Crystal Hartman is excited to come back to Durango, where she grew up.
The artist, who now lives in Urbana, Illinois, is coming back for her show, “There Was Always The Forest,” which will open Nov. 15 at Studio & Gallery, and will be on display through Nov. 23.
And for Hartman, who is perhaps best known for her jewelry (her parents are jewelers, and she began making jewelry when she was around 7 years old), “Forest” is a welcome change of sorts.
“It is an art show with paintings and drawings and sculptural pieces. I’m really excited about it,” she said. “It’s been a long time in the works. Studio & and I have grown up together; they’ve been representing my work for almost 14 years.”
If you go
WHAT: “There Was Always The Forest”: A Solo Exhibit by Crystal Hartman.
WHEN: Opening Reception, 5-9 p.m. Nov. 15. Show runs through Nov. 23.
WHERE: Studio & Gallery, 1027 Main Ave.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit anddurango.com and crystalhartman.com.
She said the theme of the show is tied to when she was a child growing up in Durango; she lived in a canyon just west of town, and would hike into the woods almost daily.
“I think about the forest and I think about the way, if you sit in the trees and you watch as the sun starts to go down and the shadows start to pile up, and it gets darker and you hear these sounds – it’s so healing and so calming to be in the trees. We can also find ourselves feeling afraid when we’re in the shadows,” Hartman said. “And yet, we linger and we take time to see these glimmers of light that come through the shadows. It kind of is the most magical thing.”
“There Was Always The Forest” will be a fairly large show, made up of 10 large canvases; a series of eight smaller watercolors; and two pencil drawings. There will also be a sculptural fiber piece, 40 to 50 wood pieces, and bronze pieces, too.
“There are these bronze slugs and moths that are really wonderful,” Hartman said. “One thing that’s really neat about this show is for the last few years, I’ve shown my jewelry, my metalwork, at Studio &, and I’ve always included a drawing or a sculptural piece or a sound piece – I’ve done several sound and video and photo pieces at Studio & over the years in group shows. But mostly Studio & represents my jewelry, and it’s really a treat to get to show the other artwork because the jewelry really comes from this work.”
Hartman has a printmaking degree from CU Boulder, and she was an apprentice to iconic local artist Stanton Englehart. It was from him that she really learned to paint, she said. “He really shaped the way that I look at the world and art.”
And while she did return to jewelry so she could create smaller pieces that people could carry with them, to be able to have a show at the gallery that features other types of art is something special, Hartman said.
“It’s really an honor and such a joy to get to share this work that’s so much my heart,” she said. “The pieces that are like the slugs and the moths, the metal pieces and the installation of the canvases, and the lines and the imagery that is in all of the pieces, it’s like this bridge between – you kind of can see where it all fits together with the work in this show. And that’s so exciting to me.
katie@durangoherald.com
