Constance Baltuck Hartle

On the Road Again

It's been nearly 30 years since my sister and I last visited the Great Southwest; America's red rock country, land of the pinyon pine-juniper forests, sagebrush, bluebirds, and starry nights. I'm on my own this time, en route to Petrified Forest National Park,where I'm honored to have been chosen as one of the Park's official artists-in-residence. 

After an incredibly beautiful sailing down the Inside Passage on the MV Columbia, I've camped my way across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah to Arches National Park, then to Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park.  Tomorrow I'll pass through a small corner of New Mexico on the way to Arizona and my little adobe house in the park.

I look forward to working in such a different environment, meeting visitors to the park, and encouraging them to pick up a brush and join me in my efforts to paint the painted desert.

Ready, Set, Show!

It’s been a real challenge putting together “Friends and Neighbors.”  These figure and portrait paintings are different than anything I have ever shown before.  Barbara Craver and I are looking forward to presenting our work together; you can preview my paintings here on my website and Barbara’s at: http://www.bcraver.typepad.com.

Now, with the painting, varnishing, framing, and hanging taken care of, it’s time to get ready for one of the most challenging aspects of any opening.  Deciding what to wear!  Last November, after finally settling on an outfit, in my rush to get ready for an opening I sprayed my beautiful silk blouse with Craft Bond Glue instead of Static Guard.  I wasn’t so attached to that blouse before, but afterward we were inseparable!

Get dressed!  Join the party!  The opening is 4:30 to 7:30 pm, Friday, April 3rd.  Tom Locher will be performing on the piano and refreshments will be served.  I'm looking forward to seeing you, my friends and neighbors.  I hope you enjoy the show.

"Friends and Neighbors," The Canvas Art Gallery, 223 Seward Street, Juneau, Alaska 907-586-1750

April Show at the Canvas Gallery, Juneau, Alaska

Over the years I've incorporated figures into a lot of my work, but only rarely have they been the main focus.  When my friend Barbara Craver asked me to join her this April in a show, primarily of figure studies and portraits, I automatically said yes.  

I love life drawing.  Trying to capture a likeness or the beauty and complexity of the human form has given me some of my most challenging and most rewarding experiences as an artist.

Ever since high school, I've made sketches of the people around me, wherever I lived or traveled, waiting in the airport or for a bus, in parks, cafes, at the pool or in a garden...  I love catching these quick sketches.  They hold a moment of time and place that would otherwise just vanish! 

When I paint landscapes, I feel free to play around with my subjects, color, and composition.  I rarely limit myself to anything like strict representation. 

All painting is interpretive, but some of the paintings I've done for this show go beyond interpretation of the real world into the land of dreams and imagination.  

Thanks, as always, for your interest in my work.  I hope you can make it to The Canvas Gallery in Juneau for our April 3rd opening.  If not, I'll be posting the paintings for this show right here on my website.  See Barbara Craver's work at: www.bcraver.typepad.com

Doing Art in My Head

It's hard to believe that my last entry was nearly a year ago.  Where have I been?  Working my way through a hard year, a year of transition.  

It has always been true for me that when my spirit suffers, so does my productivity.  In fact, for a while, all my creative impulses were squeezed right out of the picture by more pressing concerns.  It was a lot like when my teenagers were still babies, and I had very little time to paint.  I became adept at composing art in my head.  I could visualize each step of the process and follow the concept all the way to the finished piece.   I spent a lot of time doing just that, dreaming my way through a lot of paintings before I had the opportunity to get my hands back on a brush.

After this year of chaos, the creative thoughts are flowing once again.  My stack of little sketches is growing faster than I can paint, and I've got a lot of catch-up to do.  I'm back to work, thank goodness.  Doing art in my head was important to me, but it's much more rewarding and easier to share when I actually get it out of my mind and onto the canvas.

I have two paintings in the Plein Rain Show at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center opening this Friday, November 7th.  I hope you can come by for the opening

Small Paintings of Big Impressions

I just got back from my first trip to Italy, where my sister and I spent a week exploring tiny villages, Etruscan tombs, and the mountainous terrain of Umbria. Picturesque doesn't begin to describe the incredible beauty of the landscape or the acute awareness of history that was everywhere around us.

Forget shampoo and hand lotion; my quart-size Ziploc bag was filled to absolute maximum capacity with tubes of paint; the important thing in my carry-on, outbound, is my painting supplies. On the way back, however, it's the little paintings that, I hope, have captured the sweet essence of our experience in a foreign land.

Paintings from Italy and my other travels will be included in a show of 24 small paintings at Skeins, on the second floor of the Senate Building at 175 Franklin Street. Starting Friday, December 7th, from 4:30 to 8:00, the show will continue daily through the weekend.

To preview the show, just click on "December Gallery Walk" on the screen to your left.

Ciao!

Thank You!

So many thanks to give to everyone who helped with the opening on Friday! We had a huge turnout, an extravagant selection of refreshments, and a gratifying number of sales.

My sister came to Juneau to help me hang the show, friends joined in to keep the hors d'oeuvres coming and the beverages flowing. MK of the Canvas Gallery handled sales in the crush of the crowd with the calm and grace of Queen Elizabeth.

My sister took photos, made sure I wore my fancy dress, and kept me in balance, and I talked with more people in a few hours than I usually do in months.

Thank you, people of Juneau, for coming to see my work, and for supporting me in a big way!

Show Time

Okay! The work is all painted, hanging hardware is on, gallery labels are made, price lists delivered, artist's statement agonized over, post cards mailed, posters posted, and the show is wrapped and ready to go. Now comes the fun of planning an opening reception! It's time to get food, party treats, candles, music and flowers, find a special dress to wear, and get the word out that everyone is welcome.

It's always a thrill to see my work fill a gallery; in the studio, I usually work on just one painting at a time and when it's done, I put it away until show time. Sometimes, when I see a painting that I haven't seen since it was first finished, it's like looking at a painting done by someone else. I might love a piece that I wasn't sure of before. I've learned that putting a little time between finishing a painting and deciding if it's a keeper is a good idea. If I'd waited long enough to be objective, this little painting of snow on mountain ash berries might be in a show someday instead of somewhere in the Juneau landfill!

No time for regrets! I've got a party to put on! I hope to see you Friday!

Road Trip!

How lucky can you get? My sister and I just got back from a road trip across central Oregon. We were supposed to be going to Bend, and we did get pretty close. We made it, more appropriately, to Sisters, Oregon; a cute hybrid of real history and trendy boutiques. We wandered around town and checked out the art, but had the most fun at Sisters Bakery.

We spent a few nights in the high desert country; land of bare soil and gnarley old junipers. On the way back to Portland it was ponderosa pine until we came over the pass, back into the rainy spruce-hemlock forests, stunning with the gold and scarlet maple trees. I put some pictures of our trip in an album below.

I love traveling with my sister and I love going "Out West," even when it requires traveling about a thousand miles South and another five hundred East!

September in Juneau

The Dark Time is upon us, though it's not nearly as dark as it will be in December. The change of seasons seems so abrupt; first, school started, then suddenly, there was fresh snow on the mountain tops. It felt like an act of submission, digging out the winter coats and hats. I guess if we have to bow to anything, it might as well be to Nature.

The pre-schoolers came by for their annual harvest, and stood out like shiney apples themselves. My kids are teenagers now, but they came to this very tree with their class many years ago. Pretty soon these little people will be back to gather brilliant orange and red leaves from Mrs. Green's maple tree. Lucky them, to have teachers that impress upon them the bounty and the beauty of their world.

I'm still working on paintings for my show in November. I've just added five new paintings to the Preview page (they are at the bottom of the page). Thanks for checking in. I hope you can come to the opening!

Work in Progress

Thanks to everyone for visiting and commenting on my website. It's a work in progress and, because of the conversational nature of this site, it probably always will be. I love hearing from you and being able to respond to your concerns; for example, I DO know that "bestest" is not a real word. It's just my artistic license jumping it's boundaries again...

Maybe you noticed that a lot of the paintings in the Preview Album are of places in Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. This has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth; I began hiking there in the early 70's, and, for the last two Septembers in a row, my sister and I have been able to visit, hiking and painting our way through the sweet scented forests and golden aspen groves.

When it was too cold to paint outdoors (we had snow and hail as well as glorious sunshine) we would hike all day, gathering images - sometimes with a camera, and sometimes by imprinting memories.

In the evenings, in the warmth of our cabin, I fixed those memories onto small boards, trying to catch the essence of the scenes for reference should I decide to make a larger painting back home in the studio. Each tiny painting was one step of a work in progress; from the first vision on the trail, to capturing the color and focus on a small board, to putting a painting it in it's final form in the studio.

I thought you might find it interesting to see some of the small boards and the final paintings that followed. Just click on the Tetons Album on the lower left side of your screen.