Barton Hope

Hope Barton

Springs
Image Size 16"x20"
Monotype

Hope Barton was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but her heritage is primarily in Oklahoma, her parent's home. She and her family moved to Coral Gables, Florida, early in her childhood; so she considers herself a Floridian. Hope attended Florida Southern College, where she met and married Ed Barton. She took a break in her college education to raise a family and to follow her husband's career. After the family moved to Clermont, Florida, she completed her degree in art education.

The years after graduation were spent at various jobs including teaching college and high school art and business, as well as legal secretarial work. Later studies in printmaking and drawing followed at the University of Central Florida and at the University of Florida. She exhibited her work at sidewalk art shows and galleries for over twenty-five years. Then in 1998, she opened an art gallery in downtown Clermont's historic bank building.

It has always been Hope Barton's goal to create work that is technically proficient with interest and lasting appeal. Her landscapes and water scenes are peaceful reflections of her personal observations of Florida's quiet places. Another of her favorite art subjects is canine portraiture. Raised as the daughter of a veterinarian, she has always kept one or two dogs by her side in her gallery or while she is at work in the studio. For her the challenge of custom portraiture is to capture each dog's unique personality.

Monotype painting

"My passion is creating the landscape with the feeling that one is actually there. I want people to feel the magnificence of the huge trees, the abstract shapes that make up the reflections in the water, and the mood of intense skies. It is a constant challenge to find interesting elements that can be combined in a composition to lead one into the picture. The lasting effect has small images inside the larger image to be discovered over a period of time by the viewer.

By using a limited palette (often the primary colors), I feel I can concentrate on shapes and values to create a whole. This works whether I use the tedious etching process – two or three plates and hand-coloring them, the monotype process with three plates (using the primary colors), or with an acrylic painting using layer after layer of paint. My thought process works the same for each medium. Lastly, my images are peaceful.

In the case of my dog and pet portraits, animals have been a huge part of my life. There is always at least one next to me in my studio. My dad is a retired Veterinarian who encouraged this aspect of my life. It gave us a common bond to discuss anatomy and the personality of dogs."

Hope Barton

Monotype painting