Hadley Rampton
Salt Lake City, UT
I paint oils on site in the glorious Mountain West and Colorado Plateau, and travel to capture my impressions of foreign cities in watercolor & ink.
MessageHaving drawn and painted for as long as she can remember, Hadley Rampton graduated from the University of Utah with an Honors BFA in Painting and Drawing in 1999. During her course of university study, she spent a semester in Florence, Italy taking classes in studio art, Renaissance Art History and History of Renaissance Architecture. Rampton began painting professionally immediately after graduation.
Born and raised in Utah, Rampton developed a great love for the outdoors. Not surprisingly, painting en plein air in the mountain and desert landscapes of the Rocky Mountain West and Colorado Plateau became her motus operandi, with aspen trees becoming her favorite subject matter. Her time spent studying abroad ignited a love of exploration and immersion in other cultures, catapulting her practice of traveling to capture her impressions of foreign cities and street scenes in watercolor & ink. Countries in which she has painted include Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, England, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Check Republic, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Cuba, Morocco, Palestine (West Bank) and Malta. Her travel painting has led to collaboration with various humanitarian projects and organizations overseas. These include Project Wezesha in Western Tanzania, University of Utah Neighborhood Partners and their work with Karen and Karenni refugee camps in northern Thailand, and Choice Humanitarian in the Altiplano of Bolivia.
Over the course of her over 26 year professional career she has participated in numerous Juried Exhibitions, Invitationals and Solo shows held at such venues as Springville Museum of Art, The High Desert Museum, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Eccles Art Center, Salt Lake Community College, Sedona Art Center, Idaho Falls Art Center, Phillips Gallery and Art Access.
She has been featured in several publications including Plein Air Magazine, Western Art & Architecture, Judsons Plein Air Journal, Artists of Utah’s 15 Bytes Online Publication and Southwest Art Magazine. Rampton’s work can be found in the collections of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, SLC, UT, Raymond James Financial, the Yellowstone Club, Questar Gas, Aspen Traditional Rehab, and the Law Firms of Preg, O’Donnell & Gillett; Rooker Mohrman, Rawlings & Bailey; Ballard Spahr; and Hutchinson & Steffen.
Representing galleries: Phillips Gallery, Torrey Gallery, Abend Gallery, Sorrel Sky Gallery, Saatchiart.
Hadleyrampton.com
Statement
Some tell me I’m crazy for painting in the mountains in the dead of winter, or for battling swarms of biting flies in summer. And yet, there I stand for hours, working, feeling there is nowhere else I would rather be. I’m energized by the challenges and beauty of nature, by the dynamics of light, atmosphere, and temperature in the Rocky Mountains and in the deserts of the southwest. The changes in weather that occur while I’m painting do not bother but thrill me. A storm welling on the horizon, gaining momentum, and catching me in its fury is exhilarating. Even the same location can time and again leave me with a sense of awe. Some days I work with great energy, slapping paint with a palette knife, dripping turpentine and then pushing around the thinned paint or letting the drips create patterns of their own. Other days, I’m quieter, and my use of the palette knife is more controlled, as I attempt to honor the integrity of each stroke. I work on instinct more than thought, for instinct holds greater honesty and clarity.
I begin by painting the actual scene before me, but as the work progresses, I delve into the personality of the piece. A three-way dialogue forms between the natural scene, the painting, and me. Which one speaks loudest changes from moment to moment and, if anyone becomes dominant for too long, the work can fail. It is the balance between the three that keeps me engaged. My work is a direct response to the environment and to my existence in it.
The copyright of this artwork remains with the artist, Hadley Anne Rampton. The artwork may not be reproduced or redistributed, either in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the artist.
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