Hello, Friends.
I am Dar {Hosta} James, Artist and Educator.
It all begins with C O L O R.
The foundation of all of my work has always been color, so starting there is a way for me to move beyond my apprehension and initiate the beginning. To me, a piece of art is very much like a puzzle or a problem to be solved, and every mark or a shape made leaves a place to put another mark or shape, every step along the way connects the beginning to the final dot or line—a logistical process I think of as “rocks to sand.”
Opposites often figure heavily in my choices of what to do next—thick and thin, dark and light, busy and calm, opaque and translucent, shiny and matte. Visual tensions of juxtaposed, unlike things are exciting to notice, and the idea that appearances change from various angles in a room, at different times of the day, in different lighting, through the utilization of opposites is something that ignites and motivates my current experimentation.
The focus on creating many layers, and how they figure into any final piece, has evolved over time. From using them to create more sophistication, to exploring how they can create mystery and depth, layers can both reveal and conceal in a single work. Paint and paper, utilized with many intermediate layers of gloss gel as well as with more textural materials, can create subtle shadows on the layers below. In this way, I can capitalize on the miraculous capacity of the human eye to detect tiny variances of depth, and the result is almost a dimensional trick of the eye. While my trees are infused with riotous colors and crowded with whimsical, repetitive details, they tend to draw people into a meditative calm, providing an obvious connection to the natural world, and often linking them to their own personal backgrounds and experiences. When a viewer encounters my work in this way, it mirrors my technical and metaphorical process as its creator, having entered into a meditative space to create calm from clutter and disorder.
My work is an invitation to stop, to look more closely, to be curious and to be encouraged to experience momentary joy.
Currently I am working in mixed media, mostly acrylics and paper, teaching playful online courses, and leading weekend immersion workshops for adults who want to tap into their own creativity, discover and evolve their unique, artistic style. In October, 2016, I trained as an Artist Educator for GOLDEN Paints, which opened up endless ways to work with acrylic paints and mediums, and I continue to enjoy experimenting with all this stuff and creating new classes to share with others.
The natural world is what inspires me most— leaves, flowers, rocks and the things of the Earth— but the things I paint are things of my imagination. The signature dot work I finish with is very methodical and meditative for me, but I also mean it to be illuminating and magical— because we all need a little magic in our lives!
My home is in the beautiful Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, and I love to hear from people who have questions about me or my work...You can reach out to me any time!
Peace & Love,
Dar
2019, SilverBrush Educator
2016, GOLDEN Artist Educator