from beyond who will see the artists’ exhibits throughout August and beyond.

What? New artworks of all sort have been miraculously appearing in vacant storefront windows [Phantom Galleries] and in occupied, operating business windows (80+ works now). Some of the art has traditional appeal, while other exhibits are quite unusual and/or have major “pizzazz.” Most of the windows have nighttime lighting for after-hour viewing.

When? It’s going on right now, growing day-by-day, and exhibits can be seen at any hour. This first phase will continue through August and climax at the August 27 “Easels on West Maumee” finale with additional art and music on the street.

Where? All along Angola’s West Maumee Street. Noted on August 2:

·    King Oberlin and Chris VanGompel share the Phantom Gallery at 214 West Maumee [once Bob’s Pizza Place sometime in the nearly-unremembered past]. Their art has major PIZZAZZ!

·    Holly Dowidat’s great, artful ceramic dogs “animate” Selman’s 212 West Maumee Phantom Gallery and the Colonial Styling Salon window at 221 West Maumee. Everyone I’ve seen looking says “Wow!”

·    Maria Davis’ three “computer-angst” and “reflections” works in the Old Nipsco Phantom Gallery have a decidedly contemporary edge guaranteed to engage your interest.

·    Shirley Brauker’s fantastic “Moon Bear” display in the 206 West Maumee Phantom Gallery next to Sticks&Stones: this takes your breath away, no exaggeration. You cannot see the many and various works there without feeling stunned. Furthermore, know that each piece is borne of deep spiritual and poetic inspiration rooted in her native Ottawa heritage.

·    Now look to the old site of the three-story Hendry Hotel used by Al Capone so long ago, burned down some forty years ago, replaced by a Thomas Home Center, followed by yet other businesses vanished and now forgotten … standing there in the 200 block of West Maumee in the night-time window’s luminance is … a Phantom Gallery, incarnating sixteen works by Angola Regional Artists’ Guild participants! Surely a miracle?

An August 10 update finds six more Hendry Hotel Phantom Gallery easels, and twenty-five other new works in yet six additional West Maumee locations, so watch the street, there will surely be even more by now!

Why? Because Artists are everywhere and Art is for everyone! Anyone who can find someone with an empty window and someone else with art to show can [and should!] have a Phantom Gallery. This is an idea that all of Steuben County can have ownership in, and its fruition might indeed distinguish our county as profoundly unique and creative, to the benefit of all.

How? I want to emphasize I have no executive or operational role in these unfolding events. I merely passed the Phantom Gallery idea on to various people until BINGO: Diana Killian of the Three Sisters specialty shop at 223 West Maumee ENGAGED! Diana is the quintessential ball of fire who is making it all happen up and down West Maumee, while Judy Houk of the Artists’ Guild lined up the exhibitors for the Hendry Hotel Phantom Gallery.

And what beyond August? Time will tell … that is time’s way. My personal wish is that diverse interests will coalesce to operate diverse Phantom Galleries with diverse perspectives, ultimately throughout all of Steuben County, wherever yawns a vacant window of any kind: downtown, uptown, strip mall, rural, residential … all! Again, artists are everywhere and Art is for everyone: children, teens, adults, the aged … all! Painters, photographers, potters, sculptors, crafters … all! Folk, traditional, contemporary, modern, abstract, edgy, way-far-out … all! ALL!! ALL!!!

Postscript:

Since undertaking to write the Art Beat in May, I have ended each post with "Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns! Today’s miraculous downtown Angola transformation leaves no doubt: Angola is an Art Town indeed.

So on behalf of all the regional artists who choose to exhibit works publicly here in Angola, on behalf of all the Angola businessmen and women whose storefronts serve as public galleries, and on behalf of all the everyday people who have and who will continue to come downtown to see this art, I am asking that Mayor Hickman issue a Mayoral Proclamation to this effect: ANGOLA IS AN ART TOWN!

August 15 update: Done! The Mayor has proclaimed such, it is official! Congratulations to all who have participated in any way, including all the spectators ... And thanks to Mayor Hickman. Our next steps must build on this proclamation ...

Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns!

Stephen Rowe currently serves as the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild publicity chairman and writes two additional blogs:

     ArtMissionary.blogspot.com

     OriGraphics.blogspot.com

Stephen welcomes correspondence of all sort per StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

The July fireworks now forgotten and the August summer climax still ahead, we might pause, if so inclined, to enjoy a brief midsummer interlude … and what a perfect time to reflect on Debbie Green’s art. Debbie painted the People’s Choice second-place piece work at King Oberlin’s recent Alley Art Battle, and there is something about her spirit and the nature of her work that somehow resonates with this season, at least to my mind and sensibilities, though it is hard to articulate.

Revolutionary War detail from mural

World War ll detail from mural

One obvious factor is the grand mural she was commissioned to paint for the Williams County Veterans Memorial Building, located on the Williams County Fairgrounds in Montpelier, Ohio. This entailed many, many hours of research, not to mention the time spent painting, and was completed in July 2008. Debbie emphasizes that her art is ‘realistic and ‘detail-oriented,’ yet what strikes me about the mural’s depictions of our many wars goes beyond the detail, into the realm of expression, as can be seen, for instance, when comparing the Revolutionary and World War ll mural details.

In each case though, what I admire most about her art is how it respects and commemorates the veterans without glorifying the wars. Each war has a different character shaped by different geography, technology, ideology, and degree of national commitment and fervor. Debbie reflects much of this, but what is really compelling to me is how fully she reflects the solemn gravity of war and its sacrifice with respect to the men and women who serve. It is not War Art, but War Veteran Art – a profound distinction that will not be lost upon the veterans it commemorates.

Debbie and her husband Paul live outside Columbia, Ohio, about twelve miles from Angola, and it was only during their drive to the Art Battle that Debbie settled on what she wanted to paint once she got there. It is interesting to read her own words:

Photo by Amy Oberlin

The subject of my piece was decided upon on the way to the June battle. I had grabbed a handful of pictures and had a head full of ideas when we loaded for the show.  I wanted the painting to be personally challenging…I really did have the ‘battle’ in mind...nothing too simple. I wanted to use the whole 4 hours…to be unsure if I could actually finish what I started…but have a plan to tweak the outcome if need be to fit the time limit. ‘Paint what you love’ stuck fast in my mind. I had wanted to do a painting of my daughter for years and succumbed to the thought that this was my chance. ‘Victoria’ (her name), was enough to create the setting - Victorian….angelic….innocent. This for me WAS a challenge. I am not accustomed to doing a work like this in 4 hours. It was finished enough for such a short time, but I will still ‘finish’ it later, with all of the details I didn’t have time for that night.

Photo by Miriam Oberlin

Since the Alley Art Battle, Debbie added another memorial painting to commemorate those on The Home Front, whose sacrifice was the absence and loss of friends and loved ones. And at least one future enhancement is planned - again in Debbie’s own words: “In wanting to escalate a sacred ambience, I will be incorporating a rich border of gold on the wall. Every addition to this memorial sparks another desire and vision to add more. I am blessed that the memorial committee has been so gracious and appreciative in this endeavor.”

Aside from the Memorial mural, Debbie’s art is generally commissioned through word of mouth, and while she does some portraiture, most of her "fine art" commissions are for paintings of homes [with landscapes] and, I was surprised to learn, paintings of pets, especially those recently deceased. In addition, Debbie has been painting fun cartoon-murals on children's walls and commercial signs.

Here's a salute to Debbie! You can see more of her work, including the Veteran’s Memorial Mural and children's wall murals, at her specialtyartwork.blogspot.com.

Vietnam War detail from mural

Paula Bateman singing

her original song

"Small Town Hero."

 Photo by Miriam Oberlin

Another follow-up to the Alley Art Battle – something of personal significance to me and also something Debbie noted after the event as we talked in preparation for this post: Paula (ex-Headley) Bateman’s live acoustic music. Her soft, unvarnished renderings of folkish songs such as Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth and Neil Young’s Ohio wove a perfect background for the artistic event, and a perfect mood for her own original and poignant “Small Town Hero” song about Glen Ludban, who grew up in Garrett along with Paula and myself, to die in Vietnam. The title is bittersweet and the lyrics are entirely authentic in not glossing over the war’s contradictions; rather they look directly into the heART of things - it is ART. Six days later Paula packed all her belongings in a small U-Haul and left her long-time stay in Steuben County for Florida, where she is exploring the music scene in Bonita Springs near Fort Myers. Here's a salute to Paula as well!

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?     Pete Seeger

Small Town Hero     Paula (ex-Headley) Bateman

Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns!

Stephen Rowe currently serves as the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild publicity chairman and writes two additional blogs:

     ArtMissionary.blogspot.com

     OriGraphics.blogspot.com

Stephen welcomes correspondence of all sort per StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com